RE: Dream-grade Ford Escort RS1600i for sale
Discussion
Still looks good even after all these years. Just realised that I’ve never driven an Escort! A friend’s brother have an XR3 so I’ve been in one but owing to student poverty by the time I got around to buying my first hot hatch it was a 205 GTi and then purchase gradually got more extreme from there.
The value/price depends upon what at least one person is prepared to pay. £45k seems a lot but what value can you put on nostalgia and scratching an itch you couldn’t afford at the time?
The value/price depends upon what at least one person is prepared to pay. £45k seems a lot but what value can you put on nostalgia and scratching an itch you couldn’t afford at the time?
Jon_S_Rally said:
Benzinaio said:
Classic FAST Ford?
Hardly. Wasn't even fast in it's day. Proof that Ford had a cynical view of it's own target market.
Put some stickers and Halfordsesque spot lights on and voila!
Yes I know it had a trick diff. Hardly a necessity with 115BHP though.............
I think the only thing that's been proven here is your lack of knowledge of the RS1600i. There was nothing cynical about it. It was developed for Group A homologation to allow Ford to enter the 1600cc class of touring car racing.Hardly. Wasn't even fast in it's day. Proof that Ford had a cynical view of it's own target market.
Put some stickers and Halfordsesque spot lights on and voila!
Yes I know it had a trick diff. Hardly a necessity with 115BHP though.............
It had entirely revised front suspension, bespoke wheels, a different camshaft, solid lifters, unique (at the time of launch) fuel injection, unique ignition, and revised front and rear spoilers for improved aerodynamics. It was anything but a set of stickers and spotlights.
If you're going to slate a car, at least make sure you know something about it first
internet experts, eh. Good info.Back in the day I always prefers the 1600i to the XR3i, it looked harder and had motorsport connections. The S1 turbo was always the one that everyone hankered over though. Even today they look so damn right. Dynamically way off compared to some of the competitors, but arguably nailed it in looks and vibe.
Edited by Evolved on Thursday 13th March 08:39
“ Yaw Instability “ is mentioned in this road test, plus the cars “ Directional Stability “ not being as good as an XR3i or 1800 Golf GTi.
My thoughts are that the factory rear ride hight was too high, thus unloading weight from the rear brakes which would cause them to lock ( despite the smaller 7inch rear drums ) under heavy braking by taking weight off of the cars rear end.
Plus they also mention the cars poor brakes.
However, I really don’t recall these being on Konis though ? I thought back in the day that they were on Bilstein ( as Bilstein - the black budget units ) were fitted to the 2.8i Capri.
If they were on Konis, this could well be the first Ford to hit the Dealers show rooms on these superb shocks ! If only Ford had fitted Konis to the MK1 3 Litre Capri…..
Edited by SS427 Camaro on Thursday 13th March 09:13
Edited by SS427 Camaro on Thursday 13th March 09:15
SS427 Camaro said:
“ Yaw Instability “ is mentioned in this road test, plus the cars “ Directional Stability “ not being as good as an XR3i, my thoughts are that the factory rear ride hight was too high, thus unloading weight from the rear brakes which would cause them to lock ( despite the smaller 7inch rear drums ) under heavy braking by taking weight off of the cars rear end.
Plus they also mention the cars poor brakes.
However, I really don’t recall these being on Konis though ? I thought back in the day that they were on Bilstein ( as Bilstein - the black budget units ) were fitted to the 2.8i Capri.
If they were on Konis, this could well be the first Ford to hit the Dealers show rooms on these superb shocks ! If only Ford had fitted Konis to the MK1 3 Litre Capri…..
Edited by SS427 Camaro on Thursday 13th March 09:13
Some great info. I now know more about my former RS now, than I did when I owned it 
. If the shocks were adjustable, then I was not aware of that and ran it for the six years at whatever it was set at from before.
The above article mentions the car being twitchy and I kind of agree. My RS somehow survived two very scary fast corner incidents, in my ownership, where the tail attempted to overtake the front. Both were caught but only just. Once with me driving and another time with a friend. We both had come from years of driving Capris, not sure if that was related and of course , at age 23, my finely honed driving skills were still being developed!
The above article has a few more pages to it, where they directly compare the RS with the XR3i and the RS surprisingly, does not come out too well on acceleration. There is speculation that perhaps the test car was not running as well as it should.
. If the shocks were adjustable, then I was not aware of that and ran it for the six years at whatever it was set at from before. The above article mentions the car being twitchy and I kind of agree. My RS somehow survived two very scary fast corner incidents, in my ownership, where the tail attempted to overtake the front. Both were caught but only just. Once with me driving and another time with a friend. We both had come from years of driving Capris, not sure if that was related and of course , at age 23, my finely honed driving skills were still being developed!
The above article has a few more pages to it, where they directly compare the RS with the XR3i and the RS surprisingly, does not come out too well on acceleration. There is speculation that perhaps the test car was not running as well as it should.
el romeral said:
The above article has a few more pages to it, where they directly compare the RS with the XR3i and the RS surprisingly, does not come out too well on acceleration. There is speculation that perhaps the test car was not running as well as it should.
Different gearing as well between the XR3i and RS1600i to take into account An RS1600i had a ‘longer’ final drive ( numerically smaller ) than the XR3i which had shorter gearing - look at the in-gear speeds on the road tests.
The RS1600i had the same FDR as the XR3 ( non injection)
Edited by s m on Thursday 13th March 10:12
Evolved said:
Jon_S_Rally said:
Benzinaio said:
Classic FAST Ford?
Hardly. Wasn't even fast in it's day. Proof that Ford had a cynical view of it's own target market.
Put some stickers and Halfordsesque spot lights on and voila!
Yes I know it had a trick diff. Hardly a necessity with 115BHP though.............
I think the only thing that's been proven here is your lack of knowledge of the RS1600i. There was nothing cynical about it. It was developed for Group A homologation to allow Ford to enter the 1600cc class of touring car racing.Hardly. Wasn't even fast in it's day. Proof that Ford had a cynical view of it's own target market.
Put some stickers and Halfordsesque spot lights on and voila!
Yes I know it had a trick diff. Hardly a necessity with 115BHP though.............
It had entirely revised front suspension, bespoke wheels, a different camshaft, solid lifters, unique (at the time of launch) fuel injection, unique ignition, and revised front and rear spoilers for improved aerodynamics. It was anything but a set of stickers and spotlights.
If you're going to slate a car, at least make sure you know something about it first
internet experts, eh. Good info.Back in the day I always prefers the 1600i to the XR3i, it looked harder and had motorsport connections. The S1 turbo was always the one that everyone hankered over though. Even today they look so damn right. Dynamically way off compared to some of the competitors, but arguably nailed it in looks and vibe.
Edited by Evolved on Thursday 13th March 08:39
I miss the days when I was in love with Ford's to be honest, and BMW seems to be my go to now in comparison(I'm on my 9th BMW now, whereas I've had 7 Ford's over the years in comparison). There is only really the 5.0 V8 Mustang to get excited about now sadly when it comes to Ford's I reckon.
wolfracesonic said:
I wonder how you bought one of these new? I was going to post some brochure scans, having a ‘82 and three ‘83 Ford general brochures in the loft: the XR3 and all the other variants are there but no RS model
Did they have special RS dealers?
Yes, at that time not all Ford dealers had RS status. One had to go to an RS dealer for the special models. Did they have special RS dealers?The MK3 Escort XR3i/RS1600 just looks so right. Such a crisp looking car it was, the Mk3 Escort, back in the day. Glad to see values climbing, gives me comfort that keeping our 20 year newer Fiesta ST150 is the right decision. May only be worth £2K at the moment, but perhaps in our dotage, it might be worth a fair bit more!! With Ford having abandoned its core market and sold out to obese BEV SUVs cynically badged "Capri" or "mustang", there is no chance of any new stuff coming along, that is for sure!
Evolved said:
internet experts, eh. Good info.Back in the day I always prefers the 1600i to the XR3i, it looked harder and had motorsport connections. The S1 turbo was always the one that everyone hankered over though. Even today they look so damn right. Dynamically way off compared to some of the competitors, but arguably nailed it in looks and vibe.
Edited by Evolved on Thursday 13th March 08:39
These were what 16-year-olds like me lusted after until they grew old enough to read the spec sheet and understand why rear-wheel drive was so superior
I would happily pay far more for a decent Mk1 / Mk 2 Escort (or Sierra Cosworth)
Although I do think it's good, that's some keep these things in excellent condition, I wouldn't want to own nor drive one
I would happily pay far more for a decent Mk1 / Mk 2 Escort (or Sierra Cosworth)
Although I do think it's good, that's some keep these things in excellent condition, I wouldn't want to own nor drive one
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