RE: Dream-grade Ford Escort RS1600i for sale
Discussion
cerb4.5lee said:
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.
I love stuff like this, fast fords especially. Or should I say I love the idea... £45k aside which based on its condition i'd personally say will be snapped up although not sure i'd spend that much on one of these. And I say I love the idea, because I'd imagine it's not a particularly pleasant experience to drive having spent so long driving more refined modern cars...
200Plus Club said:
Oil spec was good old 20w/50, probably Castrol GTX as well!
1/4m in 16s appears to be slightly slower than my old 1.9gti which I think got down to 15.2s @89mph.
The heady days of performance cars of the 80s eh!
We were happy though! :-)
Exactly, we were happy. And then 3 years later in Spring 1986, one of these was The Quick “ hatch back to have…..1/4m in 16s appears to be slightly slower than my old 1.9gti which I think got down to 15.2s @89mph.
The heady days of performance cars of the 80s eh!
We were happy though! :-)
In the world of the 1980's/1990's they were quicker. You could accelerate for more than 3 seconds without having to slow down again. I was getting around faster in a 1.3 metro in the 1990's that I can now. Clearer roads, less pot holes, far less traffic. They were good days for driving and I think that is partly the reason for nostalgia. People remember having fun in those cars.
swisstoni said:
SS427 Camaro said:
Exactly, we were happy. And then 3 years later in Spring 1986, one of these was The Quick “ hatch back to have…..
I got left behind in my Capri 2.8i by one of those at some lights back then. Got home and started scanning the 0-60 times at the back of Autocar. 
generationx said:
swisstoni said:
I took a new one for a test drive (from the Renault dealer) back in the late eighties, what an awesome little thing it was. It did feel like it was made of paper though!
Good memories for sure.
cerb4.5lee said:
I remember having fun with 2 different ones years back in my XR4X4 at the traffic light GP. With the first one, I managed to get in front and stay in front. Whereas I came across another one a few weeks later, and it absolutely battered me! I presume that the second one was tuned up though.
Good memories for sure.
Wasn't it just a case of increasing the spring tension in the pressure relief valve?Good memories for sure.
MC Bodge said:
Wasn't it just a case of increasing the spring tension in the pressure relief valve?
I don't know to be honest, and my knowledge on turbo's was pretty much none existent back then. I did have to buy an adjustable actuator on my old 200SX to turn the boost up on that though, so I presume it is similar to that then? Seem to remember dynamically not great if anything like the RST and XR3i, but boy Ford knew how to make a car appealing - that is gorgeous. The seats, the spotlamps, the stripes , the wheels and the kit just work so well. And the red with the black parts works very well too. I miss this era of cars. Serious money now though.
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
SS427 Camaro said:
“ 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.
The early RS1600i suffered from having the same rear suspension geometry as the XR3 which had positive camber and did funny things in roll. 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.
The later ones had the improved rear as did the XR3i.
swisstoni said:
SS427 Camaro said:
Exactly, we were happy. And then 3 years later in Spring 1986, one of these was The Quick “ hatch back to have…..
I got left behind in my Capri 2.8i by one of those at some lights back then. Got home and started scanning the 0-60 times at the back of Autocar. SS427 Camaro said:
Exactly, we were happy. And then 3 years later in Spring 1986, one of these was The Quick “ hatch back to have…..
That’s right - as mentioned above, the 5GT Turbo took over the fastest hot hatch mantle from the S1 RS Turbo for CAR magazine’s track lappery. Easy to say they’re all slow now but back in mid 80s they were affordable fun
Both the S1 RST and R5GTT were quicker than the Capri 2.8/Alfa GTV6 2.5 round the lap too so not surprising a Capri 2.8 struggled.
In fact, according to the timed tests these 40 year old hot hatches pretty much matched a modern GT86 off the mark and in- gear up to 80mph
Had an XR3i in the late 80's which was basic but good fun, tried a RS1600i and despite looking the nuts,didn't drive as well as i thought it would,which was disapointonh.Traded the XR3i for a Toyota Celica which was amazing and was faster than a mate with an Escort RS turbo which he stated was chipped.I then had an R5 turbo raider (the blue ones), and that was mental but broke down a lot and a bit of a handfull on full throttle with awful torque steer.
Moving forward 33 years and i have a Honda Civic Type R FK8 which is totally amazing,and her indoors has a GR Yaris which is also teriffic.
Would i pay the money the fast Fords are commanding,no way,they were ok in their day,but bang average today compared to modern equivalents.I guess i was fortunate enough to drive these cars in period,so don't need the nostalgia hit some guys do.I am however really happy that they are popular and are getting restored so we can enjoy seeing them on the road and at shows,they were the 80's.
Moving forward 33 years and i have a Honda Civic Type R FK8 which is totally amazing,and her indoors has a GR Yaris which is also teriffic.
Would i pay the money the fast Fords are commanding,no way,they were ok in their day,but bang average today compared to modern equivalents.I guess i was fortunate enough to drive these cars in period,so don't need the nostalgia hit some guys do.I am however really happy that they are popular and are getting restored so we can enjoy seeing them on the road and at shows,they were the 80's.
grumpynuts said:
Had an XR3i in the late 80's which was basic but good fun, tried a RS1600i and despite looking the nuts,didn't drive as well as i thought it would,which was disapointonh.Traded the XR3i for a Toyota Celica which was amazing and was faster than a mate with an Escort RS turbo which he stated was chipped.I then had an R5 turbo raider (the blue ones), and that was mental but broke down a lot and a bit of a handfull on full throttle with awful torque steer.
Moving forward 33 years and i have a Honda Civic Type R FK8 which is totally amazing,and her indoors has a GR Yaris which is also teriffic.
Would i pay the money the fast Fords are commanding,no way,they were ok in their day,but bang average today compared to modern equivalents.I guess i was fortunate enough to drive these cars in period,so don't need the nostalgia hit some guys do.I am however really happy that they are popular and are getting restored so we can enjoy seeing them on the road and at shows,they were the 80's.
I had Mk2 Escorts - but with V6 engines and triple carbs making up to 230bhp Moving forward 33 years and i have a Honda Civic Type R FK8 which is totally amazing,and her indoors has a GR Yaris which is also teriffic.
Would i pay the money the fast Fords are commanding,no way,they were ok in their day,but bang average today compared to modern equivalents.I guess i was fortunate enough to drive these cars in period,so don't need the nostalgia hit some guys do.I am however really happy that they are popular and are getting restored so we can enjoy seeing them on the road and at shows,they were the 80's.
When I needed sensible transport for work I had Mk2 Golf GTis, Astra 16V GTE followed by Corrado VR6 and 200SX
I've had many faster cars but recently I've been driving a Swift Sport for local use 125bhp and it's great fun just like the 90's hatches but cheaper, safer and with no rust
swisstoni said:
I got left behind in my Capri 2.8i by one of those at some lights back then. Got home and started scanning the 0-60 times at the back of Autocar.
Haha ! But listen to this, in summer 86, I was going down the Epping New road in my very tired silver T plate 323i, suddenly an identical Pearl White D registered R5 GT Turbo was looming Very large in my rear view mirror. I booted the BM and the oil smoke from my exhausts must have gassed him, but his R5 was climbing All over me lol. generationx said:
I took a new one for a test drive (from the Renault dealer) back in the late eighties, what an awesome little thing it was. It did feel like it was made of paper though!
Fantastic memories ! These cars were awesome, I must have had 25 of them over the years…..Still kicking myself for selling C400 GME…..
cerb4.5lee said:
I remember having fun with 2 different ones years back in my XR4X4 at the traffic light GP. With the first one, I managed to get in front and stay in front. Whereas I came across another one a few weeks later, and it absolutely battered me! I presume that the second one was tuned up though.
Good memories for sure.
Haha ! I had a tear up in Hainault one evening back in 93, in my C plate 5 Turbo, with 2 jackos in a white H plate R5 GT Turbo. The bugger got the drop on me from the lights, but I chased him an he turned left into an estate in Chigwell, I clipped the left bloody kerb and my 5 went up on its 2 left wheels ! Good memories for sure.
Edited by SS427 Camaro on Thursday 13th March 21:14
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