Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth. Who Remembers?

[D1on]

Always fancied one of these, post your experiences of them!
Seem to of been loved back in their day!

[WaferThinHam]

RS500 Coswort popped on pole against GTRs etc. at Bathurst.

Awesome vid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgIwRpKNCY

Open face helmet chic.

Edited by WaferThinHam on Tuesday 17th December 23:14

[Rickyy]

I'd love a late 4x4 in magenta. I used to walk past one everyday on the way to school.

[northwest monkey]

WaferThinHam said:

RS500 Coswort popped on pole against GTRs etc. at Bathurst.

Awesome vid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgIwRpKNCY

Open face helmet chic.

Edited by WaferThinHam on Tuesday 17th December 23:14

Fantastic car that was - it's not a Sapphire though.

A dad of a mate got a grey Sapphire back in the day as a company car My mate never got to drive it but his dad took us out a few times in it. It was the first time I was ever pushed back in the seat when he put his foot down!

As a comparison, my father had a Morris Marina.

[forks]

Owned a Smokestone blue K-reg one from 1996-1999. Totally unmolested and then completely written off by someone I shouldn't have sold it to.
Still wish I'd kept it...

[ajondyh]

I had a moonstone blue 89G 2wd sapphire in the early 90's. It was a great car for it's time

[fjord]

My uncle had one for about 6 months.

Sold it because he got fed up of people trying to steal it.

[Olivera]

Owned an 89 Sapphire Cosworth running a T34 turbo. 357bhp in a car that weighs the same as a modern Fiesta makes for a very fast car in a straight line.

First engine did grenade itself in no time at all. However the engine itself is very strong, but 30 years of getting ragged means in many cases the wiring, ignition, boost control etc have seen better days. Refinement is also poor by modern standards.

Overall still a very entertaining old-school RWD car to drive.

[s m]

Olivera said:

Owned an 89 Sapphire Cosworth running a T34 turbo. 357bhp in a car that weighs the same as a modern Fiesta makes for a very fast car in a straight line.
.

Still going strong in the mag I notice

[Terminator X]

Late 80's, walked past one in black with black leather always wanted one after that albeit Scoobs got in the way by the time I could afford it.

TX.

[*Al*]

I've had a few, a 2WD Flint, 2WD white, 2WD Magenta and a 4WD Moonstone. Also had a stage 3 White Escort Cosworth. Fantastic cars in their day that could give very expensive cars a run for their money!

[Baryonyx]

I remember being in Windermere in 2010 and walking past the police station there on a rainy day. There was a 4X4 parked outside. Beautiful thing. White, with a rolled tip exhaust, it looked incredible. I have a true love affair with the Sierra Cosworth, but particularly the Sapphire and the 4x4.

[CR6ZZ]

Owned a Magenta 1990 2-wheel drive one for a little over 10 years. Fabulous car and surprisingly cheap to own, considering the performance. One new clutch, new front struts, and a new fuel pump (all at between 100K and 120k miles) were all I spent on it over the ten years I had it, apart from fluids and tyres of course. A bit of a sleeper as far as other road users were concerned. A tad noisy, but quite comfortable on long trips, and could return over 31 mpg if you kept off the boost. On boost, could get into single digit consumption.....

[fttm]

Worked as a day man on the rally team ,was once asked to take one of the "works drivers" XR4x4 road car to Dagenham and swap it out for a brand new Sapphire Cosworth.Arrived there in torn jeans and a tee shirt amongst all the reps in suits waiting for their 2ltr Ghias ,handed over my documents at the desk ,"oh you're collecting the cosworth"came the reply,priceless silence descended across the room as I was handed the keys and led outside to the beauty . Quick blast back up to see Bill Meade at Boreham for some tweaking then a very enjoyable drive back to the west country via some back roads to it's new owner .
RIP Mark Lovell,tnx it was a great day mate .

memories , sorry .

Edited by fttm on Wednesday 18th December 04:01

Edited by fttm on Wednesday 18th December 04:06

[anonymous-user]

Great cars. Not many good uns left now. It's the car with the best sense if occasion I've owned. Loved the oily petrol smell of the old cossies and the very mechanical feel of the t5 box.

Had mine was I was 25 and it felt like a supercar to me (it did have 380bhp I suppose)

Would love to have another to the same spec.

[Pommygranite]

I always believed it to be a car that had performance not to be judged solely by a bhp figure and its 'real world' speed was very, very quick indeed.

I might be wrong but I'd rather not know the truth and enjoy what was.

[PhilTD5]

oh yes, had a couple, 2wd flint grey at 270bhp, and a 2wd magenta at 400bhp. Extremely capable and fast cars. Also remember how unreliable they were though! head gaskets, gearboxes, diffs, engine rebuilds. That said though, mine did take a hell of a lot of abuse.
Ill never forget roadtesting the 400bhp after the bigger turbo had been fitted to set the boost to 30psi, the acceleration was brutal! Different story in the wet though, what grip?

[divetheworld]

I got a magenta 4wd Sapphire. The previous owner has extensively modded it with a hybrid turbo, greys, etc. I thrashed it until it popped. Took it to Ford (on a flat bed) and got the diagnosis.
Head gasket went, pressurised the water system and inflated the radiator. Oil sprayed on cambelt which went and dropped 2 valves.
Bugger. I got it all sorted eventually but the guys from Ford had real trouble getting the special head gasket and other bits because of the modded engine and excessive boost.
Cut a long story short. They told me the car needed a total rebuild. I enquirer as to why that would be the case. It's only got 50k miles in it.
He explained, "no son, it's because it's got 50k on it". Apparently it's the expected lifespan of the engine before a rebuild when you abuse them like that.
I enjoyed it. Very quick car, can achieve some really impressive results on the right B roads.
Getting pulled by the filth Upto four times a day was the only downside.

[Mound Dawg]

I worked in insurance at the time. Every time we got a call reporting a theft claim it was for one of these. I'd still have had one though...

[POORCARDEALER]

When the insurance went stupid on them my mate was buying lovely cars for £2500 a throw.... They were almost unsellable