Ford Sierra XR4i......30 years on.
Discussion
Although Ford registered some cars in February 1983 for brochure and photographic use, notably the GJN, JNO reg numbered cars, the Press Fleet JVX**Y final spec cars were registered on this day 1983.
These cars were then run in and evaluated by the British press with articles printed from April onwards.
I have owned a 1984 MY (Late 83 Registered car)for 28 years! and it is currently undergoing a minor restoration/recommissioning having been off the road for 7 years, the plan is to show the car for this anniversary, which is also the 30th year of the XROC.
To say these cars are dear to my heart is a understatement, my car will never be sold, and even if it meant selling our TVR Tamora to keep the 4i living that is what will happen.
There is not a lot i don`t know about the Sierra XR4i, so to celebrate, what is in effect its 30th birthday, i thought i would do a write up on its history, for those of you who are interested,some of you might not even have been born
The Ford Sierra family car was announced in 1982, with the car going on sale in the autumn of that year, it was to replace the much loved but visually dated Cortina range.
Bob Lutz, who was Ford Of Europe's resident petrol head in the early 80`s conceived the idea of a "Super Sierra" after seeing the Probe III concept car of 1981.
His ideas, included a special 3 door, 6 window (later to be known as 6 light!)body shell, and as many of the Probe features as possible.
It had to have the performance to match this Futuristic look( 120/125 MPH and a sub 9 second 0-60 sprint) he was also keen to have the Cologne 2.3 V6 engine with Bosch K-Jetronic a new 5 speed gearbox and of course be RWD.
By the summer of 1982 the prototypes with this power train were not performing, mainly due to lack of torque, and to cut a long story short the 2.8i engine from the Granada and,the then new, Capri 2.8i was quickly engineered to match the chassis of the newly named Sierra XR4, the i for injection was added later, but it was to late to stop the production of the 10000 pieces of glass for the "6 light shell" which had "XR4" printed into them.
The very luke warm reception of the Sierra range, when it went on sale, was a major concern for Ford, they hoped the XR4i would give a "Halo" effect for the rest of the range. The launched included TV adverts with the Chariots fire music,press adverts "Man and high performance machine in perfect harmony" and launch photographs taken at Silverstone, and to highlight
the "future" with the Space shuttle.
The Sierra XR4i shouted performance, and in a straight line it accelerated to 60 in less than 8 seconds and passed the ton in 22secs, no other 5 seater hatchback/coupe could live with it at the launch price of £9170. Ironically its closest competitor was its stable mate the Capri, which due to slightly different gearing was marginally slower (source Autocar, Motor, Car magazines )
As for maximum speed, Autocar achieved 128 mph on the Millbrook banked circuit,A German press car, 132 mph on a Autobahn, and a mad Italian hit 137 on a downhill section of Auto strada leaving a Alfa GTV6 trailing a few MPH behind in the process.
Fuel consumption? 22/25 mpg,which was acceptable for oomph available.
With a suspension set up similar to "lesser" Sierras it was no sports car, although it had Gas dampers,uprated coil springs, together with front and rear anti roll bars, the handling and ride were good, but not in a "hot hatch" or Sports car league.
Most of the press cars were loaded with options like Electric windows,central locking, sunroof,headlight washers,trip computer or heated seats, these could add up to £1000 to the list price, strangely the desirable PAS was not fitted to any of the JVX cars.
Launch colours were,Diamond White,Cardinal Red,Black,Caspian Blue, and Strato Silver, Graphite Grey was a rare factory order normally available in Europe only.
WHAT THE PRESS SAID
Comments were generally favourable,again highlighting the cars excellent performance,
Auto car said "it would take a very fast car indeed to out accelerate the XR4i"
"Fastest Ford but no sports car"
Motor, "The 2.8 V6 fitted with Bosch K-Jetronic develops 150BHP @5700rpm and 160 lb ft @ 3800 rpm this sufficient to propel the XR4i to 130.8 mph"
"Overall the XR4i is a very desirable package with few flaws"
After all the hype, how did it sell? Slowly was the answer,the first customer cars were delivered in late May 1983, and a lot of buyers wanted to wait for the "status" of the new A registration.By the Autumn of 83 the public had made its mind up on the cars styling,you were either young and loved it or middle aged and loathed it.The only changes for 84 were a change in steering wheel, different stereo, and the standardisation of the mid 83 recall to help with the gearbox selection problem this also said goodbye to the famous red gearknob.
For 1985 most of the options list was made standard,and the piping around the car was toned down.Talk of a minor re engineering programme of 15" Alloys, Lsd,rear disc brakes, uprated suspension and a Turbo option never materialised and the writing was on the wall, and after approx 18000 sales Europe wide it was quietly dropped, to be replaced by the sober suited Sierra 2.8 XR4x4 5door and the 2.0iS.However if you wanted a faster Ford you had to wait until 1986 and the £15995 Sierra RS Cosworth!
And Finally my 4i
These cars were then run in and evaluated by the British press with articles printed from April onwards.
I have owned a 1984 MY (Late 83 Registered car)for 28 years! and it is currently undergoing a minor restoration/recommissioning having been off the road for 7 years, the plan is to show the car for this anniversary, which is also the 30th year of the XROC.
To say these cars are dear to my heart is a understatement, my car will never be sold, and even if it meant selling our TVR Tamora to keep the 4i living that is what will happen.
There is not a lot i don`t know about the Sierra XR4i, so to celebrate, what is in effect its 30th birthday, i thought i would do a write up on its history, for those of you who are interested,some of you might not even have been born
The Ford Sierra family car was announced in 1982, with the car going on sale in the autumn of that year, it was to replace the much loved but visually dated Cortina range.
Bob Lutz, who was Ford Of Europe's resident petrol head in the early 80`s conceived the idea of a "Super Sierra" after seeing the Probe III concept car of 1981.
His ideas, included a special 3 door, 6 window (later to be known as 6 light!)body shell, and as many of the Probe features as possible.
It had to have the performance to match this Futuristic look( 120/125 MPH and a sub 9 second 0-60 sprint) he was also keen to have the Cologne 2.3 V6 engine with Bosch K-Jetronic a new 5 speed gearbox and of course be RWD.
By the summer of 1982 the prototypes with this power train were not performing, mainly due to lack of torque, and to cut a long story short the 2.8i engine from the Granada and,the then new, Capri 2.8i was quickly engineered to match the chassis of the newly named Sierra XR4, the i for injection was added later, but it was to late to stop the production of the 10000 pieces of glass for the "6 light shell" which had "XR4" printed into them.
The very luke warm reception of the Sierra range, when it went on sale, was a major concern for Ford, they hoped the XR4i would give a "Halo" effect for the rest of the range. The launched included TV adverts with the Chariots fire music,press adverts "Man and high performance machine in perfect harmony" and launch photographs taken at Silverstone, and to highlight
the "future" with the Space shuttle.
The Sierra XR4i shouted performance, and in a straight line it accelerated to 60 in less than 8 seconds and passed the ton in 22secs, no other 5 seater hatchback/coupe could live with it at the launch price of £9170. Ironically its closest competitor was its stable mate the Capri, which due to slightly different gearing was marginally slower (source Autocar, Motor, Car magazines
)As for maximum speed, Autocar achieved 128 mph on the Millbrook banked circuit,A German press car, 132 mph on a Autobahn, and a mad Italian hit 137 on a downhill section of Auto strada leaving a Alfa GTV6 trailing a few MPH behind in the process.
Fuel consumption? 22/25 mpg,which was acceptable for oomph available.
With a suspension set up similar to "lesser" Sierras it was no sports car, although it had Gas dampers,uprated coil springs, together with front and rear anti roll bars, the handling and ride were good, but not in a "hot hatch" or Sports car league.
Most of the press cars were loaded with options like Electric windows,central locking, sunroof,headlight washers,trip computer or heated seats, these could add up to £1000 to the list price, strangely the desirable PAS was not fitted to any of the JVX cars.
Launch colours were,Diamond White,Cardinal Red,Black,Caspian Blue, and Strato Silver, Graphite Grey was a rare factory order normally available in Europe only.
WHAT THE PRESS SAID
Comments were generally favourable,again highlighting the cars excellent performance,
Auto car said "it would take a very fast car indeed to out accelerate the XR4i"
"Fastest Ford but no sports car"
Motor, "The 2.8 V6 fitted with Bosch K-Jetronic develops 150BHP @5700rpm and 160 lb ft @ 3800 rpm this sufficient to propel the XR4i to 130.8 mph"
"Overall the XR4i is a very desirable package with few flaws"
After all the hype, how did it sell? Slowly was the answer,the first customer cars were delivered in late May 1983, and a lot of buyers wanted to wait for the "status" of the new A registration.By the Autumn of 83 the public had made its mind up on the cars styling,you were either young and loved it or middle aged and loathed it.The only changes for 84 were a change in steering wheel, different stereo, and the standardisation of the mid 83 recall to help with the gearbox selection problem this also said goodbye to the famous red gearknob.
For 1985 most of the options list was made standard,and the piping around the car was toned down.Talk of a minor re engineering programme of 15" Alloys, Lsd,rear disc brakes, uprated suspension and a Turbo option never materialised and the writing was on the wall, and after approx 18000 sales Europe wide it was quietly dropped, to be replaced by the sober suited Sierra 2.8 XR4x4 5door and the 2.0iS.However if you wanted a faster Ford you had to wait until 1986 and the £15995 Sierra RS Cosworth!
And Finally my 4i
There's a Cardinal red one looking a bit forlorn on the North Circular in London, opposite Brentford Ikea, it used to share a drive with an equally dejected Peugeot 505GTi. The house looks like its being developed now and the Peugeot has gone I wonder how long before the Sierra goes...
I think the main reasons it didn;t sell were the looks, especially the big side rear pillar that had no obvious purpose, and the "arrest-me" rear spoiler, plus the fact that very few people wanted a big family car without rear doors. In contrast the XR4x4 was a much more subtle car and for me was have been a more attractive proposition with or without its 4WD (though I liked the 4WD too) just because it didn't try to attract attention.
The later 3-door sporting Sierra, the Cosworth, still had 'arrest-me' aero aids, I admit, but looked a lot cleaner for having the simpler rear side window arrangement.
It remains an interesting car though, a real period piece, so thanks for taking the time to write your article.
The later 3-door sporting Sierra, the Cosworth, still had 'arrest-me' aero aids, I admit, but looked a lot cleaner for having the simpler rear side window arrangement.
It remains an interesting car though, a real period piece, so thanks for taking the time to write your article.
Edited by Lowtimer on Sunday 10th March 19:26
CampDavid said:
Ford should revive the XR moniker, certainly better than the ST we have now.
A Ford Mondeo XR4i is a more tempting prospect and I can almost see me in a Focus XR3i
They do, the XR4 is a fiesta in Aus, they use it for something in N.Z. too.A Ford Mondeo XR4i is a more tempting prospect and I can almost see me in a Focus XR3i
I recognise your numberplate from somewhere OP, it must have gone to a lot of shows in the past. I lusted over a turbotechnics one in my youth
DouggyMc said:
Looks very nice! My dad had a early E reg Sapphire 2.0 when I was a kiddy and I loved it, I loved Sierras so much that I bought one this year
I remember the Sapphires when they came out first - i thought the Ghia versions looked the business back in the day. Your hatch looks well.
Sir Fergie
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