Please talk to me about XR3i's.

[laser wheels]

I don't know why, exactly, but for a while now I have been toying with the idea of a MK3/MK4 XR3/XR3i. I think some of it may be because I feel like now is the last chance to get a decent priced one before they are all scene-taxed out of the price range I would be happy paying for one. I have done some googling, but most opinions seem to be split between 'They're brilliant! Do it!' and 'They're shit! Don't do it!' so I think I'm better off just buying one and making my own mind up. If I get a half decent one - or at the very least, not a complete basket case - I doubt I would lose much if I really hated it.

 

From what I can gather rust is the big killer but that's hardly a surprise now is it? A cursory glance at ebay, Car and Classic. etc. suggests I could get a nice(ish) one for between £1000 and £2000. If I get one sub-1K I would be on it like a tramp on hot proverbials but I think those days may be long gone now.

 

Having said all that, I would be very interested in any experiences/advice my fellow shiters may have (for entertainment purposes if nothing else).

[Pillock]

They're not mega-quick any more. 105bhp is all you get, although in a nice light body but still you won't outrun an old guy in a diesel Audi. About 9 seconds to 60.

 

It's an appreciating classic so keep it nice and OSFtax will keep you happy when you come to sell it.

 

My only experience of them is smashing a mk3 to bits on mates front garden. It had had the interior and engine robbed to put in a Mk3 GL so we attacked it with paving slabs and hammers.

[Junkman]

Back in 1984 I was seriously considering a new one, I always saw it as the un-GTI.

I went as far as getting a quote from my local Ford dealer for one in Gemini-blue metallic and with the rear spoiler delete option.

Then I went to the SEAT dealer (who was actually a long established US Car dealer having recently added SEATs to his sales portfolio) and bought a white Ronda Crono with blue interior and with the stripes and stickers delete option.

[Asimo]

They are all red and they were all stolen years ago.

 

 Laser wheels: "I think I'm better off just buying one and making my own mind up"

 

This is the best car buying advice I have read for ages.

[Bucketeer]

I had a couple of Mk4 Orion 1.6i Ghias ten years ago.

Surprisingly good fun but any attempt at rapid forward progression was usually met with wheelspin rather than acceleration.

They've got to be fairly easy to maintain 'cos even I managed a bit of spannery-pokery with them.

[derek9213]

ive had a few of these and i find them a really nice, comfy car to drive, not particularly fast by todays standards, but were nippy enough in their day

mechanically simple and robust, cvh suffered from valve stem oil seals that leaked, but can be change in situ

check for rust everywhere from the sunroof down

[trigger]

A nice Mk1 Orion 1.6i Ghia would be higher up my list than a XR3i.

[purplebargeken]

^^ Orions are alleged to handle slightly better too. 

 

Rust, rust, rust. 

[Bren]

The mk 3 is the one to have - only mk 4 RS 's seem to be on the money.

 

My mate nearly bought one in 1991 but plumped for a c reg cav Sri - he said it was a much better car.

 

I dislike intensely the tinny sound you get shutting the doors - like a van.

 

They rot like fook but most survivors should be sorted now.

[EssDeeWon]

Always wanted a MK4 XR3i but just never happened. I would want something original in good condition for around £1.5k, anything (so called) mint is going to be £3k+

 

Anything your interested in just post it up, as for some reason im an anorak on these and know what is original and what is really original i.e. watch for 90 spec bumpers on 88 spec cars, dodgy springs, rear parcel shelf cut to pieces, clear lenses and bolt on exhausts.

 

Best colour is mercury grey, but anything in crystal blue is uber uber uber rare but is a genuine XR3i shade on 1988 E and F plates.

[Leyland Lawrence]

I was trying to find a Mk3 XR3 too. They're very nostalgic for me and I remember them everywhere. I've always liked the shape and I they remind me hark of my Brother's Scalextric 'Night Stages' set which features two XR3s.

 

However, I soon gave up. The ones I enquired about seemed, when digging more deeply, to have an 'uncertain' history, shall we say. I had thought £2,500 would get me something decent but there are just so few good ones out there that I had to give up. It seems that no one passes on the service history documents either, which is a shame. Loads have been ruined with modifications.

 

A nice clean unaltered one with a decent history file would be hard to find. And yet they were once so plentiful.

[ruffgeezer]

I know where there is a reasonable 1.4 onion, probably not as much fun mind.

[forddeliveryboy]

My forum name tells you what I did to earn money as a teenager. Even back then, without zero understanding of what made a good car good, I knew there was something not right about XR3is, if they were genuinely meant to be quick cars. Compared with an Astra or Golf they felt faster, but were a lot nastier to drive at any speed and high speed on anything other than a smooth motorway was not a good idea. They looked the part, though, and sold by the bucket-load.

 

I've since learned Ford never did get the back suspension right, something like a mis-measurement which caused all the problems of harshness and tyre wear (can't remember exactly what), that cheapest Russian steel was used in the mid-to-late-80s and everything was costed to the minimum then halved, Ford-fashion. Beyond the ride and handling, I found the steering was the single worst element. Similarly the XR2 (and XR2i) was over-done to attract boy-racers, the 1.4S was actually quicker in real life - quite a sweet little thing and not powered beyond its capabilities.

 

Driving new Fords (as well as a selection of 'pre-owned') I began to appreciate just how the company had become so rich. Showroom appeal was everything, they gave the public the car it thought it wanted and engineering was about how to make something cheaper than anyone had thought possible. Now and then there were other second hand cars to deliver, what a revelation. Vauxhalls felt like something from another planet - quality, smooth and fast in comparison. The contrast between a 60k mile Ford and anything else at that mileage or beyond was even greater than when new. A 100,000 four cylinder Audi (80) Coupe felt like a Bentley, totally rarified, high quality and quite exquisite. I can remember the contrast to this day, from the turn of the key, the feel of the steering wheel and delivery of the smooth four pot.

 

Driving Fords around the country made you appreciate a car for what it really was, plus I didn't have any of the blindness which love (and spending too much of your own money) creates. Decent Fords? I left the job around 1990, and very little impressed. Sierras with the 1800cc lump were best, the 1.4 Escorts least awful (apart from the awful run-out editions with XR-lookalike bits added, they stiffened the springs too if I remember right and the cars felt as if they'd been built even cheaper), I've mentioned the sweet little Fiesta 1.4S, the Granny 2.9 was the only car which was up to a 300 mile slog, comfy chairs I think, and ABS as standard. Quite a novelty back then. Now and again a square-rigged Granny would turn up - with either the 2.0 or V6 2.8 pushing it along, it felt the most together and least cheap of any Ford I ever drove back then, quite likeable.

 

But do buy one and keep it original, with a rusty one for trim spares - for nostalgia and for money-making.

[purplebargeken]

I remember chasing an XR3 (no i) when they were new in 1983 or so. I was in a K reg Toledo 1296cc which I had restored and that car flew! The Ford was only a couple of feet in front of me and my speedo needle was bouncing off the stop (yes, I know I would have died if he needed to brake hard, but I was young then). He wasn't too impressed by my ability to almost match him in the speed stakes. 

[purplebargeken]

God I love Mk3 2.9 Granada's. My perfect one would be white with black leather and of course, an auto version. 

[laser wheels]

They are all red and they were all stolen years ago.

 

Funnily enough I was just thinking that all the half-decent* looking ones I have seen for sensible money have all been red.

[forddeliveryboy]

I remember chasing an XR3 (no i) when they were new in 1983 or so. I was in a K reg Toledo 1296cc which I had restored and that car flew! The Ford was only a couple of feet in front of me and my speedo needle was bouncing off the stop (yes, I know I would have died if he needed to brake hard, but I was young then). He wasn't too impressed by my ability to almost match him in the speed stakes. 

 

Ha! I had a Toledo, badged '1300' (it was rwd) and that would also keep up with 'fast Fords' on anything but the straight and smooth. Driving home in it (£150 banger, with holes in tops of front wings and exhaust held up with wire, the original hangers weren't up to speed) after any new Ford was a delight. My mate had a fwd 1300 a few years later, I wondered how BL could have made such a mess of it when putting a propshaft to the back, though. 

[laser wheels]

The mk 3 is the one to have - only mk 4 RS 's seem to be on the money.

 

My mate nearly bought one in 1991 but plumped for a c reg cav Sri - he said it was a much better car.

 

I dislike intensely the tinny sound you get shutting the doors - like a van.

 

They rot like fook but most survivors should be sorted now.

 

Yes, A MK3 XR3 would be my preferred choice but I remember them being rare even as a kid back in the '90s. I saw a nice 5-door MK3 outside the local Halfords a couple of months ago and it was probably the first one I had seen in years!

[laser wheels]

not particularly fast by todays standards, but were nippy enough in their day

 

A very good point, but to be honest 'nippy' is good enough for me!

[EssDeeWon]

Yes, A MK3 XR3 would be my preferred choice but I remember them being rare even as a kid back in the '90s. I saw a nice 5-door MK3 outside the local Halfords a couple of months ago and it was probably the first one I had seen in years!

 

A MK3 5 door XR3??

[Bren]

My mates cav SRI was such a good car I followed suit and bought one as my cousin was selling his.

 

My cousin then bought a very late F plate XR2 to replace it.

 

It lasted a couple of months - he said it was'nt a patch on the cav - he replaced it with a 3 year old (g plate) cav SRi.

 

I hav'nt had many ford cars but I do like them - I would love a 3.0 Capri or granada at some point.

 

Mechanically they are quite crude, they are definitely built down to a price, but they are great to drive.

 

Very much greater than the sum of their parts.

[Bren]

Yes, A MK3 XR3 would be my preferred choice but I remember them being rare even as a kid back in the '90s. I saw a nice 5-door MK3 outside the local Halfords a couple of months ago and it was probably the first one I had seen in years!

Many moons ago somebody local had a very clean x plate XR3. It was'nt that quick, but my mate's 1600 cortina could'nt keep up with it.

[trigger]

My mate owns this very early XR3, it had the washer jet in the middle of the bonnet rather than the scuttle which only the first 50 or so had apparently (This could be bollocks though). He's had it resprayed over winter.

 

[oldford]

Back in the 1980s a friend purchased a Triumph 2.5 Pi automatic with a dodgy gearbox.  We converted it to manual and it flew.  He nick named it 'XR3i Killer' and it certainly did live up to its name on many occasions, leaving them in its wake.

 

They were good cars of their day, we had MK IVs on the rental fleet, though as Trigs says above a 1600i Ghia Orion, in my opinion, is the thinking mans XR3i.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Do it, but get a Mark 11 and not a IV. The original Mark 3 Escort looks crisp, the mark 4 spoilt it really. The Mark 3 and 4 had (the dirty stinking) Bosch K Jetronic that is much better than the EEC4 crap Ford saddled the CoarseVibratoryHarsh  motor with in the late eighties.

Kraut ones (Ford Werke Actiengeselschaftshiessenhausen on the VIN) were much better for FerrousOxide than the Scouse ones.

 

Best of all though, it's not a fucking mark 1 Golf GTi which as you all know is the best hot hatch ever built. Well, that and the bastarding 205GTi that attracts Pistonheads wankers like flies to shit.

 

For SERIOUS points though, forget the Ford and buy either the superior Alfasud Ti, or the far superior Astra GTE Mark 1, designed by Opel and built here by (all) Vauxhall(s are shite). I'd gladly suffer an Astra SR if the GTE couldn't be located, 1600 Family B motor on a GM Varajet 11. Mint.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

My mate owns this very early XR3, it had the washer jet in the middle of the bonnet rather than the scuttle which only the first 50 or so had apparently (This could be bollocks though). He's had it resprayed over winter.

 

IMG_7586.JPG

 

 

That's lovely. I bet it's got a white headlining too - MEGA RARE FORD POINTS OMG.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

In 1985 I got given a White XR3i company car C227PPH , this could have been seen as a foolhardy move on my bosses part . But he he didn't care, because A. It was leased. And B. They were off there faces on coke most of the time. C. It meant my 150 mile a day commute wasn't in theMD's 735.

I abused the shit out of it for over a year, I ran it with the speedo disconnected and we replaced every other set of tyres and pads ourselves so the lease company didn't suspect the mileage.

 

I'd love to have seen the Toledo that could keep it in sight, to be honest I don't think anything that ever came out of Canley except a TR8 or maybe a decent Sprint would have stood much of a chance against any 80's hot hatch .

It didn't exactly have much finesse about it but it gripped like a bastard and took everything a 21 year old with a fuel card could throw at it . The back tyres lasted about 5,000 miles and it liked a drop of oil even when new . It would cruise at its maximum speed which was an indicated 130, this was about 115 on the flat or 120 on the slightest gradient( scientifically proven on the M1 one afternoon ,when I followed my brother in the XR3, me driving a 380SEC).

I never actually crashed it properly ,but did manage to put it on top of some Armco once. No body dMage just a bent steering arm that cost a tenner.

They were their own worst enemies, cheap,plentiful,fast and built like a Ford. No wonder they've all gone.

Since then I've bought a lot of hot hatches to sell on and would agree that mk4's rust even quicker than a mk3 and typical with Ford every year they downgraded something inside to save a few pence. Golfs are better built,Astras faster in a straight line( but horrible steering) Peugeots handle better( right up till they kill you) Maestros handle better,are as fast but somehow don't feel sporty. Drove a Visa Gti once and it was a laugh but made 205s feel like a W123 Merc.

But XR3s sum up a whole decade of dodgy style,optimism and don't give a shit attitude that was the 80s, better than any other car.

Another thing that OldSkoolFord geezers don't like is that even a rusty smoky old XR3i could put down any standard rwd Escort ,might not have been as much fun but A-B would have been no contest, same with Capris,even a 2.8 injection would only win in the dry.

[fordperv]

They are cool little motors and are nippy, if your going for the mk4 try to get a late efi one instead of the k jet they are just that bit more refined

[Pete-M]

They never were very quick. I had an a reg caspian blue 3i. It wasn't a bad car but it wasn't exactly brilliant. Fun sometimes, the slightly chunky ride and fruity exhaust made it more fun than a normal Mk3 but it was never exactly scintillating. If you didn't Rev it far past 5000 rpm it went quite well. One of those that's likeable without being particularly good. Looked good and with electric windows, tints, half decent stereo.

 

A Strada Abarth 130 is a much better hot hatch, a Golf GTi 8v is a better all rounder. The XR3i would be better with a decent engine, the CVH is a rough lump.

[Station]

Now and then there were other second hand cars to deliver, what a revelation. Vauxhalls felt like something from another planet - quality, smooth and fast in comparison. The contrast between a 60k mile Ford and anything else at that mileage or beyond was even greater than when new. A 100,000 four cylinder Audi (80) Coupe felt like a Bentley, totally rarified, high quality and quite exquisite. I can remember the contrast to this day, from the turn of the key, the feel of the steering wheel and delivery of the smooth four pot..

I had the same thing after owning a string of Fords for six years, and then going for an astra. Everything about it was better. XR3i is such an icon though. Would love a mk4 in white, but scene tax means I never will. I wouldn't care about the dated ness in terms of speed and handling, they look absolutely ace.

 

I always remember on those police chase programs the narrator commenting that the XR3i the crims were driving was no longer a match for the police. And Mike the pub landlord out of Only Fools and Horses having one. 'Ive got a farst car.' Lol