9 years ago I was driving these....

[andrew e]

...Till the autobox went bang in the VDP (1500 without picnic tables don't ya know) and a *ahem* 12 month break from driving made me sell the Escrote (to my mum!) when it was a year old, I bought it 6 months ex-swan national so Petes probally ragged it in a previous life...

 

 

[Pete-M]

Heh, I was working for National (a.k.a. Eurodollar) in '96. I think you're safe

[CIH]

Were those Escorts any good when new ? They're all shit now obviously.

[AnthonyG]

Were those Escorts any good when new ? They're all shit now obviously.

The N reg onwards (Mk6? Mk7?) ones were OK, these had the wide oval grille and smaller front lights. 1990 to 1995 ones were just about as shit as Escorts got.

 

I remember a What Car group test in 1990, when the Mk5 was launched, in which one came last against a Rover 214, Astra Mk2, Golf Mk2, Tipo and something else.

 

They were pretty shocked (disgusted might be more accurate) that it was not only not up to the standards set by the then new 214 and the newish Tipo, but was also bested by the Astra (6 years old design by then ) and the Golf (7 years old).

[Richard]

The N reg onwards (Mk6? Mk7?) ones were OK, these had the wide oval grille and smaller front lights.

You reckon? That was the opinion of the press at the time but it's not my experience. I had one and I couldn't see a single thing that was an improvement on the 1990-95 one.

[Pete-M]

The 'oval' Mk6 Escort was a big step forwards compared to what came earlier. Ford spent a fair old bit of time and effort trying to improve the car but didn't really have a very good starting point. It was a big improvement though, they reduced 'sticktion' in the suspension and steering and fiddled with the engines to try and get rid of some of the 'boominess' that the earlier ones suffered badly from. Most of the tweaks were successful, but the Mk5 should have been like that from launch in '90, not five years later.The thing that pissed me most off at the time was they kept stripping good bits from the only good Escort Mk5, the RS2000. I had a J plate one in '96 and it was a great car, but they first stripped the bonnet with the bulges, then they made it and the 'GTi' virtually identical to look at, then stole the rear discs and a few other bits. Eventually the RS was just a GTi with Recaros and a 2.0 lump. Shame that, as I really enjoyed my Mk5 one. A mate of mine has just bought one off fleabay and I had a quick spin around the block in it when he picked it up. Great car, that. Not the fastest hot hatch around - certainly not as quick as the 'red top' 16v Astra, but as a complete package it was pretty bloody good. If they had made the 4x4 one with the bulgey bonnet and a bit more poke - say 170 bhp instead of 150 - I'd probably be driving one now.

[andrew e]

The N reg onwards (Mk6? Mk7?) ones were OK, these had the wide oval grille and smaller front lights.

You reckon? That was the opinion of the press at the time but it's not my experience. I had one and I couldn't see a single thing that was an improvement on the 1990-95 one.

New they were a fine handling thing to me, vans were too (If abysmally gutless non-turbo). A couple of years back I had a Ghia 1.8 estate on an R reg - I stuck a pair of new wishbones on, and it was if it had been loaned to Lotus for two weeks - it drove fabulously.