1980s Super Middleweight Showdown!

[warren t claim]

Let battle commence!

 

In the beige corner

 

 

The challenger!

 

Vs the current champion in the brown corner!

 

 

Which side were you on?

[Shep Shepherd]

The Sierra's, if only because the pre-1987 versions looked more interesting than the contemporary Cavaliers - got to love those wheeltrims

[CreepingJesus]

Oooh, that's close! Both good in different ways, but I'm going to have to go 51/49 in favour of the Cav (if you see what I mean). If only because the pov-spec Cavs were a bit less unpleasant than the equivalent Sierras. The 2 litres and luxo models were pretty much equal, in my book.

[seth]

I'm not a Ford man but the Sierra definitely wins that one. Look how futuristic it is! The jellymould shape was like nothing else on the road in 1982 or whenever.

 

[Guest]

I like both and have had a few in the past. The Sierra wins for me - nicer to drive - willing pinto engine and you knew you would get there. Cavalier was a good car as long as you did not have a basic model but yet the sierra was good even in basic emax flavour.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

Sierra for me, because A) I love 'em and I am a big Ford fan.

 

And FYI, I do believe that the 'Posh Sierra' was better specced than the same model Cav, 'Clean hands' and 'Graphic information module' were not fitted to any Mk2 Cavalier CDi that I have seen. The lower spec Cavalier beat the Sierra in equipment stakes pound for pound, but the posh version was nowhere near as good as its aero, rear drive rival.

[autofive]

in the late 1980s i was driving cortinas, and hated the appearence of the sierra when it first launched.

 

but, i never liked the interior, or exterior of the mk2 cavalier - my dad had a few cavs, they were fast enough but liked to snap camshafts, where as most of the sierras i saw on the roads were taxis, and my constant supply of dead cortinas kept them in replacement pintos (in the late 80s)

[trigger]

The Sierra everytime, I found those to be a much better drive, They felt more soild and better build, Lots of room and RWD to boot, 100% the Sierra for me!

[Jon]

Erm..suppose it's a bit obvious vote from me, I guess? However, it could have all been different as one of the main reasons my mum and dad bought a Cavalier over a Sierra was that my mum couldn't see out of the sierra very well, since she's about 4' 10" or something. However, I owned a nice straight Sapphire that Scary's got now which did sway the way somewhat and probably would've done more so if it had been a Mk1 Sierra, but then it proved reliable and comfortable and bloody cheap to run, so I suppose I'd have been happy with it whatever it had been.

 

Plus, there's nothing like a childhood allegiance to seal the deal. That and it being FWD and less likely to survive thus making it more of an underdog.

[Barry Cade]

Cavalier for me, always loved the Mk2,and had quite a few SRi's one after the other. Brilliant torque,3rd gear was devastating and brilliant cruisers. I did get a Sapphire GLSi which was oversteery fun, but felt rougher and less refined than the Cav. Nowhere near as good on fuel either.

[ashmicro]

Sierra for me. I remember gawping at one at the 82 Motorshow in Belfast. To my 9 year old eyes, it looked like a spaceship. It was roped off, but the nice man from Ford let me and my Dad sit inside it for a minute or two.

[RoadworkUK]

Sierra every day of the week, and twice on tuesdays and thursdays. The Ford was definitely a more driver orientated machine, The Cav SRi was the most peppy MkII until the Calibre special turned up, while Ford had the iS, GLSi, XR4i, XR4x4, Ghia 4x4 Estate and even a fleet of Cossies while the second Cav was being churned out.

 

Although I admit the SRi130 was neat-ish, and I share Harry Enfields Jones for the Cav Convertible....

[chaseracer]

Neither, thanks.

 

IME, the Sierra was wobbly, poorly-made and reluctant to start, go or stop. And that was a brand-new one. The Cav wasn't right until version3.0 in 1988.

 

However...

 

 

Gosh, how did that get there...?

[Rocket88]

Cavalier for me as well, driven several varients of both, Cav just seemed to be a more modern drive.........

[M'coli]

Cavalier for me now, Sierra at the time. We had a Cortina estate in 1982, and a condescending schoolfriend's dad had just bought a new Cavalier, and I was damned if I was going to let him win the argument!

 

IIRC, the equivalent Sierra was better spec'd because the public were put off by its styling: the Sierra was given electric windows and the like as standard to boost its chances of selling. It worked too! Then the Cosworth came along - what wins on Sunday, sells on Monday.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

They were both good, and a lot better than some supposedly better and more expensive cars. My Dad had an A plate 2.0GL as a new company car (A708HFA) which was utterly reliable and well made - 125'000 miles in 2 years with just a cambelt, tyres and servicing. You can't beat that. The post facelift ones lost a lot of the appeal in my eyes - it has to be the original Jellymould. The 1600 VV Pinto was a nicer engine than the (pokey) 2 litre and with the 5 speed box it was an excellent m/way car that would piss 30 mph with ease. Vastly better than the Cortina.

 

The Cavalier felt lighter on it's feet but didn't handle quite as well - it felt and drove like a big Mark 1 Astra which is really what it was It had loads of performance though and I was staggered at how well the 1300 went - really lively. I didn't think the base models felt that bare inside either.

The Mark 111 Cavalier was a much better car than the 88 onwards Sierras.

 

Offered the opportunity of a decent example of either to use as a daily, I'd have either but would plump for the Sierra out of preference and nostalgia. A Rio brown 1.6L 5 speed on the Y/A plate please.

[Pete-M]

Sierra for me. Some of the Mk2 Cavs were bloody good, I was always amused by the grunt available in the injected Cavs, but at the end of the day I'd always choose the Sierra because it's nicer to drive.

 

Sierra 4x4 is a truly magnificent thing.

 

My favourite Sierras are the last of them, the '92 facelift Sapphire Cosworth is a fabulous piece of kit.

 

I don't like Mk3 Cavs, but they're better than a dose of the Vectras.

[RedSparrow]

Ahem!

 

 

Nicked from Trigger's FlickR again.

Moar: http://flickriver.com/photos/tags/ten+car+test/interesting/

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Aah, the Pug 405. Without a doubt the finest handling car of it's time which would run rings around the Sierra and Cav. The 1.9SRi was a fantastic driving tool.

 

My fave Sierra was the black C reg 2.0iS I had. Rotten arches and sills, pattern front wings that almost fitted but very healthy and it was a pleasure to steer - pokey injected Pinto and the Cosworth type 3 spoke leather wheel. Nice car that was.

[fordperv]

Definately the jellymould for me every time from the baby 1.3 to the mighty cosworth, ive always liked the styling, whereas the cav makes me think geography teacher

imo the sierra was and still is the better car, always found the cav a bit boring in comparison. Always prefered the pinto to the vaux ohc engine, ive always prefered the handling of the sierra and the fact of rwd

[AnthonyG]

Sierra for me, but I would prefer a Montego (preferably a 2 litre) over either. Montegos handled better and had a smoother ride, plus you could do stunts in the company car park with one .

[dollywobbler]

Rather than choose a winner, I think I'd rather just wallow in the joy of differences. If only an Insignia and Mondeo were that different today!

[Formula Autos]

Sierra for me - though there's nowt much wrong with a Mk2 Cav either.

 

I always thought the Sierra was a sort of Citroen DS for the '80s. It looked amazing, to the extent that it made its rivals seem dated (BX aside), but was itself hamstrung by dated mechanicals. Although it drove well, it always had a slight 'old tech' tag in any road tests, because of the RWD underpinnings.

 

Imagine if Ford had waited a couple of years (the Cortina was still selling well, after all) and got FWD mechanicals into the Sierra bodyshell. The competition would have been left for dead.

[eddyramrod]

Vastly better than the Cortina.

 

You're obviously not talking about a Ford Sierra then... in fact I'm struggling to think of a competing car you could be talking about!

 

My vote goes to the Cavalier, despite FWD, simply because Ford got so many things wrong with the Sierra. The moment you look at it, it's pig-ugly; then you sit in it. Windscreen and dashboard attack you, which isn't good for a claustrophobe. RWD is absolutely the only thing it has going for it. The Cavalier was powerful and comfy (admittedly I never drove a low-spec one) and while the style was never going to set Europe on fire, it did at least look like a genuine attempt to improve on the previous model. The only major mistake (and it's a biggie) was making it FWD.

[pogweasel]

Hmm, Cortina in a party frock or something that [quietly] raised the game?

 

CAVS were weapon of choice when I were a yoof. Cheaper, faster and more reliable.

I had one, and binned it spectacularly just hours after purchase.

[Cavcraft]

Don't think I need to answer this but I'm going to anyway. Having spent a considerable time in both 'in the day' (and later on) the Cavalier would win it for me. They didn't rust as badly in the first few years and the common or garden models didn't use the same amounts of fuel or oil as the Sierra did in my experience. Now I could be biased here for a couple of reasons: firstly I never liked the Mk1 Cavalier so the next model had to be (and was) a massive improvement and secondly I had a Mk5 Cortina which I loved and could never take to the shape and style of the Sierra.

Still rank my old (and badly missed) late facelift Mk2 1.8 SRi as one of my favourite ever cars. It went like the clappers, took HUGE amounts of abuse and refused to die in my ownership. The handling was crap (especially in the wet) but it was a far better car than any Sierra I'd driven or owned. D178 OTX where are you now?

 

I'd have either these days though and a dangly mirrored early Sierra would be ace.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Reading Trigger's recent road test posting, Montego vs. rivals much of the competition matched the "Cavalier or Sierra" and a couple of unlikely choices (judging by modern opinions) bettered them.

 

305 for me.

[oldford]

I was lucky in the 1980s in that I got to drive lots of new rental MK 1 Sierras and MK 2 Cavaliers.

 

The Sierras were of the 1.6L manual hatch and estate variety and the 2 litre Ghia automatic.

 

The cavaliers were the 1.6L manual hatch and estate and the 1.8 CDi automatic saloon.

 

The 1.6 Cavaliers had the edge on performance over the 1.6 pinto and the Ghia was a nicer place to be than the CD.

 

Not really much to choose between them, but I always felt that the Sierra rode and drove better, so unsurprisingly, the Sierra for me.

[ProgRocker]

I've always preferred the Cavalier over the Sierra. Would love a mark 2 Cav in 1.8i or 2.0i CD spec.

[meggersdog]

Cavalier for me,although it would have to be a 1.8 injection.Back in the early to mid 90's I owned a facelift 1.8 SRi for nearly 4 years.In that time I bought and sold loads of Sierras and Cavaliers.The 1.6 Cavalier didn't like abuse and would eat oil pump gears resulting in knackered big end bearings.The Sierra could rot spectacularly,the '87 on (mainly Saphire) would rot out the doors just below the windows.Can't comment on the Cosworth as I've never driven one but the 130 SRi was a fine weapon in it's day.There was also a good looking (IMO) convertible in the Cavalier line-up.So for me a facelift D.reg Cavalier 1.8 SRi in bright red please.