# F*king XR3i



## mstew (Mar 17, 2012)

Swapped my TT with my dad for his old XR3i plus more cash than the TT is worth and I just can't stand the thing. What an utter piece of shoot. It's leaks, it's uncomfortable, unreliable, rough running (CVH block), ugly and slow. It has the heaviest steering in the world upto 5mph and above that you don't feel like your driving at all as it becomes so light! I have no idea why these used to be considered 'the dogs danglees back in the day' as I know if I had one back then, I'd have been begging people to steal it. [smiley=bomb.gif]

I had a 1.0 micra as a temp car before and that thing was epic to drive. It was only a 1.0 but it loved to rev and it was so chuckable, everything worked and despite the granny looks I really liked it, I knew I shouldn't have sold it [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## Cloud (Sep 4, 2012)

Did you not test drive it first? They were fast *in the 80's* compared to most of the other every day cars that were around.

Try and swap it back when he isn't looking!


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## mstew (Mar 17, 2012)

I really would but I'm back at uni for my final year and really can't justify keeping it here, I just need a car to get home when I want to but today it wouldn't start so pee'd me off. Time to get breakdown cover I think....

Hopefully I can get a quick go in it tomorrow before coming back :roll:


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Now if had been a early XR3 Carb, not an Injection, what a difference. Even harder suspension & heavier steering.  :wink: 
Still luv my XR3 5 speeder, but yes things have definately changed.
I could race & beat everything in 80s/90s but wouldn't even think about it now. [smiley=bigcry.gif] 
Hoggy.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, Now if had been a early XR3 Carb, not an Injection, what a difference. Even harder suspension & heavier steering.  :wink:
> Still luv my XR3 5 speeder, but yes things have definately changed.
> I could race & beat everything in 80s/90s but wouldn't even think about it now. [smiley=bigcry.gif]
> Hoggy.


I was wondering when you would pop up on this thread :lol:


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## mstew (Mar 17, 2012)

Ha not really helping there Hoggy but appreciate the input, it's an se500 so has all the 'luxuries' but no turbo [smiley=bigcry.gif] If this was good I'd hate to see how an 80's 'slow and poor handling' car feels like [smiley=bomb.gif]


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## corradoman (Sep 11, 2010)

what do you expect :lol: :lol: cars have advanced a bit since the 80s


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

YELLOW_TT said:


> Hoggy said:
> 
> 
> > Hi, Now if had been a early XR3 Carb, not an Injection, what a difference. Even harder suspension & heavier steering.  :wink:
> ...


Hi, Yes didn't take long. I don't keep a car for 31 + years & think it's rubbish.
There are XR3s & XR3s as there are TTs & TTs, some good, some F. rubbish. 
Hoggy.


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## roddy (Dec 25, 2008)

surelly one must ask the question, why did you buy the fkn thing ? :?


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, A TT for an XR3 no chance, not mine anyway. 









Hoggy.


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## Skeee (Jun 9, 2009)

mstew said:


> Ha not really helping there Hoggy but appreciate the input, it's an se500 so has all the 'luxuries' but no turbo [smiley=bigcry.gif] If this was good *I'd hate to see how an 80's 'slow and poor handling' car feels like * [smiley=bomb.gif]


Try the Renault 5. Not the "All New Renault 5" but the previous (_pre 1985_) version with the shorter narrower track! :roll: 
Or a 2CV. :lol:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... 11,1580749


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## Pugwash69 (Jun 12, 2012)

My first bike was a 1988 CBR600F-J - jelly mould styling but damn good. It was only about 90 bhp at best! I guess they put up with less back then.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

A Mk1 Golf GTi was the tool of choice back in the 80s. It would clean up against an XR3 any day!


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## jamman (May 6, 2002)

rustyintegrale said:


> A Mk1 Golf GTi was the tool of choice back in the 80s. It would clean up against an XR3 any day!


+1 My virst VEA877X


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## mstew (Mar 17, 2012)

My one is a 1990 G reg, my dad's had it since 1992 but it's no gem now. I think I'd prefer a mk1 GTI too but now they're worth more than TT's!

Drove the TT again today but to be honest I wasn't satisfied, it felt good but not as good as I remember  maybe once I graduate next year it'll be time for something 2.0 TFSI based :twisted: Mk5 GTI or TT mk2, hmm....


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## t'mill (Jul 31, 2012)

It won't help that your XR is a cabby, and if a little tired will obviously be a bit lousy to drive. The Mk3's were better anyway 

Mines 28yrs old and believe it or not, still feels as tight a drum. But then it does only have 54k on the clock  









Doing a quick bit of googling, your SE500's seem quite sought after. Under 20 left on the road with 60 SORN. So you got yourself a rare bus there! :lol:


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## mwad (Oct 11, 2013)

It's a Ford....
Say no more :lol:


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## t'mill (Jul 31, 2012)

Old Fords are ace.

Say no more :lol: :lol:


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## mwad (Oct 11, 2013)

t'mill said:


> Old Fords are ace.
> 
> Say no more :lol: :lol:


Your RS looks stunning I have to say


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

t'mill said:


> Old Fords are ace.
> 
> Say no more :lol: :lol:


Hi, [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=sweetheart.gif] 
Hoggy.


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## CWM3 (Mar 4, 2012)

mstew said:


> If this was good I'd hate to see how an 80's 'slow and poor handling' car feels like [smiley=bomb.gif]


PMSL, a priceless comment from the youth of today, if only he knew what shite we had to put up with back then, the XR3/GTi were more like todays F1 cars than most of the dross that was built in the 70s and 80s :mrgreen:


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

CWM3 said:


> mstew said:
> 
> 
> > If this was good I'd hate to see how an 80's 'slow and poor handling' car feels like [smiley=bomb.gif]
> ...


 [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=iloveyou.gif] :lol:  :wink: 
Hoggy.


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## wilson (Feb 20, 2012)

t'mill said:


> Mines 28yrs old and believe it or not, still feels as tight a drum. But then it does only have 54k on the clock


     OH WOW.... that is stunning, only 54k. I'm in love!! This post is bring back some memories, I've had two Series 1 RS's, the first one was a mess, but I was young and couldn't afford to buy one, the second one I did a lot of work on and kept it completely original looking and kept it about 5 years. Still regret selling it.
Had a few XR3i's, but never an XR3 unfortunately, had a sunburst red one with cloverleafs  that was a fun car.... one mk4, and 2 x mk3 cabs

I wish I still had pictures, think I've got a couple of old poloroids of the mk3 xr3i, and a couple of the series 1, before I put all the orange indicators and overiders back on.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

The only Escort worth having...










Mine for a short while. :wink:


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Couldn't have been that good, otherwise you would still have it. :roll:  :wink: 
XR3 owned for 32 years has to be the best Escort. :lol: :lol: :wink: otherwise I wouldn't still have her 8) 
Hoggy.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, Couldn't have been that good, otherwise you would still have it. :roll:  :wink:
> XR3 owned for 32 years has to be the best Escort. :lol: :lol: :wink: otherwise I wouldn't still have her 8)
> Hoggy.


It was fabulous. V6, 2.8 Capri engine. Rear wheel drive. I had it for a few weeks while I was doing marketing material, design and photography for The XR Centre in Byfleet, Surrey. Sadly it got written off shortly after I returned it. But I did seriously consider giving up my Mk1 Golf GTi for it.

Ironically, the backdrop is now built up and where I work part-time now.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

rustyintegrale said:


> Hoggy said:
> 
> 
> > Hi, Couldn't have been that good, otherwise you would still have it. :roll:  :wink:
> ...


Hi, Nice engine & drive train 8) not really an Escort, but must have been a wonderful drive though 8) [smiley=thumbsup.gif] 
Hoggy.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

Hoggy said:


> rustyintegrale said:
> 
> 
> > Hoggy said:
> ...


Seriously cool. Took it to the local Ford dealer when I had it and they became agents. A load of window lickers!


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## t'mill (Jul 31, 2012)

rustyintegrale said:


> The only Escort worth having...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow! Can't believe you had one of those rare beasts. I shudder to think what a good one would fetch today.


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## actionman37 (May 13, 2012)

my 1st car 19 years ago when i was 20 was a 1998E mk2 XR2! Only kept it for 3 months. Totally basic with no elec windows, no central locking etc, underpowered & over rated! Insurance was £1100 TPFT. Traded it in for a 1998 309 1.6XSi which has the 115bhp 205 1.6GTi engine. Felt a lot livelier, handled better, elec windows, central locking! Even better the insurance was only £575


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## actionman37 (May 13, 2012)

oh & forgot to add I wouldn't swap the wifes Focus 2.0TDCi for an XR3 never mind a TT! :mrgreen:


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## t'mill (Jul 31, 2012)

actionman37 said:


> my 1st car was a 1998E mk2 XR2. Only kept it for 3 months. Underpowered & over rated!


This ^ :lol: My 4th car at 23 after my Mk1 Uno Turbo was an E reg XR2. Slow, noisy and thirsty. Everything the Uno wasn't! I don't know why XR2's were that slow. They had about 96bhp, were tiny and weighed nowt. Got rid after a few months because it annoyed me. Shame though coz I actually liked the car as in the drive and looks, just couldn't get on with the engine after the Uno's refined economical (and fast) engine.


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## Gone (May 5, 2009)

mstew said:


> Swapped my TT with my dad for his old XR3i plus more cash than the TT is worth and I just can't stand the thing. What an utter piece of shoot. It's leaks, it's uncomfortable, unreliable, rough running (CVH block), ugly and slow. It has the heaviest steering in the world upto 5mph and above that you don't feel like your driving at all as it becomes so light! I have no idea why these used to be considered 'the dogs danglees back in the day' as I know if I had one back then, I'd have been begging people to steal it. [smiley=bomb.gif]
> 
> I had a 1.0 micra as a temp car before and that thing was epic to drive. It was only a 1.0 but it loved to rev and it was so chuckable, everything worked and despite the granny looks I really liked it, I knew I shouldn't have sold it [smiley=bigcry.gif]


I was going to say
(1) I didn't realise Hoggy was your Dad
(2) well done getting him to hand the keys over
But the thread developed very quickly.



Had a 1.3L at uni, so get you, you flash git. Heavy steering, leaked, dodgy electrics, shit stereo, often wouldn't start without a swift boot to the centre tunnel/bulkhead, slow, floaty at anything over 75. Faded paint, got broken into for the rear speakers and ended up with a mis-matched tailgate. But dead easy to work on and cheap as chips to run. The lads took it clubbing in Nottingham, to the 1st Love Parade in Leeds, to Betws-Y-Coed in the pissing rain for a revision break during exams, to Ironbridge just for "a drive" after some woman trouble, an all night drinking and cards bender by the seaside/Southsea... rusted out of the MoT in 2002 and I ended up with my 1st Audi. Good times [smiley=dude.gif]


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## mstew (Mar 17, 2012)

Skeee said:


> Try the Renault 5.
> http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... 11,1580749


Haha love it, you know an ad is old when they describe the car as 'brimming with goodies', but must say I'd happily give that a miss :lol:



t'mill said:


> The Mk3's were better anyway
> 
> Mines 28yrs old and believe it or not, still feels as tight a drum. But then it does only have 54k on the clock
> 
> Doing a quick bit of googling, your SE500's seem quite sought after. Under 20 left on the road with 60 SORN. So you got yourself a rare bus there! :lol:


I'll let you have that, unless of course someone kindly lets me borrow some keys for a quick comparison drive :roll: having said that yours does look a beaut and I don't expect you'll be handing over they keys to her for a long time!

Yeah, shame it's not worth anything though. Plan is to keep it as now I and mr clutch fixed it and she runs like a dream (for a cvh anyway).



rustyintegrale said:


> The only Escort worth having...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now that does sound like a beast! Would certainly put a stock xr3 in its place 



actionman37 said:


> my 1st car 19 years ago when i was 20 was a 1998E mk2 XR2! Only kept it for 3 months. Totally basic with no elec windows, no central locking etc, underpowered & over rated!


Sounds like you could use a 1.0 micra. I managed to squeeze 106mph out of mine, the little engine must have never been worked so hard! Felt pretty stable too, but what do you expect from the makers of the GTR ha. The best part was burning people in their beamers and mercs off the lights on the commute to work too :lol: priceless!



Gone Ape said:


> Had a 1.3L at uni, so get you, you flash git.
> 
> .. rusted out of the MoT in 2002 and I ended up with my 1st Audi. Good times [smiley=dude.gif]


Not as bad it sounds, I only managed to buy the TT as I saved enough during my placement year.Thankfully the insurance was only £57 more than it was for my 1.6 golf thanks to me having just turned 21. Also at least some good came out of it when your old 1.3 died 8)


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## auditt8ntdi (Dec 12, 2013)

That mk1 rs turbo is absolutely stunning

I hate fords but would have one of those anyday


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## mwad (Oct 11, 2013)

auditt8ntdi said:


> That mk1 rs turbo is absolutely stunning
> 
> I hate fords but would have one of those anyday


Snap! Exactly my thoughts too


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## TT Boycie (Sep 27, 2009)

Mk1 Rs turbo custom. Simply gorgeous!


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