Faults:

Lots of little things have gone wrong which in time mount up to become very frustrating.

Wiring for example wasn't very good on the car and needed a few solid days work to fix.

Cooling was also a problem, but two constant fans now do a proper job.

Dump valve was also replaced due to it being the wrong type a 'diaphragm' rather then 'twin piston' dump valve, which released too much pressure for engine to properly operate.

General Comments:

Despite it's problems this is a dream car for me, especially as it was an upgrade from my previous car a Mk2 Fiat Punto 1.2 which was painfully slow.

The RS Turbo carries real history which shows on the countless faces who love to watch me zoom by, especially on high boost.

My escort is tuned to nearly 220bhp which gives me enough speed and torque to beat most of the so called 'fast cars'. Impreza's and Evo's for example pose no real threat anymore unless they're highly tuned due to the low weight on a RST. My power to weight ratio is close to 200hp/tonne.

The RS Turbo represents an alternative sports car which shows that despite 15-20 years of development cars still can't leave it in the dust, a testament to it being far ahead of it's time. But with a legacy from cosworth it's hardly surprising.

I have been offered faster cars in exchange for my RS, but haven't been able to part with it, it just gives you a feeling while driving that's unique and raw.

Faults:

A faulty connection meant the side indicator needed to be fixed.

The person who owned the car before me had rode the clutch so, although it didn`t slip, it was noisy.

The gearbox started whining and it became difficult to change gears.

There was some serious rust under the car.

The battery started playing up, resulting in me not being able to start the car.

General Comments:

Very cheap to run as it had great fuel economy, and the servicing was relatively inexpensive. Although insurance costs are fairly high considering how small an engine it had.

Easy and enjoyable to drive, I thought it handled really well and was quite fast considering it only had 4 gears. I would love to have driven an RS turbo.

Although ultimately I thought it best to sell the car on and use my money to by a Golf GTI than spend it on fixing all the problems with the car, because the specification was terrible, it didn`t even have a cigarette lighter.

Faults:

To get it through the first MOT:

Welding, Exhaust, Handbrake cable, Headlight switch and two new tires.

Then the fan belt went, luckily not far from home!

My next MOT, was just some welding.

It hates the cold weather!

Has a few rust spots, but they are easily rubbed down and re-painted.

I've had to use my electronics knowledge to fix the wiper switch and the heater for the rear windscreen.

General Comments:

Bearing in mind that the car had been sat in a garage for 5 years before I got it, I'm quite happy with the quality.

The interior has quite obviously aged, the dash has a few scrapes, the seats have a bit of water damage and I've had to put a steering wheel cover on to stop my hands sticking to the rubber. But it's my first car, and I love it!

When it's warm, it accelerates nicely, and can pull away from traffic lights faster than some newer cars!