1989 Ford Sierra LX 2.0 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Trusty but aged

Faults:

The cylinder head gasket had failed, and then it s tarted to burn oil.

General Comments:

I managed to fit a replacement engine from an injection granada, though my car is a carb model,the twin cam engine only needed the injector holes blanking off. 3 years later, it is still very fast, and generally reliable, though I never brag about the car as it is a model regarded as old hat now!!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st December, 2006

1989 Ford Sierra Ghia 2.0i SOHC from UK and Ireland

Summary:

AN 80's CLASSIC

Faults:

Nothing as yet, replaced front brakes (£40 disks and pads, easily fit yourself), springs, couple of bulbs etc.

General Comments:

This car is amazing! Under £500 and you can have so much fun.

Fuel economy isn't so great; it's costing about £5 for 25miles. I bought it for motorway driving and it cruses @70MPH easily.

The original suspension was terrible, it rolled massively so I changed the springs and lowered it by 40mm. I then put an original set of 15" Cosworth wheels on and it handles incredibly since. That cost me £40 for the springs and £100 for the wheels with good tyres, I fitted it all myself so definitely worth it.

Just adjusted the valve clearances and it sounds much sweeter, exhaust is noisy, but £20 down the scrap yard and you've got an almost new one, £200 for a new one (+ fitting).

If you want a reliable family car that won't break down and you don't mind working on your car every once in a while then the sierra is a classic! Cheap to buy and if it dies, scrap it and move onto the next one, I've had 2 and I'm going to move onto a 2.9 GLS 4x4, that's 150BHP for ~

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd May, 2005

1989 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 2.0 16v turbo from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A proper drivers car!

Faults:

It has been a very reliable car so far, nothing major has gone wrong just a couple of things.

The turbo actuator went which resulted in lack of power, the boost pressure dropped to 5 psi.

Turbo pipes needed replacement.

The fan belt and power steering belts needed replacement.

General Comments:

The power of this car is unbeatable. It feels as if you have been hit up the rear by a formula one car, when you put your toe down and the turbo cuts in!

The handling is superb it goes where you point it. But don't put the power down on corners, it twitches about and can spin out easy!

The interior is very nice, the recaro sports seats hold you well.

All the usual electrics inside windows/mirrors etc.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd March, 2005

1989 Ford Sierra cosworth 2.0 turbo from UK and Ireland

Summary:

One of the best cars ever built

General Comments:

I have owned over 40 cars. Including Astra GTE 16v, RS Turbo, Renault 5 Turbo, Primera Egt, Celica GT4 and lately tried a Corsa with a 2.0 ltr 16v engine. Nothing comes close to the Sapphire Cosworth. I have previously owned 4 Cosworths and have recently purchased my current Sapphire Cosworth.

My Cosworth is running a phase 1 chip, running 270BHP. I have had Stage 2 and 3 Cosworths, but even the stage 1 would put a smile on anyone's face. My new Cosworth with a Phase 1 chip is good enough to be side by side with an Impreza P1 up to 4th gear, with the Cosworth having the edge in 5th. I can get similar performance from a £3000 Sapphire Cosworth, than one of my friends gets from their ultimate £22000 Impreza P1. (Their words)

I have not been truly impressed with any Impreza turbo, and I have driven a few. I think a slightly tuned 16v Astra GTE would see most of them off. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against the cars, I have been tempted a few times to buy one, but after a test drive there is no contest, for drivability and performance the Cosworth wins hands down.

After speaking to a few Impreza owners, they seem to use twice the amount of petrol than us Cosworth owners do. After a weekend of driving, my Impreza driving friends are seriously out of pocket.

Blown engines seem to be a very regular and expensive problem for Impreza owners, I know of at least six different cars recently that have had blown engines, they have had fewer than 70,000 miles on the clock and were under 6 years old. I hate to imagine what they will be like when they are 15 years old, like my Sapphire Cosworth. My Cosworth is still running the original turbo.

My car has undergone an engine rebuild at just under 100,000 miles and this should last me another 100, 000 miles. I can still walk into a Ford dealer and order a replacement part for my 15 year old car. Try doing that even in a 10 year old Impreza. The Subaru dealer would send you packing.

I do not think that there will ever be anything made that will ever come close to the Sapphire Cosworth. I will be holding onto this one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th January, 2005

15th Jan 2005, 17:37

I would give my eye teeth for a cossie. U lucky git!!!

27th May 2005, 04:03

The YB is as tough as old boots as long as it is either left standard or tuned properly, and correctly serviced. It's a true competition engine that was then adapted for road use, something that is almost unheard of in an "affordable" road car these days. It's also based on the bulletproof Ford Pinto engine which itself has decades of chequered motorsport and tuning history.

The YB's patchy reputation came about in the early 1990's as a result of fly-by-night tuning companies offering big bhp chip upgrades for ridiculously little cash (an extra 150 bhp could be had for less than £250 for example). What these chips did was simply wind up the boost and run the engine extra rich, both of which are potentially catastrophic for reliability and engine life unless they're very carefully done.

A factory standard, or properly modified Cosworth with a chip from a reputable company (and hence some proper R&D testing behind it), and sensible engine mods will do 100,000 miles plus before it needs any major attention. As long as the turbo is treated with a bit of consideration and the right oil and change intervals are used, these engines go on and on. Remember this engine has had huge success in touring cars, rallying and has even won the gruelling Bathurst round of the ATCC twice, in a class where the V8 rules the roost.

I've driven a factory standard Series 1 "whale tail" Cosworth with 144,000 miles. It hadn't been mollycoddled or cherished particularly, just serviced by a local Ford RS specialist exactly as per the schedule, and allowed to warm up before caning, and cool down before switching off. It went like an absolute rocket, sounded sweet (as sweet as a YB can anyway) and didn't feel tired in the slightest. Had also never let the owner down from new.

View 55 more comments