camaro5690 wrote: Unfotunately I do not like coupes, I only like the hatchbacks, which seem harder to come by.

camaro5690 wrote:For those interested in the Merkur XR4Ti, it is based of the European Ford Sierra 3door. It is a close relative to the Sierra Cosworth RS which made quite a stir in the group B touring races in England, when it crushed all the competition, the BTCC then instituted rules limiting their capabilities.

Fords brilliant idea was to bring in a competitor for the European market in the 80s, to compete with BMW and Mercedes. So it imported two cars, the Sierra XR4i and the Ford Scorpio. Due to GMC owning the Sierra name, they decided to use and alphanumeric for the XR4Ti. They also decided to market them as sports luxury coupe (XR4Ti) and sports luxury sedan (Scorpio). They were brought into Lincoln/Mercuy dealers as a new brand Merkur (actually pronounced mare-coor). High import taxes and this foolish marketing idea brought costs very high for the two cars. Sales were low, and Ford eventually killed of the brand in 1989, only 4 years after introducing it.

The XR4Ti shares and engine with the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbocoupe of the era. The 2.3l turbo lima, a very sturdy platform if ont a bit heavy (weighs as much as a small block ford V8). It pushed 145 horsepower on the automatics which ran only 10psi, and 175 horspower on the manuals which ran 15psi.

Now later in their life, both models are riddled with reliability problems due to a worn out electrical system. Which was never designed that well in the first place. For instance on the XR4Ti there is no headlight relay, all power goes through the switch, lowering headlight output, and increasing wear on the switch. The rear taillights were designed with gaskets to keep the water out, which fail over time causing water to get into the trunk and corrode all electrical connections in the back. The underhood heat from the turbo wears out the wiring harness and makes hoses and clips fragile, so they frequently break while working on the car. Though the cars are riddled with small problems there is a huge following for them, and many aftermarket parts available. They are extremely common in autocross and rallycross. If you want to learn more you can visit merkurclub.com a website dedicated to an amazing community of people who love the cars, and are willing to impart their knowledge to others.