1998 Ford Escort GTi from UK and Ireland - Comments

I have and Escort GTI and have had a top speed of 130, just with K&N filter.

I have heard recently that there is a low pressure turbo that you can buy, from ford to bolt on, anyone else heard of it???

Top speed is 140mph. Put your foot all the way down, it will do it. I had a VTS and the Escort GTi matched the performance. There is a turbo, you can buy for it £350 from a Ford main dealer. Very easy to fit.

Escort gti fast?!? Everyone knows the Escort gti is "SLOW"!

Has any of you owned a GTi? They're NOT slow, they're fast. A 1.8 16v cannot be slow, can it?

The escort gti is a lovely looking car very nippy the 1.8 16v go's well enough.

A comfortable, reliable and cheap to maintain car that still looks good in 2006.

I agree the Escort GTi still turns heads. Even today the Escort GTi is a lovely looking car and doesn't looked dated. It's still amazing, even in 2006, a really nice looking car, and the engine, being a 1.8i 16v, is enough to do 0-60 in just under 8 seconds, and hit 140mph flat out.

Its slow. Have owned one in the past, the car is to heavy and the engine doesn't produce much power. The car isn't worthy of a gti badge.

Which is better then: the 1.6 or 1.8? Is there much difference in the two, performance wise, or would people be better off getting a 1.6 and knowing that a 1.8 isn't that much quicker?

Where can you get the turbo from I went to ford dealer and the looked at me blankly wen I asKED HAVE you got to modify anything to fit turbo, email me on DANELLIS2005@YAHOO.CO.UK.

I own a 1997 Escort GTi with a problem that is baffling not only myself, but also my local garage. When the car is ticking over there is a very strong petrol/emission smell in the cabin. My local garage have been all over it and can find nothing wrong. Any ideas?

Kevin.

The fuel smell might be the lambda sensor, that's what it was in mine.

They can be a quick car with a bit of money, mine pumps out 186 bhp and it's quicker than a VTR/VTS.

I'm about to buy a gti, how do you get 186bhp out of it??

You probably have a worn out GTI, mine gets to 60 in abou 7-8 seconds, give or take. That's with a replacement KnN. Had 120mph and still going strong, but had to slow down as things were moving too quickly towards me...

My Escort GTi keeps over revving. I turn the key and it revs at 1500-2000, then it clicks and dies down to 850. What could this be? I have had the idle valve changed. Could it be the lamda sensor?

No way does a standard gti do 0-60 in 7 seconds!

Rs turbos are 7.9 seconds with almost 20 more bhp.

Nice cars escort GTIs, they are very rare too. Its just a shame about the performance, ford had a good oportunity for another good performance car, but stuck a 105 BHP engine in it, whats that all about? so I have to say it won't kill VTS's all day as they only weigh 995 KGs and have 120 BHP.

Yea YOURS is, but they aint all like yours. The ford model escort GTI is a lost opportunity, they should have made it at least 150 BHP. The RS 2000, that was a good car.

I really can't understand why people say the 1.8 head turner is not fast? I have a standard s plate in silver and she's been 130mph... only modification is my power flow exhaust? its stunning, reliable and quick.

I am considering buying a 1.8 GTi. I am looking to spend about £2000, can anyone tell me what they are really like, there is a bit of a mixed opinion on the performance??? jamesbenting@hotmail.co.uk

Okay, there are a few people getting over excited about facts and figures in here... Just because the speedo says the car is doing 140mph it doesn't make it so. Don't believe me? Run a decent GPS, or take the car to a runway with timing lights and you'll find out soon enough. Mine over-reads by about 8% which seems to be pretty normal (my bike says 186mph when it's doing 171mph, but that's another story...).

Also, a standard GTI will not do 0-60 in under 8 seconds. As someone has already mentioned, that's the territory of the original RS Turbo, which this is definitely not. Real 0-60 time is somewhere around nine and a half seconds. So, it's not a quick car, but it does everything else well, is cheap to maintain, insure etc. I've had mine for two years and it's only cost £250 in repairs (probably about 30k miles in that time), excluding consumables like tyres etc.

GTi & Si are 115 spec.

All you need for a 130 spec engine is the 2.0L cams. The 2.0L cams was all that ford did with the rs1800 fiesta.

Rather shockingly, some GTi's & Si's were even fitted with the 105 spec 1800cc Zetec. What was ford thinking?

Nice half leather seats in the GTi tho. The si's wing backs weren't too bad either.

Incorrect comment above. The Fiesta RS1800 was fitted with the cams AND 2.0litre throttle body (+MAF sensor etc.)

I was considering selling my 98 gti. But now I'm not too sure. ER... what is a " throttle body"?

BTW I don't feel the "cheap" vibe at the moment. It had a rear bearing collapse and mangle the stub axle (oh and the garage also mangled the ABS sensor getting everything off). That on top of a new clutch in Nov and a new starter in Dec. that's close to the car's net worth.

I do also agree that those who rev the nuts off the engine smile more! this said, its takes an eternity to stroll up to the 4500 rpm mark. Shorter gearing required?? Sacrifice the top end. I've seen what an escort looks like the wrong end of a 105 mph "off". Why the hell do you want to go faster than that?

At the end of the day you can't say a saxo is more worthy than the GTi they will never last the test of time. Ohh hang on they only had one or two models before they was replaced, I guess Citroen knew it as well. The GTi can be modified more cheaply and looks nicer. its not the quickest car, but there no comp.

The RS2000 has 150BHP which will make a fair bit of difference. The 0-60 is 8.2 a second quicker tham the GTi. If you hunt around you could get one with about 30k-40k for 3k-4k.

My ABS light is on, but my discs and pads need changing is this why? where can I get cheap throttle bodies from. I love my gti blows saxos all day.

One of the reasons the light may be on is the ABS sensor has been alerted by the fact you need new break disc's and pads, try ebay to pick up a 2:0 throttle body.