Occasional Misfire when labouring
Distributor failure
Back Brake discs and calipers needed replacement
Exhaust came apart on the car
Some dodgy electrical connections to the lights
Battery not holding charge
Air conditioning doesn't work.
As a rule, I'm not a Ford man (although I have owned two proper Fords) with two Sciroccos in my back yard, but someone gave me this car in Jan. It was suffering from neglect and had been used to drive across farmer's fields so it needed a lot of TLC and some basic maintenance.
There was also a dealer-only misfire problem. It is dealer only because the engine is actually a Mitsubishi engine and the body was made by Mazda. In the UK at least, support for performance Mitsubishis is very limited. However, quite remarkably, changing the battery from the mean 650A crank to a piddly little one from a Scirroco dramatically improved things.
I've been pleasantly surprised with the comfort. The seat adjustments are the best I've ever seen - tilt, pivot, lumber, even lower back. Absolutely great for driving too fast on old straight roads!!
The performance isn't breathtaking with the 2.0/16V with conservative gearing giving you a nice top end, but not overly great acceleration. It can labour a bit in 5th. I reckon the V6 or a turbo is required to make the most of the car.
For a time, it was a direct competitor with the Corrado and having owned a V6 Corrado, I can tell why it couldn't compete in on-road tests. It's a much heavier and cumbersome car because of its huge boot space and roomy interior.
It has a typical bouncy and light comfort orientated drive (especially if you like the VW ride) and really needs a suspension lowering kit and some low profile tyres to stiffen it up and help you engage the drive a bit more. I find the handling a little too light at times for a sports car.
That said, it is a fantastic shape and is just asking to be customised - plenty of space in the wheel wells for 17" alloys (18" on the back!!) and lowering of the suspension, a nice flat back end asking for an extravagant spoiler and typical Jap lights easily replaced with the performance style.
Equipment is great, but it lacks a fuel computer like comparable VWs. I missed that feature.
Engine bay is tight, making it difficult for the home mechanic fitting a Turbo (!) and the battery bay is so small it requires either the specialist part or a lower rated battery. This is a pertinent point as the battery failed in mine - keep it topped up with water!
Like many Japanese cars, I think its standard specification is a bit weak, but with a bit of customisation, you've got a mean motor!!
With reference to the comment: "It can labour a bit in 5th." from, I assume Steven Jackson, I feel I am in considerable, friendly, disagreement.
Without disrespect to the author, I have been the owner/driver of a number of 5 gear boxes in my time and from my own perspective, I considered the 2ltr., 16v engine box to be quite forgiving in terms of its 5th, or any other, gear.
In terms of performance, I quite agree, the 16valve engine would not come close to pinning you in your, very comfortable very adjustable, driving seat, but, having said that, the overall handling of the vehicle when fitted with 175 Pirelli tyres was superb in dry conditions. (In the wet, I rode my bike, ZXR750).
You can include some top performance cars in my ownership catalogue (Lotus, Porche and not Ferrari) but I still found the Probe to fit my frame almost perfectly.
My only real criticism of the Probe, if any, is that it is not, in way, considerate of disabled people like my unfortunate wife who, having said that, has a high opinion of the Probe, one she's IN the Probe!
I am truly sorry that Ford decided to terminate the production of the model.
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