1984 Ford Sierra XR4i review from UK and Ireland

Track control arm bushes needed to be replaced.

I replaced the whole braking system, shoes, wheel cylinders, pipes, hoses, disks, pads, calipers, master cylinder and fluid. The brakes were still spongy..

I never got to the bottom of a nasty 'clunk' from the front suspension when reversing at manouevering speed.

The old T5 gearbox was getting a bit difficult to put into gear, but a new clutch sorted that out.

The rear wheel arches were starting to bubble up through the plastic trim pieces, but all in all it wasn't too rusty for the age.

Leaky fuel tank was replaced with a new one, and a rusted fuel line was replaced with a stainless braided flexi pipe.

Trim and seats were showing signs of age and creaked quite a bit.

Performance exhaust really needed to be replaced, but I just kept patching it up.

I reckon the XR4i was the last rear drive muscle car that Ford released in the UK. It was very fast in a straight line, and handled well enough in the dry. In the wet though it was a real handful. Roundabouts could be fun!

The performance exhaust sounded fantastic. It went from a V8-type rumble at low rpm to a wailing banshee scream at high rpm.

I never got the brakes up to a level matching the power of the car. Maybe a new servo would have helped.

The fuel consumption was pretty typical of a 2.8i, 30 MPG on a run, but down to the low teens if I used the power.

The 4x4 I've replaced it with is much more understated, has far more traction, better brakes (with ABS), and just feels much safer. The 2.9i goes just as well, with a little more torque at the bottom end. Still, nothing matches the XR4i for sheer boy racer looks, noise and tyre-burning, over-steering fun.