1991 Ford Scorpio Cosworth 24 valve from UK and Ireland - Comments

Car came with lousy brakes/disks. Total of £600 for all new pads and disks plus 2 rear calipers.

Odometer works when it feels like it so mileage is probably nearer to 150,000+

One connector in engine caused intermittent engine cut outs on left hand bends. Traced faulty connector and spent 70pence on a cable tie - cured problem.

One catalytic converter failed, they come in pairs and there are four on mine. Local exhaust place said Ford wanted £980 for one pair!!!. They searched locally and found a hand made unit with the two in for £500 so a bit better in price, but not much...

Rear wheel arches rusting slightly.

Air-con failed last year - not bothered to fixed it as I really like to hear that engine purr or growl.

An awesome performer:-

0-60mph in 7.1 seconds.!

0-130 in 24 seconds.!

I've had 165mph out of mine and it still had a spare 1400 rpm on the clock!!!

Oh and by the way - the antilock braking system is stunningly powerful. Stand on the anchor pedal at 145mph and your heart will stop beating for a second or two whilst your face will feel like its falling off - but stop you surely will!!

With these kinds of speeds so easy to achieve you must make sure the brakes and tyres are in REALLY GOOD CONDITION.

I get 22-24 mpg around town and on motorway cruise (even fully loaded & @ 85mph) i get 29-31mpg so economy is great for such a big bruiser of a car.

Oh yeah I recently bought a sectional 8ft x 6ft shed, folded the back seats down, laid it all in the back and went home at a steady 125mph up the A1. NO problem.

Sorry mate, but you've got a broken speedo. I used to sell these new for a living, and they wouldn't do 165 even when brand new and just run in. Ford claimed 140 maximum which was about right, although we did see an indicated 145 from one on "private land". ;) There was no way it was going any quicker though. Ford also claimed 8.2 seconds to 62 mph (100 km/h), and I will admit they are a bit quicker than that (or feel it at least) but they'll never do it in 7.1.

Hi there, just for the record, I'm currently cruising about in a 93L reg. d 2.0i Scorpio. I have had 2 of these now and I would just like to say in reference to the "broken speedo" comment. both my 2.0i 8v DOHC Scorpios have effortlessly hit the 145mark with no troubles so I would easily believe that the Cossie will do a fair bit more.

I have always owned fords and before my first Scorpio I had a 1995 M reg. d 1.6i 16v escort saloon, ford figures say 117mph was top end, my eyesight said more like 138mph so in my opinion don't trust factory performance figures.

It's quite common and amusing that some people think their car is somehow magically faster than the Autocar Road Test figures or even the manufacturer's own figures.

Well, if you knew a little about physics, you would know that the power required to propel a car varies with speed, but not in a linear fashion.

Believe it or not, it is approx proportional to the 3rd power of the speed.

So, if a particular car requires 100 horsepower to reach say, 100mph, it would require 173 horsepower to reach 120mph.

100 (HP at 100mph) =kx100 (MPH) x100 (MPH) x100 (MPH) (So k=.001)

Y (HP at 120mph) =.001x120x120x120 = 172.8HP

For a better explanation, see the technical section in www.e31.net

You can believe the man who used to sell them, above. (not me)

To modify a car yourself to go faster is usually not worth the expense and effort, because, as can be seen from the formula, you need a huge increase in power for only a small increase in speed.

Speedometers are generally wildly optimistic at their upper end. cardoctor999@yahoo.com.

Although the comment before mine is right with regard to a non linear ratio between horsepower and speed, many important variables are not considered in that example: aerodynamics, transmission ratios, etc... You can have a car with 250hp that can go up to 60mph in very short time and even reach with ease 100mph and with bad transmission ratios or aerodynamics you may not reach 120mph with the same car. A well designed car with good aerodynamics, weight, torque, and transmission ratios -among other things- can reach more than 200mph with 230hp, for example. Another example: slow in 0-60mph acceleration and very high top speeds. So, physics is indeed the subject here, but it isn't so simple. Other than that, I don't know if this car was capable of the speeds the reviewer says, but I wouldn't disqualify him by such an argument.

Taken from www.e31.net

click on "misc"

click on "air resistance"

Second column shows power at wheels.

Third column shows power at engine, so it accounts for power losses in the drivetrain.

These figures are for a BMW 8 series, but the Scorpio is not a big difference in frontal area or drag coefficent, I suppose.

(Cd for 850 is.29)

Speed Power at the wheels Power at the engine.

35 mph 8 hp 9 hp

60 mph 20 hp 23 hp

80 mph 38 hp 44 hp

100 mph 64 hp 75 hp

120 mph 102 hp 119 hp

140 mph 152 hp 178 hp

160 mph 220 hp 257 hp

180 mph 304 hp 356 hp

200 mph 409 hp 479 hp

220 mph 537 hp 628 hp

250 mph 776 hp 908 hp.

Still think your car did a true 165mph?

I read already the web page you recommend -before posting my first comment-, but it doesn't shed any light on this matter. Read my first comment: Transmission ratios and aerodynamics, among other things. Also, it is a big assumption that BMW 850i and Ford Scorpios have the same drag coefficient. And it isn't just a matter of frontal aerodynamics, it is also about how air passes over and under the vehicle. Many american cars from the '60s, '70s and '80s had great acceleration, but not so high maximal speeds. I am thinking on many Mustangs, Galaxies, Chrysler, Chevrolet, etc... It was common that with 330hps you didn't attain more than 136mph (of course there where many others that could attain more...), in the table you posted, that is the "normal" speed for cars with 102hps.

Lets see the table of speeds and horsepower you posted:

-120mph 102hp-119hp. There aren't too many cars capable of 120mph with just 102hp (the Beetle 2.0lts, 115hp can't, the Lupo 1.6, 100hp, neither, the A160, 102hp, neither...). But you could do even more than 120mph with 102hp.

-140mph 152hp-178hp. Mercedes has achieved 162mph with 185hp, in a 190E 2.3-16, which is more than what you post in your next category (160mph 220hp-257hp), and that was pretty much a production car. Also, the experimental car from Mercedes, C111 III, was capable in 1976 of reaching 202mph with just 230hp from a diesel engine.

-220mph 537hp-628hp

-250mph 776hp-908hp.

In 1939, Mercedes, also, produced a record braking car that reached 248mph with a 3.0lts, V12, and only 454hp...

So, speed depends upon many factors, which obviously are not listed in the variables you have mentioned. It is a more flexible problem. Many variables such as torque, transmission ratios, or general aerodynamics are crucial.

Anyway, I am not backing up the 165mph of maximal speed the owner says to have reached. But the arguments against that speed done here are unsustainable. We would need to know the maximal speed achieved by the tests on specialized magazines done in those years, and with a small inclination of the road that could change...

Best regards.

I can't possibly argue any further against such a well-written explanation.

Autocar road tested a Ford Sierra Cosworth in 1986 and achieved a top speed of 145 mph, 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and an overall mpg of 21.4.

I owned a '92 24v scorpio, top end I found was around 145 (on the clock) and ford's 0-60 was a little optimistic, I got around 8.5 seconds. great mid-range power though and I'd have another anytime. going by the trip computer, if you sat it at 70 mph the average mpg was 26mpg. the average over a week of various driving conditions tended to be more like 18 mpg.

Spot on figures, I have exactly those.

Mine will do 139mph on the sat nav and that's 157mph on the clock. Still got revs to go yes, but you try and use them!

Nice car, big fat barge for cruising, not much else though. Sluggish box, heavy fuel if you toe it and one hell of an ugly front. However, all that said and done, I love mine.

Its 20 grand spec for around £1500 for a nice one.

I love it. I justify the heavy fuel consumption by saving on depreciation. :)

Dutch Cobra-builder in need of more info about the 2.9 24V Cosworth.

With great interest I have read the very professional and technically accurate comments on these pages, so I think there might be an expert out there that can help me with my questions concerning the planned change from my regular 2.9 liter V6 to the Cosworth 24V version (Mk 1)

I suppose it would make my Ford Cobra (UK built replica) a bit quicker, but can it be done? Is the Cosworth-engine based on the original cylinderblock and engine mounts, and can you therefore just change the top-end of the engine, i.e. the cylinder heads? Or is that a much too optimistic approach tot this matter?

Please let me know if any of you experts can tell me how to handle this matter.

Thanxxx in advance!

Mr. R deVringer

Netherlands

email: info@amersfoortsefotograaf.nl.

I have owned 3 Granada Cosworth's and every one I have driven has done over 150 I had 110 out of 3rd in all 3 these cars with yet another gear to go. so to suggest the car won't top 140 is rubbish both cars were electronically timed and the electronic kit was calibrated so to the guy using all kind of physics quotes, you have no concept of what your talking about lots of things are to be taken into account here such as final drive ratios etc..

And to the guy who used to sell them for a living I think your talking pants also since when does selling a car for a living qualify you for real road testing chances are you were some guy dressed in a suit and never left the office (you know the Finance type)

Honestly get a grip before you quote none sense.

Hi all

see your on about the cosworth 2.9 24v what it is I'm bulding a track car and some one said you should put the cosworth 2.9 in I have a xr4i 2.8 colone engine at present. Will I gain at all if so wot can I do to make even better IE engine mods please help thanks.

I have 10 cars.

7 RS Turbo's series 1 and 2, and 3 Scorpio 2.9 Cosworths.

The RS Turbo is crap and too over rated, but are fun. And the Scorpio Cosworth is way underated and is very fun in the wet...

I have been following these pages, and have done a test on my brothers private runway. All 3 of my Scorpy's were fitted in turn with 3 different methods of measuring speed, and from that acceleration. All the different speed measuring instruments measured them within 10mph... from 140 to 167mph.

These stats look crazy, but are the truth.

Scorpy's only show 170mph on the speedo.

167mph was done in my restoration car, and the others are old, and have been sitting in the shrubbery. One of the shrubbery cars was measured at average of 140mph with the different methods of measuring speed. I think this car was the worst, and it showed.

My conclusion is, if you have a crap one, it will be slower than a good one.

I'm going to do another test soon. I am going to take one of the Scorpio's and change the mechanical features on it, such as slick tyres, put viper stripes on it, and big fat exhaust from my local autocentre. I 'predict' after I have made these mods, the car will fly over 200mph in 2nd gear :)

All I want to say is I own a 1997 scorpio, 2.9 24v 4 door saloon and it is a great car if you're looking for comfort and room.

I have had the car for just over 2 years, and it is in amazing condition only 82k with FSH.

I can honestly say that these figures are silly. The car is no slug, but at the same time is no drag racer. I have had just over 140 out of mine, and I was very impressed with that. I fail to see the point in all the people on here shouting out all these stupid figures like almost 170mph. Get real, this is a large Ford family car, not a 911 Turbo.

I still stand by my statement that this is a very good car to own, if you can live with its looks, and they do grow on you with time.

I am being genuine with my figures, and I think they are pretty impressive for a car of this size; 0-60 in 8.5 and a top speed of 145mph, and that is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. No false statements here.