1998 Ford Escort GTi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Does any1 no a good escort gti oc as escort gti. com is crap n you can't join!

Thanx.

Jonmuers@hotmail.co.uk.

Just installed a specialized stage 3 engine with trust electrical inlet n exhaust manifolds just done 205bhp on the rollers, gps'ed at 145mph can't wait till good wheather, al be straight to york drag way.

Common escort gti!

Jonmuers@hotnail.co.uk.

Interesting reading coments about the escort gti, I have a 97 3-door gti in red with a magnex stainless and a k&n 57i kit, otherwise standard at the minute. The people slagging off the gti are usually boy racers with big ego's in other types of car, the ones making the overblown claims are boyracers with big ego's who own an escort gti. My escort, according to ford figures has 115 bhp and does 0 - 62 mph in 9.2 seconds with a top end of 122 mph. I have had 128 mph showing on speedo, but as has been said speedo's over read so safe to assme I was doing a genuine 120 mph. Claims of 60 in under 8 seconds and 140 plus for a standard car are complete nonsense, the escort RS turbo does 0 - 62 in 8.2 and 130ish mph on 133 bhp so power to weight says the gti will be slower. I wil be happy when my gti is modified engine wise, ie cams, chip, 2.0 throttle body, four branch manifold etc etc, but my main concern which has not been mentioned is the gti's weak point, the wishbone front bushes. These don't last very long on the gti's 115 bhp so not uprating these is just asking for trouble, ie it knocks out the tracking and eats front tires, lowering/uprating suspension makes the problem worse. I personally dislike saxo's, but common sense says a VTS is bound to be quicker alround so enjoy the car for what it is. A missed opportunity by Ford, should have had the 130 bhp zetec from the cabrio at least. At least the 3-door looks the business.

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?

LOL!!! What are people thnking on here. For starters everyone knows the escort GTi is a slow car lets be honest I've had about 10 so far bought one in 98 for 15k there nice cars, but so slow should not have been badged a gti. Saxo's would beat a gti all day long a vts 130bhp and it's a so much lighter also vtr has 100 bhp and lighter too. So NO WAY would a escort gti beat them fact. On the plus I've had mine go off the clock they will do 140 or so the clock says. I now own a vts becasue they are faster the GTi's are either 115bhp or 130bhp in a car that's really heavy anyone thinking about buying one just remember the saxo and 106 gti will beat you even on motorway.

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.

Hi all.

It is well known that the escort has a lot of history.. I would like to know how the gti stands up to the RS2000 as I am getting rid of my A3 and fanci somthing a bit quicker...

Aevans692@btinternet.com.

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.

I have owned many escort gti's, mainly cus I worked for ford and there alrite 0-60 is 9.2 and they do, as many people have said creep over the 130mph mark. I now own a gti with a 0-60 time of 6.7 seconds. obviously not standard the main difference is it has a vw badge.

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.

I own a metallic blue escort gti standard apart from full magnex system and k&n panel filter left a bmw 320 away at traffic lights. there not as slow as people make out depends how you drive them.by the way folks performance ford mag march 2007 do a turbo conversion on a ESCORT gti for under 3k, and come up with a safe 200bhp.

How anyone who owns a citroen saxo can slag off any other type of car is a total mystery. Badly made unreliable french tin can.