Any help greatly received. Wanna buy a fast fun 4 seater, with a quick 0-60, for about £2500-£3000. Was looking at a civic type r, but have never owned a ford before, and wouldn't mind getting one.

I like the focus st170 but the 0-60 times arnt that great, and unluckily I can't stretch to a st2, and buying a escort rs turbo I would worry about reliability as i would be using it as a daily driver.

So any help from anyone more knowledgable than myself (which isn't hard) would be great..

 

sierras are pretty reliable cars i think... ive had one for years and only replaced a few wear and tear parts.
i'd suggest an xr or cossie.
the older stuffs got less to go wrong with it and the parts are plentiful if it does go wrong.

 

For that budget I really cant think of a Fast Ford with a quick 0-60 time.

Frst can be fun with 200bhp + and reliable also, if maintained sensible.

for how much EP3 Type R go for nowadays bit of a no brainer imo.

 

Doubt he will find a reliable cheap cossie, do they Exist?

 

2.8i Capri? Zetec Turbo'd Mk4/5 'Tina?

 

What would you consider a quick 0-60? Seven secs or under?

Depends what you want from a car, fast modern cruiser, maybe an ST220 if budget allows and you have shares in esso?

Sadly, lots of the truly fast Ford are out of that bracket, speaking as someone who has done it in the past, it's worth not buying a cheap doggy fast car, spend a couple of quid extra for a smart one.

You could probably pick up a clean series 2 escort RS turbo, but they are not lightening fast by today's standards. Otherwise it puts you on track for an RS 1800 Fiesta or RS2000 escort perhaps? Neither going to set the world on fire, but fast enough to be fun for sure.

 

imo, you carnt go far wrong with a rst, if your handy with the spanners there easy to fix cheap for parts and not exactly slow.
Plus price wise there pretty stable (slightly rising)so your not going to lose out if you decide to sell in the future.

decent cvh or zvh few mods will get you 200+ and it will be pretty quick since they dont weigh much, i almost want to get mine out of storage now lol

 

There's some good frst knocking about for that money and with 200 horses under the bonnet they go a bit too. Can be very reliable if you give it good oil and let it warm and cool properly just be prepared to add 20 minutes to your journey for this lol

 

also re: reliability ive never had a issue really with the ones ive had.

They get a bad rap since people wind the boost up with a bleed valve and then winge there crap!
decent health check and imo there no worse than any other car, and when they do go wrong the cost a hell of a lot less to fix.

 

Would love to get a mk1 focus rs, but it's just a bit to dear. So guessing the EP3 type r will be the easy option.

 

Another option Renault 5 GT turbo, plenty of fun, but reliability can become questionable.

 

Or like me buy a saab 9-3 aero are 205bhp std and cost £70 to remap with a noobtune taking it to 250 or saab 9-5 aero 240/250bhp and 270/280 with remap
and there well equipped but often overlooked.

 

Ive wanted a R5 for AGES! one day.....

 

Or a 9000 with the 2.3 and an ebay gt30 with 360+bhp

 

True the 9k is a cracking all rounder, i plan on converting my 9-3 aero to run the older type engine (204) the older saab engines can run 500+ with just bolt on`s since they are forged.
And have a ecu you can map your self or very cheap, Saabs are well underrated imo, if they had a different badge they would be triple the price for that you get.

 

What are the Saab engines like to fit into like say a corsa of a fiesta...?

 

Believe there not to bad to fit in a Vauxhall as they fit the same bellhousing (think its due to saab being GM as this age (204/234 engines) Chip is running a 204 in his nova these days??

As for ford not sure would take alot more i would imagine.

 

For that budget i would go for a bmw 328i Sport

 

This isn't necessary, you just don't drive hard until it's warmed up, and keep off boost for a while before your destination.

As to the OP, EP3 Civic IMO if wanting a "hot hatch", you won't get a fast Ford for your budget, and a CTR is a far better car than the ST170.

The best option if you want something modern is a ST or FRS, but neither are within your budget.

Martin

 

If you want a cheap fast ford hold onto your money and look on www.xrtwo.com

I've seen mk2 fiestas with zetec's with throttle bodies or carbs for that money

Otherwise I would get a civic or Clio 182 cup