Ford Sierra (Mk1) XR4x4 Specifications & History


Activity: (1987-1989)
BHP@ RPM 220/5700
Torque (Nm)@ RPM 276/4100
Length Width Height 4450.1716.1393
Wheelbase 0
Weight (Kg/BPM Ratio) 1200 (0)
Transmission 4x4
Engine Type
Engine Position
Engine Capacity V6
Engine Bore Front Longitudinal
Engine Stroke 2792
Engine Compression 93
Engine Valves 68.5
Engine Cams 10.2:1
Engine Carburation 2
Engine Electronics 1 OHC x2
Suspension Injection
Body Doors 2611
Body Type 5.5
Body Composition 5
Body Panels Liftback
Brakes Steel
Fuel Tank 0
Wheels 0

Ford Sierra (Mk1) XR4x4 Specific Information

Official model name: as stated. First event: Monte Carlo 1987.
Official model name: as stated. First event: Monte Carlo 1987.

Ford Sierra (Mk1) General Information

This must have been the car everybody was looking forward to with the start of group A. Surely it is a shame that we lost the exciting Ford RS200. But the group A Sierra was an interesting gamble in many aspects.

For a start Ford was in the same dilemma as most other manufacturers: They did not have the perfect rally car in their show rooms. They had the choice of either a Sierra with 4x4 or a Sierra with a turbo engine, when what they needed was a car combining both. So the first gamble was: which car to take to which rally?

As it happened, Ford decided to take the RWD but super powerful Sierra Cosworth to the Monte. But days before the event started and in contrary to weather reports, it started snowing heavily. In a hasted maneuvre Ford managed to get at least one Sierra XR4x4 ready for the event. So their Monte 1987 2-car team consisted of one 4x4 car and one turbo car! For Sweden it was simple, the XR4x4. But from then on Ford usually choose the Cosworth. Its power and turbo-torque advantage was too much for the XR4x4 to make up through traction.

The other aspect is the excitement of these cars. Starting off with the XR4x4, the name is simpler than you would guess: It was a Sierra XR4 with 4x4. The XR was a sporty image for Ford, XR2 = sporty Fiesta, XR3 = sporty Escort, XR4 = sporty Sierra. However the XR4x4 was only homologated as a 5-door (interestingly it was available as a 3-door!). But otherwise it shared many things with the "normal" XR4. Most notably the engine, which was a 2.8 V6. This bears some importance. Although several other rally cars, like Lancia Stratos or the gN BMW 325iX, had 6-cylinder engines, the Ford unit was created for luxory saloons and not with a sporty car in mind. It's torque was alright, but the engine did have very little power for the heavy lump it was. In fact in group N the Sierra XR4x4 had no more power than a Kadett GSI 16v and in group A the Sierra XR4x4 power compared to that of a group N Sierra Cosworth.

The Ford Sierra Cosworth in turn had "adventure" written all over it. Well, it starts already off with the name. That Ford choose to give it the name of the famous tuning department Cosworth (Made up of the surnames of Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, two former Ford works engineers) was already proof that this was meant to be an exciting car. The huge whale-tail rear spoiler contributed to it. The whale-tail spoiler became synonymous for a range of Ford Cosworth cars and in the case of the Sierra, it extended straight from the roof and made this 3-door Sierra look long and brutal. And finally the engine was a piece of art. Cosworth took the 2.0 16v engine beyond 200BHP already in road trim, thanks to a huge Garrett turbo. The torque with it was massive and of course all this was RWD - not ideal for gravel rallies, but for the spectacle you just couldn't possibly wish for anything other than a RWD turbo! One thing is for sure, if things turned dull in rallying with the introduction of group A, it certainly wasn't for Ford!

Unfortunately the Sierra never came to big successes. It won national championships and it seemed to have the measure of the Audi, Mazda, Subaru, Opel & Volkswagen works teams but in the WRC in the first gA rallies the Lancia Delta was already further ahead than anybody thought. This didn't help and as well the one event where it was pretty clear the Sierra Cosworth could not be beaten, the Tour de Corse 1987, saw both works cars in trouble as early as SS1 and a BMW M3 beat the Lancias instead! All in all, the big name the spectacular Sierra has got, isn't it incredible that this car only managed one WRC event victory and that wasn't even a full works entry! This car most definitely was better than its results suggest!

Unofficial Car Results : May be incomplete.
P. Event Driver Co-Driver Car# Make Model Variation Rego Time
2nd. 1988 WRC Swedish Rally S. Blomqvist B. Melander #3 Ford Sierra (Mk1) XR4x4 [UNKNOWN] 5h 4m 8s
6th. 1987 WRC Swedish Rally S. Blomqvist B. Berglund #2 Ford Sierra (Mk1) XR4x4 [UNKNOWN] 4h 14m 30s