DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

I was thinking that.

List price in 1990
Cosworth: £21300
Lotus Carlton: £48000

J1mbo

iTrader: (1)

The Lotus Carlton (in mainland Europe, the Lotus Omega) was a Vauxhall Carlton saloon upgraded by Lotus Cars to be a 177 mph (285 kph) sports car. Like all Lotus vehicles, it was given a type designation — Type 104 in this case. The external differences were minimal to the five seater with only the rear spoiler, air intakes on the bonnet, Lotus badges on the front wings and bootlid, and considerably wider wheel arches telling it apart from any other Carlton. The car was only sold in one colour, a shade of British racing green called Imperial Green, a very dark green that in anything but direct light appears black. Lotus' modifications included an upgraded engine, which was stroked from the standard Vauxhall 2969 cc 24v straight six unit, used in the GSi, to a capacity of 3615 cc. Lotus then added twin Garrett T25 turbochargers to give 382 hp (281 kW). A six-speed manual ZF transmission from a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 was used to transfer this power to the rear wheels. The car was capable of 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and had 12.5 in (330 mm) AP ventilated disc brakes with racing calipers all round.

sure your not thinking of the vauxhall carlton ??

big_wig_074

beanhead,hes talking about the cossie only having that much power!lol

J1mbo

iTrader: (1)

ooops my bad what a twat i made of myself
i was gonna say lotus carlton would wipe the floor with it

longdog

iTrader: (1)

Just seen one of these in a garden near me. Looked ok so going to have a better look next week see if its a propper one and if it is how much.

johnnycos

LOL!!!!

Paddy

I can't believe no-one has mentioned the Nissan Bluebird Turbo!

And the MG Montego as well as the Maestro!

Stavros

they had 135bhp mate

Benni

ROFL! Going to Google some of these cars and read up on them.


Cheers, Benni,

Paddy

The bluebirds were good cars! But the Silvias with the same engine had more street cred I can't believe I used to think I was cool driving around in that old shit.

I seem to remember a shitter of a Peugeot 505 Gti at some point that had a turbo as well [probably 40 bhp though]? No-ones mentioned the Cavalier Turbo? Or the Calibra Turbo?

But if we're going down the route of coupes instead of barges, like the saff, the Celica GT4s [st180 shape] were matches for cossies standard and before anyone provides figures that may suggest otherwise, they were on the roads! fact!

I have a vague recollection of being a nipper as a passenger in a 500 SEC merc and racing his mate somewhere who had a new whaletail [like nath said, they were called that then] and being blown away by it. God knows what the difference in cost was of those new!

Fast Guy

When did the 3door come out? was it 87ish? I know it's a couple of years newer, but the Gtir would beat them as proven here.

pee vee

LOL at how much faster the GTI-r is to 100 than everything else.

cossie seems to let itself down between 80 and 100 according to them figures, compaired to the gti-r!

Mike1

Those test figs are from an early 90s Fast Lane Issue and are a 4x4 Sapphire - don't recall seeing the UK GTi-R in mags until 92 - the 2wd Cosworth had been out about 5 years by then. Autocar did a GTi-R test vs the Integrale and Escort Cosworth about 92 - one of the earliest I can remember seeing the Nissan in.
Back in 87 I think the Sierra was being compared to things like the E28 M5, E30 M3, 2.3-16 Merc 190, Rover Vitesse etc

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

2wd sapp cossie i seem to remember is the fastest sierra cossie (even quicker then the 500!)i seem to remember!as comparing it to a lotus carlton lol!!!the lotus would wipe the floor even with a quite highly modded cossie!!

Benni

Can I ask how much power a Cossie would need to be in the same league?

Cheers, Benni.

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

to give a lotus carlton a good run all the way to top end would say 450+ bhp to give it the torque to cope!remember the lotus is 3.6

Benni

WOW! I remember reading allot of other manufactures where highly annoyed when it came out as it was around the time they limited there top speed to 155mph. Not sure how true that is mind.

Benni.

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

i remember something like that as the lotus was unlimited!they done the test drive with 4 peeps in it think it went up too 178mph think the 0-60 5.1 sec 0-100 11.2

georgie1

iTrader: (6)

what about the evo that was around then

Benni

178mph with 4 people in, amazing. That must of been super car quick in its day? Or am I going too far?

Benni.

Fast Guy

It was Fast Lane June ish 1992.(I have the mag somewhere)

The RS500 and Gtir had very similar power to weight ratios, the Gtir had the advantage off the line and the RS500 on the move, so not a totally unfair comparison. The Cossy has had a lot more development since tho

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

not really chap was the fastest 4 door production saloon for over 12 years

Olliexr4x4

What about a Minker 323 or K1

Jim Green

E30 M3 was about 4k more expensive in 1988.
E28 M5 was wayyyyyyyyyyyy more expensive.

E30 was BMW's competitor to the Cosworth. It beat the cosworth on build quality (Engine and Body/Interior) but couldn't beat it for performance. But it has held it's value better than the Cossie.

Benni

Ford don't have nothing to comete with the M BMW cars now, shame.

billynocar

Mondeo cosworth anyone i know i would sell the wife for one.

Jim Green

If ford had produced a worthy successor to the Cosworth.......then I'd probably be driving it today. In the mean time I'm enjoying seeing BMW bring out a whole string of supersaloons over the past couple of years....Expensive Yes, but as a second had bargain, they're perfect.

Peterhart020

I had a flame red MG Maestro Turbo with the word T U R B O emblazoned on each side of the car. I was a company car and many moons ago. Twas fast as fcuk.

I have three lingering memories of her...

1) Had a erm... run with a new 16v Astra GTE down the A12 from Ipswich to Brentwood on the way back from a business meeting. Not been between the two places quicker or as quick since

2) In my home town, thought I'd show the girls a burn-out. Loads of revs, drop the clutch and the said clutch just fried and the car didn't move an inch.

3) Filled the single SU dashpot up with oil even though the top was secured with a clip. Started the car and was imediately hidden by a cloud of burnt oil...well you had to regularly fill the dash pot up on my own MG Metro and I thought the turbo would be the same...WRONG!

Nice quick car

dojj

iTrader: (3)

techincally it's stil the fastest as everyone has limited their cars to only doing 155 mph now

and yes, i got battered by one going up a hill when i thought i was the dogs bollocks

daz1968

I think the main thing with the cosworth was that it was affordable and started a frenzy of chip tuning with some good and some bad ones, similar to how the mini started a tuning industry in the 60's.

Paulo P

Not forgetting that the top speed was acheived in 5th gear and not 6th If it had the power and room what could it have run

gazfromoldham

sierra minker 323 would see off a cossie. tested and proven i own both.
my minker will take on audi s4s and pretty much anything. i have upset many a driver in her.

The Youth.

iTrader: (1)

that is so what I was going to write!!

perfectly put m8

steve

Martin Hadland

Am replying to the the title as I have not read the replies... In 1986 nothing could touch it for the money I was lucky enough to be around at that time.

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

the original question being what rivaled the cosworth sierra in my mind means in 86 a bmw 6 series,rover 3.5 sd1,rover 827,delta 4wd,opel monza 3.0,nissan 240 rs,mitsubishi starion turbo,nissan 280zx,capri tickford, and if any one went watching rallying the manta 400 which was a proper handfull until the cozzies kicked their arses.

edit... another post dragged from pf's archives

cos358

in its day it was the champ no dought, i remember going in a brand new hplate 2wd saph when i was 10 years old and there was nothing like it, and that was after gettin picked up in 2.8 turbo capris, 3.1 essex, 383 magnum dodge charger, 6.6 trans am, 455ho trans am and all the rest of my uncles cars. just never mistake the new jap shit with cosworth power!!! and yes a 350bhp cossie will scare a lotus carlton no dought

Martin Hadland

The 6 series BMW was better in sooo many ways but it would never match a Cossy, I know this for sure!

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

it didn't stop tarquin or jeremy at the lights thinking their henna red bm 6 would show this ghastly sierra a clean pair of brogues though

Captain500rs

Saab 9000 carlsson turbo

Eagle

iTrader: (2)

wouldnt say rivaled... left behind more like