Thinkin of gettin my first saph cos,and after lookin round come in all different stages with a lot of different specs,just wonderin whats the best stage and maybe spec for reliability as would be virtually used everyday and can they be used as every day cars cheeRS

 

Stage 1 would be a good reliable car IF it was looked after properly

These cars cannot be used and not maintained to the highest standard

 

Thought it would be about a stage 1 to be honest,What would a stage 1 be like performance wise,and does it make a difference whether got 2wd or 4wd to the reliabilty?

 

2wd is less hasle if the gear box etc decides to throw in the towel

 

drove my stg 3 car every day 2wd no probs at all buit the box and clutch went but engine never skiped a beat

 

My 4x4 is about stage 3 and it's the only car I own so it goes everywhere every day! Is it reliable? Yep, for a Ford. I've only broken down once this week when the fans failed and it overheated, though I did lose reverse gear for a couple of days earlier in the week due to the lift-up linkage thingy breaking. And the indicators stopped working yesterday.

So yep I've had 3 things break this week, but none of them was to do with the car being fast or tuned, just from being a Ford!

 

stage 3 being 330bhp? you drive it hard??

it also depends how its been looked after previously, i have 2 friends with erst, both standard one broke down every time he got it working again the other has been absolutely i mean ABSOLUTELY THRASHED within an inch of its life and never missed a beat LOL

carl

 

Mine was stage 1 4x4, it was good as gold but did drink petrol doing 'round town' miles. Mine had been very well looked after tho, you dont want one with a hard life as an every day car.

 

Reliable as fuck mate

 

imo they are as reliable as any other car in it's class (scooby, evo etc).

stage 1 would be the safest option and should still see it keeping up with 90% of motors on the road day to day/

as for using it as a every day car well that depends how deep your pockets are. they need regular servicing without fail, expect no more than 25mpg at very best unless you are crusing motorways at a steady 60-70mph all day so with fuel prices as they are......

also 2wd in the rain or even on a damp road is a bloody handfull and WILL catch you out for a while. personally for everyday use i'd go for a 4x4 running stage 1.

 

I agree mate, stage 1 4x4 saff, thats what i have got.

Mines got 285BHP with 305lbft of torque. It's done 140K miles (rebuilt about 30K ago, see below), original box, diffs e.t.c It used to tow a caravan too!!!!!

I change the oil & filter every 3k miles and change the plugs every 6k, Air filter is a K&N so i give that a clean now & then too.

My engine smashed itself to peices just after i got it (I had only done 40 miles ) The cam belt tensioner went, no one could have predicted that.

So straight away i rebuilt it to the tune of about £2K, had my ups and downs with it but now it seems fine, not had any problems since Mark @ MAD set it up before Xmas.

 

Got a genuine 350BHP &350 ft/lb torque stage 3 I built the engine and thanks to karl for mapping it, and it's just as reliable as my Fiesta Zetec-S

 

Cheers Guys just got to find the right one now