s3 vs escort cosworth

I remember sitting in a Sierra Cosworth when I was 12 and my Dad was collecting his new Sierra Sapphire 1.8 GL from the local Ford dealer. Man, it seemed like an awesome car to me then (the Cosworth!), and I still love the look of them now... ...externally. Interesting nobody's posted an internal shot of the thin plastic dashboard, the "sliding scale" heater and the "stereo radio cassette player". That's when they really do show their age. But I'd love to have one tucked up in my garage for use on those crisp cold winter mornings. Mine would definitely be in Diamond White.
 
xs2man said:
Or just by the early ones are mk5 escorts, and the later ones are mk6. The mk6 looks more "round" than the mk5.
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They never did a true mk 6 escort cossie they were produced alongside the standard mk5b and mk6 escort lx's etc but had the old mk5 square dash and the mk5 rear lights. Im a ford nut and had several but peaked at an RS2000, when i hit 25 and have a garage i will get rid of the S3 and buy a cossie!
 
vetch said:
Are your spectacles Audi tinted???
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nope i dont think anyones are..... fact is the first supposed 500 on the thread isnt worth 40k plus, especially as its far from original - yes its worth what someone will pay, but its still for sale....should tell you sumat

we arent entirely pro Audi, but as soon as you start mentioning any Ford/Vauxhall or similar then the age old things will crop up, lack of quality....always has been and always will be if the past is anything to go by.....
 
If you compair 99% of late '80s to mid '90s car with an S3 or most modern cars... it will always fall short of the mark.
Honestly... they are true hot hatchs of their day... can we say the same for our beloved S3?????
Nope.
I for one bought mine as it felt nice/ safe and looked "posh" as people say but in my eyes it was better than a mk4 golf.
I soon realised... it needed much money and help to be a "hot hatch"
 
S3 Paul said:
If you compair 99% of late '80s to mid '90s car with an S3 or most modern cars... it will always fall short of the mark.
Honestly... they are true hot hatchs of their day... can we say the same for our beloved S3?????
Nope.
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Well said :applaus:
Late 80`s to 90`s Hot-Hatches were the envy of every teenage guy. The were seen to be out of most peoples reach and they were targets for theives. At the same time everyone who couldnt afford the likes of Ford Escorts xr3i`s / RS1600i / XR2`s / Nova GTE`s and so on would by the next best thing and immitate it with body kits and such. These days anyone can buy a S3 as they are cheap as chips and lets face it, A Concors condition Mk3 RS cutom Escort are worth there weight in gold. Not bad considering there 27yr old. How much would your S3 be worth when its 27yr old?


Stunning Motor
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ORIGINAL-1985...iewItem&pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item335ecbbc4a
 
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The thing is... despite us S3 members on here... the S3 just isnt a hot hatch or a car with a big cult following.
Most of us joined up to see if others had same problems and how to fix them... And some of you slate ford !
Ive spent near double what i payed for my S3 in the almost 4 year of ownership,
I know people with fords and honda's and... they can all show 400 on dyno days... but non have spent as much as i for a car worth so little come resale
 
S3 Paul said:
The thing is... despite us S3 members on here... the S3 just isnt a hot hatch or a car with a big cult following.
Most of us joined up to see if others had same problems and how to fix them... And some of you slate ford !
Ive spent near double what i payed for my S3 in the almost 4 year of ownership,
I know people with fords and honda's and... they can all show 400 on dyno days... but non have spent as much as i for a car worth so little come resale
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well said
 
Their hot hatch means a different thing, there's nothing proper hot hatch about it.
 
S3 Paul said:
The thing is... despite us S3 members on here... the S3 just isnt a hot hatch or a car with a big cult following.
Most of us joined up to see if others had same problems and how to fix them... And some of you slate ford !
Ive spent near double what i payed for my S3 in the almost 4 year of ownership,
I know people with fords and honda's and... they can all show 400 on dyno days... but non have spent as much as i for a car worth so little come resale
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Surely the people you know hoe are running 400 have spent double what they paid for their fords and hondas
 
Thats a wierd point of view... valid but, i have a mae with a focus rs ... one civic ek9 and one integra Type r.
All sporty cars and now monsters. They would actualy still bring good money. More than my s3 and its far from rough.
To say "i pyed more for my car so its best " realy isnt something that works outside the audi world
 
How come there soooooo expensive though ? I must not get it.
 
hmmm ok i disagree with a lot of people on here a lot of the time but if you really dislike your slow S3 then i challenge you to go out and find a more complete package..... my bet is you cant for the money - dont know about you chaps but my S3 keeps up with the old RS focus without any issues - same with ST's, it beats type R's for pace and does very well against 3.0 litre beemers - but if you guys say its no hot hatch then i suppose ill have to accept your extremely poor judgement - either way as said above, if you dont like your car then go away and buy another model, buy a Ford infact and ill wave to you as i pass :)

as for the Fords of old, Fords of this era are crap nevermind the old ones...we know and can prove this....can you compare the resale values of the old Fords with the S3 now? nope not a chance in hell, first thing is have you thought of why the RS turbos were classics? these were some of the earliest fast turbo cars with not much competition and a much smaller audience, S3 now depreciating rapidly largely to fuel costs, running costs and various other factors (i really cant be ***** to cover)..... i really cannot be ***** to cover off everything else slated about the S3 but i am far from looking into this with Audi tinted spectacles as Vetch put it - i still look to this day for cars of a similar size with the same spec and still to this day, can find nothing worth replacing it with

Yes its a barge when compared to a type R, but then if you shove our power delivery into a type R the front end wont stick in the dry!! nevermind the wet..... how does our barge compare with a similar standard Focus? id love to bet i can corner better as you would expect, this makes our cars far from ordinary.... cars have strengths and weaknesses, a lot on here seem to focus only on the latter - i challenge you to take off your glasses and look at what you have and respect it, if you dont then buy another chuffing car and stop whinging on - it really is time to change the record
 
1animal1 said:
hmmm ok i disagree with a lot of people on here a lot of the time but if you really dislike your slow S3 then i challenge you to go out and find a more complete package..... my bet is you cant for the money - dont know about you chaps but my S3 keeps up with the old RS focus without any issues - same with ST's, it beats type R's for pace and does very well against 3.0 litre beemers - but if you guys say its no hot hatch then i suppose ill have to accept your extremely poor judgement - either way as said above, if you dont like your car then go away and buy another model, buy a Ford infact and ill wave to you as i pass :)

as for the Fords of old, Fords of this era are crap nevermind the old ones...we know and can prove this....can you compare the resale values of the old Fords with the S3 now? nope not a chance in hell, first thing is have you thought of why the RS turbos were classics? these were some of the earliest fast turbo cars with not much competition and a much smaller audience, S3 now depreciating rapidly largely to fuel costs, running costs and various other factors (i really cant be ***** to cover)..... i really cannot be ***** to cover off everything else slated about the S3 but i am far from looking into this with Audi tinted spectacles as Vetch put it - i still look to this day for cars of a similar size with the same spec and still to this day, can find nothing worth replacing it with

Yes its a barge when compared to a type R, but then if you shove our power delivery into a type R the front end wont stick in the dry!! nevermind the wet..... how does our barge compare with a similar standard Focus? id love to bet i can corner better as you would expect, this makes our cars far from ordinary.... cars have strengths and weaknesses, a lot on here seem to focus only on the latter - i challenge you to take off your glasses and look at what you have and respect it, if you dont then buy another chuffing car and stop whinging on - it really is time to change the record
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Here, here - well said. I thought this forum was Audi-Sport.net anyway. Maybe I'm wrong?

And in any case, I didn't buy my S3 to race against every other performance car on the road. What's the point of that? Seems pretty childish to me. I bought my S3 because it's a classy motor, it looks fantastic, it doesn't attract unwanted attention from boy racers and it performs well in all conditions (dry, wet, snow, smooth or undulating roads). I love it.
 
Just having my moan here and defending the Good old RS.. If your having to map your s3 to stage 2 just to keep up with a standard 18 year old Ford Escort it just goes to show which one it the true hot hatch / Performance Car

Especially Baring in mind that they both started with roughly the same Power and they put the power down in the same way.

I own a S3 And love it to bits but the old Ford RS's always pull on my heartstrings.
 
1animal1 said:
hmmm ok i disagree with a lot of people on here a lot of the time but if you really dislike your slow S3 then i challenge you to go out and find a more complete package..... my bet is you cant for the money - dont know about you chaps but my S3 keeps up with the old RS focus without any issues - same with ST's, it beats type R's for pace and does very well against 3.0 litre beemers - but if you guys say its no hot hatch then i suppose ill have to accept your extremely poor judgement - either way as said above, if you dont like your car then go away and buy another model, buy a Ford infact and ill wave to you as i pass :)

as for the Fords of old, Fords of this era are crap nevermind the old ones...we know and can prove this....can you compare the resale values of the old Fords with the S3 now? nope not a chance in hell, first thing is have you thought of why the RS turbos were classics? these were some of the earliest fast turbo cars with not much competition and a much smaller audience, S3 now depreciating rapidly largely to fuel costs, running costs and various other factors (i really cant be ***** to cover)..... i really cannot be ***** to cover off everything else slated about the S3 but i am far from looking into this with Audi tinted spectacles as Vetch put it - i still look to this day for cars of a similar size with the same spec and still to this day, can find nothing worth replacing it with

Yes its a barge when compared to a type R, but then if you shove our power delivery into a type R the front end wont stick in the dry!! nevermind the wet..... how does our barge compare with a similar standard Focus? id love to bet i can corner better as you would expect, this makes our cars far from ordinary.... cars have strengths and weaknesses, a lot on here seem to focus only on the latter - i challenge you to take off your glasses and look at what you have and respect it, if you dont then buy another chuffing car and stop whinging on - it really is time to change the record
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well said!

The same old rhetoric is getting lame now

S3 does not corner as well as the Clio
S3 weighs too much
S3 is boring
S3 is this
S3 is that
S3 is not as valuable as 25 year old car
S3 doesn't excite me
blaa blaa

But I just bought one...
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Jimmy Parko said:
Just having my moan here and defending the Good old RS.. If your having to map your s3 to stage 2 just to keep up with a standard 18 year old Ford Escort it just goes to show which one it the true hot hatch / Performance Car

Especially Baring in mind that they both started with roughly the same Power and they put the power down in the same way.

I own a S3 And love it to bits but the old Ford RS's always pull on my heartstrings.
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whos stage 2?
i can beat a clio 182 on the straights but not on the bends....does this make the clio 'not' a true performance car? or the S3? explain your thought process as it really is a pointless rant in my mind designed to defend a car of an entirely different era...i would imagine the OP posted as he was nicely suprised as opposed to gloating, and who says the cossie wasnt mapped? we all know what they supposedly can do but it may have had a problem OR perhaps this is one of the many scenarios none of us has come across..... id love to take most mapped stage 1's,2's etc on here and im willing to bet the midrange isnt too disimilar.....
 
Jimmy Parko said:
Just having my moan here and defending the Good old RS.. If your having to map your s3 to stage 2 just to keep up with a standard 18 year old Ford Escort it just goes to show which one it the true hot hatch / Performance Car

Especially Baring in mind that they both started with roughly the same Power and they put the power down in the same way.

I own a S3 And love it to bits but the old Ford RS's always pull on my heartstrings.
Click to expand...

Personaly i think you see a Audi A3 / S3 Drive by and guys in the 30`s dont blink. Now the same happens with a Concours RS Escort / RS Focus goes by then people turn there heads. As i said before, i think its because for most 30yr olds the Hot-Hatch was just out of our reach when we was 17yr old. Im not knocking the audi as ive had Mk4 XR3i`s and Mk4 RS Turbos and now the A3 and the A3 is far more nicer to drive but i still love the 80`s Hot Hatches and i think theres a reason they are still worth a mint and the Audi is a money pit. lol :)
 
so is a "good all round package" another way of saying "its compromised at absolutely everything?"

(added for the amusement of the audi blinker wearers)
 
Animal, you doth protest too much! And the Audi tinted specs jibe was aimed at Finesse, and he seemed to take in the manner in which it was intended.

Seriously though, a lot of us are long term S3 owners, so we obviously like the car and are aware of its strengths. But equally, we are aware of its weaknesses too. Some people tend to take negative comments about the S3 to heart!
 
I have had 5 Cosworths now, (I'm a big ford nut), and I have to say for every day driving, my S3'is second to none!!! But for raw driving experience, and fun factor, form what you pay, there is NO better car on the road AT ALL!!!! id have anyone of my 5 back tomorrow....

Pete...
 
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The S3 is a hot hatch, its not the best hot hatch in terms of driving plesure, but its still a hot hatch. Comparing the S3 with a hot hatch of the 80's and 90's is pointless so much has changed in manufacturing and custormer demands. My mk1 golf gti was more fun than my S3 but now I've got the S3 I couldnt go back to a mk1 as a daily, it would feel slow, and wont be as quick in the corners, but it will still be a better drivers car due to the feed back and lack of driving aids.

The other thing with all this well it wont be worth much in 27 years, its an S3 not an RS3. Look at the prices of any RS model audi and compare that with the fords fo the same era.
 
tbh i am actually really suprised theyre worth the premium they are worth nowadays but people still go nuts for them despite their age/humble engine/annoying faults
 
Matt82 said:
tbh i am actually really suprised theyre worth the premium they are worth nowadays but people still go nuts for them despite their age/humble engine/annoying faults
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A piece of automotive history and a remainder of the glory days of Cosworth IMO.

EDIT: Although the cars are ****.
 
not the cosworths you conker! they have such an absolutely fanatical following due to the nature of the cars

have you ever been to a cosworth meet? if not, prepared to feel bad about how you look after your car :p
 
I keep my S3 as it does what i NEED everyday well.
BUT and its a Big but,
It isnt a real performance car, Maybe ive been in and around too many of the "hot hatchs" people here slate.
An Audi rally car from the same era would bring a massive price... but a good daily? nope.
But not many people buy a turbo car from the 80's to drive to work, They buy them because they love them. the memories of seeing them race on tv as a child and lusting after them saying "maybe one day"
I honestly didnt buy my S3 because of the above.
The S3 ( mine included) are ok at what they do, my reason for not buying another car?? I have 3 already and without loosing a shed load on what i payed its probably impossible.
 
Who saw top gear when they done best ever cars made ford was top then they changed there mind and put lancia
but peoples votes where for ford
 
They have made some of the most iconic cars ...
The list of cars they have made that make me look back and think... wow,
But, I know not everybody has an open mind to this...
A challenge... in 15 maybe 20 years what will and ex S3 owner look back and think ( warm feeling in side ) ah i had one of those, and remember its strength ?
 
1animal1 said:
whos stage 2?
i can beat a clio 182 on the straights but not on the bends....does this make the clio 'not' a true performance car? or the S3? explain your thought process as it really is a pointless rant in my mind designed to defend a car of an entirely different era...i would imagine the OP posted as he was nicely suprised as opposed to gloating, and who says the cossie wasnt mapped? we all know what they supposedly can do but it may have had a problem OR perhaps this is one of the many scenarios none of us has come across..... id love to take most mapped stage 1's,2's etc on here and im willing to bet the midrange isnt too disimilar.....
Click to expand...

dannycawsey said:
yes its an other one of them slate me threads :)

Im working in Holland at the moment and have been in Germany for the weekend,
anyway on the way back as i was coming on to the the autobahn there was an escort rs cosworth in front.
he nailed it so i dropped it into 3rd and stuck right behind him till about 130 (yes i was wearing my seatbelt), when he moved over and slowly got an edge on him till 145 which i slowed down due to soiling my pants, never had a smile on my face so big :)

car is a 1999 apy s3 with AMD stage 2 map, milltek exhaust with race cats, air filter, 007p dv, forge TIP, forge boost hoses etc, running 270hp.

im driving over to uk next weekend for usc at santapod does anyone know what sort of times i should be expecting?
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Who's took the Jam out of your Dougnut Animal ha ha

The Escort Cosworth is a Quicker/Faster car Fact..... I dont disrespect the S3 i love mine to bits. But its hardly an exciting drive it is what it is. Fast good looking Comfortable and a nice daily driver.

I dont believe for 1 second Dannycawisey was Gloating i'm just a lover of Classic Fast Fords and i was having my say.
 
unfortunately i havent owned anything which wasnt german
1. Jetta
2. Golf mk2
3. BMW(never again)
4. A4
5. S4( love it, amazing car)

so i cant add input on here too much but i would love to drive one of these fast fords jus to see how they compare to the german cars. id like to drive an escort and sapphire cossie to see how they shape up. id like to try this mk2 RS as it seems to be a very capable car but you cant tell until a driver has driven it as everyone has different opinions
 
audi upgrades
ok ok admittedly i have got side tracked comparing apples with pears (old Ford, Audi). My intentions is not to pull down the classic Fords, they are afterall classics and i have expressed my devotion to the case....can you compare them to an S3? not really as like i said they were created many moons ago, at that time they didnt have the competition that cars have these days....you want iconic hot hatches? name me one of today that will be iconic, there arent any that you can foresee because of various factors which i have already partially covered including the fact that hot hatches are ten a penny!! with similar performance including the S3! (which has slower rivals that in some of your opinions, fit the performance criteria).....fords of old are iconic and fast, like most cars today however most of them handled like a bag of s**t, the interiors like all Fords are crap etc etc yet they still maintain their status, they were far from perfect but at the time they were unique in that they had virtually no competition and had the looks/cost to corner that market (the cars became a lot more affordable quicker than ours have id bet)

and for the record, i can be negative about the S3 too..... but through looking for a car that does what this does, you are on your **** searching..this doesnt mean it does all of these things very badly, how the hell could you claim that???? pointless stupid suggestion given the evidence parked outside!!! i could pick several things the S3 does very well and virtually unparralelled

now heading back to the S3 posts, as proven the car is a hot hatch and falls well within the pace required to be named so, handling isnt wonderful but as already said (ill re-iterate again for you that decide to ignore the previous large post) - compared to a lot of cars on the road, it aint that bad!! yes you have to throw money at the car, its not aimed at the low wage earners like Fords are so to compare both on this is silly.... Paul for you to say it isnt a real performance car is simply daft, what do you regard a performance car? (although we are talking a matter of opinion here) the S3 does 0-60 in around 6.7 secs as standard, this isnt performance eh? lets compare against all your mates cars which they have thrown money at, are you seriously suggesting that they are true performance cars when compared???? i sincerely hope not

let me tell you where you and some others are going wrong - you make something that appeals to the masses, it sells in large quantities and is of better quality than you would normally expect - its gonna become popular, why wouldnt it..... this isnt meant to devalue the Rs's of old, its meant to give you some perspective on your hypothesis regards the popularity of the S3 in say 20 years..... you simply cannot make assumptions like that, do you know how ludicrous they sound?

look, last post on this cos i really cannot be ***** to sit here trying to persuade people to like their cars..... as said before, if you hate it that much then go and buy what ever it is thats missing from your life and stop whinging - fantastic if you just have your car as a run about, i dont begrudge you, thats what ive got mine for.... difference is enjoy it and am not using it as an excuse as a stepping stone or similar, my next car will be an 8P as i still cannot find another car that i would/could keep for 5+ years including the likes of the Focus RS, Civics etc etc]

Jimmy - i agree, well with most, however your sweeping statement is ignorant of the FACTS in that they are different cars - stereotyping really is dangerous unless you have an out and out winner. And if you'd have bothered to read the whole thread and digest it you'd see the people annoying me are the ones making silly comparisons and slating a car that really doesnt deserve such silly comments

to point out again, yes im being positive on this subject because there are so many being so damned negative without just cause
 
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