I bought a two year old '89 and loved it. It was the first "nice" car (not a beater) I owned. The great thing buying these slightly used, was the massive depreciation that hit the 1st owners. I bought a low mileage car for less than half the original sticker, drove it in the '93 and '94 One Lap of America, and many other adventures before eventually selling it after I started driving Miatas for fun.
When I was a kid I remember shopping with my family somewhere around Detroit and flipping out because we parked beside a RS500 Cosworth with manufacturers plates and my family had no clue why I was so excited. Years later one of my uncles got an XR4ti and took my dad and I for a ride and my dad said he finally understood why I was flipping out. The funny part is that as a kid I thought the RS500 was some kind of 400hp monster because I had read so much about the competition versions and I remember being very disappointed to learn that it actually came with "just" 225hp or something. Still, I've been kind of keeping an eye out for an XR4ti but it's hard to find a rust free car up here in Canada.
If anyone is bored and wants to do some reading, Ford Motorsport's "How to Prepare the Sierra for Motorsport" manual is free for download here.
Some of the remaining cars have had their BW T9 transmissions removed to supply the popular transplant into MGBs...
I had a red 87 and loved it when it ran right. Half the time you couldnt get it to make boost due to some gremlin in the electronics and the dealer couldnt figure it out either. I finally gave up and traded it for a nissan nx2000 which was a hell of a lot better car all around. All of that said, I wish I had it back now, I think I would find a way to swap in another engine...maybe one of the modern ford v6 engines with the factory ecu. Make a real nice road rocket.
I love my '89 XR! It's slowing becoming more racecar as time goes on. Underappreciated in its time (shouldn't have been sold in Mercury dealers), quirky and finicky but really fun to drive!
darkbuddha said:Fortunately, the XR seems to have been relatively immune to receiving either positive attention or increasing prices.
I wouldn't worry, the proportion of the populace into masochism isn't really that big - and half of them already own Biturbos. .
I'm kind of amazed nonack hasn't managed to notice this thread in three years, honestly.
wspohn said:Some of the remaining cars have had their BW T9 transmissions removed to supply the popular transplant into MGBs...
Or Triumphs. Or Volvos.
I actually have the T-9 that was once in Nonack's car. My eventual plan is to install it in my 1800ES, since the M41 shifter feels like it came from a truck.
In reply to irish44j :
My guess is he feels his opinions about the car are well known. 
In reply to Ian F :
I think the T9 actually feels pretty good, as long as you keep enough fluid in it... It could use a good short shifter though.
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