Admit it, you’ve looked at the car and thought questioningly “a 4 door Sierra”

Ok so maybe they’re not that attractive now but in the late 80’s you’d have been well pleased to see one as you fall out a neon lit nightclub at 3am having danced the night away to Sonia, Kylie & Jason. Sierra Saloon’s you see populated the minicab rank then as regularly as larger louts populated curry houses before going looking for a fight and a shag, in that order. Of course that was a long time ago, few clubs, even the bad ones, have neon anymore and the mini cab drivers weapon of choice has long since become a silver German saloon.

You, as others have done in the past with these cars, have missed something. Something that Ross, the owner of this gleaming white example didn’t. Its not you see just a 4 door Ford, another company had a hand in its creation too.

What we’re talking about is a five year period in motoring history between ‘88 & ‘92 when Ford’s Rallye Sport people didn’t work alone, like they did with the Focus RS. Nope they had friends in those days, powerful friends, called Cosworth!
Between knocking out the 3 door whale tail wearing Sierra, of which the RS500 version ruled the Touring Car world and producing the Escort that we all know as a Rally monster, the Ford RS section and Cosworth were making a car for all occasions - The Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth.

It was a simple formula. A proven performance engine and drive train on one side of the workshop, 2ltr turbo, rear wheel drive. On the other, a proven family saloon, 4 doors, big boot and a chassis quite capable of housing the 3 door Cosworth mechanicals, with a fiddle & fettle here and there. While the early ones were rear wheel drive there was a 4 wheel drive produced to help with traction issues, more on those later.

Skip 19 years and the Sapphire has become one of a long line of legendary RS cars which you can’t really pick up at a local garage anymore. While they are the most understated of the RS brand, they are still RS Cosworths underneath the sensible exterior and as tricky to find a clean one as finding a nightclub still playing Kylie & Jason at the end of the night, I hope.

So where then do you go then when you want to find a good one? Well Ross looked no further than the RS Owners Club and ended up no further than Helensburgh, buying this history packed number. A history that threw up an interesting surprise, believe it or not this was once a disability car, used for getting to the shops and back, by someone who liked to get there and back quickly presumably.

The purchase was just under a year ago and the experience since has been an interesting but not particularly cheap one as while it was once used for getting to the shops, its done a bit of role reversing and now sends Ross to the shops, tuning and parts shops mainly.

While his car is clean its far from pampered, only work commitments, namely carrying loads of central heating bits around all day, stop Ross from using the Ford on a daily basis. That said, it still gets a good level of use and dare I suggest, abuse from time to time.

It was a combination of this “use” (abuse) and a desire to embarrass a Porsche 944 driver 6 months ago that forced Ross’ car in to the workshop for a re-work to what has become the strongest area of the car, its engine. While it devoured a considerably more expensive car on a long start/finish straight similar to the city bypass, a bottom end bearing was also devoured in the process. Cue a trip to AP Motorsport in Loanhead who set about stripping the engine and rebuilding it, from the bottom up.

The AP name may ring a bell with the magazine buyer among you. It was their maroon councours winning Saph that recently graced the pages of more than a couple of the modding glossies. Needless to say the AP way was soon passed on and as the engine was re-built, it became as much a work of art, as a mechanical necessity.

The bits that could be replaced with stainless parts were, right down to every last visible nut and bolt. The bits that couldn’t be, like the inlet manifold and plenum chamber for example, were blasted till they were cleaner than in their first life in a Dagenham parts bin. The rubber hoses were all binned in favour of Samco and Rousesport silicone numbers and the patriot’s favourite part of the car was added too. A blasted and re-painted rocker cover gasket showing the Scottish Saltire, courtesy of Tam at DH Autosprays. It looks amazing, although there is a spare in the event of the car being sold on south of the border!

With the shiny engine taking shape on the outside the internals were fettled too, in case the 944 driver ever fancied a re-match. Between the initial work started then, and recent tweeks, this lump now boasts a low compression 205 block, head & pistons, twin valve springs, a re-ground crank, Grp A gaskets, 55lb injectors and a de restricted throttle body. Oh, that’s as well as the T35 turbo with a -31 actuator and .63 exhaust housing too. It was at the exhaust housing that my eyes glazed over and Ross started talking paint again to bring me back round.

It wasn’t only the rocker cover that Tam was charged with painting you see. With the engine looking great, the engine bay was looking, well, about as old as it was. That was until Ross put in many after work hours removing everything that could be removed and masking everything that couldn’t be, until the front end was ready for a face lift that would make Jackie Stallone proud. By the time the engine was ready for the car, the engine bay was brighter than the early morning sun on a hangover day.

Six months on and the car still isn’t finished. Ross’ girlfriend Sam is fast becoming a Cosworth widow but the project rolls on. The engine still needs a new fuel pump to feed it properly and until then, boost pressure is limited to 30psi or around 2bar in old money. Once the new pump is there, which it should be by the time you read this, boost will be at a massive 40psi and the power to the back wheels via the ceramic clutch will be, drum roll please… 400bhp. That’s the equivalent of two and a bit Civic Type R’s through the contact area of two 17” Falken tyres that wrap the Wolfrace Street Octane alloys.
On its recent live mapping session, minus its recommended fuel pump, the Sierra was breaking traction in every gear, including 5th (at 90mph). That in itself is alarming enough but here’s another shocker for you, the brakes and the shocks on this car are bog standard. Only Apex springs assist in the handling! If you coat a couple of live wet fish in silicone dash spray and try juggling them, you’re getting close to how this thing is to drive hard on twisty roads.

Cosmetically the 4 door saloon is never going to be in the same league as a Ferrari, though with traction permitting it might give one a run for its money in a straight line. Morrettes up front, clear indicators front/sides and the later 4x4 rear lights freshen the outside. Inside is function over form, with Ford Racing oil pressure and boost pressure gauges doing their thing and a RS 4-spoke steering wheel gives Ross something turn to in whichever direction the back decides to head for.

While the project nears completion, only decent brakes, shocks and a body tidy (bulkhead back) to go, Ross had a small confession to make in our final chat of the day. He hankers after another Cossie, but an Escort this time. Porsche drivers beware, the engine will very likely be massively clean and massively tuned once more, only with 4 wheel drive this time, he’ll have you in the corners too.