Cosworth Sierra / Sapphire RS

[THOR]

In stock condition this car would kill an XR8 in every which way.

Errr.....not to get into a p-ing contest about this, Gavin, but with both cars in stock form there will be no killing either way. In modified form, well how long is that piece of string again??

Just saying.

I agree with piece of string nearly purchased Basil's car in 1992, but then purchased my Grovenor V8 Sapphire.
My Sapphire has a couple of strings, I will not swop in for local converted one.
All natural V8 power

[Gavin RS]

Hey guys, what's the problem, I have had an XR8, and a Capri Perana and a few Mustangs and 2 of my friends had Grosvenor Sapphire V8's I love all those cars and would love 1 of each in my garage right now as I am a V8 nut.

BUT - remember the 12 locally built Cosworths of which mine I owned for 17 years were rated at 255HP so more than the UK spec. AND Besides it is only a 2.0lt 4cylinder with turbo. everything about my car was just right, brakes, handling driveability etc, 1 of the best cars I have ever owned and I have owned more cars than most people have had underpants.

My car was standard and I never had any problems beating an XR8 in a drag or top end race, GTi Golf 5 and 6 also no hassle, as well as a few other exotics. real sleeper car. No big talk, just facts of what the car could do, around Zwartkops I had lots of fun with M3's ST Focus's and Mazda MPs Turbo's as well and always got past them, and on one track day a very nice few laps against an Audi RS4, got past the RS4 which was a surprise for the owner

A Cosworth is a different drive to most cars I've experienced as in gear acceleration is something else. If you talk modifying then yes , how long is a piece of string and how big is your wallet, they have got more than 1000hp out of the good old YB in the UK as well as in Scandinavia.

I will have this to say though as It has always come up in a race. whenever my car has beaten someone's and it was a V8 or something like an M3 then the comment is usually "Ya but your car has a turbo and its has big boost" then when I show the motor to let the person see it is all still stock as per factory they still don't believe it up until I sold the car to a friend the only modification was a Group A motorsport fuel pump and an intercooler spray system as the intercooler was still stock. I had the motor rebuilt before the new owner took the car and the power was upped to 400hp, Torque went over 500Nm, It is now a monster but still easy to drive to the shops and back, Now I am sorry I sold the car, BUT the new owner might immigrate an a year or 2 and I have the option to buy it back.

There as always been the issue as to who had the car from New, speaking To Basil Green some years ago he said the car was his car up to 10000km then it got sold, then Peter Lindenberg said it could have been his.. anyway my friend who now owns the car has both cars same colour. I arrange for him to buy the sister car and both are the same colour, metallic red , so he now probably owns the cars of Basil and Peter

[THOR]

Basil's own car was based on Ghia body Maroon and had the ABS system. He told me his was only one with ABS of the 12. Can't remember, but do not think they fitted LSD.
My V8 has new 6 speed manual, ABS system Focus ST front brakes and Cosworth rear brakes + Cosworth Limited Slip Diff.

[Gavin RS]

All 12 Local Cosworths had LSD alloy diff housing.

All the info gathered over the years and the new owner of my car chatting to Geoff Mortimer it appears my car was Basil Greens car. Basil still told me some years ago that there were some mods on the car like RS500 Turbo and intercooler which he took off when he sold it. Spec on my car, GHIA specification with ABS and Airconditioning, Engine back to STD, even the chip in the ECU has STD written on it. T5 Cosworth gearbox, alloy housing LSD. one tell tale sign which popped up was that he fitted a switch for the amal valve (to up the boost), the switch was hidden in the little drivers side storage bin under the dash. when I bought this car it had that switch which I took out. Also another give away was that my car was the only one built that was fitted with the later type 4x4 Sierra Cosworth alloy .
rims.

It is just such a pity they never numbered the cars with a BG plate. The car will soon be signed by Basil Green and Geoff Mortimer

[ZA Perana]

I have always thought of these cars as occupying a sort of grey area, maybe because I never really bought into the whole Cosworth thing, heard one run once and to be honest sound wise I wasn't impressed at all.

Perhaps the fact that 4 cylinder turbo engines are so common now, that's maybe reduced the impact of the Cosworth.

R120k for a non runner in my opinion is too much.

[Gavin RS]

I have always thought of these cars as occupying a sort of grey area, maybe because I never really bought into the whole Cosworth thing, heard one run once and to be honest sound wise I wasn't impressed at all.

Perhaps the fact that 4 cylinder turbo engines are so common now, that's maybe reduced the impact of the Cosworth.

R120k for a non runner in my opinion is too much.

You should hear a Cosworth with a proper Exhaust John, great sound, and prices are going through the roof in the UK, recent sales, 1988 Sierra (Sapphire) RS Cosworth, auction sale GBP 25,000, 1987 Sierra RS 500 3 door, Auction sale GBP47,000

And the ex Geoff Mortimer car did sell on Friday for R110,000 not running and needing lots of work (I sold my car too cheap last year at R160k) hope to buy it back in about a years time.

http://fastestcosworth.com/

[UGLYDUCKLIN]

Hi All
a buddy of mine bought this car.....brought in all the spares from Burton R25k
Complete motor fresh up and she goes like a dream
The tensioner bolt was stripped
Car is now in Durban
Cheers

[needboost]

Hi All
a buddy of mine bought this car.....brought in all the spares from Burton R25k
Complete motor fresh up and she goes like a dream
The tensioner bolt was stripped
Car is now in Durban
Cheers

Good to hear Denny ... would always be a gamble with a non runner. Glad it wasn't a costly affair ...

[Gavin RS]

Being an XR8 fan and having had one for awhile it was still no match for a stock Cosworth, Remember the Sierra/Sapphire Cosworth was lighter and had an LS diff as std and top speed was a lot more than the XR8 as well as a quicker 0-100. the local 12 were rated at 5.7sec o-100

I would still love both cars in my garage anyway.

And to answer a previous post about the differences of the UK spec Sierra compared to the SA built 12. First thing, there are no 3 doors Cosworths in SA.(I have heard of 1 in Cape Town but never seen it)

The Sapphire Cosworth UK spec had the bigger transmission tunnel due to it also being available in 4wd, sunroof was std, wipers and washers on headlights, full Recaro interior leather or cloth, no rear electric aerial as this was built into the rear windscreen, component sound system std and all had ABS, different bumpers and front unique to Cosworths as were the side skirts. Lattice type wheels on 2wd and BBS style on 4wd all 15inch.The later 4wd also had a vented bonnet

Of The 12 cars from Basil green only a few were based on the GHIA with ABS, Aircon and leather interior. Mine was one of those, The rest were GL based so no ABS.
The whole drive train, YB turbo engine, T5 WC gearbox, propshaft, alloy LS diff, shocks,struts as well as wiring harness for engine and Weber Marelli management was all imported from Ford in the UK, The 12 cars were all assembled with the Cosworth components By Geoff and Glyn Hall and so the 12 cars came about and were all sold through Basil Green Ford, I know of only 6 cars left including mine
Geoff Mortimer did a deal with Ford in the UK at that time to bring all the parts to SA. The only thing which was changed was the power output on the local cars, this was rated at 255hp (+-190kw)

[needboost]

Being an XR8 fan and having had one for awhile it was still no match for a stock Cosworth, Remember the Sierra/Sapphire Cosworth was lighter and had an LS diff as std and top speed was a lot more than the XR8 as well as a quicker 0-100. the local 12 were rated at 5.7sec o-100

I would still love both cars in my garage anyway.

And to answer a previous post about the differences of the UK spec Sierra compared to the SA built 12. First thing, there are no 3 doors Cosworths in SA.(I have heard of 1 in Cape Town but never seen it)

The Sapphire Cosworth UK spec had the bigger transmission tunnel due to it also being available in 4wd, sunroof was std, wipers and washers on headlights, full Recaro interior leather or cloth, no rear electric aerial as this was built into the rear windscreen, component sound system std and all had ABS, different bumpers and front unique to Cosworths as were the side skirts. Lattice type wheels on 2wd and BBS style on 4wd all 15inch.The later 4wd also had a vented bonnet

Of The 12 cars from Basil green only a few were based on the GHIA with ABS, Aircon and leather interior. Mine was one of those, The rest were GL based so no ABS.
The whole drive train, YB turbo engine, T5 WC gearbox, propshaft, alloy LS diff, shocks,struts as well as wiring harness for engine and Weber Marelli management was all imported from Ford in the UK, The 12 cars were all assembled with the Cosworth components By Geoff and Glyn Hall and so the 12 cars came about and were all sold through Basil Green Ford, I know of only 6 cars left including mine
Geoff Mortimer did a deal with Ford in the UK at that time to bring all the parts to SA. The only thing which was changed was the power output on the local cars, this was rated at 255hp (+-190kw)

And the Tappet Covers did not have Cosworth machined into them and were black ... oh and 13 cars :-)