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[Nick W]

Don't think that my poor old bones could stand up to a 'classic' car ride these days. 

Even a 'sporting' Escort rides better than a modern BMW or Audi just about anything. My lowered and stiffened 2.8i Capri rode better than the nearly new mk1 Focus my mother had at the same time.


100bhp in an Escort is good fun, and provides enough real performance to surprise a lot of drivers in newer cars. The small size makes them better on country roads too.

Something to do with smaller wheels fitted with proper old-fashioned balloon tyres perhaps.

Modern wheels are much bigger and covered by an elastic band stretched over the circumference of the wheel, rather than a tyre.

195/65 x 15 on the Focus and 205/60 x 13 on the Capri. Not really that different.


The Focus had stiffer springs and dampers, and the much vaunted multi-link rear suspension just feels like a Cortina/Mustang/Dolomite/Mirafiori/anything else with a satchell link rear suspension with knackered bushes. And it kills the bootspace.


Cars keep getting worse: the current Focus doesn't cope with broken surfaces; faster FWD cars have so much power that the only way to pretend they can use it is to stiffen the suspension so much they don't ride bumps; RWD cars have such big tyres they have masses of grip until they suddenly have none coupled with so little suspension travel that there's no progression between working and bound up. Feel is mostly absent from all of the controls, due to electric PAS, drive by wire throttles and over enthusiastic traction control, over servoed brakes, huge anti-rollbars, restricted clutch hydraulics and the sheer mass of a modern car.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I passed my test in a MKI Escort  YTC 144L (I can remember that, but have to go outside & look at my cars for their registration  )

Registered between 1st August 1972 and 31st July 1973.

which made the car 6 or 7 years old when I drove it

7 years is pretty good going for something built in the seventies. Many were thrown together by communists in Birmingham without care or love. ;

Endrust and Ziebart did a roaring trade back then.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Don't think that my poor old bones could stand up to a 'classic' car ride these days. 

Even a 'sporting' Escort rides better than a modern BMW or Audi just about anything. My lowered and stiffened 2.8i Capri rode better than the nearly new mk1 Focus my mother had at the same time.


100bhp in an Escort is good fun, and provides enough real performance to surprise a lot of drivers in newer cars. The small size makes them better on country roads too.

Something to do with smaller wheels fitted with proper old-fashioned balloon tyres perhaps.

Modern wheels are much bigger and covered by an elastic band stretched over the circumference of the wheel, rather than a tyre.

195/65 x 15 on the Focus and 205/60 x 13 on the Capri. Not really that different.


The Focus had stiffer springs and dampers, and the much vaunted multi-link rear suspension just feels like a Cortina/Mustang/Dolomite/Mirafiori/anything else with a satchell link rear suspension with knackered bushes. And it kills the bootspace.


Cars keep getting worse: the current Focus doesn't cope with broken surfaces; faster FWD cars have so much power that the only way to pretend they can use it is to stiffen the suspension so much they don't ride bumps; RWD cars have such big tyres they have masses of grip until they suddenly have none coupled with so little suspension travel that there's no progression between working and bound up. Feel is mostly absent from all of the controls, due to electric PAS, drive by wire throttles and over enthusiastic traction control, over servoed brakes, huge anti-rollbars, restricted clutch hydraulics and the sheer mass of a modern car.

I'll have to take your word for this, Nick.

All things being equal I prefer the torquey 3.0 Essex V6 to the low torque 2.8 German lump.

[Doctor Gollum]

The 2.8i was a different league to the 2.8 carb. And fitting the carb from the 2.8 onto the 2.3 made quite a difference. Especially with the 5 speed manual 

[countrywoman]

My slightly tuned mk1 3liter capri went quite well but the twin plenum 2.8 I fitted in a mk3 trany went much better!!

[Nick W]

The 2.8i was a different league to marginally more powerful than the 2.8 carb. And fitting the carb from the 2.8 onto the 2.3 made quite a difference. Especially with the 5 speed manual 

FTFY. And K-jet on a relatively large engine meant it had horrible throttle response - as if the cable was made from elastic.


The 3.0l and 2.8 have the same mechanical faults(timing gears, oil pump drive, weight) but are either torquey but breathless, or gutless and revvy. Each has its own faults, like weak rocker adjusters on the 3.0l and the 2.8's waterpump.


What you actually want is the 12v 2.9, which gives both with decent fuel economy mainly due to the management but is a straight swap for a 2.8(the 3.0l is a completely different architecture although it's dimensions are similar). This all largely academic now that all of these engines are obsolete, hard to find, suffer from the classic Ford tax and their power is easily achieved by a cheap 2.0l four cylinder - 1.8 VVC K-series is 160bhp and about £250 for example

[Raeturbo]

The 2.8i was a different league to the 2.8 carb. And fitting the carb from the 2.8 onto the 2.3 made quite a difference. Especially with the 5 speed manual 

                But the 2.9 cosworth breathed on 24v was the best of a heavy bunch. 

[Doctor Gollum]

The 2.8i was a different league to the 2.8 carb. And fitting the carb from the 2.8 onto the 2.3 made quite a difference. Especially with the 5 speed manual 

                But the 2.9 cosworth breathed on 24v was the best of a heavy bunch.

This certainly gives the full fat Omega a run for its money. 

Have to say that my favourite Mk2 was my 2.8i Ghia X with factory manual and lsd. The worst was a 2.8 carb auto.

The 2.9 Mk3 saloon auto was pretty lively but struggled to make 20mpg...

The 2.9 24v was significantly more economical and considerably faster down the road. Until I span it into a fence off a diesel soaked roundabout

Would consider another Mk3 saloon...

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

The 2.8i was a different league to the 2.8 carb. And fitting the carb from the 2.8 onto the 2.3 made quite a difference. Especially with the 5 speed manual 

                But the 2.9 cosworth breathed on 24v was the best of a heavy bunch.

This certainly gives the full fat Omega a run for its money. 

Have to say that my favourite Mk2 was my 2.8i Ghia X with factory manual and lsd. The worst was a 2.8 carb auto.

The 2.9 Mk3 saloon auto was pretty lively but struggled to make 20mpg...

The 2.9 24v was significantly more economical and considerably faster down the road. Until I span it into a fence off a diesel soaked roundabout

Would consider another Mk3 saloon...

The Mk2 Granada was a good looking car. The Scorpio was an ugly bastard.

[Doctor Gollum]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225068075705
The Mk3 saloon was pretty enough