They were originally a Ford Sierra Cosworth over in Europe, but in '85 (the same guy who designed and put together the first SVO, also the Turbo/Super Coupe Tbirds) brought them over here and marketed them under the name Merkur (German for Mercury). It's a Merkur XR4Ti, and basically the same engine as the SVO/Turbo Coupes, it has a T-9 5 speed (similar to the T5, only a little weaker, and reverse is up and to the left of 1st), and it's got an IRS/RWD car which really sets it apart from the SVO/SC. They were made from '85 through '89 here but i believe also a '90 was made in Europe. My car has a manual in the glove box that says it weights a tad over 2900lbs dry weight, so they're relatively light and with the IRS they handle like they're on rails. At their time of production they were in the same performance/quality class as the BMW 3 series and some other Volvos/Audis/Saabs and other German luxocoupes. The engine is rated at (if i remember right) 170hp, but i don't recall torque specs. The automatics were set at 10psi and the 5 speeds were set at 12psi after 4k RPM.
I'm going to a guy's house today who paints cars...i'm gonna see about having him do a good high speed buff job on it and he's going to give me a hand installing a manual boost controller. So, by the time i post in here again, it'll probably be on about 18psi I'd run more but it is my DD...lol
Oh how I wish we got the DOHC turbo Cosworth motor in these cars stateside...
think again homie, you have NO ic, 18 psi on a svo with an ic and its going to ping a little, I telling ya its going to pop a hg, with that much boost and no ic. the first thing to do is put a ic on it, at the least a turbo coupe unit, then add some boost, go up in little increments not 10psi at a time!!! im just warning you.
Just wait until you get to go to the parts store asking for **** for these cars...The people there usually give you a "wtf" look or they think you said Mercury.
The engine can take lots of abuse....just get rid of the stock tranny as quick as you can because it's a POS.
I blew a diff and a T9 in mine
And I was only running low 15's @ 88mph getting low 2.2 60' times (which isn't bad I guess for an open diff). That's how crappy they are.
Enlighten me young ones! Cause back when they were brand new they were a piece of chit that I wouldnt be caught dead in!!
LOL, yeah but by your standards if it isn't GM it's chit, right?
When was the Merkur an economy car? It was twice the price of a 5.0 Mustang and has luxury features out the wazoo.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?