Ford Escort 1.6 Si

...new sporty Escort, as Ford started to appeal as a more upclass car manufacturer in the mid 1990's. "Si" seemed to look far more 9ct gold and diamonté to the XR3i's real-gold-plate and plastic gems.

The car itself is a functional mk5 Escort. (Si's in mk5 are quite rare,) I've always quietly admired the look of the mk5 Escort. I much prefer it to the "sad-fish" styling of the mk6, which was copied wholesale onto the ...
...10w/40 in the handbook, however Ford where quick to supersede this with 5w/30.

The Zetec is a free-revving engine. Depending on the engine size shifts the torque considerably, the 1.6 versions have a high torque band, and the 2.0 version have the torque band in a place you wouldn't expect in a 16v petrol engine, which is much further down. The 1.8 seems to sit about right though, generating maximum torque around the 4500 rev mark.
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**THIS REVIEW REFERS TO THE 1.8 SI.**

Many hundreds of years ago, a group of Anglo-Saxon settlers in the east of England became known as the 'East Seaxe." They marvelled at the beauty of the furtile land, enjoyed the clean flowing rivers, and generally thought they lived in a wonderful area.

As time moved on, pretty market towns came to dominate Essex, Saffron Walden, Thaxted, Maldon in the north. In the south of the county, on the outer reaches of London a car company became synomums with the area. The term "Essex Girl," and "Dagenham Dustbin" where born.

Now, I'm not here at all to try and add credit to the phrases "Dagenham-Dustbin," or to reinforce the stereotypical view of a girl called Tracey from Sa'ffff-End. But the car I'm talking about in this review does fit neatly with these stereotypical views. It's a mildly sporty Escort with bits stuck on it……..

And like finding Tracy wearing white plastic stiletto's, the icing on this cars cake is that it is a cabriolet.

Meet Fiona, my "Dagenham Dustbin."

The car is a 1995 (mk5) Escort Si Cabriolet. (130.) As with most Fords, the seemingly random series of letters and numbers that follow the model name hold deep meaning to every Jason and Tracy, and every fan of the blue oval.

Okay, lets break this down. Firstly, its an Escort. That means it's a relatively bland small family car. Si adds a few luxuries, which I shall cover later. Cabriolet's fairly simple. 130 refers to the PS. (Read BHP they're basically interchangeable.)

The Escort Si was released in 1995, it was decided around this time that the seemingly more meaningless proud display of XR3i from the back of the car was starting to look dated. It also added a "1" infront of the insurance quote. "Si" was chosen as the moniker to denote the new sporty Escort, as Ford started to appeal as a more upclass car manufacturer in the mid 1990's. "Si" seemed to look far more 9ct gold and diamonté to the XR3i's real-gold-plate and plastic gems.

The car itself is a functional mk5 Escort. (Si's in mk5 are quite rare,) I've always quietly admired the look of the mk5 Escort. I much prefer it to the "sad-fish" styling of the mk6, which was copied wholesale onto the mk4 Fiesta too… Ford have reduced, reused and recycled years before it became eco-fashion.

Mk5's sold in huge numbers, despite a rather indifferent reception from the motoring press, it was cheap, fairly reliable, and looked reasonable. It also had an advert on release with Brian May's "Driven By You," soundtrack, which I'm sure bolstered sales in no small amount. Add on the tacky beauty of the rightly acclaimed Escort Cosworth, you couldn't afford the Cosworth, the RS2000 was out of reach, but the Si was just in grasp.

So, what did this elusive moniker afford you in 1995.

The Si has a far more sporty interior, it has winged "sports seats," the front bumper is similar to that of the Cosworth, with the indicators and foglamps in the bumper. My model is coloured the frankly stunning Imperial Blue. Add onto this a heated front windscreen, 15" alloys, rear brake discs (130 model only,) white dials, and in the cabriolet version, a high effective electric roof. Powersteering, central locking, factory alarm and a boot spoiler are all standard items too.

Under the bonnet of an Si, you'll find one engine, but a choice of levels of tune. Basically there is a more insurance friendly 115ps version of the famous 1.8 (1796cc) Zetec 16v power unit. The slightly more sporty 130ps version is also available. It is slightly rarer than the 115ps version, and commands a higher insurance premium.

The Zetec is a highly effective engine. It's a highly reliable engine, its free revving and feels "modern" to drive. It (nearly) killed off the frankly underpowered, unreliable, thirsty and generally revolting CVH engine that preceded. ("Constant Vibration and Harshness" in the trade, an engine so vile Clarkson likened it to "driving a Moulinex blender…)

By modern standards, the Zetec stands up well. It has the correct number of valves for a four cylinder engine, it has sequential fuel injection, full EEC compliancy. Its belt driven, (60,000 mile interval isn't too bad,) has a 12,000 mile service interval. It has a well deserved reputation for longevity if looked after correctly. The key to maintaining a Zetec is to ensure the correct grade of oil is used. 5w/30 is the order of the day here, anything thicker and sticking valves and reduced fuel economy will soon come 'a-knocking on your door. Some early engines have 10w/40 in the handbook, however Ford where quick to supersede this with 5w/30.

The Zetec is a free-revving engine. Depending on the engine size shifts the torque considerably, the 1.6 versions have a high torque band, and the 2.0 version have the torque band in a place you wouldn't expect in a 16v petrol engine, which is much further down. The 1.8 seems to sit about right though, generating maximum torque around the 4500 rev mark.

The gearbox fitted in the 130ps version is different to the one fitted in the 115 version. I could go into the differences, but frankly its neither interesting or important. If you have a "lift reverse," you have the "later" gearbox. This was lifted from the Mondeo, and provides longer ratios than the standard box. The gearbox linkage is a weak point on old Escorts, and will rapidly leave you with a "stiring paint," situation, the solution? A new set of gearlinkage rods and bushes from Ford, this is just a little less than you are imaging this to cost.

The pedal set on the Escort is perfectly standard, no nasty surprises here. Plenty of space to make sure "GO" and "STOP" don't get confused. The clutch is slightly heavier than average, this could be partly due to wear though. Its definitely not agricultural though, and won't leave you flicking through the Yellow pages for a private physiotherapist after a crawl through town on Saturday morning. The pedals are not offset.

The seats are supportive, the winged seats are nice to "sink back in," pull on the Ray-bans, get the roof down and blast some Mister-Mister from the stereo in. The seats in my car appear to have worn well, after 100k, no discernable wear to the bolster or cushion.

Generally the dashboard has held up well, everything still works as it should, the layout is clear and dated. It was dated when the car was released, but it's a typical Ford affair, the buttons normally do what they should. My car doesn't suffer with any of the common earthing faults that afflict Fords from this era, due to water ingress into the cabin fusebox. It is common though, and can start with indicators showing a nervous tick randomly, to complete engine failure.

Okay to drive:

The car pulls well though all gears, the tall gearing means that acceleration from standstill is good, the cabriolet weighs more than some villages, so performance whilst not "leisurely" is not perhaps has agile as you would expect from a small car with 130bhp. Generally the Zetec will lap up a fair amount of abuse, and will wait "just another second" for a gearchange compared to most power units from this era. Its definitely no Japanese screaming monster though, and by 6000rpm all the torque has gone, don't expect much more.

Handling wise, things aren't so rosy. This car is quite, it has a kerb weight of nearly 1400kgs, coupled with the fact its very nose heavy with the roof up, and that Escorts in general where no happy bedfellows with corners anyway, doesn't lead to an earth shattering experience.
Drive it spiritedly into a corner, whilst not acting like a hooligan, or like its on rails, it does leave you with a mental note to "perhaps not do that again," it'll leave you with a sense of apathy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Brakes are passable, rear discs don't prove a lot, sorry to break it to you guys. They're not much more effective than drums, but look better. 260mm front discs are slightly larger than the 240mm items found on more basic models. ABS was an option, but not fitted on my model.

The power assistance to the steering is evenly balanced, and manages to maintain a reasonable amount of road feel. Lock-lock seems around average, and there is minimal steering whine when manoeuvring. Being an older car it is a pretty bullet-proof hydraulic PAS system.

The view from the drivers seat is quite shocking with the roof up, the small rear window, and small side windows don't make this car a perticuarly easy car to move around in very tight spaces.

Looking after the Escort is fairly easy, parts are cheap and plentiful. A gallon of 5w/30 and an oil filter will set you back around £30 including VAT at a Ford franchise, using factor oil and filter should see the price drop to around £25. Service intervals are fairly long at 12,000 miles/yearly for an oil change. The platinum spark plugs, and modern wasted spark ignition system mean that the ignition system only requires spark plug replacements every 50,000 miles.

Spark plugs are around £20 a set in Halfords, an airfilter will set you back around £10 at Mr. Ford's parts emporium, or a miserly £3.99 in Halfords. Cambelt changes are cheapish due to the fact that most mechanics will have done the task a thousand times before, and there lurks no really nasty surprises when doing it. For the DIY'ers ideally you need a cam-locking bar, but if you want to invest £20 in the tools, a driveway change is more than possible. Ford will charge you around £120 for an interim service, and will lighten you around £250 to supply and fit a cambelt kit.
Coolant is "sealed for life" but give or take a few leaks, hose/thermostat changes, and the system is normally filled with "normal" green/blue anti-freeze. This will do no damage to the engine, but this should be changed every two years, or switched back to the "red" anti-freeze, which has a far longer service interval.

There are no perticuarly common failures on the Zetec-E engine, headgasket failure is rare, and normally a sign of abuse. Both the top and bottom end of the engine providing oil changes have been adhered to will generally outlive the rest of the car, and the ignition system normally doesn't require attention until the coilpack fails, which can happen around 100k, but is no major issue.

There are the odd engine management faults, such as idle-control valves sticking, or throttle position sensors going haywire. Rest assured these are definitely not the most expensive parts to replace compared to some brands, and £40-£100 will normally put right the crazed sensor.

Ensuring the car has a good roof is perhaps the most imperative part of buying an old Escort cabriolet. Mohair is much nicer that PVC/Vinyl both in feel, and longevity, but costs a fortune. (Circa £400 to supply and fit.) PVC roofs last months, but they're much cheaper and are available in a host of colours, to coordinate with the car if you prefer not to have the standard black roof.

Be wary of a car advertised as "does not leak," rarely will these cars not have some sort of leak, don't be put off though. Normally they're very, very minor and would only be noticed if somebody pointed it out to you. A helpful community at www.escortcabrioletclub.co.uk have a whole range of tips and tricks for dealing with a leaking roof, normally they're free fixes too!

The electric roofs on Escorts can be problematic, I won't go into detail here, but again ECC normally can point people in the right direction if they are suddenly left stranded with the roof half-up. There is a manual way of opening/closing the roof should the worst happen.

DUE TO THE ROOF, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO INSURE THE CAR AGAINST THEFT/DAMAGE AND TO ENSURE THE CAR HAS A DECENT ALARM SYSTEM.

Some insurers will want to see proof of alarm fitting before insuring the car.

Rust has always been the enemy of an old Ford, the Cabriolets where built in Germany, whilst I've never really found anything special about the mythical "German build quality" when it comes to cars. (Quite the opposite infact.) They did themselves proud, as Karmann built Escorts don't seem to suffer as badly with "tinworm" as some Hungarian/UK built models. Watch wings/sills though, as anything can happen.

Road noise is dreadful, both with the roof up and down. I personally think it adds to the experience, but cruising down the M11 in deepest darkest January, when its pouring with rain won't make you feel quite so part of the experience. But life is a compromise….

In all, you'll feel a million dollars with the roof down, the performance is adequate boardering on fairly pacy. It'll drink petrol around town, and cost a fortune to insure. You'll be called a hairdresser, and people will think you've taken leave of your senses. But when its 30degrees outside, and your driving around town, you won't care!

Avoid the 1.4 "Dash" special edition, it's a nasty drive.

Regards,
Andy 

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