In 1986, I was fresh out of high school and found myself
in the market for a
new car to replace my aging 1978 Ford Fiesta. At the urging of my mom,
she gave me a $1000.00 Graduation Gift to be used toward the
purchase of a new vehicle. I went to many local dealerships and finally
landed at Crowley Lincoln Mercury in Bristol, CT.
I went to the dealership to check out the Mercury Linx
XR2. Out in
front of the dealership was this XR4Ti, when the salesman Jon Hicks said,
"keep looking at other models because you can't afford the XR4Ti".
Challenge was taken, papers signed and the XR4Ti was mine.
The German-made Ford Sierra is the base of the XR4Ti.
The naturally aspirated V-6 in the Sierra was replaced by a
Turbocharged 2.3 Inline 4 Cylinder.
In 1986, Ford / Merkur invited me to attend the Trans Am Races at
Lime Rock as a guest of Ford. This is when I met Russ Harness from
Rapido Group. Once I saw in person the performance and handling
upgrades, I added the Rapido Group package designed by Russ to my
XR4Ti. I opened the Rapido Group Catalog and started ordering all
the performance and handling products available from Rapido.
The most important Rapido addition was an air-to-air
intercooler,
which drops the temperature of the pressurized intake charge from about
270 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Russ Harness this raises
its density. The rest of the Rapido package includes, a Borla
stainless-steel exhaust system, Shorter quicker ratio Springs, lowering
the XR4Ti 1.75 inches, Specially valved Koni shocks absorbers, stiffer
anti-roll bars and a Rapido rear-suspension alignment kit.
The only upgrade I didn't purchase were the 6.5, 7.5
alloy wheels and the
VR50 Goodyear Gatorback tires, 205 up front and 225 in the rear. I'm excited
to say, in the Summer of 2024, I connected with Rapido group and bought
the
last set of NOS wheels they had available. Next step is to find the correct
VR50 Gatorback's. If you have one or a set, send me an Email. Lime Rock, The Big Track, With SCDA 2018 2.3 Turbo, Rapido Intercooled