DarkBuddha's 1989 Merkur XR4TI

Factory Options:

As with most of these cars, mine is fairly well optioned since they were intended to compete with the BMW 3 series cars of the same time period. My car's options include sunroof, leather interior, upgraded stereo, cruise control, power windows, a/c, etc. Interestingly, my car does not have the very common option of heated seats, which is a surprise considering the car was sold new here in Seattle.

Exterior Modifications:

I've made a fair few changes now, but it all started with some very basic things like changing the original Merkur emblem to a proper Ford emblem, removing the very '80s pinstriping, and upgrading the rolling stock a bit. I've gone a bit further now, replacing the XR4TI emblem with a custom XR4RS "worked" sticker. The wheels are 16x7 ALT AT-180s wrapped in Yokohama H4S 205/45s in the autumn through spring. The car is slightly lowered on -30mm Eibach Pro-kit springs. Since the '88-'89 XRs came with the pedestrian single wing, I initially installed an '87.5 hatch with the unique signature bi-wing, but have now installed the equally unique and very wild Cosworth RS upper whaletail and RS500 lower rear spoiler. The front fascia has gotten a Cosworth grille, euro headlamps, and a custom fitted MK3 VW Jetta bumper with euro clear fog lights/turn signals, and crystal sidemarker lights. The Sunbird Turbo hood vents top off the current mods. It all really transforms the look of the car.

I plan to have the car tinted, but not too dark. And I've picked up a few extra sets of wheels, including aset of '80s vintage 15" deep dished Enkei 92 mesh wheels, 16x7 ARE 5 stars, and 17x7 Team Dynamic ProRace2s in white. Each set really changes the look of the car.

Interior Modifications:

I've done a couple simple things to upgrade the stock Spice brown interior a bit. There are the $20 aluminum pedals that improved heal-toe ability, the $5 leather wrap on the steering wheel that fattened up the wheel a bit, $20 leather shift knob and boot, and the $25 white face electroluminescent gauge faces (which made a huge difference in nighttime visibility). I also chopped 2" off the stock shift rod to shorten up the shifts a bit. It actually made a huge improvement in shifter feel and accuracy as well. Altogether, cheap but effective improvements.

That said, at some point I decided the Spice brown interior wasn't really quite brown or quite tan, and was some sort of ugly color in between. It looks better in pictures than it does in person. So I've picked up most of pieces to convert the car to Raven black (which is kinda rare). White XR4TIs were never offered with the Raven black interior, but I think it will be a nice combination. I also scored a set of used cloth, period correct, vintage Recaro seats. They need to be recovered properly, but I'll probably run them as-is for the time being after I do some patching.

Performance:

The stock engine is a turbocharged 2.3L OHC Ford motor; basically the same deal that was installed in the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbocoupe, except without an intercooler. I started with some common basic upgrades, including converting to the late SVO PE ECU and larger VAM, Gillis manual boost control valve, and cone filter.

I knew there was more potential so I've done some more serious stuff as well. The XR now has a Forge 004 style BOV, Cosworth 2wd FMIC w/2.25" piping, 40bob gutted upper and knife-edged/ported lower intake manifolds, mildly ported head, ported E6 exhaust manifold, rebuilt T3 .60/.48 w/Cosworth turbine housing and Stage 1.5 turbine wheel upgrade, 14psi wastegate actuator, custom made mandrel bent 3" downpipe and full 3" exhaust w/hi-flow cat and Borla XR1 muffler. The engine feels very "rubberbandy", very linear, progressive, smooth, torquey, and tractable. Boost (currently a wastegate regulated 14lbs.) builds quickly and is all in by 2500-2700 rpm or earlier. This makes it easy to drive casually or fast. And given the specs on a stock SVO were 205hp/250lbft torque, I'm expecting my numbers should better than that by a fair bit now.

Suspension/Chassis:

The great thing about these cars is that they're rear wheel drive and have fully independent rear suspensions, not fixed axles, so the handling is pretty good from the get-go. That said, they are notoriously softly sprung and dampened, but I have already upgraded to urethane bushings both front and rear, a set of Eibach pro-kit lowering springs (previously AVO -40mm Cosworth spec springs), Cosworth 28mm front swaybar, Rapido 19mm rear swaybar, and KYB dampers. The Eibach springs seem a bit softer than the AVOs, but being progressive rate, the ride is much better and handling is only slightly less responsive. The bigger sway bars certainly help make up for the softer springs. I've installed an OMP front strut brace and ChuckW motor mounts as well.

I've picked up a Rapido 29mm front sway bar and will also be upgrading the differential mount to a custom designed heavily gussetted piece, solid mounting the beam, and installing a gussetted rear shock tower/harness bar, all of which should help a bunch more

Drivetrain:

I'm currently running the stock T9 5 speed with a replacement LUK clutch. Unfortunately, the LUK clutch just didn't the torque the motor is making for long and slips miserably any time I roll into boost... and it started just when it had just 1000 miles. So instead of just replacing the clutch again, I figure why not just do the T5 conversion and a good clutch and be done with it, especially if I'll have the tranny out anyway. I've made secured a World Class T5, one-piece drifeshaft. Spec stage 3+ clutch, and Rapido T5 crossmember. It ain't a cheap proposition, but hopefully I won't have to worry about the tranny or clutch again for a long while.

Also in the works is a BMW E36 LSD conversion. This conversion was developed by a friend (and fellow XR owner) to basically bolt-in. It will solid mount the diff and the beam, improving handling and stability while also providing the benefits of a locking diff. The really great thing about this diff conversion is that the BMW diffs are strong, cheap, easy to find, and come in lots of different gearsets. The BMW diff I got is 3.15 ratio and at first glance appears to be a "downgrade" from the stock 3.64. However, the WCT5 gearset I'm getting should match up with the 3.15 BMW diff nicely in the first three gears, but then I should see the benefits of the taller rear gear on the highway in 4th and 5th. BTW, if I decide I want to change BMW ratio later, it's as easy as finding an E30 or E36 ratio I like. Nifty, huh?

Also, I've upgraded the brakes a bit. As mentioned above, the front discs are JVAB's "big" brake kit, which uses a custom 11.2x1.25" heavy duty vented two-piece rotor setup and Wilwood 4x1.62" Forged Billet Superlite calipers. The diameter isn't huge, but they are plenty wide, and they're spec'd just like Ford's rally cars. For rears, I've scored an SSBC rear disc conversion off an XR parts car that I was given... FOR FREE! Can't beat that, but I've gotta get the time to do the install now.

Electronics:

Right now the car still has the stock tape deck/amplifier combo. I do use my iPod using an FM transmitter, but overall the sound quality is just plain lousy through the stock speakers. I did kinda "upgrade" the rear speakers from the stock 5.25" woofers to 4" Infinity Reference speakers. They do sound quite good for what they are but bass response is seriously lacking. To solve the problem I bought a nice used Infinity Basslink to fill in the mids and bass and I'll be adding a set of 5x7 Infinitys up front eventually. But for the moment at least I've got the intoxicating sound of turbo whine and a free flowing 3" exhaust. Spool baby spool!

To-Do List:

Stuff I've got and need to finish:

1. Install Inovate LC1 wideband, EGT sensor, and Autometer gauges.
2. Install rear disc brake conversion
3. Install World Class T5 conversion.
4. Install BMW E36 3.15 LSD diff with solid mount and solid mount the beam.
5. Install Raven interior and Recaro seats.
6. Install audio gear.
7. Fit ARP longer wheels studs
8. All the little things...


Stuff I'd like to do in the future:

1. Install rear strut tower brace/harness bar combo
2. Paint and tint
3. Roll bar/cage
4. Adjustable TCAs
5. Coilovers
6. Paint & tint
7. hmmm... let me think...