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, starting with some very basic things like changing the Merkur emblem to a proper Ford emblem, removed the very '80s pinstriping, and upgraded the rolling stock a bit. The wheels are 16x7 ALT AT-180s wrapped in Yokohama H4S 205/45s in the autumn through spring. For autocross, I've got a set of ARE star wheels with Falken Azenis 215/45s. 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. The front bumper has been converted to a MK3 VW Jetta bumper with euro clear fog lights/turn signals, and crystal sidemarker lights. It definitely updates the car a bit, especially with the Cossie grille. The top secret hood vents top off the current mods.

I finally received my order of Cossie pieces from NACS for the car (after waiting nearly 14 months), including an arch/sill kit, grille, RS upper wing, and RS500 lower wing. I'll be fitting the kit this summer. I may have the car tinted, but not too dark. And finally, I've picked up a set of '80s vintage 15" deep dished Enkei mesh wheels I hope to fit. They look absolutely killer and match the era of the car perfectly.

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 a bunch 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 vinyl Scat Procar Rally 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 2.3L Ford motor. Basically the same deal that was installed in the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbocoupe, except without an intercooler. I've done some common upgrades, including converting to the SVO ECU, larger SVO VAM, Gillis manual boost control valve, K&N filter, 3" downpipe and full exhaust, Forge 004 style BOV, and a Cosworth 2wd FMIC. With the boost is set at 17 lbs. the car pulls very strong all the way to redline. Given the specs on a stock SVO was 205hp/250lbft torque, plus the 3" exhaust, Cossie IC, increased boost, I'm hoping numbers are better than that. Still, I want more, so I've got a ported E6 exhaust manifold, Cossie turbine housing, TurboJoe fuel rail, and an AFPR ready to install, and there are a few other upgrades I'd like to do.

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'll 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, and installing an OMP front strut tower bar, all of which should help a bunch.

Drivetrain:

I'm currently running the stock T9 5 speed with a newly installed LUK clutch. Unfortunately, the LUK clutch just isn't holding the torque the motor is making and slips miserably any time I roll into boost, and it's got less tan 1500 miles on it. 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 arrangements to secure a World Class T5 to convert the car, including a one piece driveshaft, and I've done the research on the conversion. It won't be cheap, 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.

I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do for rear brakes quite yet. I had collected the stuff to do a rear disc conversion for cheap using '88 Turbocoupe parts, but sold the stuff off. So now I'm seriously considering either going with a Cossie setup or a Wilwood/custom rotor setup to match the fronts. Both those options will cost quite a bit more.

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 6x8 Infinitys up front eventually. But for the moment at least I've got the intoxicating sound of turbo whine and open exhaust. It sounds like an eery invisible jet powered tractor.

To-Do List:

Stuff I got and need to finish:

1. Rebuild turbo with a Cossie turbine housing and slightly bigger exhaust wheel, install ported E6 tapped for the Autometer EGT snesor, and build a new exhaust with 3" downpipe/flexpipe including provision for the Inovate LC1 wideband, Catco race cat, and Borla XR-1 to 2.25" duals out the back.
2. Install Cossie headlamps and plexi covers, rear spoilers, arch/sill kit.
3. DONE! (was Install Eibach Pro-kit springs.)
4. Install BMW E36 3.15 LSD diff with solid mount and solid mount the beam.
5. Install World Class T5 conversion.
6. Install rear strut tower brace/harness bar combo and OMP front strut tower brace.
7. Install Raven interior and Procar seats.
8. hmmm... I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff.

Stuff I'd like to do in the future:

1. Ported intakes
2. Paint and tint
3. DONE! (19mm Rapido rear swaybar)
4. Rear disc brake conversion
5. stereo upgrades
6. ported head
7. hmmm... let me think...