When you buy a car which is available with a choice of engines, how can you be certain that your engine is the stated capacity and level of tune? I remember yonks ago a friend bought an Escort Mexico which had to have the engine changed under warranty because it was not as stated.
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I spose y'all could take it to a gaff that has a dynamometer and see if it comes up to spec.
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If you cant tell when you drive it and fill it up, its time to hang up your car keys.
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And what engine did it have?Please let us have further details!There will be a code stamped on the engine and another one on the body/vin plate which should be the same.
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"....I remember yonks ago a friend bought an Escort Mexico which had to have the engine changed under warranty because it was not as stated."
Did it have the BDA engine? :)
Last edited by: Fullchat on Fri 29 Mar 13 at 14:18
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Unless the game was given away, the only visible difference under the bonnet a Mk 1 Mexico had over a basic 1600 was the carburettor. Mexicos had a twin choke Weber, (32/26 DGV from memory) and a basic 1600 had something more prosaic. Inside the engine, the only difference was a slightly hotter cam - and both engines were the 1600 crossflow (CVHs came later with the Mk2).
BDA apart from being a twin OHC engine was also belt driven (hence the name) and was the derivation of the Lotus twin cam that was in the Mk 1 RS1600, and the Lotus Cortina. Very unlikely Ford even on an off day would have fitted one as they didn't appear till the Mk 2 Escort and were an expensive and specialised option. A Mk2 RS1800 Escort that is original and in road trim is a very rare beast now - most became competition cars.
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IIRC the early Mk1s had the twin cam known as the 'Twin Cam' and the BDA was later fitted. In the Mk2 this was increased to 1840cc and then to 2000cc
Something like this beauty:
www.silverstoneauctions.com/ford-escort-rs-1600-bda
Further info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escort_%28Europe%29
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>> IIRC the early Mk1s had the twin cam known as the 'Twin Cam' and the
>> BDA was later fitted. In the Mk2 this was increased to 1840cc and then to
>> 2000cc
I do believe that to be correct.
Plus don't forget the RS1800 was a just Mexico fitted with the wrong engine... ;-)
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I remember that in the 60s there were apochryphal stories of cars being built to 'unofficial' order for employees at Dagenham. The employee would order a very basic odd spec machine but it would be 'marked' on the assy line and end up with all top of the range spec fittings.
Presumably these items had to come from somewhere, and a selection of other cars would have missing/incorrect items. It probably would not work today with tighter stock/ quality control but I guess there must be some truth in the stories :)
There were also stories of a 3 door cortina, 2 on one side and 1 on the other. Mk3 Cortinas that were squeezed to meet a (tax inspired) width specification unique to some farflung outpost of the British Empire.
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They were Mk.II Cortinas and it was for Japan(lower tax class based on width).All the other stories were "urban myths".Including the wrong engine ones.Other engines may have been fitted but not on the line-many of these cars were not built on the Escort lines but on a small specialized facility at Aveley.
Last edited by: jc2 on Fri 29 Mar 13 at 19:25
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I heard somewhere that a number of Metro 6R4s had identical VINs. Allegedly assembled at weekends for 'special' customers.
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Every metro 6R4 was hand built. It was always assumed they would'nt last longer than a rally week so vin numbers were pointless.
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Many years ago my BiL bought a Volvo estate from a main dealer - all the badging and the V5 said it was a 2.5 when in fact it was a 2.0 - they were most reluctant to put things right.
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>>There were also stories of .......Mk3 Cortinas that were squeezed to meet a (tax inspired) width specification unique to some far flung outpost of the British Empire.
>>
Not stories but fact. When I visited Bermuda many moons ago there were lots of British cars that were there with I assume factory changes.
There were restrictions on several aspects of cars - width, length, engine size.
I saw Cortinas ( Mk I or II ?)with flush door handles, skinny bumpers.
IIRC some cars had shorter bonnets and or boots.
Viva and Victor 101 were shortened and maybe a Capri with a bob tail
www.bermuda-online.org/wheels.htm
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An aunt of mine bought what she thought was a 1.3 Mk 3 Escort, and insured it as such. The first time she took it to be serviced she was informed it was a 1.1 (no engine badge on the boot means smallest engine, luv, everyone knows that, durrr). Insurance company did refund the excess premiums, mind you.
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I obviously confused the issue by mentioning the friend's Escort. It was merely intended to illustrate the fact that mistakes can happen during assembly. The relevant point in my case is that I had a test drive (100 miles unaccompanied) in a 2013 150ps 1.6 EcoBoost Focus and then bought a 182ps version, and so far I haven't been able to notice the difference in performance. I admit that I've only done 500 miles so far and perhaps I've been slightly gentler with my car than I was with the demonstrator. Inputting the VIN into the FordEtis website says it's a 182ps engine, but I'm not convinced that that's categoric proof of the state of tune of the engine. In years gone by each particular variant of a car was only available with one particular engine but that is no longer the case.
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The difference is probably dependant upon the ECU software.
Gawd knows how you'd accurately measure the power output, other than removing the engine and putting it on a test rig. I suppose you could put it on a rolling road, but then a considerable amount of power would be absorbed by the transmission.
Looks like you'll just have to trust the dealer you bought it from. We all know you put great faith in them!
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When the ECU is fitted to the car,a tear-off identity sticker should be attached to the car-it'll normally be found on one of the door openings-your dealer(or storeman) should be able to confirm that it's correct.Rolling roads are good for comparisons but not too good at showing actual power.
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>> When the ECU is fitted to the car,a tear-off identity sticker should be attached to
>> the car-it'll normally be found on one of the door openings ..........
Thanks jc2. I've had a look but unfortunately the only labels are the VIN plate and the tyre pressure label. I'll just have to believe the FordEtis website that it's got the 182ps engine.
The official combined fuel consumption for the 182ps 1.6 litre EcoBoost petrol is 47.9 mpg, which is 47% better than the corresponding figure of 32.5 mpg for my previous 2 litre petrol 2003 Focus, so I'm hoping to get 47% better than the 33.7 mpg average that I actually got from the 2 litre over the last 12 months. Time will tell!
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I wouldn't hold out for a 47% increase. In my experience the consumption figures of 10 years ago were fairly realistic, but now that all sorts of tricks ar used the figures are becoming more impossible to achieve.
The V60 is the first car that I have had where I am vastly far away from the claimed figure of 62mpg - my average over the last year has been just over 44. In my opinion there is no way you could get 62 from that car in any situation.
By comparison the C5 had the same engine but only claimed 54mpg against my actual 50 achieved
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