The Merkur XR4Ti is a high-performance 3-door hatchback sold in North America from 1985 to 1989. A product of the Ford Motor Company, the car was a version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i adapted to US regulations. The XR4Ti project was championed by Ford vice president Bob Lutz.
History
The Sierra was the successor to Ford of Europe's Cortina and was developed while Lutz was chairman of Ford's European operations. Due to financial restrictions the decision was made to keep the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout of its predecessor and pursue improved fuel economy through advanced aerodynamics. The Probe III design study unveiled at the 1981 Frankfurt Motor Show indicated the direction Ford would be taking with the Sierra. Responsibility for the Sierra design was handled by vice president for design Uwe Bahnsen and chief stylist Patrick le Quément. The Sierra was released in Europe in September 1982, and the performance-oriented XR4i appeared in 1983, slotted into the lineup above the Fiesta-based XR2 and Escort-based XR3.
Lutz spearheaded the plan to bring a version of the XR4i to North America to complete with sporty luxury imports like BMW. Although the car would have to be modified his instructions were that the nature of the car not be compromised. The XR4 for America would be turbocharged, adding a `T' to its name while keeping the `i' indicating a fuel injected engine as in Europe. The `Sierra' name was not used in North America as it was already being used by General Motors for their GMC C/K Sierra pickup truck, and sounded too similar to the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.
With their own production lines occupied building Sierras for the European market, Ford contracted out assembly of the XR4Ti. Using body panels from Ford's factory in Genk, the cars were largely hand-built by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Rheine, Germany. The XR4Ti was introduced at a starting price of US$16,503, equivalent to about $40,613 today.
Chief executive officer Pete Petersen decided that the car would be sold under the `Merkur' brand name. The name means `Mercury' in German, and tied the new brand in with the Lincoln Mercury dealers through which the car would be available. Initially 800 Lincoln Mercury dealers enrolled to also become Merkur dealers.
Ford projected sales of 16,000 to 20,000 units per year. These targets were never met, although for the first two years they came close, with over 25,000 units sold. The car continued to struggle to establish its identity in the North American market, both with the public and with dealers.
The increasingly unfavorable dollar/Deutschmark exchange rate put upward pressure on price. By the late 1980s the XR4Ti was facing a redesign to comply with incoming safety regulations in the US. Ford dropped the `Merkur' name in 1988, and began to refer to their two European imports by their model names only. Sales dropped off very rapidly after 1986, so that in its last year fewer than 3,000 XR4Tis were sold. 1989 would be the last year for the XR4Ti.
The XR4Ti would be the last vehicle imported by Ford into North America from Germany until 2016, when the Ford Focus RS was introduced.
Body, chassis, suspension
The XR4Ti kept the 3-door semi-notchback hatchback body style of the XR4i, including the European version's triple side-window profile and bi-plane rear spoiler. The lower body was clad in polycarbonate `anti-abrasion' panels that were matte grey in the early cars. The car recorded a drag coefficient (C d ) of 0.328.
The unibody chassis of the European Ford Sierra was modified to meet US safety requirements. The floorpan had reliefs added to accommodate catalytic converters. Side intrusion beams were added to the two doors and the bumpers were stretched to meet US impact requirements. To accommodate the engine for the US-spec car the XR4Ti also received a taller hood. Altogether 850 unique parts were developed for the car destined for the US and Canada, and all of the changes added approximately 280 lb (127.0 kg) to the weight.
Suspension was independent front and back. The front suspension comprised Macpherson struts with concentric coil springs and lower lateral links triangulated by an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension used semi-trailing arms with coil springs ahead of the axle half-shafts and shock absorbers behind. An anti-roll bar was also fitted at the rear. Spring rates were softened compared to the XR4i based on feedback from Jackie Stewart, who had been brought in as both a development tester and spokesman for the car. Steering was by a power-assisted rack and pinion with 3.6 turns lock-to-lock. Brakes were 10.2 in (259 mm) disks in front and 10.0 in (254 mm) drums at rear. The car had a two-piece driveshaft and used a giubo as a torsional damper.
Engine and transmission
While the European XR4i was powered by a 2.8 L version of the Ford Cologne V6 engine, the only engine offered in the XR4Ti was a turbocharged Lima inline-four. This engine featured a cast-iron block, cast iron cylinder head with 2 valves per cylinder and a single overhead cam driven by a timing belt. The XR4Ti engine also received a Garrett AiResearch turbocharger, fuel-injection and Ford's EEC-IV engine control unit. Built in Ford's Taubaté Brazil plant, the engine had a bore of 96.04 mm (3.8 in) and stroke of 79.4 mm (3.1 in) for a total displacement of 2,301 cc (140.4 cu in). A nearly identical engine was used in the 1983 Mustang Turbo GT and 1983 Thunderbird Turbo coupe. The XR4Ti did not have the intercooler found in the 1984 SVO Mustang or 1987-88 Thunderbird Turbo coupe. Engines in cars equipped with automatic transmissions had maximum boost set to 8 to 10 psi (0.55 to 0.69 bar) and produced 145 hp (108 kW). In cars with manual transmissions maximum boost was raised to 12 to 14 psi (0.83 to 0.97 bar) and the ECU programming was modified to allow the engine to produce 175 hp (130 kW).
The second-order vibrations produced by this large four cylinder engine had been noticeable when it was used in the turbocharged Thunderbird and Cougar models. To minimize these in the XR4Ti without resorting to extreme measures such as adding balance shafts, extensive work was done to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in the power-train. The first measure taken to reduce NVH was to redesign the engine's external components, including the intake manifold, to increase the stiffness of the bracketing and lighten the components. The second measure was to reduce the amount of vibration transmitted to the body structure by using soft rubber engine mounts. Engine roll was controlled by wide-based mounting brackets and engine movement due to bumps was limited by having the brackets attached to the body via hydraulic mounts.
The base transmission was a 5-speed manual Ford Type 9 unit, while a Ford C3 3-speed automatic transmission was optional.
A number of automotive customizers produced versions of the XR4Ti that offered increased performance and improved handling. Among these companies were Rousch, Rapido, and RC Consultants. These versions were often sold as either owner-installed kits or pre-built vehicles. One such special, built by Ralph Todd and called the Scorch, replaced the Ford engine with a Nissan VG30DETT twin-turbocharged V6. Only 2 or 3 of these US$50,000 conversions were built.
Ford only offered one special edition of the XR4Ti when, in a 1987 tie-in with K2 brand skis, the XR4Ti K2 appeared. This all-white model came with colored K2 logos on the front fenders and a roof-mounted ski rack. No mechanical changes were made to the K2 version.
Source: Wikipedia
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