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Originally Posted by Frank de Jong
I spoke in racing terms - there was no turbocharged 4 cilinder Sierra on the market in Europe at the time (the fastest Sierra was the 6 cilinder atmo XR4i) - but there was one in the States. Of course, the origins of the Sierra/Merkur are from Europe.
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And that V6 2.8 Injection engine in the XR4i was already considered a dud for Grp A after Ford got Andy Rouse to run a converted CC Capri with one such engine in it in the '82 Silverstone TT.
I think Ford GB were interested to see if the Capri's life could be prolonged for Group A as the Rovers, which were already stretching the Capri's competitiveness in Grp 1, were about to step up a further level with the Vitesse. However, at that TT the 2.8 Grp A test dummy was about 1.5-2 secs off of the older 3-litre engine pace and didn't inspire much confidence.
I doubt one race and limited testing was sufficient to write it off totally (although I don't know how many testing miles Ford/CC/Rouse spent on the engine before racing it) which I never understood, as the 2.8 Celica Supra was made to go very well, but it was highly likely as we've said to to with Sierra politics - 'forget highly stressed V6 in an old car, let's wait for the Turbo in our new car'
However, as you say Frank, the Sierra Merkur Turbo wasn't running until mid
'85 in Britain and Europe, so between the end of the Capri and the start of the Sierra there was a gap of almost 3 years, which would have been plenty of time to get the Mustang working properly even as a privateer effort with some factiory support, without impinging on the Sierra fanfare.
Makes you wonder why they didn't bother when the potential was there?