Originally Posted by GT34

With less than 2k, you can have a cosworth putting down 350hp and in a sub 2800lbs car, the subies and evos will have a hard time keeping up. Stock for stock, the escort will fall behind. But when it comes down to price per hp, the cossie comes out on top by far. And reliablitly is not an issue. Just don't over boost on the turbo because with a 3bar map sensor it's easy to go boost happy and fry your turbo. And when it comes down to cost over time, you'll be spending way more in the long run with an sti or an evo, even if you blow up a tranny on the cossie or need an engine rebuild.

What most people do for mods right off the bat with a big turbo model is
intake
exaust
3bar map sensor (26psi)
bosch 803 fuel injectors
group A head gasket
rs500 intercooler
makes upwards of 350 proven hp, no tuning with the weber marelli ecu in big turbo models


The joy of having a 15 yr old car is I don't have to get full coverage like I do on the 8. It will cut my payment's down to 1/3 of what I'm paying now a month.

I love the 8 and would keep it if there was more money comming in to pay for everything. But like I said, I've always wanted an Escort Cosworth and now that they're legal, the time has come to part with the 8.

Originally Posted by Ike

You can get an Evo to close to 350whp with less than $1,500. Reliability will not be an issue with those power levels if you don't abuse it. If you think the Cossie will be cheaper in the repair department over the long run you're delusional. It's like the DSM guys that make the same argument. You're still driving an older car that is going to have the issues that older cars have.

Originally Posted by GT34

I hope you're not comparing dsm's of that era to cosworths. 15yrs ago, the escort cosworth would be running around 350+hp easily with less than 1k in mods. And 15yrs down the road, it's still going strong. People are selling their modded cossies with more than 400+hp on their stock driveline without any problems. Rarely do cosworth owners replace anything other than wear and tear parts, unless they're planning on putting 500+hp into their engines . Ha! try doing that with a dsm of any kind nowadays.

Evos are way more expensive to start out with than a cossie to purchace. So any repairs that you might end up doing on the cosworth would still cost you less than what an evo is going for either used or brand new. Start adding up the costs of modding the cosworth compared to the evo and you're comming out on top with the cossie. The mods are simpler and cheaper to do. And besides most cosworths selling now aren't comming with more than 60k miles on the clock, give or take. Therefore still mildly low milage for a 15yr old car by north american standards, and still plenty of potential left.

Originally Posted by 9291150

RS200's are too cool, but I think you're underestimating the maintenance involved with even the Escort, not to mention locating parts, shops, insurance coverage/cost, etc. Especially if this becomes your daily driver, it'll cost you more in the long run.

The most I research older cars, the more I become wary of 'em.