GTP Cool Wall: 1990-1996 Ford Escort (North America)

  • Thread starter Wiegert
  • 46 comments
  • 4,457 views

1990-1996 Ford Escort (North America)

  • Total voters
    121
  • Poll closed .
Wiegert

Wiegert

Premium
13,376
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
1990-1996 Ford Escort (North America) nominated by @RandomCarGuy17

1993_Ford_Escort.jpg


Body Styles: 4-door Sedan, 3-door hatchback, 5-door hatchback, and 5-door station wagon
Engines: 1.8L BP I4, 1.9L CVH I4
Power: 88 hp (1.9L CVH) and 127 hp (1.8L BP)
Torque: 108 ft-lbs (1.9L CVH) and 114 ft-lbs (1.8L BP)
Weight: 3-Door Hatchback (1068 kg), 5-Door Hatchback (1082 kg), 4-door sedan (1090 kg), and
5-Door Wagon (1130 kg)
Transmission: 5-speed F-Series manual, 5-speed G5M manual, and 4-speed F-4EAT automatic
Drivetrain: Front-engine, front wheel drive
Additional Information: A twin to the Ford Laser sold in Australia and in Asia, which was basically a Mazda 323/Familia.​

Wiki_cars_325.jpg

Ford-Escort-hatch.jpg

640px-91-94_Ford_Escort_LX_hatch.jpg

scan0001.jpg

b5ni1gnmpjtpz0k12fps.jpg

22132570010_large.jpg

100_0741.jpg
 
A sorry state of a car that somehow looks blander than the EU versions of the same period.

No hot versions either like in Europe, so it's Seriously Uncool.
 
Quite a fun little runabout, so long as you could get one without the Considerable Vibration and Harshness engine. Screwed together and designed decently (no doubt because Ford just let Mazda do everything). It wore its mini-Taurus styling well, and the Tracer even came with the light bar!

Mercury-Tracer-sedan.jpg



But it's not cool, even if it is considerably less uncool than the trash Tempo you could have accidentally bought instead.
 
On the plus side, it has the silhouette of cars I drew when learning how to draw as a kid. Although that just highlights its basic styling.
 
Uncool. Not offensive enough to be SU, but when I see one on the road, I assume the owner isn't doing too well for himself. Granted, up until about eight years ago my dad had one and he is pretty well off. His was a manual-trans '93 LX wagon, which gave me most of my manual-trans education. The car was as reliable as anything - still had its original clutch, even. Just kinda dull.
 
I have driven every varient of these, 323 and Protege included. These are miles better cars than the Cavalier and Duster/Sundance. It doesn't make them cool though... The GT was not that bad, 125mph didn't feel impossible to pull off.
 
The three B's of this car are Bland, Boring, and Boxy. Overly conservative styling, slow base engine, and even the performance "GT" model is underwhelming. The only plus is that it gets good build quality thanks to Mazda.

Uncool.
 
The slatted grille of the GT looks quite interesting, but it could only ever be uncool.
 
My father I think owned a 91. Different front end but was a bad ruster. Nothing memorable about it.
 
Razor440
Ho-hum car. Not even a performance model? This is why America made some crap cars back then.

Uncool.
Click to expand...
You're not going to go hunting Integra GS-Rs or Preludes with it, but 130 horsepower is in the same neighborhood as any of its more direct competition at the time ever got.
 
Tornado
You're not going to go hunting Integra GS-Rs or Preludes with it, but 130 horsepower is in the same neighborhood as any of its more direct competition at the time ever got.
Click to expand...

Problem is...there's no way someone will max out one of these like how people will max out an Integra.
 
That's... so? It didn't have a "performance" model because the Escort GT was already decently in line with every top performing competitor on the market, Integra excepting. Civic Si/EX, Prizm GSi, horrible USDM Golf GTi 16v, SC2, Protege DX... The Sentra SE-R is the only real standout when this Escort debuted from a "regular" brand. The Dodge Shadow before the V6 engine replaced the turbo K, perhaps.


You can maybe squint and consider the Geo Storm and the Cutlass Calais 4-4-2 competitors, I suppose; but after 1990 the pickings were pretty slim in general in North America until 1995 or so.
 
Car and Driver did a comparo in 1993 (I think) with a bunch of other econoboxes and it won the "best people mover" category. It was, at the time, a cheap alternative if you wanted a new car but couldn't afford a Civic or Tercel or Corolla, and didn't want to drive a Geo or a Hyundai Excel, or a Mazda 323 Protegé with the worst interior ever. But the problem was they were, erm, disposable, when compared to the Civic and Tercel at least. I used to prefer the European car back in those years, but perhaps that was a bit of "grass is greener on the other side" more than anything, as it wasn't actually a much better car... Except the RS Cosworth, but that would have never made it to North America because it was faster than a Mustang, and that's a no-no.

Still, it's "better than walking" transportation. Which will never be cool.
 
-Fred-
I used to prefer the European car back in those years, but perhaps that was a bit of "grass is greener on the other side" more than anything, as it wasn't actually a much better car...
Click to expand...
I was wondering if there ever was a proper comparison of the European and the US versions of the Escort back when the cars were still made, or any proper comparison between the two for that matter.
 

Latest Posts

Back