If it weren’t for sheer stubbornness and determination, Ben
would’ve ditched this project years ago. For his first three years
of ownership, something broke at every autocross. Friends kept
telling him to get rid of it. It was nothing but trouble.
This car’s initial attraction certainly isn’t its name, which is more
appropriate as a serial number. Its formula, though, is definitely
appealing. The Merkur XR4Ti began as the Ford Sierra, a European,
rear-wheel-drive design with a manual transmission and
independent rear suspension. In U.S.-going models, whooshing
came standard.
The new name was meant to make it appeal to the import buyer
who may be turned off by an all-American Ford badge. A biplane
spoiler added Euro flair and reflected the model’s overseas success
in the World Touring Car Championship.
Bye Bye, BMWs
Ironically, Ben loves this car partly because it’s a Ford and
emphatically not a certain German car. When he first bought the
Merkur eight years ago–from a man who owned hundreds of them,
which is another level of love entirely–Ben started autocrossing it
in D Street Prepared.
BMWs dominate that class, but Ben didn’t want to follow that
same formula. He’s not just hardheaded and committed: He wants
to challenge himself and build a unique machine. “Everyone has
done [a BMW] and all the information is
shared. I wanted to do something different,”
he explains.
In the harsh midday light of hypercompetitive
autocrosses, it became clear
that this wouldn’t be easy. Ben’s XR4Ti was
a high-maintenance partner. He was constantly
fixing things and putting money into
the car. The BMW was also hard to beat.
He dug through the SCCA rules trying to
find out how to go faster. “I could’ve done
shocks or replaced some bushings, but it was
mostly TLC kind of stuff–not really enough
that I could pick up a whole lot of speed. I
was stuck in a rut, didn’t know what else I
could do to make the car faster,” Ben recalls.
His wife–Ben’s affections aren’t limited to
the automotive–noticed he was miserable
and asked him why he didn’t switch classes.
That’s when he grabbed the rulebook with
a new goal and found a different playground.
Street Modified was pretty much
open, and it allowed him to have some fun
with the car’s setup.
Common Solutions for an Uncommon Car
As any XR4Ti owner knows, its T9
transmission is a weak point. The switch
to Street Mod allowed Ben an upgrade to
a T5 from a Mustang, which soothed some
of his headaches.
He frequently also burned up the original
car’s viscous limited-slip differential.
Quaife makes the only obvious aftermarket
option, but it’s a $1500 option to stomach.
Ben is resourceful, however. He has 30 years of experience as an automotive technician,
but he also knows when to ask for help. He removed the center section of his
differential and took it to a diff shop with simple instructions for the man at the desk:
“Find me one that fits this.”
With a little bearing adjustment, a diff from a Chevy S-10 fit perfectly. Ben then got
an Eaton clutch-type limited-slip unit for a mere $300. “I love when people tell me it
can’t be done!” he beams.
Cossie-Worthy Output
The Ford Sierra Cosworth grille and
Cosworth-style vented, carbon-fiber hood
hint at the car’s underhood modifications.
Ben also has a Cosworth bumper, but it’s
shorter than the U.S. bumper. That means
it’ll stay in the garage until a friend makes a
spacer to keep him legal in his class.
Ben didn’t get the European-spec YB
Cosworth engine–he’s not insane–but the
XR4Ti’s original T3 turbo guts now sit
inside a Cosworth turbo housing. It makes
18 psi, no problem, but he’ll soon upgrade
to a ball-bearing turbo for better efficiency.
That 2.3-liter Lima engine is known as
somewhat coarse, yet torquey and robust.
Ben says with a Boport iron head (it’ll be
aluminum next year) and high-lift camshaft,
his engine spools fast and revs to
7300. That gives him enough range to hold
second gear on even the fastest autocrosses.
Its aggressive cam gave it a lopey idle,
which produced noisy MAP sensor readings.
Ben added a baffle between the
manifold and the MAP sensor to settle
the pressures so the ECU could operate
on reliable numbers.
Today, this Merkur is far more powerful
than any of the road-going Sierra Cosworths
it emulates. The twin-cam Cossie made
201 horses in street trim. (Racing versions
made between 400 and 550 horsepower at
the crank.) Ben’s modified mix of Euro and
Americano produces 300 at the wheels, with
320 ft.-lbs. of torque.
Niederländischer Hosenträger
Aftermarket components made for an
XR4Ti don’t exactly fill the catalogs here
in the U.S. Ben had to search, fabricate
and improvise to make his suspension and
brakes work as well as they do.
Before fitting AST coil-overs at all four
corners, he sourced front coil-overs from
Leda, a British firm, and made his own
camber plates. On the rear, he had installed
NASCAR springs (they fit perfectly in the
perches) and custom-valved QA1 shocks
designed for a Mustang.
Scalloped rotors made a big difference
for 2013: He saved 20 pounds of unsprung
weight. Ben chose Wilwood calipers
because of the available parking brake–a
class requirement. “I had to have brackets
specially made,” he says. “Nobody makes
anything for these cars.”
Determined to Succeed
Ben’s not one to give up. He’s had success
in other uncommon cars in his autocrossing
career, which started when he drove his 1972
Ford Pinto past an autocross in California
circa 1988. “I rolled in and saw Pat Kelly at
the registration table. I asked her, ‘How can
I do this?’ She said, ‘Do you have a license?’”
Sufficiently addicted, he successfully
campaigned a 1974 Mercury Capri in
DSP, beating BMWs for many years in that
German-made Ford. It brought him close
to a national championship, earning him
third place in 2003. Always running an
uncommon machine, Ben’s often answering
his “How can I do this?” queries himself.
Obsession and determination have
solved Ben’s problems, and despite his
constant head bashing, the Merkur finally
earned him first place in the DSP class at
the 2009 Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals.
He’s yet to trophy since the switch to SM,
but that is the definite goal. For 2013,
he finished two spots out of the trophies,
behind pairs of Nissan 240SXs, GT-Rs and
BMW 3 Series.
When faced with a challenge and even
discouraging words, he dug in and pushed
harder. Ben won’t give up. “This car is a
love affair,” he says. “You just keep trying
to make the relationship work.”
