xr4

[Blitzen]

That's interesting, because the Fiesta XR4's performance is roughly the same as the Polo GTI.

http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php?page_id=compare&car1=45ca36454a6a9&car2=45ca36f57b0d7

And so my point about the XR4 having superior top end is proven. Look at the acceleration figures. 0-100km/h in 8.4 XR4, 7.7 Polo GTI. 1/4 mile in 15.6 for both (so the XR4 has evened out). 0-160km/h in 19.9 XR4, 20.1 Polo GTI (at this point the GTI is losing). And the XR4 will continue to pull on the GTI in the top end until it hits its ultra-tightly geared 206km/h top speed. They're almost dead-even on Hockenheim Short and on Balocco the GTI cops 3 seconds.

But hey you know, the XR4's slow.

And why do people always come up with the silly comparison of a more expensive second hand car against a low-end priced brand new one? If you want to argue that, a 236kW BMW M3 E36 3.2 ($24-$26k) is a better buy then any of these cars because it can out-drag a 300kW HSV and out-corner most cars on the road. Except its 10 years old and will have 100,000km... but it doesn't matter because its faster, right?

http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php?page_id=compare&car1=45ca36454a6a9&car2=45d0271ac4900

All things considered, the 206 GTi180 isn't that much better. Losing on one track in fact. Not that impressive for something with 20kW more power, 12Nm more torque and no torque-flags.

I'm amazed at the level of negative commenting going on against the XR4 with the extreme lack of knowledge/information about the car.

The 2.0 Duratec in it is probably one of the best naturally aspirated four-cylinder motors there is (along with its stroked brother in the Mondeo and SP23, the 2.3 Duratec, which Cosworth have making over 300bhp N/A). To unlock 20kW from the XR4 you need to do two really basic mods that actually cost less then an APR for a Polo GTI. Put on an aftermarket intake and get rid of the flex-pipe in the exhaust. Bang, 130kW. The engine is deliberately hampered to only 147bhp (150ps) for insurance reasons (mostly in the UK), so that the target market can actually insure (therefore buy) the car. Things like the 130kW 206 GTi180 and 131kW Clio 182 were in Insurance Group 16 in the UK, which also contains some Aston Martin's and Ferrari's. The 150ps Polo GTI and Fiesta XR4 are both in insurance group 13.

Anyway, I'm surprised to see so many people put the XR4 down without knowing much at all about it, and constantly ignoring fact to continually try to put it down. I put it to a chipped Polo GTI driver to try to get away from an XR4 with intake/exhaust/ecu (torque flag delete included) on any remotely twisty road. Hell, a 150kW 1190kg car is going to struggle to stay ahead of a 140kW 1090kg car in a straight line, let alone when you get into the corners with the glaringly obvious handling disparity.

Hahahahaha...It's still crap...

[The_Hawk]

Hahahahaha...It's still crap...

I wouldn't go that far, it's neat little package, just not something I will ever buy. I mean it's Fiesta with racing stripes... albeit a ticked out Fiesta

[Transporter]

Hahahahaha...It's still crap...

I agree with you.
I saw the sign on BMW showroom:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW FAST YOU GO. BUT HOW DO YOU GO FAST?

Also how this XR4 goes up the hill when you take some passengers? Would that 190Nm torque be enough. I don't think so.

[Blitzen]

I think Rob there has a half decent point(albeit very one sided). Along with the Astra SRI Turbo, Polo GTI, Suzuki Swift Sport, Ralliart Colt and I took a XR4 for a couple of test drives when they first came out (I was very disappointed the that in Wheels in 2006 who stated that the XR4 were comming out as a 2L turbo, and then rocking up at Sinclair Ford and finding it was NA...Say good bye to relativity cheap tunability), and right up to the day that I put a holding deposit on my Polo GTI.

Don't get me wrong, the thing handles a treat, and I think the exterior looks great, but the interior feels tiny (even in this small car), but and looks very cheap I do love the wheels though.

I settled on the Polo GTI because of the engine. It is proven, and very tunable for on the cheap (110kw to 153kw in one hit, have to love that). I love the interior, and it feels much bigger than it is. The handling is great, even though it isn't as good as the XR4(but a rear sway bar and lower springs fixed this for about $600). One of the major factors for me was getting a full size mag wheel as a spare. The Swift had none, and both the Colt and XR4 come with Space Savers. I know this sounds trivial, but at least twice a year, I travel more than 5,000km return over 3 to 4 days though the desert with hundreds of kilometers between services and no mobile coverage, so this was a major factor.

I really think that the Polo GTI is the complete package...Although it is more expensive than the competition, it has better and proven tunability from at least 5 tuners, a proven engine, and great interior, and I like the looks over the XR4(but I do love the looks of the Swift Sport...Too bad it is 4 door only, and a tiny engine...It really is alot of fun to drive).

I wouldn't go that far, it's neat little package, just not something I will ever buy. I mean it's Fiesta with racing stripes... albeit a ticked out Fiesta

Sorry Hawk, I was joking...I think its a very capable car, but not the one I decided to buy, for my above reasons.

Woohoo, first time I have multi quoted...I hope this works...

[Treza360]

I wouldn't go that far, it's neat little package, just not something I will ever buy. I mean it's Fiesta with racing stripes... albeit a ticked out Fiesta

And you can just say that a Polo GTI is just a Polo with a red stripe on the nose... albeit a ticked out Polo.

Sigh... There's some serious badge snobbery happening in this thread. Are we all aware that a VW is pretty much on the exact same level playing field as Ford and the like over in Europe in regards to status and reputation?
Pumpe-Düse seems to be the only person here who can appreciate other cars as well our own VWs.

As a rev head car fan of all makes and types, I'd like to think I can keep the blinkers off and appreciate all cars despite their badge or the type of engine or whatever if it is a good car.

I also recall Fifth Gear gave the Fiesta their best small car a few years back and I seem to recall that when Tiff or whoever drove it around their test track it was pretty damn close to the likes of a Porsche Boxster or something.

Yes we all love our VWs a bit more and are always going to be a bit biased but let's not be so biased that we make ourselves into a bit of a laughing stock hey?

Cheers,
Trent

[The_Hawk]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not biased, I'll drive pretty much anything for kicks, be it VW, Audi, Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi or some sort of tractor... like a Porsche

I can appreciate pretty much anything that will get up and go!

[gtimk5]

And if everyone in the small car market bought Polos it would be a very dull world.
Cars of all sorts for the masses!!
Andrew

[DubSteve]

I think the Fiesta has its areas were it excels in departments where the Polo doesn't!

Wow, can't think of a new joke?

You poor poor man.

[geoff_gti]

That's interesting, because the Fiesta XR4's performance is roughly the same as the Polo GTI.

http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php?page_id=compare&car1=45ca36454a6a9&car2=45ca36f57b0d7

And so my point about the XR4 having superior top end is proven. Look at the acceleration figures. 0-100km/h in 8.4 XR4, 7.7 Polo GTI. 1/4 mile in 15.6 for both (so the XR4 has evened out). 0-160km/h in 19.9 XR4, 20.1 Polo GTI (at this point the GTI is losing). And the XR4 will continue to pull on the GTI in the top end until it hits its ultra-tightly geared 206km/h top speed. They're almost dead-even on Hockenheim Short and on Balocco the GTI cops 3 seconds.

But hey you know, the XR4's slow.

And why do people always come up with the silly comparison of a more expensive second hand car against a low-end priced brand new one? If you want to argue that, a 236kW BMW M3 E36 3.2 ($24-$26k) is a better buy then any of these cars because it can out-drag a 300kW HSV and out-corner most cars on the road. Except its 10 years old and will have 100,000km... but it doesn't matter because its faster, right?

http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php?page_id=compare&car1=45ca36454a6a9&car2=45d0271ac4900

All things considered, the 206 GTi180 isn't that much better. Losing on one track in fact. Not that impressive for something with 20kW more power, 12Nm more torque and no torque-flags.

I'm amazed at the level of negative commenting going on against the XR4 with the extreme lack of knowledge/information about the car.

The 2.0 Duratec in it is probably one of the best naturally aspirated four-cylinder motors there is (along with its stroked brother in the Mondeo and SP23, the 2.3 Duratec, which Cosworth have making over 300bhp N/A). To unlock 20kW from the XR4 you need to do two really basic mods that actually cost less then an APR for a Polo GTI. Put on an aftermarket intake and get rid of the flex-pipe in the exhaust. Bang, 130kW. The engine is deliberately hampered to only 147bhp (150ps) for insurance reasons (mostly in the UK), so that the target market can actually insure (therefore buy) the car. Things like the 130kW 206 GTi180 and 131kW Clio 182 were in Insurance Group 16 in the UK, which also contains some Aston Martin's and Ferrari's. The 150ps Polo GTI and Fiesta XR4 are both in insurance group 13.

Anyway, I'm surprised to see so many people put the XR4 down without knowing much at all about it, and constantly ignoring fact to continually try to put it down. I put it to a chipped Polo GTI driver to try to get away from an XR4 with intake/exhaust/ecu (torque flag delete included) on any remotely twisty road. Hell, a 150kW 1190kg car is going to struggle to stay ahead of a 140kW 1090kg car in a straight line, let alone when you get into the corners with the glaringly obvious handling disparity.

Wow you don't give up easily. Mate, if you're that against your own Polo just sell it and get an XR4. We won't hold it against you. I don't think anyone is really out to bag the XR4 but we're all a bit biased given the fact this is a dub forum.

subscribed.

[RhysQ]

And why do people always come up with the silly comparison of a more expensive second hand car against a low-end priced brand new one?

Anyway, I'm surprised to see so many people put the XR4 down without knowing much at all about it

1. see my next post where i explained that i used the GTi 180 as a relatively new car comparison. i could have said an R32 skyline GTR but didn't. next time read more before questioning my posts!

2. I test drove the car, thats enough knowledge for me. People can write whatever on paper with figures etc. but people have different driving styles and for me the XR4 was a real let down. not everyone is a race car driver and gets those times on a track. it felt as though i was gonna break it taking a quick corner. also, as said before, the turbo'd Polo's tuneability caught my attention straight away.

[PeterHBne]

Really - Polo GTI has fairly ordinary handling and brakes and some pretty serious & fundamental quality issues (i.e. gearbox). Grunt is good for a standard car and can be easily modified. Very comfy - has all the doodingles you could want and seems well put together (until you have problems - and quite a few do).

I drove the XR4 and Colt several times and they all had their good points - in some areas better than the Polo. Polo in my opinion was the best overall - felt the complete package even if not great in any particular area.

The thing that I find most disappointing in the Polo is that I rarely ever feel excited by the standard car - yes it's nice to drive but just doesn’t give me the thrill I probably expected. But I do like it.

Maybe a chip, coilovers and audi brakes would change that perception

[Pumpe-Düse]

Wow you don't give up easily. Mate, if you're that against your own Polo just sell it and get an XR4. We won't hold it against you. I don't think anyone is really out to bag the XR4 but we're all a bit biased given the fact this is a dub forum.

subscribed.

I don't get what my Polo TDI has to do with Polo GTI vs Fiesta XR4? The only thing my car has in common with a Polo GTI is the general shape and the badge. Driving one of those is like driving a different car.

I'm against silly ignorance and blatant bias without anything concrete to back it up.

[DaveMack]

Maybe a chip, coilovers and audi brakes would change that perception

Certainly would (and I don't even have coilovers or the Audi brakes).

Dave

[Pumpe-Düse]

1. see my next post where i explained that i used the GTi 180 as a relatively new car comparison. i could have said an R32 skyline GTR but didn't. next time read more before questioning my posts!

2. I test drove the car, thats enough knowledge for me. People can write whatever on paper with figures etc. but people have different driving styles and for me the XR4 was a real let down. not everyone is a race car driver and gets those times on a track. it felt as though i was gonna break it taking a quick corner. also, as said before, the turbo'd Polo's tuneability caught my attention straight away.

Its used vs new, period. GTi180's ceased production before the Fiesta XR4 was released to Australia. Its brand new Peugeot rivals are the 207 GT and 207 GTi.

You're right, people do have different driving styles and some may struggle to extract a car's fullest out of it if it doesn't completley suit their paticular style. The second last sentence though... that intrigues me. What were you doing with it to make it feel like it was going to break taking a corner hard... driving on these?

[Valver.]

That's funny, because a Polo TDI stock on stock gets absolutley hosed by an XR4.

I raced my mate's one, stock on stock... first gear the Polo pulls ahead (XR4's nose next to Polo's rear door), 2nd gear they even out. This is because of the XR4's torque flags in 1st and 2nd, as the IB5 gearbox in it is rated to a maximum of 200Nm and Ford felt that at 190Nm they were pushing the limit of what the gearbox would take without fail (in other words, you don't need the torque flags, as MANY owners who delete them have proven, but Ford put them in for peace of mind re- giving a warranty).

When you hit third gear in both cars (happens at the same time), the XR4 pulls away like the TDI just slammed the brakes. In the next 20km/h of acceleration, the XR4 pulls over 4 car lengths and keeps increasing the gap without letting up. At that point a Polo TDI, Golf 2.0 FSI, Golf 2.0 TDI, Golf GTI IV etc should all just give up, they'll get hosed.

Interestingly, looking at European tests of these cars, not craptastic Australian tests that post slow times for everything, I've found a best of 0-100 in 8.4 in the Fiesta ST150 and 7.7 in the Polo GTI. Both doing the 1/4 mile in 15.6 seconds in said comparisons. This means that outside of the torque flags, the Fiesta is actually hauling the Polo in. Hmmm.



The XR4 was $24,990 RRP with everything standard. Only options were silly crap like floormats and weathershields. My mate, 5 months ago, payed $25,000 drive away for his. Brand new, 2008, 0km.

Yeah you could buy your VZ SS but they're vastly different cars. After 3 corners on a road like the Royal National Park or McCarr's Creek Road at Church Point, the SS would be out of your rear view mirror.

What kind of GTI do you plan on buying for 25k though? Can't get a MkV and an IV (slower) is well... an old second hand car that's slower and handles FAR worse.

Until they run out of Mk6 Fiesta ST stock, it is far and above the best value new car for under 30k drive away in Australia and one of the best value in that price bracket. Bar maybe a second RenaultSport Megane 225 Phase 1 or RenaultSport Clio 182 Cup. Or an XR6T/SS if you like that sort of thing (good straight line grunt with nothing else good about them).

I could have summed this up a lot quicker: they're both slow.