While the XR4i's engine could never be tuned to the point
where it would be competitive, it was the XR4Ti which immediately
made a name for itself and showed the world what the car was made
of. The XR4Ti of the Andy Rouse and Egenberger teams won European
Touring car championships in 1985 & 1986. All the more
incredible was that in the world of high tech engines, this was
being achieved with an engine originally designed in the 1960s for
the Pinto, and an engine which was never designed with
turbocharging, or the thought of producing over 300hp, in
mind.
"Detroit thunder is
being replaced by turbo whine"
Turbo magazine January
1988
The successes
in Europe were being repeated with the Trans-Am and IMSA series on
the other side of the Atlantic. Ford enlisted the help of the
legendary Jack Roush, who with the help of Bob Riley developed the
Trans-Am Merkur XR4Ti in an incredible seven months. In 1984, the
Roush team campaigned the as yet unproven XR4 alongside Capris. Pete
Halsmer was selected as the lead XR4 driver, and Scott Preutt, who
in the 1984 season was driving Capris for the Roush team, joined him
for the 1985 season. All the hard work paid off with Pete Halsmer's
XR4 achieving its first win at Road America in July 1984. This was
the first win of many for the Roush XR4 team who won the 1985-1988
Manufacturer's Trans-Am and IMSA GTO championships, beating out
Corvettes, Camaros and Porsches. In a field of Detroit iron, the
stiffest competition came from another German built turbocharged
four cylinder - the Porsche 944.
An
interesting footnote to Merkur racing history is Rick Byrnes'
challenge to win the World Land Speed Record for production four
cylinder cars. Rick competed in the attempt at Bonneville's famous
salt flats for six years before winning the record in 1998, with an
average speed of 204.952 MPH. In an era of high technology and
'ain't no replacement for displacement' mentality, this was an
incredible feat for a car that was introduced thirteen years before
and an engine which had its roots in the 1970s.
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