my first car was a german built XR3, the german models didn't have the same rust problems as the XR3's built elsewhere. it was nearly 14 years old when I bought it in 96, jet black and not a mark or blemish on it. bought it for £550 and sold it 3 years later for £1000, since great examples had become very rare. even though I made a great profit, I still regret selling it to this day.
No his obsession with the GTI and scirocco is straight from the heart. When he was young he dreamt of buying one, but went for the scirocco when that came out. I've read his book 'round the bend' in which he describes this.
actually no, they say there was a big difference between the two, some say the gti was much better car in all disciplines. I had the XR3i, it was scary brute with high fuel consumption.
We had an XR3i as a pool car and I drove from Brimingham to Oxford daily in it for weeks down the A429 & A424, and it was an absolute blast. Happy days!
the 1st engine was a 1.3 and i took it out at 150,000miles and put it in a mates car, the 1.6 i dropped in had done around 70,000 when i brought it so just for reliability i put in rings and shells,this went on for 120,000 miles and was still fine but i turbo charged the engine so i rebuilt it to cope with extra power. i used to work on a few Mk1 golf gti"s in the late 80s/early 90s as a mechanic, 1 was Mars red, around 180k and mint,& still went like stink! good german engineering!
XR3i was much better than the XR3. Looked similar but had different specs to engine, chassis, brakes and suspension. RS Turbo was even more modified. All had weak brakes for the performance they had, until the S2 RS Turbo. Choppy on bad roads and go kart on smooth twisty roads.
The GTI is still being made and remains the yardstick by which all pretenders are measured. Whatever happened to the XR3? - Ford ended up marketing the Escort as an 'Escort GTI'. I'm from Essex but I had a brain a bought a GTI - Now 25 years old and still going strong (the car that is!)
Have owned both the XR3 and XR3i and have had the mk1 GTI and still own a 90 GTI 16v. Loved them all and still do BUT you have alot more chance of finding a decent dub now over the Ford simply because most the XR's were used and abused once the RS series were launched in both the mk3 and mk4 shape. I'm a Dub nut but would give it all up tomorrow for a pristine S1 RST.
if you think about it, 112mph is decently fast. he said the 0-60 time was 8.4 seconds.. the new mk5 gti 0-60 time is 6.9 seconds, less than 2 seconds faster. it was a pretty quick car. then and now.
You got to love the irony here. Sometime in the late 1990's, the BBC mock Clarkson's car nerdout by showing a video of sheep. Fast forward quarter of a century... Amazon's most watched show to date is a program about Clarkson being a sheep farmer.
The golf was an old ladies car pimped up, I had XR3i, very robust, 3 hard crashes before I killed it @ 100k miles, I had the later shaped GTi for a year, dull.
Both are great cars. Both go like hell and both rust like hell. Like a lemming falling into the abyss. And they both, the survivors, are worth about the same these days, in worthwhile order. If you see a good one now, admit it, you'd take a second glance, regardless of Ford v VW stuff.
my comment was directed at paththebrit further down. not sure why it didnt post under his comments. he claimed that a 30 year old gti will put modern cars to shame. was asking which one he was referring too. as for being more expensive to run, dont think so. the golf gets worse mpg, depreciates faster than the titanic sank, and falls apart the minute u drive it off the lot. yes i've OWNED both.
Ford should have uprated the mk3/4 Escort XR3i's power to around 115 + hp instead of 105-108 hp, which should have been the figure for the mk1/2 Fiesta XR2.
there is one other car which had them both beat and that was the peugeot 205 1.9 gti awesome car still quicker than most golf gtis and it was quicker than all the xr3is and looked better
Clarkson getting punched by the crew, makes a change! Golf GTI, XR3i, I've had both and they were both excellent. Sadly the XR3i was stolen and ended its days on a sink estate in Wakefield being used to sell drugs. The GTI was sold to a young chap who was going to "do it up for his girlfriend".
I find that producers' excuse a lot worse and downright annoying. If you're not interested in cars and a person's fond memories of a particular model why are you watching at all?? For crying out loud he only went on for a few seconds not half an hour. This is what happens when tv shows are targeted for the ADHD-generation with five second attention spans. Attempted humour perhaps? As for the Golf GTI vs Escort XR3 thing, no German would ever consider a Cologne Ford before a Volkswagen.
@SPQRImperator I used to own Fords exclusively, and spent many happy weekends underneath welding and repairing all sorts. As I got older and wiser I moved onto VWs, and now I service them once a year.... Yes, they have their faults, as do Fords (and all makes of vehicle) but I've done 135k miles in my latest VW, the last two both went over 150k miles, and all I've ever done is service them and a couple of wheel bearings, and one clutch. I don't recall having much spare time when I drove Ford...
I REALLY miss my MK2 GTI (power steering, low profile tyres) best car I ever was in ... WHY are telegraph poles and lamp-posts so hard? ... I know ... I'm a muppet!
what u said can be said of virtually every 20-30 year old vehicle out there. a 1986 yugo isnt losing much value over the coming years either! i brought up the jazz/fit example as a response to paththebrit since he said a mark 1 gti will waste most new cars now. the jazz/fit is a fairly basic economy vehicle that offers virtually identical acceleration times. i hardly count a 0.2 sec 0-60 time as "wasting" especially since they aren't even in the same class. a civic si wouldve been more =.
@SPQRImperator Maybe. Or perhaps the American market model VW's are built to a different standard. Certainly to a different specification as regards the diesels anyway.
@yako165 same driving experience of the 50s and 60s? You mean 400hp with leaf springs, drum brakes, lap belts, and solid axels. 50s and 60s cars were terrible to drive and had no feeling or life in them, their only positives were high styling and high horse power.
if it werent for the golf gti, the hot hatch craze would not exist. it was reliable, quick, and a damn good grocery getter. the gti was good, but my gli is better!
@cleanerdriveways - lol, yep the original chav hatch .. like ALL Ford's apart from the Cosy's, & RS 500 ...... (still an utter chav rocket) .. great fun to drive.. but try the day 2 day factor.ie: tyre wear & fuel consumption... ouch!
As far as i am aware the XR2 and XR3 were the last mainstream cars to carry overriders. Can anyone tell me the purpose of overriders and why are they now not fitted?
Over riders were to account for different bumper heights. Now what they call a bumper is really a body pannell which with the slightest touch will scratch. Old bumpers could take a bit of punishment when parking.
I don't see any versus, seems like VW payed already in those times for their cars get never compared to others on race tracks. Still there is no versus between golf and focus on a track. Image, thats what vw/audi is about, just image.
1:53 Well, that moment aged really well
I actually wanted to hear all of the points Clarkson was making about the GTi vs a base model.
Was this producer sacked then?
I had a brand new Golf GTi 8 valve as my company car in 1987. I was 25 years old. What a car!
my first car was a german built XR3, the german models didn't have the same rust problems as the XR3's built elsewhere. it was nearly 14 years old when I bought it in 96, jet black and not a mark or blemish on it. bought it for £550 and sold it 3 years later for £1000, since great examples had become very rare. even though I made a great profit, I still regret selling it to this day.
My Dad bought the first german buit XR3i in England back in 1983! 26yrs on and it still drives like a dream - the oldies are the best!
Jeremy Clarkson when top gear was about normal cars we could afford
The Highlander That's Clarkson's Car Years.
@@danbuettner6956 even still. Top gear was the same back then
They still have normal cars on Grand Tour
Jeremy Clarkson being James May.
Meanwhile in a parallel universe...
No his obsession with the GTI and scirocco is straight from the heart. When he was young he dreamt of buying one, but went for the scirocco when that came out. I've read his book 'round the bend' in which he describes this.
Clarkson just got cooler when he said he owned a Volkswagen Scirocco.
The RS1600i was a different beast altogether.
That´s fun. In Brazil Escort XR3 have 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 L engines developed by VW.
Autolatina
The Legend of the Golf still lives !
actually no, they say there was a big difference between the two, some say the gti was much better car in all disciplines. I had the XR3i, it was scary brute with high fuel consumption.
it's how fast it gets there that counts - faster than most cars made today
XR3i all the way
XR3i forever! flashy looks compared with that small vs box
We had an XR3i as a pool car and I drove from Brimingham to Oxford daily in it for weeks down the A429 & A424, and it was an absolute blast. Happy days!
The XR·3i were and are soooo cooolllll! I want the blue one that owned Pierce Brosnan on the fourth protocol!
Xr3 any day
Clarkson said it better than anyone else, the one think a car must have is a soul
German sure as hell got revenge for that producer punching him.
jezza getting punched in the face. priceless
the older cars are always more fun to drive
the 1st engine was a 1.3 and i took it out at 150,000miles and put it in a mates car, the 1.6 i dropped in had done around 70,000 when i brought it so just for reliability i put in rings and shells,this went on for 120,000 miles and was still fine but i turbo charged the engine so i rebuilt it to cope with extra power.
i used to work on a few Mk1 golf gti"s in the late 80s/early 90s as a mechanic, 1 was Mars red, around 180k and mint,& still went like stink! good german engineering!
XR3i was much better than the XR3. Looked similar but had different specs to engine, chassis, brakes and suspension. RS Turbo was even more modified. All had weak brakes for the performance they had, until the S2 RS Turbo. Choppy on bad roads and go kart on smooth twisty roads.
Had an 1986 golf gti and the scirocco, preferred the scirocco, never had an XR3 but I will one day.
The GTI is still being made and remains the yardstick by which all pretenders are measured. Whatever happened to the XR3? - Ford ended up marketing the Escort as an 'Escort GTI'. I'm from Essex but I had a brain a bought a GTI - Now 25 years old and still going strong (the car that is!)
It dosnt matter what one you choose they are both better and more fun to drive and better looking then thier modern counter parts.
Have owned both the XR3 and XR3i and have had the mk1 GTI and still own a 90 GTI 16v. Loved them all and still do BUT you have alot more chance of finding a decent dub now over the Ford simply because most the XR's were used and abused once the RS series were launched in both the mk3 and mk4 shape.
I'm a Dub nut but would give it all up tomorrow for a pristine S1 RST.
if you think about it, 112mph is decently fast. he said the 0-60 time was 8.4 seconds.. the new mk5 gti 0-60 time is 6.9 seconds, less than 2 seconds faster. it was a pretty quick car. then and now.
You got to love the irony here.
Sometime in the late 1990's, the BBC mock Clarkson's car nerdout by showing a video of sheep.
Fast forward quarter of a century...
Amazon's most watched show to date is a program about Clarkson being a sheep farmer.
And his segment ended by a producer punching him in the face lol
XR3i owners were called "Boy Racers" when I was growing up, they was probably the most common sight on the road back in the day.
The golf was an old ladies car pimped up, I had XR3i, very robust, 3 hard crashes before I killed it @ 100k miles, I had the later shaped GTi for a year, dull.
I love older cars. They have more character than today's cars.
Both are great cars. Both go like hell and both rust like hell. Like a lemming falling into the abyss. And they both, the survivors, are worth about the same these days, in worthwhile order.
If you see a good one now, admit it, you'd take a second glance, regardless of Ford v VW stuff.
Classic Top Gear. No nonsense 😂👍🏻
i like both cars but prefer the look of the xr3i and there more rare to see than golf gtis :)
I want a GTI documentary roughly the length of the lord of the rings trilogy narrated by Clarkson! I would pay handsomely to see that in theatres.
The RS Turbo was much better than the XR3i
old legends both
my comment was directed at paththebrit further down. not sure why it didnt post under his comments. he claimed that a 30 year old gti will put modern cars to shame. was asking which one he was referring too. as for being more expensive to run, dont think so. the golf gets worse mpg, depreciates faster than the titanic sank, and falls apart the minute u drive it off the lot. yes i've OWNED both.
For the record, my sister owned a Golf, my brother owned an Escort...and me? I had a car that nobody even thought of GTI-zing. A Tercel.
XR3i, a real classic car
Ford should have uprated the mk3/4 Escort XR3i's power to around 115 + hp instead of 105-108 hp, which should have been the figure for the mk1/2 Fiesta XR2.
i have had both gti and xr3i both great cars i wish still had them both
Please I'd love to have clarkson round for tea!
there is one other car which had them both beat and that was the peugeot 205 1.9 gti awesome car still quicker than most golf gtis and it was quicker than all the xr3is and looked better
I love his ramblings, don't you dare remove it
Clarkson getting punched by the crew, makes a change!
Golf GTI, XR3i, I've had both and they were both excellent. Sadly the XR3i was stolen and ended its days on a sink estate in Wakefield being used to sell drugs. The GTI was sold to a young chap who was going to "do it up for his girlfriend".
XR3 all the life
1:54 turned out to be quite prophetic.....with a bit of role reversal obviously! lol
I had a blue mk 3 XR3i and loved it
all of the hot hatchs past and presant are in debt to the golf gti
I find that producers' excuse a lot worse and downright annoying. If you're not interested in cars and a person's fond memories of a particular model why are you watching at all?? For crying out loud he only went on for a few seconds not half an hour. This is what happens when tv shows are targeted for the ADHD-generation with five second attention spans. Attempted humour perhaps?
As for the Golf GTI vs Escort XR3 thing, no German would ever consider a Cologne Ford before a Volkswagen.
It's all down to taste.. i personally would go for the golf, but thats mainly due to the fact that i think it looks better.
XR3i anyday....
@SPQRImperator I used to own Fords exclusively, and spent many happy weekends underneath welding and repairing all sorts. As I got older and wiser I moved onto VWs, and now I service them once a year.... Yes, they have their faults, as do Fords (and all makes of vehicle) but I've done 135k miles in my latest VW, the last two both went over 150k miles, and all I've ever done is service them and a couple of wheel bearings, and one clutch. I don't recall having much spare time when I drove Ford...
He went all James May in that rant!
German engineering in ze haus y'all...
V-Dub, representing good taste! :D
I actually wanted to hear Clarkson nerd out over the GTI
@ufomies95
you said it, it still looks really good almost 30 years on
Also i have eard that the Escort mk3 chasis was not on pair with the mk1 or mk2 Golf chasis...
Xr3i all the way
...to obscurity and junk yards. Meanwhile...MK VIII.
Golf GTI a legend newer die.
Is that true about the main beam warning light being yellow instead of blue?
Yes, on early mk1 Golf's not just GTI
I like them both.
I REALLY miss my MK2 GTI (power steering, low profile tyres) best car I ever was in ... WHY are telegraph poles and lamp-posts so hard? ... I know ... I'm a muppet!
I had both in convertibles, now I drive a two lietter diesel BMW convertible can't belive how fast a diesel can go
Luckily I missed out on both of these for a 205Gti 1.9
I’ve never heard the scirroco being referred to as the a Golf Coupe
1:53 "Oh, how the turn tables" :DD
I’ve been wondering for years what the original Golf GTI’s 0-60 is. I’m super late here.
Girls on film by Duran Duran.
what u said can be said of virtually every 20-30 year old vehicle out there. a 1986 yugo isnt losing much value over the coming years either! i brought up the jazz/fit example as a response to paththebrit since he said a mark 1 gti will waste most new cars now. the jazz/fit is a fairly basic economy vehicle that offers virtually identical acceleration times. i hardly count a 0.2 sec 0-60 time as "wasting" especially since they aren't even in the same class. a civic si wouldve been more =.
@SPQRImperator Maybe. Or perhaps the American market model VW's are built to a different standard. Certainly to a different specification as regards the diesels anyway.
was the xr3 front wheel drive like the golf?
Historic....
@yako165 same driving experience of the 50s and 60s? You mean 400hp with leaf springs, drum brakes, lap belts, and solid axels. 50s and 60s cars were terrible to drive and had no feeling or life in them, their only positives were high styling and high horse power.
Magic Vw!
What exactly does Mr. Jackie Stewart say at 2.22 ?!
1:52 is by far the best thing I've seen on youtube in years.
A 1.6 20valve corolla with 115kw at the fly will smoke this 2 litre golf!
which fiat abarth are you talking about? last time i checked Turin (Abarth's headquarters) was in Italy, not France.
if it werent for the golf gti, the hot hatch craze would not exist. it was reliable, quick, and a damn good grocery getter. the gti was good, but my gli is better!
Name of the rims on the gti?
Please!!
Fuck the VW, I'll take the XR3i thanks. The Ford even had the better name, XR3-i how cool is that name? Especially in the early 80s.
1:55 LOL
@cleanerdriveways - lol, yep the original chav hatch .. like ALL Ford's apart from the Cosy's, & RS 500 ...... (still an utter chav rocket) .. great fun to drive.. but try the day 2 day factor.ie: tyre wear & fuel consumption... ouch!
@SPQRImperator Maybe Ford are better nowadays, but my Escort wasn't a patch on my Scirocco.
As far as i am aware the XR2 and XR3 were the last mainstream cars to carry overriders. Can anyone tell me the purpose of overriders and why are they now not fitted?
Over riders were to account for different bumper heights. Now what they call a bumper is really a body pannell which with the slightest touch will scratch.
Old bumpers could take a bit of punishment when parking.
best car ever
I actually felt bad for Jeremy right there :(
@niklasmich ppl nowadays switch cars between 3-5 years,no wonder why
Xr3i just looks cool golf is a grey shape
yes, IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!
frostycunt82, my mk3 escort van has done 282,000 miles and can take a gti any day of the week...
I don't see any versus, seems like VW payed already in those times for their cars get never compared to others on race tracks. Still there is no versus between golf and focus on a track. Image, thats what vw/audi is about, just image.
1:55 - I wonder if this was the producer that Clarkson punched back all those years later...🤔😆
both sweet cars if u find a clean model id say a bit over rated these days