[kach22i]

About half way down in the comments section is perhaps a clue to Ford's concern for extra down-force at speed?


https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/ford...pment-history/

MM says:
17 January 2013 at 12.54 pm

The Sierra was not a “good” car, certainly the early ones.
Had a new Sierra 1.6 from the dealer while the Mk V Cortina was being serviced.

The instability ot 70mph on the motorway was truly frightening, zig zag zig zag from white line to white line.

Recall the Sierra write offs due to shell buckle? Minor accidents made them irrepairable. Neil Kinnock, Labour party leader made the news after his Sierra accident, loss of control on a motorway, that infamous lane to lane weave again.

The Sierra was just a Friday afternoon car, cobbled together and released too soon on the guinea pig public to face the Vauxhall FWD Cavalier and Astra cars, both of which were vastly superior to the Ford offerings
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Will M says:
17 January 2013 at 1.06 pm

What was the fix for the stability problems? Solely the rearmost side window spoilers?

The similarly aerodynamic Audi TT had similar issues which led to spoilers being fitted to all models
Porsche Pete's Boxster Board :: Archives of PPBB
(nobody mentions this though, as it is german).

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Comical_Engineer says:
14 April 2013 at 4.40 pm

I remember the advert and how much of a laugh it gave us. The Sierra was a sheep in wolfs clothing other than the Cossies. The early ones were an amorphous jelly mould and fairly ugly. The later model Sapphire was a lot better looking but, TBH, none of them were very pleasant inside.

I used to get 1.6L’s on hire from Hertz and they were a complete nightmare on a wet and windy motorway. I actually took one back totally convinced that there was a problem with the steering. The reply was “they’re all like that”. Afterwards I used to put on my hire forms “NOT A SIERRA”.

The fitment of the small strakes behind the rear window and changes to the wheel trims helped but the Sierra was never the most stable in any sort of crosswind. The Sapphires were again better than the hatch in this department. As for the engines, the 1.6 Pinto was just about adequate but the 1.8CVH had a terrible reputation for reliability never mind that they were all harsh and noisy. (CVH = Constant Vibration & Harshness in one of the car mags, and they were right).

Basic spec ones weren’t a bundle of joy inside either and missed out on many useful “toys” that the Ghias got as standard. My experience was that the Sierra was nowhere as good as the Mk2 Cavalier – at least, I know which I would rather have had!