Janspeed XR3 Turbo

Sir,

I hate to take my old friend Jeremy Walton to task over the road test of our Escort XR3, published in the March issue but 1 do feel that he was a little hard on the car.

We agreed to let him have it at very short notice, straight after another road test and with no time between to check it over. On receiving the car back it was plain to see all was not well and a check quickly diagnosed a distinct shortage of piston rings. Clearly under such circumstances the car would not have been able to give of its best.

We are prepared to stand by the performance figures as published in our leaflet and underline the fact that the oil consumption in normal situations is little different from standard. Further developments on the car have led us to believe that worthwhile improvements can be made to the fuel consumption and, as Jeremy pointed out, the car is at present being converted to a blow-through system employing the original progressive choke carburetter and being fitted with a five speed gearbox. In this form we anticipate the m.p.g. figures being comparable to the standard car at any given speed. We will, of course, be delighted to let him have it back for re-appraisal when this work has been completed.
Janspeed Engineering Ltd. Soulbury
J. Odor