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Comments
The ZX2 isn't a bad performer and can hold it's own with most cars in the same category. In truth it will actually out perform many cars in the next car category up. Besides in a realistic enviroment I don't often have the oportunity to use it's acceleration to the max as it is. So engine wise I am quite content to leave it just the way it is for the moment. The ZX2 isn't perfect by a long shot and there is quite a bit of room for improvement in many aspects of it's design. However for actual engine performance I don't think it needs a great deal of "tweeking".
While I remember has anyone else gotten a seat belt inspection recall notice? I have mine booked in for next tuesday morning. Personaly I am not too worried after surviving that accident in my first ZX2. When you hit an almost non-moving vehicle at 75mph, and come away with nothing but minor whiplash it tends to make a believer of you.
MjC
Is anybody getting tired of their ZX2. Mine has 25,000 miles on it now and I'm ready to kiss it goodbye. There is absolutley nothing about this car that gives me anything close to the warm fuzzy feeling I need to make me keep a car for more than a year or two. It just doesn't have any character. It's appearance is boring, it's handling is just OK, acceleration is good, but the engine, though obedient, is weird,the clutch stinks, and the shifter is poor. The steering is too slow, the gearing is too low, and the cockpit is more truckish than sporting.
The ZX2 is a very good car, but compared to my old MGs or GTI, it has the personality of a dead fish. We all agree that the total package is the best bargain available, but that doesn't generate any affection or excitement. Maybe Ford was right. Perhaps the ZX2 is just an exciting car for college girls to drive to school.
But to answer your question I've been ready for a new car since spring, but only because I'm ready to move up a notch. MIIIAAATA here I come!!! Well, I'm working on it for next summer, but I will definitely 100% have it within 2 summers. I picture it now, sparkly shiny bright red with a tan roof. mmmmmm.
The only other one I would concider, but it would cost a bit more, is the Celica GT.
However, the car does lack character. In terms of a commuting vehicle, I think it is the best choice. However, I'm going to be 30 next September and I want something a lot nicer than a really good Escort.
I'm looking at cars in the low $30k's ...
Freddy touched upon a car that I personally rather like; the Z24 Cavalier. Granted it still looks like Cavalier and turns like one. However decked out with the options it has a nice interior and is quite comfortable to drive. However if you go the Cavalier route, it brings up thoughts of the Snuffer GT. Which from what I understand is certainly the equal of our beloved ZX2s. Another car I kind of like the look of is the Allero. Though from what I understand that doesn't come with a manual transmission. In fairness I haven't done much research on that car.
Freddie mentioned the Tib. Which for me holds the distinction of the shortest and least pleasurable test drive I have ever had. IF I HAD TO BUY a Hyundai I would buy the Accent and spend the money having it custom fitted. That kind of gives you an idea about my love for the Tiberion. The last one I test drove literally gave me a head ache. No matter how I tried to adjust the seat I kept smacking my head into the Sunroof mechanism. So after several speed bumps and one pot hole it was back to the dealership. And the bottle of Advil I always keep in my glovebox. Another turn off was instrumentation which I thought was rather confusing, when compared to other cars in the same range.
The Miata though fun to drive I think is just a little too small for my tastes. When driven in the Washington Dc area traffic Meats all but disappear. Though when driven on a country road or in the Mountains I bet the Miata would be a blast.
One car that I am hopeful for is the Mitsubishi Mirage. I don't know it for a fact, one of my customers who is a dealer suggested there maybe a new GT version coming out in 2002. The current Mirage though very comfortable, doesn't do a lot for me when it comes to performance.
But it is definitly A good car for those who like to stick to American brands, and I do like the styling, which is surprising since I prefer curves to edges.
I hear Audi's offering a 150hp TT for $27k soon. That might interest me ...
More likely I'll end up with either an Acura CL-S or TL-S ...
Well here are my gripes after owning the car for a year and a half, and it's nothing to do with performance.
first, the engine from the outside of the car sounds more like an 87 chevy then a 99 ford, especially when cold.
my window rattles if it's not completely up or down, there is a squeek somewhere in the drivers seat, and somewhere in the rear, as well as a very loud rattle that only occurs when the car idles rough, which is too often as it is.
And then of course, it eats gas like a V8 and Ford will do nothing about it.
The build quality is not surprising from an American manufacturer, but utterly dissapointing after the success of my last escort GT, and a shame because if it had the quality of the Civic it would be a top notch car for the price. It will be a long time, if ever, before I buy another Ford.
The problem with the windows is in part (IMO) because the car is unibody and it has a fair amount of flex in the body. Perhaps a strut tower brace would help, but I doubt it.
Do you have a sunroof? The worst thing in the world for that car is a sunroof (which I have). It undermines the strength of the body a lot ...
Like I said, I haven't had any major problems so I'm thrilled ... Our cars might be fairly new, but they're built on a very outdated chassis too ...
My Zx2 has just crossed the 4100k threshold so it is fairly new, and I am looking forward to it's first oil change at 5000k. Even though it is suggested the first oil change occurs at 6000k. I figure as winter is setting in an oil change before the coldest months may not be a bad idea. In fairness I have also purposly been going easy on my cars mileage.
Also a Fellow ZX2er sent me an E-mail after seeing my webpage and remarked:
"motor trend did the test on a 98 zx2 with manual transmission.
just a regular zx2...no special toys
road and track got 8.4 seconds out of it, but they mentioned many times in their article that this was with a slipping clutch."
How is that possible with it being an s/r and or moded out?
Well sad to say I was unaware of that little tidbit of knowledge. I was completely unaware of the concept of changing oil on a car with an engine this small in the first 1000 miles. Though it does make sense, from what you say... To the extent of my ignorance; I have heard that with Mustangs and other similiar types of Muscle Cars you should change it in the first 2000k. I also know that on all new cars it is better change it early rather than late, especially on the first oil change. However my foolish ignorance still stands though. I did not know... Now I am thinking I should perhaps make a call on Friday Morning and see about getting it in for an Oil Change...
Freddy.
your only getting 22mpg??? My old dad's Isuzu Trooper gets 26mpg and thats a V-6 4x4. From what you have told me, our cars apart from the tires, have the same configuration. Niether with anything special under the hood, yet here I am averaging between 36 and 39mpg. Yes I think I would be talking to Ford with a rather loud voice. Not to undermine your clearly greater expertise, but do you rev the engine and "make like a rocket" at the traffic lights? Perhaps driving style could have something to do with it. For the most part I consider myself a fairly sedate driver these days. Especialy following my accidents, and my paranoia about tickets (I had a perfect driving record and now it's crap). True I do have the power of the ZX2 behind me and I will use it as is required. But I am rather sparing in how I use it these days.
Several years ago (about 10) on my Toyota Truck, I kept blowing oil smoke out of the exhaust an odd intervals. Yet whenever I took it to toyota they couldn't find the problem and the truck behaved itself. In the end just when I was ready to accept it as incurable fault, some one quite innocently "nudged me" in a supermarket parking lot. There wasn't any appreciable damage however in the conversation that followed with the driver I learned that the fellows brother was a retired Toyota Master Mechanic, doing odd jobs out of his garage. At his suggestion I made a phone call and an appointment. It took the fellow all of 5 minutes discover a slowly leaking valve that 4 Toyota Garages 2 regular Gas Station had over looked. Now granted this tale isn't applicable to your situation. HOWEVER perhaps locating a similar such indivdual as I found quite by accident (no pun intended) may offer you some clues.
Now at the opposite end of the scale the question is what am I doing so different that lets me go 429 miles on a fill up of exactly 11 gallons with regular grade Exxon Gas? This what my last reading was this morning. For the sake of diagnose of my daily drive is a 40/20/60 mix of 70mph speeds, a couple short stretches of stop and go at 5 to 10mph, the balance made of 20 to 35mph runs. Thus makes up my daily run in the infamous Washington Dc Suburban Traffic nightmare.
Not that I am complaining much about this gas mileage, as I rather enjoy getting a fill up every 8 to 10 days.
Minor funny but scary tale here... The other night my company had it's annual employee dinner, in Washington Dc. The chosen place was a rather exclusive members only club on 14th street. One of the nicer little touches of this club was the valet parking. Imagine my horror when I pulled up outside and surrendered my keys to a fellow didn't know how to drive a manual trans. Basically the car shot 35 feet forward in about 1/2 a second and stalled. Followed by me chasing after it in a panic. Happily the Valet Captain was on my heels, who apologized profusely "ordered" the fist attendant back inside, gave me the ticket and parked it himself. talk about panic attacks.
The university here has an excellent automotive department. Techs who graduate here and end up with dealerships have written to let the school know that they aren't allowed to use diagnostic techniques they have been taught and sophisticated equipment sits in the corner of the shop practically unused. Instead they just start replaceing parts looking of a quick fix. Given the fact that 1 out of 20 new parts are defective, there is a good chance they will take a good part off your car and replace with a defective part, just to save a buck for Ford and make a buck for the shop.
The bottom line is that there are private mechanics who are excellent diagnosticians, but they are hard to find. In any average sized town, there will be one or two shops where other mechanics take cars that they can't repair. You need to find out who those mechanics mechanics are. I found one and he isn't cheap, but he only fixes a problem once. Most of his clients have practically new cars with drivability issues that two or three or even four other shops failed to resolve. When this guy gets a problem that isn't immediately obvious, his eyes light up, he sets his jaw and starts firing up computers. He's worth every penny. Once you find one of these automotive geeks, never let anybody else touch your car!
He also just gave me an idea that might help out freddy. Here in Fairfax County, Va. There is a school for GM car repairs. All the local GM mechanics seem to have taken a course or two here. They also have a drive up repair facilty for the average GM owner to bring his or her car to. Granted it is not cheap and they do have a waiting list or so I have heard. However my thought is; there are probably lots of automotive schools out there which encourage customers to bring them problem children with wheels. Perhaps freddy there maybe such a shop near you? Only one that specializes in Fords. Granted the thought of some high school twit tinkering under your hood maybe a triffle intimidating. But a student at a respected learning instution under the supervision of a master mechanic may not be too bad. It's just an idea for you but maybe it could be something for you to look into.
Can any Canadians around here tell me what they get in km? I get about 11.5L/100km
Based upon what I am hearing on the net I seem to be on the high side with my gas mileage. I do know my late black ZX2 was averaging at around 30 to 33 before she died. However I figured the manual Trans. would get me better gas mileage which seems to have been borne out. Even if it is slightly higher than other peoples.
A passenger in my car today said I do something strange in my ZX2. Unless I am on a hill or need to do a rocket take off I usually start off in second gear. Granted I couldn't do this in my last manual car which was an 88 Tercel and served admirable as a back up to first my truck and then my Acura. However the ZX2 seems to have lots of power and handles second gear starts without any trouble, and without any excesive engine reving.
A good 4 speed would have worked much better in the ZX2 given it's broad torque band and light weight. Or they could have made 1st almost as tall as 2nd, then nudged the remaining 3 gears up and made 5th a serious overdrive. Could be the 4:11 final gearing is a bad choice for this transmission.
btw, I reworked it and it seems I exxagerated the mileage in km, I don't quite get that.much.
I have the sunroof option and it doesn't rattle for me at all except when it's really cold. I open it, close it, and then it's fine.
It's a great car for me.
I agree with Ralex but I would also say it is a safe car as well. As near as I can figure if you combine the Mileage from both my first and second ZX2s it would put me in the 8500 range. As it is apart from one weird power loss, both of the cars have (or had in one case) performed flawlessy. If you want some general info on the ZX2 visit my web page at:
http://sites.netscape.net/photog0264/ZX2Page.htm
Ralex,
I agree with you about the low first gear, and the wide ranges. On the top of the range 5th gear is nothing but an econo gear, and beyond very sedate acceleration doesn't seem to do much. On the other hand 2nd seems good all the way to about 35mph. Granted at that speed you are drinking gas, but it is there is you need it.
Flip side of all this though is; near where I live there is a swine of a steep hill with traffic lights at the very bottom. Most cars seem to take there time getting up it. Even my late Acura had a rough time with it. Also a nieghbor with a Metro used to struggle ridiculously with it. However the ZX2 can shoot up the hill with no trouble at all. Happily though for the sake of everyones gas mileage Fairfax county has begun work to level out that particular hill. In snow and ice that hill was/is a real pain the backside!!! IF you are going down it start breaking about 1/2 mile before the lights. If you are going up time it ahead of time and get a good running start at it. The intersection was voted something like the 4 worst intersection in the county over the summer. It certainly qualifies as one of the most dangerous. Curious little fact if you are Civil War fan probably know of the area. It is called Bull Run and is only about 4 miles from Manassas.
Well the of three cars the Acura won hands down. Very powerful, and with a level of comfort that left my ZX2 feeling and looking rather Spartan. Did I mention by the way that it cost $35,000?
The Misubishi Eclipse was a nice car to drive, certainly with plenty of power, the handling also was markedly superior to our beloved ZX2s. About the only gripe I could level against it was a lack of visibilty over the shoulders. When I was changing lanes envision my shock when I looked over my right shoulder and saw black interior panels rather the lane of traffic. True the mirrors seem a little larger than those on the ZX2. However as much fun as it was to drive I would say the lack of visibilty could prove to be rather dangerous to anyone not paying attention.
The Toyota Echo qualifies now as my NEW least favourite Econo Box ever driven. And I thought the Chevy Metro was bad.
Allow me to summarize... This car is EXTREMELY top heavy, and turns like a full size utility truck, has the ergonomics of a "rida mower", has seats that felt like wooden boards covered in foam and fabric. As for the engine it feels like it has all the power I remember of a police peddle car back in the 1969 when I was 5 years old (Don't laugh too hard, because that memory literally flashed through my mind as I was driving it). Another little thing; what's with the off center instrumentation? Strikes me as a little bit dangerous having to look to the right of center to see what the car is doing. I guess by this commentary you can gather how much I disliked the car. I can truthfull say I have never loathed a car as much as this one. If anyone is looking for either an econo-sedan or an econo-coupe. Try either Hyundai Accent or better still if you are looking for a two door try one of our beloved ZX2s. Both of these cars are worlds superior in every respect. I honestly can't believe that Toyota would allow such a piece of @#%$ on the road. I used to own an 88 Tercel along with my Acura and that was worlds superior to the Echo.
By the way my car is booked in a week from this Tuesday for it's first oil change.
On the funny side I still can't get that Toyota Echo out of mind. It really was junk...
Set your trip odometer to 0 then pump in exact number of gallons. I usually put in 11 gallons and fill up when the tank is pretty low and the idiot light is telling me that I am low on fuel.
At any rate on your next fill up; time the trip odometer so it is on whole number and divide the number of gallons you put in by the number of miles driven.
In my case 429 miles driven, divided by 11 gallons equals 39mpg. And one very happy fellow with his Credit Card's monthly Gas bill...
Ever since I noticed my gas mileage increasing I have been tracking it on a spreadsheet. Mostly just as an Spreadsheet excersize to keep my hand in at Quattro Pro, however it has proven to be kind of interesting.
Does this mean Fuzzy Odometer?
Please also update your book marks to reflect the new ZX2 pages address.
http://sites.netscape.net/photogsweba/ZX2Page.htm
This really is going to be a pain in the backside to repair. Sorry...
I suspect you are getting much better mileage with your pencil than you are with your car. lol
You mentioned that you only picked up 20 something miles per gallon last time around. How far did you travel? and how much gas did you put in?
I know how many miles I am driving, I know long I go between fill ups (usually about 10 or 12 days, and I know how much gas I am putting in my ZX2. IF anyone who knows a better way to track the gas mileage I am more than willing to listen.
Example (1989 Ranger 2.9L) 315.6 miles driven. 16.01 gallons at fill up. 19.7 miles/gallon (one of my best tanks).
I hope this helps to clear things up.
If you are concerned about over filling the tank, just fill it til the auto cutoff on the nozzle is activated, reset you odo, drive as many miles as you can (more miles = more accuracy) and return to the same station, same pump, and refuel in the same manner. Then put the pencil to it.
There is a technical service bulletin 99-26-9 titled
"Fuel Economy-Customer Expectation vs. Vehicle Usage"
I don't have the details, I hope someone else might be able to get them from a service tech or from a subscription to alldata.com.
As for how I am getting this, what by the sounds of things is fantastic mileage, I am unsure. Tomorrow night I am going for my bi-weekly fill up and my car is up to up to 38? miles on the fill up from the other week. In fairness this time I did spend a day, and one night, running around Dc, mostly in bumper to bumper traffic. So though I don't think it will be in the 38mpg range, however it should again be well into the 30mpg arena. Could this high mileage be indicative of something more sinister in the future?
To be honest I am starting to get a little bit worried. If I am regularly getting this mileage when no one else is coming even close... What is the down side to it? I can't believe there won't be trade off later on the down the road (no pun intended). Perhaps when I take my car in for the oil change I should ask. It seems to be running fine, and though I am not noted for rocket take offs and have purposly been driving on the conservative side; I do however have plenty of power at my command.
Yup, I'm in love with the little Z again. The motor is strong, I finally got the shifter where I want it, handling is great, and she looks good. Maybe I will go ahead and spring for the Superchip and struts.
Need advice just ask.
I had 402 miles on my odometer after doing my routine 11 gallons (I filled up before logging on). How many miles does everyone else get per tank full? Regardless of the actually mpg I am now curious about the actual range on one tank of gas in the ZX2. In my case I am now averaging at just over 400. When I first got the car I was in high 200 to low 300 range. Now I am worst case scenario hitting 38? something.
Arguments of mpg aside. I do agree there seems to have been noticiable pick up in performance as the weather gets cooler. They are calling for light snow tonight and a possible moderate snow on Sunday night into Monday. Granted the snows in the Washington Dc area no where near what you gentlemen who live in the nothern states would consider heavy. However they do manage to make a mess of traffic nonethless. IT should be interesting to see how my ZX2 handles it's first snow.
Miagarfunckle,
What do you do when a cop makes up evidence and lies in court? If you read back I probably know all about my tale. Point of interest everyone my insurance has now jumped from $750 per year clear clear up to $2,500 per year. Apart from the two accidents there was only one speeding ticket in the past 5 years and one "failure to obey highway signs". There was however two payouts within a month. I guess I won't be getting that second car after all.