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Comments
try salvage yards
here's one of the websites that help you find the right junk dealer
http://copartfinder.com/cgi-bin/select.dtw/disp
dnva:
how about the coil? did you change that?
I know what you mean.
One night I took my son to NoVa night school at South Lakes HS where they borrow classrooms.
There was a "rocket car" parked there. And it had regular Virginia license plates, so it was probably driven regularly.
I can't describe it other than: it was the top half of a jet plane with plexiglas cockpit and sharp nose, with two seats one behind the other, an airplane type steering wheel, one front wheel and two rear which I assume are the drive wheels.
Wish I had my camera with me!
From now on it's going to be beside me all the time.
MjC
As for a rocket car...
This ZX2 may or may not have been one. I only saw the exterior and only glanced at it for a minute or two. Before I was off and running to the mall. If your curious Rick it was outside the Food Court entrance lower level at Dulles Town Center (which is very close to where I live).
In any event this car looked more classey than fast. Though I did rather like the aggressive style of those wheels and the F1 tires. I have a feeling though given the amount of money obvously spent on the cosmetics, the internals must also have been modified to match.
Fearing this maybe a problem I went and mentioned it to Ford on Tuesday as I was having an oil change and my 15,000 mile service. THe diagnoses: I had only shut off the engine and not the electrical system when I stopped the car to fill up. At the time my girlfriend was listening to something on the radio and I had left the power but not the engine on.
As I said mildly interesting problem and resolution.
PS.: For any would be ZX2 buyers in Northern Virginia, Tedd Britt Ford Currently has 6 new cars on the lot.
Floridian
So there is still a market for low end two door econoboxes.
But this particular segment in the USA no longer likes hatchbacks it seems.
Interesting how America will react to the forthcoming ZX5. Yup, a Focus hatchback with four doors - the bestselling Focus model in Europe.
I might add if I was looking for a new Station Wagon I would consider the Focus. IT's actaully not a bad car at all. Of course given the price I might also be looking at a Subaru or another small station wagon.
My guess is that Americans are shying away from smaller cars in general. Maybe it's the perception that small cars are for high school kids and girlie girls. So cars like the Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, even the Civic hatchback are no longer sold in this market.
Or maybe it's the realization that smaller cars tend to protect you less in crashes with trucks and SUVs.
And also perhaps because Americans became more prosperous in the 90s, therefore able to buy more highend transportation. I remember when it seemed like everyone had a bare bones compact pickup truck for personal transportation. Well all these little pickup trucks grew and now they all are the size of the Ranger or even bigger.
And tons of comfort options added on like A/C, heated leather seats and CD players.
I guess form no longer follows function these days for many folks.
Anyway back to the Station Wagon visavis a 5 door hatchback as Ford likes to call it.
From the small photos Ford has on their website, the small difference I see is that the hatch is on a diagonal angle whereas the wagon's window is more vertical.
And the 'rump' is slightly longer by an inch or two on the wagon. Otherwise, everything should be the same.
I would have chased it down but I was running late for work and didn't have the time.
I'd say that was pretty darn strong.
What would you say if the AC was emiting a slightly "minty mildew" smell? At first I thought it was all in my mind. But I have been smelling it for the past several days, ans then I gave a ride to a freind and he remarked upon it. If I didn't better I would swear someone had poured some minty mouth wash in my vents as a joke. I am not going to complain too much as it is not an entirely unpleasent smell. However what the devil could cause smell of mint in my car? I haven't been using any strange fabric freshener, and about the only mints I keep in my car are a box of altoids that I keep in the Centre console.
I only smell the aroma when the AC is running full and I have checked all my vents and as many filters as I can to see what the strange problem is...
As I said very weird...
Ford should spray some stuff in your vents to kill this if you go to them, but the guys at zx2.org recommend that you just spray your favorite scent of air freshener directly into the vents.
I dunno know. Hope this helps, anyway.
Though I am slighty annoyed that she didn't tell me about it. There realy isn't any evidence of staining on the carpet. So I will I am inclined to let it pass. In truth I am amazed that I didn't notice the smell sooner.
At any rate case solved...
Has anyone noticed that when you fill up your tank to the second click (as the manual suggests), you are just barely riding the "F" mark on the fuel gauge? I have found that if I just keep creeping gas into the tank, I can get another gallon in it, which then allows the needle to get on (or just past) the "F". Is this a common occurance with ZX2s?
Oh...and when I originally filled it to only the second click, I saw I only had 120 miles on the odometer when the gauge was at the halfway (6.4 gallons) point, meaning I would have only been getting 20 MPG. No when I get that extra gallon in there, it won't get to the halfway point until I'm at 150+ miles.
Any other similar experiences?
Joe
Floridian
a little bit late for my comment, but here goes anyway. I have a manual myself. In the online forums dedicated to the ZX2, a lot of the enthusiasts own auto ZX2s. In fact some of them actually drag race them (only at legal race tracks of course). They could be 1 - 2 seconds slower accelerating 0-60MPH than manuals, therefore going 8-9 secs rather than 7.6 secs on 0-60mph. But they will still give you that nice sporty feel. The gas mileage is just slightly less by a gallon or two mainly because the auto has 4 gears instead of 5. So I say, go ahead and get an auto.
But, if you need real back seat space I'm afraid you will have to give up the sporty coupes entirely.
You will have to go with a four door Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or Oldsmobile Alero(lots of incentives right now). Unfortunately these are all at least $5,000 more than a ZX2. All the other subcompacts like Mazda Protege or Toyota Corolla have similarly small rear space. Some may have more headroom than the coupes, but will have very similar knee-room and foot-room. Sorry I don't know what else to call it when you have little space to put your size 11+ feet.
Now if your teenage son complains about the back seat because he can't get enough of his friends in the car, I might say ignore him. Having more than two teenage boys in a car leads to bravado, braggadaccio, grandstanding, fast driving and illegal street racing. That's a scientifically proven fact! ;>]
I still kick myself for going for that ZX2 as it really was a nice one. Oh well we must try and look to the future as we can.
Also it seems as if everyone in Virginia Beach has a ZX2. I saw several sitting beside mine at couple of traffic lights. Sort of weird actauly I almost felt like a honda owner a couple times.
Regards Floridian
MjC
Anyway I had replaced the wheels, I find the factory rims as bad as the tires. I paid $1600 cdn, equal to just over a grand us. The wheels are nice 16", and the tires are 205 yokahomas which are above average, but certainly not high performance. I also have winter tires on the factory rims, not included in the in that cost.
High end rubber seems like a waste of cash to me for these types of cars. They wear out faster and their limits exceed the limits of the car.
I'm using the same rims and rubber onto my Miata. I sold the Z with the factories, which were pretty much brand new.
I paid $139 each for the wheels plus $89 for the tires. The Tire Rack mounted and balanced the tires on the wheels then shipped me the whole lot for very cheap.
I think I spent around $1000 for the set. The Kumhos are the best tires I've ever had and the stock tires are no competition for them.
I wanna say the rims are 17x7 but I cannot be sure. I just went with what Tirerack told me.
http://carview.msn.co.uk/autoshow/frankfurt/
for Ford Focus-based coupe 'Start' unveiling at the Frankfurt Auto Show Media days on Tuesday!
If you haven't read the article yet, go to http://www.autoexpress.co.uk then do a search for Ford (upper lefthand corner) and click on the
Ford to Unveil Focus Coupe result button.
Whether we like it or not, the Mazda 323-based ZX2 is going away and the Focus is the only possible basis for a U.S. 2003 ZX2.
Note that in Europe, they do not use the Focus ZX3 and ZX5 monikers so whatever they will call this coupe in Europe may not be its name in the US.
Stock is 185/60/15.
Floridian
Their design called for a turbocharged Duratec 2.0L inline 4 cylinder engine developing 200HP to be built on a Focus next-generation platform. A unique feature of the concept car is that a push of a button turns the coupe into a cabrio, pushing the top into its storage space in the trunk. BTW, Ford is now starting to put Duratec engines in its cars and it is still the same design of engine as the Zetecs. However the whole engine is now aluminum whereas the Zetec has an iron block and aluminum head. I understand the Duratec 2.3L is now in the Ranger pickups.
Here is the picture from Car Connection
and the story from the Pininfarina web site:
http://www.pininfarina.it/eng/press/frankfort/franco_06.htm
I hope Ford builds this as the next ZX2 for America!
The car looks like an evolution of the Cougar and Puma concepts which are part of Ford's "New Edge" design theme. All modern "edgy" designs are influenced by Nick Pugh, the guy who did the Xeno project.
He studied at the Art Center Colleg of Design in Pasadena where he influenced his peers, his teachers and students who followed him.
He designed for various car manufacturers on contract. His peers also went to work for various manufacturers. His influence is seen in cars as different as the Mitsubishi Eclipse, the Toyota Celica, the Cadillac Evo concept car, Mustang, Cougar, Focus, etc. etc.
Quotes from Wired magazine:
In 1989, during a six-month internship at Renault's design department in Paris, Pugh discovered deconstructivist architecture. Forms and compositions by Lebbeus Woods and other avant-garde architects influenced Pugh's developing style - one already shaped by fractal mathematics. (Both his father and his stepmother are mathematicians, and his father is famous in academic circles for demonstrating that it is possible to turn a sphere inside out without breaking its surface.) Back at Art Center that winter, Pugh created the first version of the Xeno as a series of drawings and a one-fifth-scale model - soft and rounded in back, sharp in front.
"Is this the back or the front?" demanded Mazda's general manager of design, Shigenori Fukuda, when he saw the sinuous car on display at the Art Center gallery in 1990. But his colleague Tom Matano, creator of the Miata, seized on the drawings immediately. Other industry executives - all of whom regularly scout the school for new recruits - were equally impressed.
"Nick was by far the most talented designer at Art Center at that time," says Chip Foose, the freelance designer credited with the Plymouth Prowler hot rod. Pugh's style rippled through the industry, absorbed by visiting execs and carried by classmates to offices in Detroit and beyond.
"Nick is plagiarized constantly," attests Porsche designer Jason C. Hill. "I interviewed a guy recently, and he showed me four cars from his portfolio. One was his; the other three were basically Nick Pugh designs he'd copied."
Bumsuk Lim, VP of the concept-car company Creative Development, tells a similar tale: "Pugh's influence was felt instantly around the world. When I was at Wave, Honda's advanced-concept studio in Tokyo, students turned a Nick Pugh sketch of a new Corvette into a full-size model and presented it as their own. It's the terrible nature of the business."
One schoolmate of Pugh's landed at Ford, which launched its New Edge design program soon thereafter. The Synergy 2010, the first New Edge concept car, makes the most literal reference to the first Xeno in its combination of rounded forms and sharp edges and in the overall proportions of the body. In 1997, Ford executives contacted Pugh to discuss acquiring the fuel-storage patents he'd developed for the Xeno (the company eventually went with a different option). The new Mercury Cougar, with its sleek, lunging body and crisp, diagonal lines, also evokes Pugh's style, as does the Cadillac EVO concept car. As Greg Brew, assistant chair of the Art Center transportation department, puts it, "the whole Ford New Edge design program owes its ancestry to Nick Pugh."
The full article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.01/pugh.html
and Nick Pugh's web page:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.01/pugh.html
Enjoy!
I was feeling rather patriotic since the turn of events that transpired in N. Y. and D.C. so instead of purchasing a 2k1 isuzu rodeo I opted for a 2k2 silver frost clear coat metallic zx2 w/6cd changer w/cassette,premium package,power,tilt cruise,no abs, w/moon roof and a 5 speed. I was also looking at a 2k1 zx2 fully loaded w/leather(no abs)for the same price but I opted for the 2k2. After tax,tag,and rebate the purchase price was 14.2k..14.325 for the car, $860 tax - 1k rebate. Was this a decent deal or could I have got a better one? The dealer thru in a bra. I am a 40 year old father of three and I thought this would be a little zippy car to commute 45 mile a day to work. After driving it for two days I was getting a little claustophobic (I'm 6'2" 240 lbs.)but after some seat adjustments I am getting used to it. It seems fun to drive so far . I will probably drive it for a year or two then turn it over to my Dtr.. My first tankful got 26.2 miles to the gallon. I thought it would get better. Possibly when the motor breaks in. I have read alot of previous posts and I hope I made the right decision.
You'll find your car a nice little sporty thing that's got lots of value for so little money. And yes, you did well on the price. There would have been some $11000 cars but they would have been stripped, no power windows, no CD player, no sun roof, etc. And since Ford is giving out up to $2000 on 2001 models, there might have been cheaper ones. Still you have the satisfaction of a brand spanking new one.
The mileage you got is actually pretty good for a start. My car (my son's car till his license was taken away from him) now has 18k, and still can only get 26mpg. Perhaps its due to the way I drive with lead foot sometimes.
Cheers!
I almost got one in 1997 and got a bigger Contour instead.