Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
On the performance - the S/R and the Integra would be close. Both have 140hp, and the weights of the cars are the same. Torque - 130lbs/ft for ZX2, 124lbs/ft Integra. Car and Driver (April 1995?)once tested the base Integra - 0-60 in 7.6 seconds. The handling edge would go to the S/R of course. Test drives would be in order. Both models are at the end of the line production wise, and the pricing is very close, edge going to S/R because of cheaper finance rate. The only thing is, the Acura is a better investment in the long run; it will be worth thousands more in 4 years. As for the Integra GSR- it is $6000 more than RS. The Prelude base is cheaper by $100, and more desirable. Not affordable for me though.
I'd Rather have the CD player in the dash, as I would never use the cassette; 6 CD in the trunk isn't great on the road (and $500!). Integra comes with CD (6 speakers). Good head units are cheap these days though, so I wouldn't mind spending a few hundred to upgrade the S/R. Decisions, decisions.
Is the Civic SI in your price range? That one is worth considering too.
It certainly has changed quite a bit since my 1987 model. I suspect it may have the same shifter, and gear box as the Honda Civic Ex. The two cars felt very similiar in handling and comfort. For raw acceleration though I think I still lean a little towards the ZX2. Interior wise I could very see the lineage to the old Integra. As I expected it is quite comfortable to sit in. One thing I will give the Integra top marks for window visibilty and egonomics. In this regard it felt VERY VERY similiar to my old car. Performance and handling are certainly the equal of the Zx2 if not a little better. Despite this I do think the $18,000 Plus price tag is far too steep though. I would get a Honda EX before I dropped that much money in it's cousin.
One thing I also did in my travels today was to take a long hard look at the Honda S2000. Very nice; though I thought the front end below the bumper looked a little too much like the plastic it was made of. They should stream line this section of the car a little better. Another person who was looking at it remarked that it looked a little like a "baby Batmobile" which in retropect I suppose it does.
I ordered an arm rest after checking out your site.
I also have the loaded Forest Green with beige interior and really want the armrest. However, it has been six weeks and I still have nothing. The dealer has received THREE for me so far, but, when opening the package, the arm rests are BLACK. Don't know what is going on, but I hope they fix it soon. That is really the only thing that the car is missing. I have had mine for 7 thousand miles now and miss having a place to rest my arm.
Supposed to have another ne in this friday, Wish me luck.
I may not go for a car at all. Original plan was to keep my '89 Ranger for the winter, and buy a summer car. But upon seeing the 2001 Rangers, available with a 210hp 4.0L V6 and 5-speed manual transmission here in Canada, I may just get one of those. The dealer is going to bring one in spec'd out the way I want; it is only $3000 more than the ZX2 S/R, and I can sell my old Ranger for that. Lots of considering to do...
2000ZX2Guy it sounds as if you got the colour scheme I would have prefered. Much as I love my Tropic Green and with the Charcoal interior I do think the Med Priare Tan is a nicer looking interior colour to the Charcoal. Funny thing what influenced me most in the colour was a Mitsubishi Mirage that I test drove. It was a similar shade of geen with a yellow biege interior.
I had just gotten my armrest installed only a couple days before my first ZX2 was in it's first accident. When the car was totaled a month later in another accident I sold it to a reader here and then when I got my second ZX2 one of my requirments was the intallation of a Charcoal coloured armrest.
I am sure your dealer is aware of it, but it sounds to me like a coding problem with the orders. When I ordered my floor matts I went through a similar problem. They kept sending blue grey ones for the Escort Sedan before eventualy letting me have some with the ZX2 logo on them.
The armrest can take a bit getting used to, if you have a manual transmision so be warned. I usualy just flip mine up if I need to use the hand brake for a hill start or anything. Another nice plus is that it has additional storage capacity. Which in the ZX2 is a definative plus.
Thanks for your comment about my web sight it's very encouraging to read that it has actualy proven to be of benefit for someone. Why not send me a photo of your ZX2 so that I can post it in my readers gallery? The same for you too SlINDS. I am trying to get this Gallery going going, but the images seem to be few and far between.
Anyway, I remember breaking the axle of my parents Golf hitting the curb much, much softer (slid into the curb in the snow) so at least it says something about mazdas wheel assemblies :-)
And before anyone asks...
Yes I am flying this time... I have had quite enough excitement with car crashes and court cases for one year thank you...
I came across the standard fare, but discovered that there was a 16"x6.5" rim available for this car (100mm lug pattern). Has anyone ever heard of this, and if so, which model/year was it available? I thought escorts only had 14" or 15" rims. The picture for the 16" rim shows the same wheel for the 14"x5.5" rim that was available in 1998 (and is on my car presently).
Thoughts?
Let's hear your opinions on this.
Floridian
If that were valid technology, manufacturers would have taken advantage of it a long time ago. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than hanging Air Research turbochargers on cars. Three "real" pounds of boost is more than it sounds like. I'm pretty sure a lot of early Detroit turbcharged cars had the waste gate set at about three and a half pounds. Then again, my memory isn't what it used to be. Get the Superchip - it makes sense.
Floridian
Floridian
As far as I know, and Mr Shiftright would corroborate it, there is no independent dyno evidence to support the notion that K&N or similar air filters result in even the slightest power increase. Any evidence that supports the power increase claims are paid for by the manufacturers of the products - certainly not unbiased. K&N has a good product and it saves you money on paper filters, but don't expect anything else. Years ago I became a K&N fan while racing motocross. Cheap & easy way to have clean filter for each moto. More power? Nope.
Thanks for the link - will take a look. Would love for them to prove me wrong.
I'm still skeptical. Sent the link to a couple of people to see what they think. Only 300 bucks - buy it, try it - if you like it keep it, if not, sell it. Interesting project. I wouldn't pay that much for something that only worked at wot. My foot isn't on the floor that much. I'd rather put money in the suspension.
Did anyone notice the "Most Wanted for 2002" yesterday? It was the new BMW Mini Cooper. Think I will hang on to the old Z for another year and see if I can score a Mini.
Welcome back Boltmom. It appears to be working.
Another MINOR addition to my ZX2 Modifications page is the wish list for my ZX2. Basically a list of ideas and options that I will probably never be able to afford, but are so nice to fantasize about. This addition was motivated by the sight of a heavily customized Midnight Blue ZX2 in the loading Zone at Dulles Airport with plush leather seats, an obviously non stock larger sunroof, (and strange as it may seem to notice) lighted foot wells, a ground effects kit along the body (but not the front or rear end) and larger tires. I just wish I could have had the time to really study it in detail, and snap a couple shots of it as it was very cool to see.
Alas I don't think the owners would have appreciated my timing and I didn't want to miss my own flight. So apart from a few scribbles in my flight notes book it escaped. I will have to keep my eyes open for it in the future as it did have a "Town of Vienna" sticker in the window, and I work in Vienna.
Point of interest while in Charleston South Carolina, I saw the ultimate Roadster: the BMW Z8. I will post some pictures of this car when I get them back from my lab sometime next week. A customer of mine in Surfside Beach, South Carolina says they go for over 100,000 is that right? I did look very nice and had me positivly drooling. Certainly a lot nicer than the Z3.
On very different car note: the rental car I had in South Carolina was a 2000 Hyundai Accent sedan. Though I would never own one as a primary car it certainly reaffirmed my opinions about it. Nice, reasonable stylish, comfortable for it's price point, but borderline Zero for performance. I think the phrase "a Nice Safe car comes to mind". Safe because there is NO WAY you could get carried away driving the thing on country roads, or the highway. It really does need a stronger engine. Merging into high speed traffic was downright scary in this car,try as may there just wasn't any power there to accelerate quickly with. On the flip side I ran up over 475 miles on one tank of gas, a feat that my ZX2 could never do. Perhaps once my insurance settles down in a couple years I will buy one as a second car. Photos of this car will also appear next week on my web pages.
http://sites.netscape.net/photog0264/ZX2Page.htm
If you visit my web page and look under "What is a ZX2" you will find a picture of your car at the top of the page. You can also learn a little bit about the ZX2 in general on these pages.
http://sites.netscape.net/photog0264/ZX2Page.htm
By the way Ralex I moved the photo of your car to my "links and thanks page". I also corrected the dimensions on the photo (sorry about that). Sort of ashame the "Readers Gallery" didnt take off. Perhaps I will try it again in the future. People requested it both here, and in several E-mails but you where the only one to contributed image. Thanks for sending me it.
Also while we are on the subject of ZX2 S/R. Does anybody know what the basic specs of the S/R are? What I am after is the definative top speed, acceleration, horsepower and rpms of the S/R is? Also perhaps the sticker posted gas mileage. I occured to me that I don't have that information posted on my sight.
0 - 60 mph 7.4sec to 7.8 sec depending on who you believe. I will do a little looking around today and let you know what I find.
I went to repair the rims I damaged on my little wipe out and there is a four week back up! looks like I'm not the only one around here sliding off the road.
Funny thing happened on the way to work today. Some young kid was driving his lovely new Zinc Yellow ZX2 S/R on Rt Interstate 66. There he was weaving in and out of traffic saw an opening three cars ahead of me, and floored it!!! The only problem was just ahead of that opening was a marked Fairfax County Police Car, and about a quarter of a mile ahead of that was a Virginia State Police car at a speed trap. I think you can all figure out what happened next. Both Police Interceptors Suddenly popped on the Blue lights and took off after the kid. He disappeared over the next hill, with police in hot pursuit. Then suddenly came back into view about three miles later near the Vienna Metro Station. Only this time he had two more Fairfax County police cars with him, and two Virginia State Polic BMW Motorcycles. I should also say the kid was being patted down by one of the Fairfax County Police Officer with all the other police looking on with guns drawn.
I have no idea what the kid had done beyond trying to out run a pair of police officers. However given the number of additional police the who jumped into the action it must have been something serious. Real Nice Yellow ZX2 S/R though, still had the 30 tags on it.
Damn it though I do love that Zinc Yellow ZX2 s/r. IF only this and If only that... Everytime I see one I start drooling...
I doubt that anyone is curious but just in case anyone is; Rt 66 though called an interstate isn't really one. IT runs from just west of Front Royal Virginia through to the Memorial Bridge exit for Washington Dc. The fastest posted stretch (60 and 65mph) is from Front Royal to Manassas Virginia. Here the posted speed goes down to 55mph, but the unofficial speed goes up to about 70 or 75mph. This also the most impressive stretch where it is an 8 lane monster (near where I live) all the way to the I495 (also known as the infamous Dc beltway). After which it becomes an HOV2 four lane run into Dc, and the unofficial speed drops to a more sedate 60 or 65mph. Of course during rush hour there have been mornings that 15mph is closer to the speed. Now then how many are asleep with my useless geography lesson?
An engineer on our list that is building a 450hp Zetec for his 89 Mustang (quasi-SVO) told us that the E-Charger is snake oil. I have more trust in him than the company that makes the product.
You'd be better off getting rid of the resonators in the intake tract than buying the E-Charger.
Here's a site with a great explanation on resonator removal and airbox mods ...
http://pages.prodigy.net/keman
The ZX2 bolt pattern is 4x100mm which means that Contour and Focus wheels won't fit. I never understood why Ford has so many different bolt patterns. I would think economies of scale would prompt them to use the same parts on all their small cars (Focus, Contour, Escort).
Ford sells a rear-disc brake kit. However, the rear discs from a 91 Escort GT will fit on the ZX2 from what I've read. Apparently the kit from Ford is just the assembly from the old Escorts.
Replacing the rear drums will help improve brake feel, but it won't do anything for the actual braking. the rear brakes really don't do that much on these low hp front drive cars.
Really if you're not planning to acually race I think it's best not to throw away good money and just be happy with the power the car offers, which really is decent for the type of car.
If you do want to spend money on the car, the smart thing would be to put it to the cars real weaknesses, as I believe it was ralex who started to. replace the shocks and struts fix the cars high stance and eliminate body roll while making it more stable at high speeds. Replace the rims and rubber wich really stink on this car. Replace/fix the seats which so many people find uncomfortable! There are many ways to make a ZX2 better, and more unique, but I just can't see the point in spending hundreds of dollars to gain ten or fifteen horsepower and increase the quarter mile by a few 10ths of a second.