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Story by Alan Cesar • Photos as Credited
The United States never really got the world’s best Ford Escorts. Cars like the RS200 rally homologation bundle of insanity, the Escort RS Cosworth rally homologation bundle of …
I know one of our readers called about this exact article a while back, now it's online for you! Hope the racing has been going well.
I bought a red ZX2SR in 2000. I beat on it for 8 yrs. It was a DD, track car, ice racer and occ. auto crosser. Ford camber kit for the front. Never touched the back except for 19 and 22 mm bars. Shorty header and adjustable intake cam gear. For track I ran A Hoosiers on 7" rims. Best thing I did was increase caster through offset control arm bushings. After tying in and out toe found zero to work best. Along with 2.5 degrees neg camber the car was a joy to drive on the track and throttle steer.
Fo ice racing, stock alignment, no sway bars. The adjustable cam gear allowed me to have a quasi traction control. By retarding if fully it cut low speed power allowing for less wheel spin.
This may have been a little lengthy but my experience with the car may give some hints.
Oh, the car was capable of 40 mpg when driven properly.
Back in the late 90's, I considered getting one as a new car. Went to test drive it an all.
Wound up getting a used '95 Miata instead. And replaced it with a brand new '99, when we got S-plan.
Not that the ZX2 is a bad car- we got to do some autocross lapping at our test track once. But it wasn't a car that I really wanted.
my wife had a blue ZX2 that got totaled. she was ok, but has sworn off small cars because the exploder that hit her ended up in her back seat.
i have a saved/recurring search for a zx2 sr. they're like hen's teeth. she doesn't even drive manual
alfadriver said:
But it wasn't a car that I really wanted.
EVERYBODY EVER said:
But it wasn't a car that I really wanted.
Fixed that for you.
I just bought one for a fun high mpg car, it delivers on all fronts. Ive got 42mpg out of it before but i average 37mpg
I forgot to mention that there never was a problem with coolant overheating or brake fade with proper pads during track days.
Oil was changed once a year. Amsoil 5w -30
'98 models had ESCORT ZX2 embossed in the rear bumper cover.
'99 models only had ZX2. ESCORT was stickers under the left taillight.
You can remove the letters and re-apply them to say SCROTE.
Test drove a 2002 (I think) Zx2 with the updated bumper (looked good!).
I was shocked at how well it handled. Interior was total crap, of course, but I liked it quite a bit. But I too bought a Miata instead.
Neat article, neat car. I enjoy watching gasoline and gears (or is it gears and gasoline?) Drive their boosted one on the track. Neat build and great looking car.
Bobby Ore has a fleet of them that were purchased new. All of them have a couple hundred thousand hard miles of stunt-driving abuse and are still tickin. It was funny to see half the people I did his school with searching CL for $500 beater ZX2’s after the class...including a guy who DD’s an RS7.
Mine has 5000 original miles on it (though all on track). It's a great little car.
In reply to iceracer :
Maybe you could fire me an email, I'd love a brain dump. My car is only used as a track rat. Needs all the bushings replaced, etc.
I drove one as a DD for a few years. 98 auto, that had the springs and intake off of an S/R.
It was slow, but fun and basically indestructible. Massive oil leak and the need for a 4 door led me to get rid of it.
Damn it. Now I’m searching craigslist again..
The only suspension parts I replaced were both tie rod ends, one ball joint, it was iffy. The offset control arm bushings were for increased caster, not wear. I might even have the replaced ones some where.
The SR came with a lot of upgraded bushings. Also stiffer springs and shocks. 1" lower.
My car had 78K total miles when I sold it. Track miles unknown. A small portion.
Since it is yellow, is it an SR.
Seems to lean quite a bit.
e-mail address ?
In reply to iceracer :
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/201x-classifieds/another-racecar-for-sale-in-se-mi-2k-nmna/133382/page1/
It sat in a barn for 14 odd years. Didn't do it any favors. Check Adrian's post further down the page.
I like these cars, and the platform in general. The bummer is, unlike the comparable Saturn S-Series, the good engine only came in the tiny coupe. A Zetec powered wagon would have been nice.
I've wondered if the motor in these is "better" from a perf & efficiency standpoint than a 1.8 BP. Seems like an interesting source of parts for cross pollination with other vehicles in the BG chassis family.
I saw a converted wagon at an auto coss once.
In reply to pres589 :
Seemed to be more efficient in producing power. 143+ in the SR and 170 in the SVT.
In reply to pres589 :
I prefer the BP to the zetec by a wide margain, but the suspension bits of an SR make the ZX2 worthwhile, especially if keeping stockish.
It always seemed like cars with 1.8 BP's just didn't get the mpg numbers that they should have. What's preferable about the BP over the Zetec if stock or near-stock status is retained?
The lack of mpg from the BP is primarily based on the final drive and gear ratios in the G series box, wind it to near redline on upshifts and you won't see below 4000rpm until 4th gear. That means that in autocross, rally cross and tighter road courses that if you select the correct gear that you're always in the power. The gearing so so tight on the G series box that I actually like WIDER gears when adding boost. The other advantage is parts availability in part due to platform sharing, JDM factor (though not stock, the availability of bolt on turbo bits or a full BPT engine swap).
Here's mine. Has the apparently rare foglights and ABS.
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