I drove this exact model of car for about eight years (got it as a high school present used @ 12k miles) and I swear the thing was cursed. -Got hit nearly head on by a lady on pills speeding shortly after I got it -After it was hit it fucked up the alternator belt pulleys so the belt would fly off randomly and leave me stranded; didn't know about this for a long time -Leaked power steering fluid from the day I got it from multiple places -Window motor was fucked up and could never figure out why, even after replacing the motor it still wouldnt work randomly -Every interior light in the damn thing burned out at 50k mile intervals -Got rear ended by a pregnant lady SEXTING (long story) who then claimed she was in labor and needed to run to the hospital and gave me false insurance info, never heard from her again -Finally at 120k miles I got EVERYTHING on it fixed (even the wonky pullies, a reputable mechanic finally figured it out) and some guy backed into me and totaled it at a STOP LIGHT -Got the worst insurance agent EVER and had to all but choke her in person to get my money for the accident -I GAVE the thing away to my nephew for free; he fixed it up and then flipped it going down the highway. After that it was sent to the junkyard for scrap. Sorry, just needed to rant after 8 years of driving this nightmare. At least it handled well.
My best friend in high school got one of these. Bone stock, optional 17 inch ford wheels, all the options, 5 speed. it was a goddamn excellent driving little car. Decent speed, good handling, comfortable, practical, and dirt cheap to maintain and insure.
YOU FINALLY DID MY FIRST CAR!!! But in all seriousness, my '99 ZX2 was a great car for college and early working years. You could BEAT it to death and it would still run as long as you changed the oil. 28+ MPG and, for the most part, a decent sounding exhaust stock. No SVT Focus, but it was the curvy last-pre-2000 car that I will always have a soft spot for! Thank you RCR
@@Chopstorm. sheesh... I just bought mine about 1-2 months ago as first car and it's pretty nice tbh :) probably gonna keep it and make it look good. It's had a very rough life w/ past owners (my aunt & grandpa) but only has 55k miles on it so.... could be worth it to fix it up and all
I owned a 2001 ZX2 for a little over 10 years and 150k miles. And it's true, I learned a lot about cars by working on this. What's interesting is that my wife owned a ZX3 at the same time. The differences in the two was amazing, and she'd make fun of me for having the nicer car, but you know what? I'd buy another ZX2 in a heartbeat. I loved that little car.
Mr. Regular, I'm glad you weren't too harsh on this car. Yes it's not the cool Escort that Europe got, and yes SVT wasn't allowed to work its magic on it, but I think it's a decent car and part of a dying breed. Almost no one makes a cheap compact coupe anymore, except Honda which still makes a Civic Coupe.
Was a great car for a daily driver to school or a part time job to pay for college. Loved the one I had before it got t-boned and totaled. Had a 2000 in black and it was the only one I’ve ever seen with leather seats.
@@dawsongranger4940doubt it mines from Hawaii and was in multiple floods bought brand new in 1999 of October and sent to princeville Hawaii, so I could only imagine the owner of my car thinks it long gone junked but I’ve completed restored it and drive it like a sports car.
Owned a ZX2 S/R for five years and 70,000 miles. That car begged to be revved hard, chucked into corners, and otherwise abused. It was a total jalopy by the end, but it somehow never left me stranded. A great car for teaching a young person to love cars and love turning wrenches.
Dude, I'm now waiting for a Marauder review! Just don't be located in Houston TX or Miami FL or another far away place, because Mr R won't be able to come to you.
Kevin Volk As Escorts go, this guy's ZX2 is probably actually pretty fun. The three big words that jumped out at me are "limited slip differential"...that plus the suspension work and presumably decent tires suggests it'll go around corners quite nicely. You don't need a lot of power to have a good time in a car this small.
They're actually pretty fun cars, learned to drive in my mom's automatic 1997 sedan. 110HP from the 2L Single Jingle with split port induction. Fun little car to learn in.
I had one of these for many years...a 99. I loved this car. I had the 5sp...the only issue was that the gearing wasn't pretty short on the top so you were really buzzing on the interstate. Gas mileage was awesome with mine..i can recall 40mpg+ on a few trips. The crappy thing was they have timing belts.
My first new car was a 2000 ZX2 and I loved it. It was a great value and my first nice car after my first couple of beaters that barely ran. It gave me 100k trouble free miles until I traded it in during 2005. Mine was an automatic though. I regretted at the time not getting the manual; it probably would have been a lot more fun.
I've owned my zx2for eight years now I can honestly say it's the best car I've ever owned and I've talk to Vander several times on the forums I still think my car is faster I do have Svt compression after all The only thing is car has over mine is the limited slip diff
You can get the dual stage SVT Focus intake manifold working on the ZX2. You need a vacuum operated switch with a RPM trigger. Other ZX2 owners have done it. I owned a 1998 ZX2 and a 2000 ZX2 S/R. The nice thing about the S/R at the time was you could pick one up new for about $13,000 new while the 2000 Civic Si was $19,000. With the $6,000 I saved by not buying the Si, I built a 170+ WHP ZX2 S/R. I did the whole import drag thing for a while and won some trophies and contingency money. Then I ended up selling the S/R to buy a new Mustang and the guy who bought my S/R totaled it when he hit a Scion that ran a red light. Its true, that an old ZX2 is a great car to learn on. They are easy to work on. I rebuilt the transmission in my driveway a couple times until I replaced it with an Escape transmission and custom axles.
They are 2.0L. The Zetec series never came larger than a 2.0L from the factory. I'm just going to assume Mr. Regular got the Zetec confused with the 2.4L GM Ecotec or something.
Someone probably pointed this out already, but the MGB GT wasn't the model's glorious sendoff, they built those for 15 years. You could say it was the MGB GT V8, introduced in the mid 70's, or maybe the MGB RV8, introduced in the early 90's and made with most of the same tooling as the original roadsters!
My first car was a 1993 Red Escort 2-door (or 3-door) hatch. Drove that car to the ground. Bought it at 67,000 miles, was done with it 120,000 miles later. Damn good car in my opinion. The only reason it failed was because I personally fucked up the 2-Reverse gear on the automatic trans (I think that's what the gear was someone quote me on it please) changing a leaking seal that was on the front, I disconnected one of the clutch belts without knowing and a year or two later the thing gave out and wouldn't go in any gear but first, not reverse, not a higher gear, not neutral, not even really park. The pawl would hold it still but it still tried to pull forward. Again, totally my fault, literally everything else in the car was in amazing shape.
This was my first car. Well technically my first car was a 97 Civic LX but I only had that for 3 months. My mom's boyfriend(at the time anyway) ran it into 6 cars on New Years Day. Anyway, I had this for close to 10 years and it was still in pretty good shape when I finally sold it. I did some modifications to the interior and swapped out the stereo for something that wasn't the worst thing ever but, for the most part, I really loved it. It was light, relatively quick and easy enough on gas.
OH GOD I LEARNED TO DRIVE IN ONE OF THESE. My dad bought one of these in the early 2000's when they were still reasonably "new" cars. He thought it was just the coolest, zippiest little thing. It was the car I took my driver's test in... also the first car I was in a wreck in, but not by my hands. Like most Escort owners, he eventually went to a Focus hatch, but he still talks fondly about that ZX2. Suffice to say, I've been waiting for this one to cross your radar, Mr. Regular, and I was not disappointed.
My head hurt like hell yesterday when i got up this early, but now I feel better than ever. Now I can watch this I peace without popping Tylenol every 2 minutes. Damn, I'm a poet.
My 07 Zx5 S trim is the same way, a great learning car. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a machine with potential and that's where it will forever live.
Ok FINALLY... back on track for doing actual regular cars. Enough bikes, enough VF, enough late models.... Please. Regular cars from now on. Thank you.
My sister had a black one from the late 90’s. It had a spoiler on it which it was for a Ford Mustang. She got it in 1997 to 2002. I wanted a 1999 Ford Escort in blue in sedan. I ended up with a 1998 Ford Contour. I don’t have that car anymore. I had a Ford Focus ZX5 SES trim level almost 7 years. I had a Mercury Milan in late June 2011 to December 9th,2016. I did total the car by hitting a deer. I had a 2015 Ford Escape SE from late March 2017 to mid March 2022 when the engine died on me. Now my current vehicle is a 2020 Ford Escape SE in black since last mid March 2022. Those 3 months in 2016-2017 that I was driving my father’s 2008 Ford Expedition before my mother and I traded it on the 2015 Ford Escape.
Make fun of this car if you want, but I owned one and can honestly say it was the best car I ever owned. Reliable and actually pretty strong for the specs. You could go pretty fast in these things and they handled great. The only hiccup I had with mine was a clutch issue that I fixed and the alternator but other than that this is a great car. And plus there are still a ton of them on the road today. I think had ford kept it up as a model it would have done great. Especially in the Bush era when gas was pushing $5 a gallon.
My first "car" was an '82 Escort. Like, the Escort that still had the AM/FM/Cassette stereo with the big twist knobs for the tuning and when you turned them the little bar set into the frequency range display moved because electronics were expensive, and you could have five presets via huge white buttons that physically clicked in when you selected one, and the tape deck only worked for half of one side of NWA's "Strait Outta Compton" before it ate the whole thing. The escort that you couldn't really go up big hills in unless you had a real car behind you to push you the rest of the way up. It was silver, because "grey" seemed too ordinary a color, and it had a red interior because it had a hatchback and that looked way sportier. I don't remember much else about that first Escort because it lasted exactly 30 days before I discovered that they don't take well to trees, but I do remember that my second car, a 1984 Dodge Omni, seemed like a huge upgrade.
I LOVED my '98 4-door escort. Great little car that just felt right. I stepped down to a '04 cavalier after the escort. P.O.S. ... period. I happily drove that car across the scales at the junkyard perfectly running just 2 years later, just to see it get crushed.
And blow all that vape at you when you're next to them at a red light. Jayden upgraded the car's interior with colored LEDs. Edit: Jennifer still works at Claire's, as assistant manager.
My brother's first car was one of these. I had just moved to the USA when he got it and I thought it was cool as hell! All 2 door coupes were sporty and fast in my mind at the time. lol
I have a Ford Escort for almost 8 years now. Precisely a European 1997 Moondust Silver Escort Wagon Manual in a Ghia trim. It used to have a 1.8 16V 115HP Zetec engine, but I swapped a 2.0 Zetec silvertop from a 1997 Ford Mondeo into it and with exhaust, intake and a piggyback it is making 155HP. I HIT REDLINE EVERY TIME I DRIVE and the car is happy to do so. The reactions I get when I smoke people in brand new cars is priceless, especially since it is a Wagon and nobody expects a thing. However what's best about the car its it's handling and the truly instant reaction to throttle. I love my Escort. You see, I have, had or had access cars like Ford Focus LX, Euro Ford Focus, BMW E36 (3-series), KIA Rio, BMW E53 (X5) 4.4, Toyota Yaris TS 1.8, VW Passat, VW Golf, Opel Vectra, Opel Astra, Mazda RX-8, Skoda Fabia, Skoda Octavia or Audi A4 and I still find my Escort to be the most fun.
Would love to see a svt contour review. I had a stock modular mustang and raced a clean svt contour on a backroad and we were dead even around turns and straights. Which was pretty amazing because there 2 totally different cars but performed the same.
The ZX2 was light and cheap, with a reasonably good chassis and transmission… my brother has one when I was right out of college, and I used to leave my truck and drive it from Ohio to Philadelphia, doing 90 most of the way… it’s good basic transportation.
BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN
Which Escort is best Escort? I'll answer this: The European Escort. Also hit the nail on the head regarding learning cars. Cheaper the car is, as long as it runs and isn't a deathtrap, will always return the best investment regardless of money spent: education.
this car has Japan written all over it. Ford was really trying to appeal to the Prelude, Celica, S13 crowd. This thing looks like a RX-7 FD from the back, a Celica from the front, and an S13 from the side.
FD rx7 is kinda similar to '99 ford taurus from the rear, especially when a videogame tries to recreate an rx7 without accurately replicating it due to lack of licensing Lol. Definitely can't see any s13 lines in the side profile of a zx2. If anything, it looks like some kinda '99 ford taurus coupe thing -- from all angles
David Maglioli this car is Japanese. its a Mazda at heart, the guy should have swapped a 200hp KL-ZE instead of dicking with that dead end of a fordbanger.
I bought a zx2 back in 2002 and for what it was it was a good car. I owned an rx7 and spyder eclipse at the same time. It was a slow car that was fun to drive fast. unlike the other 2 cars there was no drama getting in or out. when running errands or short trips it was my go to car, though I did make the mistake of takung it on the track once!
So when you say it feels like a 90's car, you mean that the engine is nice and peaky and fun to drive? Because 2000's cars make power at low revs, then get all flaccid as the revs rise. Like a muscle car. But slow.
MyriadesusTV Gosh no. No Sierras either.... Ford did push this brand caller "Merkur" in the 80's (pretty much the equivalent of Scion to Toyota, or Saturn to General Motors) that sort of filled that niche with its model offerings, but performance was not a guaranteed feature for those cars.
My best friend has a 1999 ZX2 with a 2003 Front end and a Focus SVT intake manifold quite like this one. I didn't like it at first, owing to it's FWD/4 Cyl configuration, but it grew on me. So much in fact, that when the transaxle blew up, I attempted to replace it myself (unsuccessfully) in the parking lot of his dad's plumbing storage warehouse. It sat for several months before I found a 2001 ZX2 for sale local to us with the same engine. We spent $350 on the donor car because it had really bad rot, so bad that You could stick your feet right through the floor. But we were able to drive it home and it ran and shifted well. So we transplanted the whole engine with the transaxle instead of just the transaxle. I regasketed the engine and painted it before we dropped in it and it started right up...except it kept blowing the fuel injector fuses. My buddy ended up taking it to the local dealership for them to fix the electrical problem. And the fixed it kinda, the car would only run for 20 minutes, and since he lives 5 minutes from the dealership, we didn't know until later. I could not, for the life of me, find out why it would run perfect for only 20 minutes then sputter and die. So we let it sit since like October, and I went back to it with a fresh mindset and goddammit, it was the alternator not charging. It would run for 20 minutes off the battery, then because it wasn't being charged by the alternator, it would sputter and die.
Nothing wrong with a good deal! I tend to class these in with the J-Body GMs; in much the same way, they're a learning experience. Lots of parts on the market, reasonable aftermarket support and a small but solid tuning crowd. Also, Capris are da bomb, yo~
I had a Ford Cougar while stationed in Germany and it was a fun little sport coupe. The cool thing about the euro-spec cars is there is governor; you keep accelerating till you run out of gear.
When I get asked what I paid for my bike, one might think it should be fun to say "I paid one whole Euro for it." Unfortunately, connected to that answer is the inevitable follow up question "Really?! How much is it worth then?"
While bedding in the brakes on my '99 SC2 at college I performed multiple short stops on a side road just off campus. As I was completing the process and returning to my dorm I watched as one of my classmates in a ZX2 performed a full 180 degree turn on dry pavement in front of me and then just sat where it finished. As I rolled slowly past I could see both guys in the car giggling like children. This is how I remember the ZX2.
He smokes newports but keeps them in a marlboro pack😂😂 Damn jayden
"battle wounds are the oldest form of storytelling"
damn ok
Jarod Lee not hieroglyphics?
lol
that really fucked me up fam. i wasn't ready to get learnt
i know right jeez
Justin not cuneiform?
I'm disappointed with the lack of boat reviews on this channel.
Boat reviews lol
I was literally thinking the other day that he should do a boat and a helicopter to go along with the plane he did once
jimmypge he did review a hellcat
Regular Boat Reviews, it could totally be a thing. There'd be so many opportunities for Mr. Regular to moan about getting wet.
jimmypge Come on they reviewed a Lincoln town car.
I drove this exact model of car for about eight years (got it as a high school present used @ 12k miles) and I swear the thing was cursed.
-Got hit nearly head on by a lady on pills speeding shortly after I got it
-After it was hit it fucked up the alternator belt pulleys so the belt would fly off randomly and leave me stranded; didn't know about this for a long time
-Leaked power steering fluid from the day I got it from multiple places
-Window motor was fucked up and could never figure out why, even after replacing the motor it still wouldnt work randomly
-Every interior light in the damn thing burned out at 50k mile intervals
-Got rear ended by a pregnant lady SEXTING (long story) who then claimed she was in labor and needed to run to the hospital and gave me false insurance info, never heard from her again
-Finally at 120k miles I got EVERYTHING on it fixed (even the wonky pullies, a reputable mechanic finally figured it out) and some guy backed into me and totaled it at a STOP LIGHT
-Got the worst insurance agent EVER and had to all but choke her in person to get my money for the accident
-I GAVE the thing away to my nephew for free; he fixed it up and then flipped it going down the highway. After that it was sent to the junkyard for scrap.
Sorry, just needed to rant after 8 years of driving this nightmare. At least it handled well.
Fuckin crazy lol
At least it wasn’t Joe Cecot and his merry band of Morons who hit you
Only thing that could add any more wildness to this would be getting spotted in an ISIS video with a machine gun poking out of each window
Make this comment a post to the office RCR reddit. PLEASE!! Ford escort ZX2 the official car of this guy's story
What a sh*tty car. And omen to go with it.
My best friend in high school got one of these. Bone stock, optional 17 inch ford wheels, all the options, 5 speed. it was a goddamn excellent driving little car. Decent speed, good handling, comfortable, practical, and dirt cheap to maintain and insure.
"His favorite movie is The Purge..." LMAO
Jayden sounds like a Boog Boi
YOU FINALLY DID MY FIRST CAR!!!
But in all seriousness, my '99 ZX2 was a great car for college and early working years. You could BEAT it to death and it would still run as long as you changed the oil. 28+ MPG and, for the most part, a decent sounding exhaust stock. No SVT Focus, but it was the curvy last-pre-2000 car that I will always have a soft spot for!
Thank you RCR
Same deal here, I loved that thing to death. And then it got smashed by a semi. Sad times.
@@Chopstorm. sheesh... I just bought mine about 1-2 months ago as first car and it's pretty nice tbh :) probably gonna keep it and make it look good. It's had a very rough life w/ past owners (my aunt & grandpa) but only has 55k miles on it so.... could be worth it to fix it up and all
@@SlowZX2 That's awesome man, did you get it in automatic or manual?
It's actually quicker than the svt focus lol
That voice in the beginning sounds like Steve Carell's creepy character in Foxcatcher lol.
Hey matt
@@carknowledge2929 hey Car Knowledge
I owned a 2001 ZX2 for a little over 10 years and 150k miles. And it's true, I learned a lot about cars by working on this. What's interesting is that my wife owned a ZX3 at the same time. The differences in the two was amazing, and she'd make fun of me for having the nicer car, but you know what? I'd buy another ZX2 in a heartbeat. I loved that little car.
Mr. Regular, I'm glad you weren't too harsh on this car. Yes it's not the cool Escort that Europe got, and yes SVT wasn't allowed to work its magic on it, but I think it's a decent car and part of a dying breed. Almost no one makes a cheap compact coupe anymore, except Honda which still makes a Civic Coupe.
Was a great car for a daily driver to school or a part time job to pay for college. Loved the one I had before it got t-boned and totaled. Had a 2000 in black and it was the only one I’ve ever seen with leather seats.
Civics arent cheap. Dealers are marking them up to 30+
vour zylinder
stfu
RodIsWell Zitec
"upgraded rear spray bar"
rodiswell zour vylinder
That's how we talk in Pennsylvania. Half drunk
I bought a 2000 ZX2 new off the lot in November 1999, drove it until 2010. I put over 200K miles on it. I miss it to this day.
wonder where that ZX2 is now today
@@mazda_miata_ probably a junkyard
@@dawsongranger4940doubt it mines from Hawaii and was in multiple floods bought brand new in 1999 of October and sent to princeville Hawaii, so I could only imagine the owner of my car thinks it long gone junked but I’ve completed restored it and drive it like a sports car.
I had to skip forward thinking "god please don't make this all in this voice"
Why does it have a shit stain on the drivers seat?
Someone had an accident.
Someone didn't keep the skids on the track
Because this is the official car of the taco bell drive thru at 1:00 am.
If you drive an escort you must know its a car so good and joyfull that you shitting yourself
Ekipa Porucznika found the escort owner.
Owned a ZX2 S/R for five years and 70,000 miles. That car begged to be revved hard, chucked into corners, and otherwise abused. It was a total jalopy by the end, but it somehow never left me stranded. A great car for teaching a young person to love cars and love turning wrenches.
What I really like about this channel is that, no matter how bad a car may be, the narrator makes the story relevant and entertaining.
Last time I was this early, Mr. Regular was still driving his Echo.
Praise be to the Toyota Echo
I bought an 02 ZX2 for my first car and I've got to say I love it.
Wow, that looks nothing like the Escorts we had in Europe.
No yea you got the cool ones
yup, they are really different. Lucky you europeans got the better escorts, especially the Cosworths and the RS series
Our escorts from 1991-2003 were Mazda 323 based. All based off the 1989 323 chassis, hence why MX-3 parts fit a escort.
Can't tell if we're still talking about cars right now.
We are.
I'm so glad you mentioned the Marauder, and I really hope you review one some day.
A friend got Vander into escorts.
Mr. Regular, you mentioned Mercury Marauder, i got one for you to reveiw. a 2003. perfect condtition. message me for details if you are interested.
You have to email him
You think he just reads all the comments to look for cars?
jeremyloveslinux will do. thankyou
DR.RAGE i don't doubt it
Dude, I'm now waiting for a Marauder review! Just don't be located in Houston TX or Miami FL or another far away place, because Mr R won't be able to come to you.
1:58 HE DIDN'T TAP HIS FEET TOGETHER WTF
Probably needed that extra dirt to grip the BARE METAL clutch pedal. What' a new pad cost, $5? AT MOST??
I am guilty of this.
InvictvsNox I've never bought anything FASTER than a new clutch pedal pad for a beater car I got.
If you check out what I'm driving, you might understand that there are higher priorities. lol
But the owner did lift the hood, prop it, and back away staring at the camera.
2.4L? I don't think so, pretty certain it was a 2.0L.
thats what my 01 ZX2 had. 130 from a 2.4 would be pathetic. even for late 90s early 2000s ford
Kevin Volk As Escorts go, this guy's ZX2 is probably actually pretty fun. The three big words that jumped out at me are "limited slip differential"...that plus the suspension work and presumably decent tires suggests it'll go around corners quite nicely. You don't need a lot of power to have a good time in a car this small.
They're actually pretty fun cars, learned to drive in my mom's automatic 1997 sedan. 110HP from the 2L Single Jingle with split port induction. Fun little car to learn in.
Of course...i should also say, that was over a decade ago. And my first car was a 06 focus SE, no rear anti-roll bar...still a go-kart.
Sorry, I screwed up. My notes even SAID "2.0" Liter...but I spoke the words "Two point four." Sorry :(
I think the front end of these look good, but fenders back is no bueno
Your Mercury Cougar mention was a hilarious truth bomb. I literally "HA!" 'ed really loud at the ceiling.
I had one of these for many years...a 99. I loved this car. I had the 5sp...the only issue was that the gearing wasn't pretty short on the top so you were really buzzing on the interstate. Gas mileage was awesome with mine..i can recall 40mpg+ on a few trips. The crappy thing was they have timing belts.
This Ford ZX2, in this styling - with the 2003 front bumper design, is one of the nicest looking Fords ever and I want to own one. Love this car!!!
why is the voice so accurate
My first new car was a 2000 ZX2 and I loved it. It was a great value and my first nice car after my first couple of beaters that barely ran. It gave me 100k trouble free miles until I traded it in during 2005. Mine was an automatic though. I regretted at the time not getting the manual; it probably would have been a lot more fun.
6:44 Beautiful Evo
I fap to that.
that'll probably be the car he will review next, he usually does 4 at a time
He already reviewed an Evo 9.
that's an 8 soooo....another evo review? :D
Its actually a legacy gt spec B...
I once reviewed a ZX2 for my high school newspaper.
Good times.
Still happen to have the review? Would love to read it.
When are we going to see a 1991 Ford Probe?
Zx2 is probes wife
I've owned my zx2for eight years now I can honestly say it's the best car I've ever owned and I've talk to Vander several times on the forums I still think my car is faster I do have Svt compression after all
The only thing is car has over mine is the limited slip diff
I think Ben and I need to compare cars soon.. His ZX2 vs mine.
these cars with a manual are really reliable and can be had super cheap. makes for a good beater. stay away from the automatic though. they had issues
Yes, that's very true. I'm on my second transmission, as my first one, lost the second gear synchro, and I also had to replace the trans oil cooler.
You can get the dual stage SVT Focus intake manifold working on the ZX2. You need a vacuum operated switch with a RPM trigger. Other ZX2 owners have done it.
I owned a 1998 ZX2 and a 2000 ZX2 S/R. The nice thing about the S/R at the time was you could pick one up new for about $13,000 new while the 2000 Civic Si was $19,000. With the $6,000 I saved by not buying the Si, I built a 170+ WHP ZX2 S/R. I did the whole import drag thing for a while and won some trophies and contingency money. Then I ended up selling the S/R to buy a new Mustang and the guy who bought my S/R totaled it when he hit a Scion that ran a red light.
Its true, that an old ZX2 is a great car to learn on. They are easy to work on. I rebuilt the transmission in my driveway a couple times until I replaced it with an Escape transmission and custom axles.
I just realized I'm "that asshole" who asks how much someone paid for their vehicle.........Thanks RCR!
I love how you consistently don't know how compression works. It's charming.
2.4L? always thought these were 2.0L. . .
They are 2.0L.
The Zetec series never came larger than a 2.0L from the factory.
I'm just going to assume Mr. Regular got the Zetec confused with the 2.4L GM Ecotec or something.
These are 2.0, there were no other engine options for the zx2
Wikipedia says they were only offered with a 2.0L, so I think they made an error in this video.
Andrew Springer whoops, gonna put in an annotation to correct this
At 02:53 you also said upgraded rear spray bar. That's a new one on me
Someone probably pointed this out already, but the MGB GT wasn't the model's glorious sendoff, they built those for 15 years. You could say it was the MGB GT V8, introduced in the mid 70's, or maybe the MGB RV8, introduced in the early 90's and made with most of the same tooling as the original roadsters!
The dash cluster makes me feel like the alignment is constantly off.
My first car was a 1993 Red Escort 2-door (or 3-door) hatch. Drove that car to the ground. Bought it at 67,000 miles, was done with it 120,000 miles later. Damn good car in my opinion. The only reason it failed was because I personally fucked up the 2-Reverse gear on the automatic trans (I think that's what the gear was someone quote me on it please) changing a leaking seal that was on the front, I disconnected one of the clutch belts without knowing and a year or two later the thing gave out and wouldn't go in any gear but first, not reverse, not a higher gear, not neutral, not even really park. The pawl would hold it still but it still tried to pull forward. Again, totally my fault, literally everything else in the car was in amazing shape.
It'd be fun to figure out a way to manually actuate the variable intake & have a switch in the cab for high / low rpm.
switch reading off the rev counter wire would do the trick
mcspikesky you took his fun away you monster
You can make them work with a vacuum switch and an RPM trigger.
This was my first car. Well technically my first car was a 97 Civic LX but I only had that for 3 months. My mom's boyfriend(at the time anyway) ran it into 6 cars on New Years Day. Anyway, I had this for close to 10 years and it was still in pretty good shape when I finally sold it. I did some modifications to the interior and swapped out the stereo for something that wasn't the worst thing ever but, for the most part, I really loved it. It was light, relatively quick and easy enough on gas.
Thanks for making these videos. I don't know shit about cars and you have the only channel funny enough to spoon feed me car knowledge.
"but we'll get to that in a little bit. Okay it's a little bit later."
My names Jayden and this was too accurate... is this a personal attack
OH GOD I LEARNED TO DRIVE IN ONE OF THESE. My dad bought one of these in the early 2000's when they were still reasonably "new" cars. He thought it was just the coolest, zippiest little thing. It was the car I took my driver's test in... also the first car I was in a wreck in, but not by my hands. Like most Escort owners, he eventually went to a Focus hatch, but he still talks fondly about that ZX2. Suffice to say, I've been waiting for this one to cross your radar, Mr. Regular, and I was not disappointed.
I like the Cougar. It has aged perfectly.
These cars are very durable and economical to drive. I've had 2 of them. A burgundy 98 and a 2000 yellow S/R. No problems.
The Zx2 looks way better then the Focus from the same era.
I love how you always end videos on a thoughtful solemn note. As usual, keep up the good work Mr. Regular.
Lmfao I love how you add characters and personalities of potential owners to each review 😂
My head hurt like hell yesterday when i got up this early, but now I feel better than ever. Now I can watch this I peace without popping Tylenol every 2 minutes. Damn, I'm a poet.
"Battlewounds are the oldest form of storytelling."
Brilliant. Who said that first?
My 07 Zx5 S trim is the same way, a great learning car. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a machine with potential and that's where it will forever live.
I spy an Evo at 6:48
JimboMauiDownhill *whoopdeedoo*
Ok FINALLY... back on track for doing actual regular cars. Enough bikes, enough VF, enough late models.... Please. Regular cars from now on. Thank you.
boring
My father in law had a ZX2 s/r. It was honestly pretty sweet. If you find one and can afford to shell out the cash, get it.
My sister had a black one from the late 90’s. It had a spoiler on it which it was for a Ford Mustang. She got it in 1997 to 2002. I wanted a 1999 Ford Escort in blue in sedan. I ended up with a 1998 Ford Contour. I don’t have that car anymore. I had a Ford Focus ZX5 SES trim level almost 7 years. I had a Mercury Milan in late June 2011 to December 9th,2016. I did total the car by hitting a deer. I had a 2015 Ford Escape SE from late March 2017 to mid March 2022 when the engine died on me. Now my current vehicle is a 2020 Ford Escape SE in black since last mid March 2022. Those 3 months in 2016-2017 that I was driving my father’s 2008 Ford Expedition before my mother and I traded it on the 2015 Ford Escape.
Make fun of this car if you want, but I owned one and can honestly say it was the best car I ever owned. Reliable and actually pretty strong for the specs. You could go pretty fast in these things and they handled great. The only hiccup I had with mine was a clutch issue that I fixed and the alternator but other than that this is a great car. And plus there are still a ton of them on the road today. I think had ford kept it up as a model it would have done great. Especially in the Bush era when gas was pushing $5 a gallon.
But wait till you get a load of the European Escorts
My first "car" was an '82 Escort. Like, the Escort that still had the AM/FM/Cassette stereo with the big twist knobs for the tuning and when you turned them the little bar set into the frequency range display moved because electronics were expensive, and you could have five presets via huge white buttons that physically clicked in when you selected one, and the tape deck only worked for half of one side of NWA's "Strait Outta Compton" before it ate the whole thing. The escort that you couldn't really go up big hills in unless you had a real car behind you to push you the rest of the way up. It was silver, because "grey" seemed too ordinary a color, and it had a red interior because it had a hatchback and that looked way sportier.
I don't remember much else about that first Escort because it lasted exactly 30 days before I discovered that they don't take well to trees, but I do remember that my second car, a 1984 Dodge Omni, seemed like a huge upgrade.
I was dying at the intro. 😂 " anybody have a ciiigggaaareeeeeeeettteee"
I LOVED my '98 4-door escort. Great little car that just felt right.
I stepped down to a '04 cavalier after the escort. P.O.S. ... period.
I happily drove that car across the scales at the junkyard perfectly running just 2 years later, just to see it get crushed.
Jennifer & Jayden: True story, right? Except Jayden & his profile pic now vape.
And blow all that vape at you when you're next to them at a red light. Jayden upgraded the car's interior with colored LEDs.
Edit: Jennifer still works at Claire's, as assistant manager.
I recently bought a ZX2 (1999) as my first car and it's pretty fun tbh, I like it
Update: it's been pretty fun! I've done a couple mods :) @Slow_ZX2 on instagram
Did you say "rear spray bar"?
sway bar
FURRYALERTY
My brother's first car was one of these. I had just moved to the USA when he got it and I thought it was cool as hell! All 2 door coupes were sporty and fast in my mind at the time. lol
That ZX2 actually looked pretty nice
I have a Ford Escort for almost 8 years now. Precisely a European 1997 Moondust Silver Escort Wagon Manual in a Ghia trim. It used to have a 1.8 16V 115HP Zetec engine, but I swapped a 2.0 Zetec silvertop from a 1997 Ford Mondeo into it and with exhaust, intake and a piggyback it is making 155HP. I HIT REDLINE EVERY TIME I DRIVE and the car is happy to do so. The reactions I get when I smoke people in brand new cars is priceless, especially since it is a Wagon and nobody expects a thing. However what's best about the car its it's handling and the truly instant reaction to throttle. I love my Escort. You see, I have, had or had access cars like Ford Focus LX, Euro Ford Focus, BMW E36 (3-series), KIA Rio, BMW E53 (X5) 4.4, Toyota Yaris TS 1.8, VW Passat, VW Golf, Opel Vectra, Opel Astra, Mazda RX-8, Skoda Fabia, Skoda Octavia or Audi A4 and I still find my Escort to be the most fun.
Would love to see a svt contour review. I had a stock modular mustang and raced a clean svt contour on a backroad and we were dead even around turns and straights. Which was pretty amazing because there 2 totally different cars but performed the same.
The ZX2 was light and cheap, with a reasonably good chassis and transmission… my brother has one when I was right out of college, and I used to leave my truck and drive it from Ohio to Philadelphia, doing 90 most of the way… it’s good basic transportation.
I'm a proud owner of one. They're fun car to drive. Perfect for autoX. The S/R version was much better.
Finally, you got to my first car. She was a good lassie, never failed me.
Wow.
*That voice triggers me.*
STOP
BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN
I dare you to maintain a boner watching a porno with his narration in it.
@@faceup5 Who needs the porno?
A voice you could cut marble with....I'm having flashbacks of Fran Drescher....
Had a '99 ZX2 in Burnt Orange as my very first new car. Had so much fun with it. I miss Escorts, always hated how the Focus looks.
Which Escort is best Escort? I'll answer this: The European Escort.
Also hit the nail on the head regarding learning cars. Cheaper the car is, as long as it runs and isn't a deathtrap, will always return the best investment regardless of money spent: education.
the one for whom condoms are optional, for a big handsome one like you
I like the profile, like the idea of who owns this, that you set up.
this car has Japan written all over it. Ford was really trying to appeal to the Prelude, Celica, S13 crowd. This thing looks like a RX-7 FD from the back, a Celica from the front, and an S13 from the side.
It's a Mazda chassis too.
it looks like a bubble piece of shit, nothing like any of those cars
FD rx7 is kinda similar to '99 ford taurus from the rear, especially when a videogame tries to recreate an rx7 without accurately replicating it due to lack of licensing Lol. Definitely can't see any s13 lines in the side profile of a zx2. If anything, it looks like some kinda '99 ford taurus coupe thing -- from all angles
David Maglioli
David Maglioli this car is Japanese. its a Mazda at heart, the guy should have swapped a 200hp KL-ZE instead of dicking with that dead end of a fordbanger.
I bought a zx2 back in 2002 and for what it was it was a good car. I owned an rx7 and spyder eclipse at the same time. It was a slow car that was fun to drive fast. unlike the other 2 cars there was no drama getting in or out. when running errands or short trips it was my go to car, though I did make the mistake of takung it on the track once!
So when you say it feels like a 90's car, you mean that the engine is nice and peaky and fun to drive?
Because 2000's cars make power at low revs, then get all flaccid as the revs rise. Like a muscle car. But slow.
The car that started my love for automobiles was my dads zx2 sr. Awesome little car.
Out of curiosity, was the Escort RS Cosworth ever sold in North America? It'd be cool to see that one in RCR.
Nope
MyriadesusTV Gosh no. No Sierras either.... Ford did push this brand caller "Merkur" in the 80's (pretty much the equivalent of Scion to Toyota, or Saturn to General Motors) that sort of filled that niche with its model offerings, but performance was not a guaranteed feature for those cars.
The Merkur XR4Ti was a Ford Sierra.
Nope. However, the Escort GT from previous gens were reskinned mazda 323s, which was still pretty cool.
Milesamanjaro the xr4ti was the Sierra RS. My dad had one in the 80’s after he moved here.
Your videos are getting better and better as time passes
speaking of big shiny finishing moves... Plymouth Prowler!
Sean McDonnell Now THAT'S a car that needs a Hellcat swap.
THANX! THAT HORRIBLE CAR WAS ALMOST TOTALLY PURGED FROM MY BRAIN! WITHOUT YOURE INTERVENTION I THINK IT WAS ABOUT TO BE DELETED FROMT THE HD!
My best friend has a 1999 ZX2 with a 2003 Front end and a Focus SVT intake manifold quite like this one. I didn't like it at first, owing to it's FWD/4 Cyl configuration, but it grew on me. So much in fact, that when the transaxle blew up, I attempted to replace it myself (unsuccessfully) in the parking lot of his dad's plumbing storage warehouse. It sat for several months before I found a 2001 ZX2 for sale local to us with the same engine. We spent $350 on the donor car because it had really bad rot, so bad that You could stick your feet right through the floor. But we were able to drive it home and it ran and shifted well. So we transplanted the whole engine with the transaxle instead of just the transaxle. I regasketed the engine and painted it before we dropped in it and it started right up...except it kept blowing the fuel injector fuses. My buddy ended up taking it to the local dealership for them to fix the electrical problem. And the fixed it kinda, the car would only run for 20 minutes, and since he lives 5 minutes from the dealership, we didn't know until later. I could not, for the life of me, find out why it would run perfect for only 20 minutes then sputter and die. So we let it sit since like October, and I went back to it with a fresh mindset and goddammit, it was the alternator not charging. It would run for 20 minutes off the battery, then because it wasn't being charged by the alternator, it would sputter and die.
We never landed on the moon!
Just stop.
Thank you atleast everybody not sleep
favorite review ever in the history of reviews
Wish you could find a clean, mostly stock V-6 Mazda MX-3 to review. That was my first car. Would love to see that.
when Mr Regular can't keep a straight face you know it's a good one
Watching this in history
Nothing wrong with a good deal! I tend to class these in with the J-Body GMs; in much the same way, they're a learning experience. Lots of parts on the market, reasonable aftermarket support and a small but solid tuning crowd.
Also, Capris are da bomb, yo~
2AM mister Regular? Lord man go to sleep.
It has probably been uploading since 1AM, lol.
Steele W 4AM EST 🙄
All of your asses need to go to sleep
Prior upload, released on automated schedule.
I had a Ford Cougar while stationed in Germany and it was a fun little sport coupe. The cool thing about the euro-spec cars is there is governor; you keep accelerating till you run out of gear.
Everyone fucking asks me how much I paid for my R6.
And here I thought I was socially retarded for feeling awkward answering it.
How much did you pay for your R6?
When I get asked what I paid for my bike, one might think it should be fun to say "I paid one whole Euro for it." Unfortunately, connected to that answer is the inevitable follow up question "Really?! How much is it worth then?"
I still love my zx2.. works like a charm..
6:22 You could replace the Blue Oval with a Chevy Bowtie on that grill and call it a Prism and no one would notice.... or care.
Loved the style of this video, good balance between humour and review.
SHEETZ SHEETZ SHEETZ SHEETZ
DrClaw77 Wards Rd in Lynchburg Sheetz.
Wawa 4lyfe
While bedding in the brakes on my '99 SC2 at college I performed multiple short stops on a side road just off campus. As I was completing the process and returning to my dorm I watched as one of my classmates in a ZX2 performed a full 180 degree turn on dry pavement in front of me and then just sat where it finished. As I rolled slowly past I could see both guys in the car giggling like children. This is how I remember the ZX2.