2000 Focus ZX3 - The SLOcus

[tru]

how many miles do you have on the car? theyre supposed to be good for ~80k miles if not in a dirty environment.

here is what i did as a cheap replacement

http://www.ineedawebsite.com/Blazing...lth%20CAI.html (make sure its compatible with a PZEV)

and short trips will definitely keep your mileage low, seems like i need at least 5 miles to get my car up to temp.

[Dizle]

It only has 75k from a clean area near the beach.

Thanks for the link, I'll do more research if it'll work with my PVEZ (how is it even different from a non PVEZ??) looks like a good cheap replacement!

[LocoJason]

Unless it's VERY clogged, an air filter will not cause a measurable difference in fuel economy.

On my ZX3 manual, A/C typically takes away ~2 mpg highway and 3+ in the city.

Winter blended gas is also a ~2MPG loss.

Originally Posted by Dizle

26mpg around town sucks though!

Are you serious???

[Dizle]

Ya, 26mpg isn't that great is it? Or are my expectations for this car too high?

[tru]

i guess it really depends on your commute, hills, traffic, cold weather, short distances, etc

[LocoJason]

Originally Posted by Dizle

usually under 5 miles maybe that's why the mileage sucks car isn't fully warmed up yet. 26mpg around town sucks though!
...
Ya, 26mpg isn't that great is it? Or are my expectations for this car too high?

26mpg city is outstanding when considering the frequent short trips. It's an economy car... not a hybrid with a coolant thermos attached to the cooling system and other fancy tricks to get ludicrous good city econ. Cold starts eat up a lot more fuel than regular driving. The best you can do is turn off your A/C and coast more.

[wungun]

I've owned 3 Focus in my life time...The last one, a Zetec Wagon. Which I traded in on a new Fiesta. The Focus I still own is a modified SVT.
The Wagon, while not trying too hard to save gas, got less than 500Km per tank...lousy!
The SVT, I can get closer to 600 per tank, running 91 octane, running a custom tune, cold air intake, high flow cat, 18" RS rims and bodywork...and not driving it to save gas.
I rev 'er, I downshift to keep the rpm up and I drive it fairly hard!
And my SVT puts out 50 more HP than a normal Zetec engine does, which is also a 2L Zetec...different intake, exhaust, higher compression, variable (and hotter) cams, etc...
It is a 6 speed manual...but top gear is the same as a regular 5 speed manual Focus.

It would be interesting to see what kinda gains I could get if I tried, but I just can't drive it that way! Lol
It's why I have the Fiesta!