After going to Ford Fair I've got the itch for one of these as I quite like the look of them.

Basically looking for a little bit more info on them. I know they can go a bit rotty round the edges and there's a phase 1 and 2. What are the difference's between the two? What other things are there to look for? What modifications do they respond well to? Would I be better off going for as late a car as possible? (51/02 plate)

Any help and info is very much appreciated thanks!

 

Steer clear of an 02 plate one in Northampton, KU02 *** IIRC... looks great on auto trader only Ł1300, but a complete dog.

 

there are subtle differences between the phase 1 and phase 2 zs's

have a lookie here...

http://www.zsoc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=190752

and here....

http://www.zsoc.com/forum/faq.php?fa...aq_differences

it doesnt really matter between the black top and silver top engine... black top is supposadly better, but if the silvertop has been looked after then they can last for a while.

check the rust on rear arches and more than likely they have been in a bump as you get the boy racers thrashing them!

lots of people on zsoc have put in the puma engine. quite a few have throttle bodies on them now and there is a turbo kit for the 1.6 on oc motorsport.

hope this helps!

 

there good little cars i have a y reg one with a puma lump in it. There good fun. I hear some not so good things about the 1.6 but i cant comment as i dont know but . I got mine with a rod out the back of the 1.6 engine so i put my pumas 1.7 engine in it and its just good fun . Not the fastest thing on the road but if you live in the sticks there just are. And with the puma engine in it it does 360 miles to a tank and thats is not all slow driving

 

had a y plate year or so back and loved it but someone smashed it on new year so i got rid....now got a x plater for 200notes, needed rear arches lil tatty but they are so easy to work on, if you cant afford a minter dont worry as they are childs play to work on

 

ooo i forgot to say they handle pretty well!

 

What have you heard that's not so good? The 1.6's are fine aslong as they're maintained... Just like all engines. Some use a bit of oil (my last used about as much as it did petrol ) But my new one hasn't used a drop in over a 1000miles... Not the fastest things in the world, but nippy, and handle well as said. Rear arches almost always rust, but easy to sort. Nice little cars, I like mine alot

 

fair point, they last well IF theyve been looked after, but just like 1.25s and 1.4s they dont like low oil one bit. plus if you do manage to fry the shells on one theres not a hell of alot that can be done to them unless you fancy custom made parts and an expensive machine shop bill. fords dont do oversize anything for them. so its usually cheaper to just get another second hand lump. especially as the cost to build a new one is over Ł1000 now.

 

http://www.shawspeed.com/ Very good for tuning them!

 

You can get oversized though, maybe not from ford, but when I was looking into rebuilding mine, I found you can get them...but 2nd hand lumps are so cheap anyway, there's no point.

 

I agree, my engine has been spec'd by ShawSpeed and he helped me build mine. Never met a more helpful bloke in my life.

Rust is a big thing to look for on these now imo. Most will have it or will have been repaired. Arch's and door shuts are the places to look.

Everything else is like any of car to look for. Check oil levels, make sure theres no knocking noises etc...

Most will have mods on them now, which isn't always a bad thing epsc if it's something you're wanting to do with yours. Some modded ones are very well looked after, some aren't like any other car really.

 

Cheers people. Got a lot to read up on!

Got a vision in my head of a lowered imperial blue one on Escos rims. But I'm definitely gonna be on the look out for a good one. It wouldn't be my daily driver as I've got a Focus for that, so it would be my little toy to play with

 

Not much of a toy to play with. They are slow as hell, handling is average, engine is complete crap (115bhp from a modern 16v 1.6 is shocking)

 

I have owned three of them, for the money and the running cost they are great little revvy cars.

They are NOT cossie eaters, NOT the ultimate handling car and not the pinical of style and design.

They ARE nippy fun handling revvy little go karts that are cheap as chips and still look good if you get a tidy model.

Pretty reliable if looked after, but look out for
rust in the arches and around rubber seals
Sloppy gear changes or lack of spring in the gear stick
tappy, smoking or knocking engines

In the main they are a cheap fun reliable little cars that still look good on the road today.

 

It's more down to insurance mate and being able to afford to run 2 cars. Despite being 25 I only passed my test in April And as for 115bhp from a 1.6 16v that's all my 05 plate Focus has!

 

Agree ended up selling mine, was reliable to be honest.

 

yea cos we can all afford to run/insure powerful cars, like, oh, I dunno, cosworths? Can't we...

 

Even the 1.8 zetecs have 115, THAT is shocking. 115bhp from a 1.6 however is not so bad.

 

When i'm saying they are slow, i'm comparing them to cars with the same engine size.

 

Great little cars,always happy with the performance on mine(was brand new mind!!!).

From what I've seen in the trade the main problem is rust(shocker eh????!!??).rear arches,where they join to the sills,sills themselves.they've probably all been bumped by now so don't worry as their piss to repair,even a proper muppet could pull one!!!body parts can be tricky to find if u bump it though.found the 16 good on fuel as well,mine was imp blue and escos rims would have looked the don on it,please don't paint them White though,graphite would look really nice!!!

Something I've noticed in the trade is if they've got black paint under the bonnet they tend to rust less than those which are grey under the bonnet,wierd I know!!!

 

I agree they're slow tbh, Mine is, but there's not alot I can insure for the same price that is noticably faster...The attraction for me is the low insurance group, yet mines still faster than most of my mates shit cars

 

Wanted to see what insurance group, just found out they are actually 105bhp? That true?

I had a 1.3 8v 106 Rallye with that much (and less weight)

 

yer it's around 100, Ford kept it down to keep the insurance group down, and so it didn't have the same or more then the 1.8l lol. a mani/exhaust gains 10-15bhp alone...

 

Ive had a few performance fords now and currently have a zs mine is an imperial blue phase 1 silvertop just rolled over 100k but the engine has started to smoke when hot now I love the thing tbh as its great for running round town easy to park pretty nippy on the backroads and handles well. If you do a lot of motorway miles though they can be quite noisy. Mine will prob be up for sale soon as I have lost me job.

 

I know all about how 'good' they are to tune. According to a couple on here, they are a better base for tuning than a 1.6 20v Toyota 4age engine which has 170bhp.

 

rsjonny, think that is the tell tale sign of the engine going on them, usually followed by a knocking bottom end.

 

Mine should be pushing some good power. But then mine wasn't cheap lol

 

I brought one of these as my work car and cant fault it really, really nippy and good round corners

 

if your after a fun reliable and reasonably cost effective car, then there great. i had one at 18 and to be fair as insurance was a big issue i had a nice car that had street cred. yeah there are faster cars but ignor the people who say there rubbish as there not there a decent car.

 

whats yours like around track bud.

I've just got back with mine from the ring and have now got a bug for the whole track thing, mine is totally standard while budget tyres and pads and i thought the car did well! did the ring in 11:03 which i was told not bad for a first timer

 

Despite what some clueless idiots stuck in the 80's with old fashoned iron blocked boat anchors under their bonnets the Mk5 Z-s is a fun little car

Can be made to handle and stop very well, it after all a PUMA with a uniqely stiffened fiesta shell ( these are renowned for handling with journo's and even EVO magazine quoted about the MK5 ZS, "more fun than you'd ever believe, but nobody will ever believe you" ) with a couple of cheap mods and the engine can be given a 50% increase in power for around Ł1000 give or take depending on how you source parts

Engines are a great base to tune as they are at such a low state of tune to begin with despite being capable of so much more, (rather like a cossie only coming with 204 bhp, hardly shit)

The heads and valves are good for nearly 200bhp as standard and the standard inlet will see 150bhp

Some of the earlier engines are said to fail prematurely but IME its down to ignoring service shedules and not checking the oil regularly enough

A Short Block crate engine ( alloy block, nice and light and modern ) is about Ł400 from Ford so not really expensive if you do make it go bang, obviousdly thats just the bottom end

Tuning wise a zaust and manifold will see it up to 120 bhp, actually timing the exhaust cam for power not emmisions will see a 10 bhp gain on a standard car.

Pulleys are keyless from the factory so no need to spend out on vernier calipers

the correct cams combined with the above and a remap of the standard ecu ( MSD can do this ) will see around 150bhp depending on the rest of the spec

To go further rod bolts and a look at valve springs will help when you add throttlebodies, standalone ECU and more agressive cams. 200bhp can be seen comfortably with a bit of thought

About 230 bhp would be the limit for a 'race' style engine but I think a 50% increase in power for circa Ł1k shows it comes in a very low state of tune to begin with, unlike other engines which are in a higher state of tune as standard and therefore cost a lot more to tune further ( not sure why some retards dont understand this )

They also make very good torque with a nice flat torque curve as standard and this remains on the 150bhp ones i've seen with the 'right' cams

 

Great fun little cars, get one!

My mates old one (sold recently to fund Integra Type R purchase)

 

Wasn't a bloke called Paul was it? (Although, everyone on zsoc seems to be getting type r's )

 

good info there mate thanks for taking the time out

 

Understand what exactly? That they are poor engines that need lots of money spent on them to get them producing respectable power? (even at 150bhp your 20bhp down on my bog standard iron block 4age)

 

Are you thinking of the old silvertop 1600 Zetec that is utter wank? The Yamaha derived Zetec found in teh Fiesta Zetec S is a quite tunable little motor

 

I have a real soft spot for these, my friend has one and its a lovely car, has a nice engine/exhaust note even when they're standard, and thay still look really nice and modern.

 

Oranoco, both!

 

i love my fezzy. and it's a diesel. loads of character. and they are fun to rag about in. easy to park. and don't go bang that often

 

A kid i work with has a 52 plate one, he's spent about 1.5k on engine and exhaust mod's and it's quite pokey. But. He said the gains he's got arnt worth it for the penny's he's spent getting there. In standard form there an ok car but if you want more power it's pointless doing anything to the engine appart from binning it and getting a 2.0 or 1.7 puma.