The Sport option is an appearance package that adds sport seats, a rear spoiler, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and other trim items and upgrades the 14-inch all-season tires to 15-inch Goodyear RS-A tires on aluminum alloy wheels. Suspension tuning is identical between base and Sport ZX2 models; other than the upgraded tires, the Sport package does not increase the performance of the ZX2.
Ford's 2.0-liter twin-cam 16-valve Duratec four-cylinder engine drives the front wheels. This engine came from the Ford Contour, a bigger, heavier car. It produces 130 horsepower-a big step up from the 110-horsepower single overhead-cam engine that comes in the Escort sedans and wagons.
Starting with the Escort design, the ZX2 engineers retuned the suspension, steering and brakes for sportier handling and a slightly firmer ride.
ZX2 comes with the standard safety features, such as dual airbags and side impact protection; we recommend the optional antilock brakes-$400 on our car. Though they shouldn't be confused as a safety feature, the ZX2 comes with 5-mph bumpers, which can reduce the chance of incurring repair bills from minor bumps. Next Page