Originally Posted by Jafro

You know Ima say get a '95 Eclipse GSX, because you can make mincemeat out of a EVO if it's set up right. EVO owners aren't modifying the hell out of them yet because they still have warranties. But they will... The car costs $30k, so I don't know how much money's left with that kind of car payment... The EVO has a 12 year old pedigree in rally racing, and the engine has been in racing development for over 15 years. If you buy an EVO, you're actually buying a race car.

I still think an STi is a waste of space. Confusing interior. Not driver-friendly. And despite the extra displacement, they don't outperform EVO's. They're not allowed on rally circuits because of the size of their engine, so there will never be any real racing development for that chassis. So if you buy an STi, you're buying as much of a race car as you would if you bought a Kia or a LeCar.

But seriously... Stay away from any and all Ford cars with the ZTEC setup. These have to be the worst engines I've ever worked on in my life. Mechanics that have been in the business for 20 years (even ones that like Fords) say the same thing. Here's why...

1. The ZTEC engine is an interference engine (just like any 92+ Honda, or a DSM or... most other cars), so if there's a timing related failure, you lose your engine. This isn't such a big deal except that these engines are prone to timing failures.

2. The camshaft gears don't have keyways. If the bolt in the end of the camshaft comes loose, the cam gear can spin without turning the camshaft.

3. There are no timing marks on the cam gears or any marks of any kind to line up the engine yourself without buying special tools. A special Ford straight edge is needed to line up a groove on the opposite side of the camshaft. It costs $65 at the dealer or $60 from a Snap-On or Mac tools dealer.

4. There are too many idler pulleys on the timing belt. Each one has a bearing. The more bearings you have holding up the timing belt, the more points there are for failures to happen. The tensioner pulley design is bass ackwards. I mean, futt bucking retarted.

5. The exhaust cam with the oil-actuated variable timing mechanism can rotate as much as 90 degrees without the camshaft turning. This makes it extremely difficult to put back in correct timing even with the straight-edge in place because the no-keyway-having cam gear will rotate as you torque it down, and throw it out of time (because oil pressure is actually what keeps this engine in time).

6. The cam angle sensor has only a 2 degree window of operation. Any deviation from that will cause the engine to run like shit.

7. Plastic intake manifold. (need I say more)

8. The fasteners... This engine uses the most ridiculous fastener combinations I've ever seen. Most everything is TORX. What does that mean? It means you're going to strip half of everything taking it apart (even if you have all the right tools) and won't be able to get the torque correct during reassembly because you can't keep the bit in the hole. You might have to replace any fasteners that you remove, driving up the cost of repair substantially. It also uses just about every standard fastener from a 6mm to a 17 mm, and even a bunch of Standard (SAE) sizes. Your toolbox will cost you a fortune.

This engine is used in not only the Ford Focus, but it's in the Ford Contour, and Mercury Mistakes. The only redeeming thing about that engine is that the water pump is not driven by the timing belt. In fact, nothing but engine timing is done by the timing belt. The water pump is driven from the serpentine belt, and can be replaced without touching the timing cover.

If you ever get beat by any of them in a race, go home and kill yourself.

I've worked on 3 of these in the past week. 2 needed a new head. Each car owner shelled out in excess of $3000 for the repairs except for the one that didn't bend or burn up any valves. Doing a timing belt should never take more than 5 hours on a DOHC 4 banger, but this one took me 9 because I had to do the job 6 times to get it right. Meanwhile all the old farts who have been doing this all their lives are astounded by the idiots that designed this motor. None of them have ever seen such a piece of shit.

The Dodge SR-T is a lot of car for the money. That engine came from Neon racing development, and there are things I hate about it, too. It's based on the 2.0L 420A, and they stroked it. It's the same motor as the NA PT cruisers, and the turbo PT cruisers. Still garbage IMO, but it's hella fast out of the box.

Sorry 'bout the rant. Just don't believe any of the performance hype that Ford is propogating about anything they make. If you work on your own car, stick to Honda and Mitsubishi. They're by far the easiest cars to deal with. You can get by with a 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17mm socket, a BFH, and a set of wrenches to fix most anything.