General Comments:
This is an update of a review that I had written last year, but now that I have had the chance to drive this car, I have some new things to say. I drive a lot, from driving to school in the morning to delivering pizza in the evening, this little vehicle is asked to do the work of three ordinary cars, and has excelled.
At 106,000 miles, the engine does not leak anywhere, nor does the clutch. Whatever they are paying the engineers at Mazda, it is not enough! It still runs as smooth as it ever has, and not a single puff of smoke from the exhaust.
It still passes emissions perfectly and gets 26-29 MPG around town - with the AC running in 115 degree weather - and around 36 on the highway. On a recent drive from Phoenix to LA, I averaged 38 during one stretch.
My complaints about this car are few, but should be noted. Any driver taller than 5'8" will not like this car on long trips. I am six feet tall, and have a 34 inch inseam, the center radio/AC/Cup holder console cuts considerably into my right-side legroom. I will surely break my leg against this in an accident.
Also, good luck finding factory-sized tires for this car. Ford in all of their genius decided to use a very unique sized tire for this car. It is a 185-60-R15 tire that is only available in the Goodyear Eagle line. This size is being phased out of their inventory, and is quite expensive. It is actually cheaper to go with a wider and lower profile tire, I now run 205-50-R15 tires which actually make the car look even sweeter, plus the wider tires have greatly improved on the car's handling. But tires are still quite pricey for a car of this size because they have to be a performance type to properly work with the GT sport suspension.
With that said, the escort is a durable ride that was clearly engineered for a lot of high-mileage city driving. The GT is Fast, cheap, reliable, and still extremely fun to drive.
