2000 zx3 fuel efficiency?

i recently bought a 2000 focus zx3 and since i have had it the gas mileage per gallon has been decreasing, i checked out some consumer opinions on this model and year before i bought the car and everyone seemed to have good reviews on the gas, am i the only one??? is there anything i can do to help get better mileage??

clean the air and fuel filters that can hurt milage a lot. the more agressive you drive can hurt gas milage also, so can having an automatic.

I have the same problem with my 00 ZX3. I average about 20mpg, though I drive pretty aggresivley plus it's all stop and go driving. What kind of mileage are you getting? How hard are you driving? If you are getting worse mileage, some type of tuneup may be in order. (Plugs, PCV valve, air filter, oil change and filter, etc.) If taht doesn't help, I would do a diagnostic check to see if you have something going on that isn't showing up or registering as an error. Good luck.

i have a 5-speed and my gas mileage is around 20 in the city.. but i drive aggressive.. but on the highway i have seen as much as 36mpg.. so it all depends on how you drive.. best i have ever gotten in the city was about 26mpg... but that was all grandma driving...

some people with intake and exaust systems have managed to get 40+mpg

Hello! my first post on this forum.
I bought a USED 2003 ZX3 2.0 DOHC, 5-speed manual transmission with 87,000 miles on it about two months ago. It seems to be IN VERY good condition, but I'm not happy with the gas mileage!
I've,
Changed the oil and oil filter (Havoline 5W-20)
Changed the fuel filter (I'm pretty sure it was the factory installed)
Changed the spark plugs (Motorcraft)
Changed plug wires (bosch)
Changed air filter
Changed PCV valve
Changed Transmission gear oil (Motorcraft Synthetic, it was near a quart over filled)

I mainly use the car for a work car, 25 miles oneway 50 miles round trip. All highway, cruise control set to 65mph.
I've been trying different types of gas,
Exxon,
Speedway,
BP,
I run each tank from full to at lest until the low fuel light comes on, and so far the best I can get is 28.99 mpg.
I try to always shift under 4,000 rpm's.
I don't HOT ROD the car at all!
So I'm thinking where's the 36 mpg at??
Any idea's???