I wouldn't go too far past 7200 rpm before upgrading the oil pump gears or you will be picking up little bitty parts of your motor off the road!
5000 rpm won't hurt anything, (thats the "fun" zone!, once you get a few modds) [] !! being stock- you won't have much left after 5200-5500 anyway!

 

Hmm really.... wow thank you very much. I probably would be picking up pieces if I didn't ask you guys huh.....lol. So I got it now..... 5000rpms for now. 5000+ after mods.... got it. Once again thank you...[thankyou]

 

take it to redline...its stock but can handle it fine.

 

Hahaha do you mean take it all the way???? My SE doesn't have a redline...[scratch]

 

The rev limiter will stop you from f'ing up ur car also, ive hit it a few times when my carpet gets stuck on the stupid accelerator at a stop-light. I only have a cold air intake but i still wait until 5-5.5 before i shift if I really wanna get it going.

 

buy an SVT and shift at 7200. . .higher with a tune. . .

Cars that are MTX without a tach are the dumbest thing on the planet. Nothing against you, it's not your fault, but the fact of having a manual with no tach just amazes me that we are still alive on this planet. . .

 

Why do you need a tach?As soon as you stop accelerating strong in a gear it's time to shift.If you don't,you hit the rev limiter.I don't have a tach in my SE Focus and autocross it a lot.At the drags,same thing.When it stops pulling,shift.Besides,I can always tell my rpms by sound,even with a helmet on.In my race only S/C'd Mustang I never watch the tach.NEVER.When the shift light blinks,I shift.Watching the tach is about as useful as watching your fuel guage.You can run your Focus to the limiter without any problems.Stock,it's really not worth it as the power isn't there.Modified,go for it if it's pulling.I have been for 110k miles on my SE and 78k miles on my ZX3 (both zetec/mtx)and have NEVER had a problem and they pull like bears.Don't tell ME there's no power up there because I've got dyno charts and time slips to prove it.

 

If our cars had a redline I imagine it would be at 6500 rpm cause thats where all the previous zetec's (ZX2/escort and Contour) redlined at hince why our rev limiter is set at 6750 rpm. But like stated earlier in the post shift when you don't feel it pulling hard anymore which is typicaly 5200 to 5500 rpm thats where my car would fall off on the power just like most people if you want it to pull hard all the way to rev limiter I suggest some cam gears and some tuning of the cam gears in fact here is a link to help you out.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0105scc_project_ford_focus_zx3_part_1/

check out there project cars for part 2,3 and 4 it every thing that the Zetec owner needs to know about our motors it very helpful

 

I can get mine to 6200 pretty easily before the rev limiter kicks in...I wouldnt go too far past that anyway.

 

What is the redline on a Zetec Engine w/ the MTX-75 manual transmission. Appreciate it guys.

 

around 6850 ort 6900something, i forget. I've taken mine to 7300 quite a few times when autocrossing, with no ill effects.( almost 2 years now!) sometimes you need to hold that lower gear for just a few more feet b4 hitting the next courner![] lol!

 

Wow you know what I learned something new today....... [ ; P ]

 

6750 rpm on a zetec with a mtx75. I usually shift mine at 5000 around town. I pulled all the way to 6300 when I want to wake the dead merging onto the interstate at 75mph.
LOL

 

6750 rpm on a zetec with a mtx75. I usually shift mine at 5000 around town. I pulled all the way to 6300 when I want to wake the dead merging onto the interstate at 75mph.
LOL

Dude thats soo sweet....... yeah lately I've been shifting around 5000rpm and yeah I love the sound. But yeah know what they say, "Avoid being in the car for no more than 4hrs at a time or else your at risk of permentantly hurting yourself.....lol[]

 

My ATX creeps all the way to 6400 or so when pushed....not that it really pulls beyond like 5500 anyway, but the car seems to think it will.

 

You should run the engine just about until redline so when you/the car upshift(s), the engine will have a higher speed than if you shifted at 5000.

 

Higher speed, but when you shift your going to be out of the powerband so your car will be slower.

Like on mine, I start loosing hp around 5,250 and torque drops off around 4,500.

 

Hmm yeah I guess since I haven't heavily modified my engine yet it gives out around 5,500 or so..... so yeah need to get new cams, gears, pulley, clutch and throttle body; yeah than it'll be a different story....[thumb]

 

wow sum of you guy are pretty smart and currect, i have a se zetec which tends to be a high rev engine. i run that shit right up couple of times dont worry you will be loosing power when u maxed out so u will shift, u cant be so dumb not to feel the gear top out and keep reving. but have fun in it i do in mine which is still stock.

 

6750 rpm on a zetec with a mtx75. I usually shift mine at 5000 around town. I pulled all the way to 6300 when I want to wake the dead merging onto the interstate at 75mph.
LOL

You can go far beyond that, 6300 is granny shifting []

As someone said, general rule is 7200-7500. I have run mine up to that before numerous times.

 

7200-7500....hmm, my car would hate me forever....

 

naaaah, Ive bumped my rev limmiter many times while autoX'n at 7400 rpm with no issues at all for well over a year now.[hihi] [}]

 

too bad my rpms only go as high as 7000