Recommendations for a 99 cougar

So I just bought this car... or rather financing it from the dealership and I am looking to keep up with my payments on TOP of doing a little "somethin-somethin" to the performance... A friend of mine who is savvy in vehicles said that it is not recommended to put premium plugs and wires and stuff as it forces the idle speed up and will kill the life expectancy of the vehicle.

He did however say that a short ram intake was good.

My question is this: what is the general consensus of plugs,wires, cap/rotor upgrades? What are some good upgrades to start with on this kind of car.

It has 88,000 miles on it and the muffler was cut off and replaced with a turbo tip

The first and foremost thing to do is change timing belt and water pump. Unless you have documentation on the last change on these parts, your engine is a ticking time bomb for failure. The cost is relatively cheap in comparison to a new engine. On your mods stay OEM on the plugs and wires. Ram intake is fine. Performance cat back exhaust is also ok.
Franco

The carfax report I got at time of signing said nothing of those two aforementioned parts, the front rotors, fuel pump and some switch were replaced but that was it.

The muffler was cut off and has a "turbo tip", I guess people have said something about losing backpressure but gaining about 5hp... I sort of grasped the meaning of this. Might you have a link to a performance catback exhaust?

It has 8.8mm spark plug wires already on there by "Belden" looks aftermarket, unknown spark plugs, I haven't taken it apart and looked yet.

My "friend" who is my backyard mechanic says the clutch feels like it's "grabbing too high" but it feels fine to me. However I've not been driving long enough, especially with 5-speeds to know whether it is or is not. I hit the gas and it never tachs up before catching like it did in my old Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII I had right before it blew...

A good link to a shortram intake and catback system would be much appreciated.

Don't worry about the timing "belt" it's a chain. Don't worry about losing back-pressure, this only increases noise and volumetric efficiency, which is what most people want anyway.

Every clutch is different, how many sticks has your backyard mechanic driven?

Spark plugs are cake to check/replace, but they look difficult as hell!

simply remove the engine cover plastic piece for the front 3, (says Duratec on it, 2-3 tiny bolts). And remove the ignition waste spark coil for the rear 3.
(ENSURE YOU RIGHT DOWN FIRING PLUG SEQUENCE AND TAKE A FRIGGIN PICTURE BEFORE YOU DO THIS THOUGH!!!!) nothing worse then trying to figure out a firing order without a damn diagram. Also, check the plug color while your at it. If u have a few extra bucks, go NGK iridium for performance, or stick with Autolite Double Platinum since its a waste spark. These plugs should last 100,000+ miles, so long A/F ratio and Engine temp stays good. For this reason, be sure to use the correct heat range.

Also curious how your going to achieve "RAM Intake" you plan on getting a hoodscoop?


And overall, the best upgrades for this vehicle, is to sell it and get something that has more aftermarket available.

Does NGK Iridium's come pre-gapped or do I have to gap them? One mistake I made in the past when I was brand new to the tuner world is I just bought them and stuck them in.

As far as the intake... Here's the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AEM-Short-Ram-Air-Intake-Mercury-Cougar-99-02-2-5L-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem483ab57c7cQQitemZ31022 2617724QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries#ht_2361wt_1165

I was also looking at this "electric supercharger"... I'm VERY skeptic on something like this but it appears theoretically sound. The only thing is on the Q&A's it seems like it would present a problem due to my mass air sensor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercury-Electric-SUPERCHARGER-KIT-3-PSI-900-Watt-Intake-/320552784721?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year:1999|Make:Mercury|Model:Cougar&hash=item4aa26f5351#ht_6801wt_939

Again, as far as the intake. It's called short ram, I guess it'd be best to put a hood scoop on there... any good ebay links for a replacement hood with one? I'd rather not do it myself. Need a white one lol.

Also, another website said that permanently removing the Duratec 2.5L engine cover on the front is actually better because it's just trapping heat anyway. True or not?

was thinking of putting one of those 3A Racing mufflers from autozone that costs about 50 bucks on it... There was one on a 95 Ford Taurus GL (Don't laugh i bought it that way) but it made it extremely loud and annoying even for me who loves that kind of stuff. How much louder would it make my cougar even though it already has like a 4 inch turbo tip? would it make it louder because going from a 4 to a 3 inch without muffler system would bottle up the exhaust more causing more pressure and audibility? Because I like the sound on it now don't get me wrong, but 4 inches on a cougar is a little much without any kind of super/turbocharging.