Cougars are great

HEy what up cougar fans ? I have a 92 Trans Am It's fast but uses way too much gas so i'm looking into getting a smaller fast car and the cougars are awesome i'm looking into getting a 99 Just how fast are these cars, stock ? and are they reliable ?
thanks for any help hopefully i will be getting one soon

Krazy K

Well, the only thing I know about them is that the back seat is a bad place to be. My friend's parents have one and he says:

1. The seat has a rut for your butt and makes your knees stick up in the air
2. The hatchback window's gonna smack you in the head.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? Maybe it's better if you sit up front.

Welcome to AF, by the way. :D

i own a 2000 mercury 4cyl and it's a nice car but don't expect very high performance.
Ps. the back seats are not bad at all way better tha in most coupes like the celica or the eclipse. they are similar with the ones found in new firebirds

hey I have a 99 mecury cougar, and the back seats are fine, they are just a little weird, since they are more like a bucket seat, but once u get use to them they are great. the only shitty thing is that they're not very fast unless, u get a v-6. I race my friends, who mostly have civic and integras, and they always get me. But they are very reliable, and alot of fun to drive, they have a great suspension, and if u lower it, it even gets better.

I own a '95 Cougar XR7 V8. Pearl white with tan leather interior, 5.4L 310HP crate engine (looks like factory 4.6L), now has 340HP on dyno with chip and exhaust work. Rides like a charm but with more horses and faster than a Mustang GT. Has factory AOD-E. No problems yet now at 61,380 mi.

The new cougars have the same engine the Contour has (V6).

I have a 99 black cougar and it is GREAT! I have had absolutly NO problems with mine so far. In my opinion, they are very reliable, and fast!

I have a 99 cougar..and its a v-6 manual..i think its fast i havent lost to anyone yet in it and i have raced integras, civics, and probes..i guess it all depends on the driver also..:D

Seriously, I have a 99 and have had nothing but problems with it! In fact, I'm having a HUGE MAJOR problem as we speak (see my above post)... it is NOT FAST at all! In the quarter mile, stock does in the 18's... Cavaliers go faster! (trust me, I've seen plenty of them!) and as far as gas goes... I have a V-6, and fill up every 3-4 days! I get about 250 miles to an entire tank of gas... my mom's SUV gets better gas mileage! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do urself a favor and DO NOT buy a cougar! If u want a fast sporty car, buy a honda... I know I know, it's foreign, but u know what, they go FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially after all the after markets... I'm kicking myself in the butt right now for swearing off foreign cars.. wishing I had one right now cuz it would still be running, unlike my cougar! SOrry to disappoint ya bud! :-)

I drive a modified 2000 White Mercury Cougar and This thing is nice. The V6 model are quite fast, 170 stock horse power, mine's probably hovering around the 200 mark by now (dual 3" exhaust, K+N Air Filter, simple bolt on stuff like that makes it.)

There's alot fo good Hi-po sites for the cougar too...

www.fastcougar.com
www.customcougars.com
and you can always look for Ford Contour parts...

The ONLY problem I can complain about is the lack of, if you have a 5"11 guy or bigger, he's screwed because he'll hit the hatch window and his rear isn't fitting in the seat, the front has giant room though.

:)

Any more info I'll post it, I'll have pictures soon too.

I would shop around first. I had a 2001 model cougar v-6 and like he said

(Seriously, I have a 99 and have had nothing but problems with it! In fact, I'm having a HUGE MAJOR problem as we speak (see my above post)... it is NOT FAST at all! In the quarter mile, stock does in the 18's... Cavaliers go faster! (trust me, I've seen plenty of them!) and as far as gas goes... I have a V-6, and fill up every 3-4 days! I get about 250 miles to an entire tank of gas... my mom's SUV gets better gas mileage! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do urself a favor and DO NOT buy a cougar! If u want a fast sporty car, buy a honda... I know I know, it's foreign, but u know what, they go FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially after all the after markets... I'm kicking myself in the butt right now for swearing off foreign cars.. wishing I had one right now cuz it would still be running, unlike my cougar! SOrry to disappoint ya bud! :-)


I traded mine in cause trans. slipped, seats were crooked, car hessitated, and CV joints were clicking!!!!. Very little power, My friends 98 Altima out ran it. I looked around for a long time trying to find somthing worth buying and bought a Suzuki Aerio! I know you might not like them, but there getting alot of support from Japan, and Import Tuner. By far alot faster than my Cougar ever was, with 25 less HP. I know the car weighs less but still. You get a 7year 100,000 mile warr. They hav'nt had any problems at all. If your interested in a Aerio check out www.suzukiaerioforum.com You wont be dissipointed. And for all the Cougar owners sorry about all the truth, but you probably already knew this Cougars are going extinct!!!

If you're looking for performance steer clear of the 99+ model cougars. They are made like a tin can piece of FWD trash. If you want a cougar go with a 97 with a 4.6 V8. It has a lot of potential, seeing as how it has basically the same engine that ford put in the mustang. They also make an affordable supercharger application for that engine.

every car has potential. and i saw some people posting false info abotu the cougs. you can get the much needed power out of one with a very simple 3.0 swap(out of a taraus). or hook you regular duratec up with all the SVT goodies or do a complete SVT engine swap. there are superchagers and turbo chargers available. and you can do the ultimate in NA and do a 2.5L/3.0L hybrid. 3.0 block with 2.5 heads. combine that with some nice port and polish work and throw the 3.0 valves in those 2.5 heads and you got your self one beast of an NA engine.

someone said stock 1/4 mile was 18. you my friend are very very wrong. stock ATX it is 17 and stock MTX should be around 16.1. rule of thumb with the cougars get an MTX b/c as you can see the ATX's are about a second slower. and will cost you about 3-4 grand more to get an ATX to the same point as an MTX.

they are very nice looking cars and no one ever mentions how well they handle. they stick to the road(if you have good tires,stock tires suck,) and are very fun to drive. and with just a few exterior mods people will be starring at your car and complimenting it all the time. i dont have many exterior mods but people in my home town absolutly love my car.

Hey I have a 99' and i cant say anything about the back seat cuz I'm always drivin'. I love it.. As for speed i hit 120 before i ran out of space. It's really fun to drive and you always get looks from the people. And i usually get about 27 to 30 MPG on highway.

It's not a bad car at all, nor is it particularly impressive in this day and age. In '99, when I bought the car, it was a pretty solid car and at the upper end for power and performance for the price. Now, even used you can typically do better. The biggest perk is how cheap they go for now (trust me, I know due to the car's current resale).

As far as reliability goes, meh. Mine was decent for about 3 and has recently begun to fall apart BIG time. I've been through a handful of alternators, headlights, CV shafts, seat covers, O2 sensors, and things keep going wrong. I'm looking to get out of mine soon.

I drive a 2001 Cougar and it is great..If people would keep up any car they should run great..I love my cougar,best car ever had...:bigthumb: As far as the back seats go, if you want a small sports car their seats are gonna be small.. Besides who plays in the back seat anymore?:loser: Good luck and go w/your heart..

I have a 2000 mercury cougar v6 but its automatic. I don't understand why people say its slow because I've driven it well over 125 mph almost every time there is no traffic. The back seat is terrible. But its a lot better than my friends 91 dodge stealth's back seat. Most of my friends are tall and complain. The only thing im having a problem with is a loud humming sound during the winter something like with the breaks or power steering, im not too much of a car tech but that's why I came here, to learn. I wish I got the manual but I bought it off my parents cause I knew there was no problems with this one no damage and stuff. It was hard getting used to automatic when I was in Poland I was driving stick and then I came here and like had to put my left leg under my ass for the first couple of months.

The auto is much slower than the Manual. Just cant do anything about that one. Just because someone else says its slow doesnt mean its slow to you. Dont worry about that....just go for show instead of go! Good luck! If you have any questions...let them fly!

from what i hear on neco forums they have some ways to get serious power out of the auto tranny.......level 10 aparently has quite a few upgrades for the auto

When I said I had an automatic I meant to be like ... im not too happy about that. I wish I had a manual and its not my car they say is slow its the people on the forum that are saying their cougar is slow. Mine is going to be all go and no show for now (even though its auto:bloated:), then im going to sell it and go for a Suzuki hayabusa then a bmw m3 if business keeps going well.

Originally posted by Neutrino
from what i hear on neco forums they have some ways to get serious power out of the auto tranny.......level 10 aparently has quite a few upgrades for the auto



Level 10 is very expensive. Go with a stage 1 turbo kit if your really serious about whp.

Originally posted by CougarSVT




Level 10 is very expensive. Go with a stage 1 turbo kit if your really serious about whp.

yeah will the auto be able to take it.......i'm not the biggest expert on cougar autos...i have an mtx....but i hear some stuff about ATX's around neco

Originally posted by Neutrino


yeah will the auto be able to take it.......i'm not the biggest expert on cougar autos...i have an mtx....but i hear some stuff about ATX's around neco



I was once told and now have forgotten.:bloated:

I know they said they go by peak torque and not HP's. I'll check once again.

Who are you on the Neco boards??? I dont recognize the mods you have done? They are very impressive...any dyno sheets?

Originally posted by CougarSVT
Who are you on the Neco boards??? I dont recognize the mods you have done? They are very impressive...any dyno sheets?

i'm neutrino123......and you misread my mods....under current mods i have only the omp strut bar and apexi intake....the rest of mods are under very soon....unfortunatelly they might not happen sice i pretty much decided to go with a 350z...maybe i'll keep the cougar as a project car

350Z is a nice car...have you tried the G35 Coupe from Infinity? That car is freakin awsome! We all know if you get the 350Z you arent gonna want to do anything to the Cougar....all your attention will go to the Nissan :wink:

good luck

Originally posted by CougarSVT
350Z is a nice car...have you tried the G35 Coupe from Infinity? That car is freakin awsome! We all know if you get the 350Z you arent gonna want to do anything to the Cougar....all your attention will go to the Nissan :wink:

good luck

yeah the g35 coupe is still on my list as an option....


and truthfully i'll probably give most my atention to the fairlady.....but i'll still love my kitty.....

i have a 99 cougar and it's okay ...i mean, its slow and all, but i <3 the look of it =] i've had a few probs with it, but nuthin too bad. [it gets shitty gas mileage tho...] =X