Probe vs. ZX2 vs. Cougar

[vette_7t9]

Hey

Some say a ZX2 will woop a probe, and some say a Cougar is comparable to a probe. Whats this all bout?

[xjoeharperx]

cougar is a 3rd generation probe...zx2 might keep up with it up to 80 or 90 mph stock...after that cougar wakes up and goes in for the kill

[Fizer70]

Are we talking bone stock manual transmission versions of all of these cars?

If so, here are some example cars:

1998 Ford Escort ZX2 7.4 15.7
1994 Ford Probe GT 7.5 15.7
1999 Mercury Cougar 7.7 16.0

The first number is the 0-60 time, the second is the 1/4 mile ET. The numbers are off some RX7 forum from a while back but most likely they are from R&T or MT listings.

Based on these numbers alone, the Probe and ZX2 would be even while the Cougar would be slightly behind. But, cars vary and driver's vary in skill. So all we are doing is bench racing by the numbers. I've heard of stock MTX v6 Probes running as good as 15.3 and as bad as 16.x. A lot of it is driver skill, track condition and shape of the car.