[ArtRiX]

The story

When I began looking for a car a few months ago, all I really cared for were these 5 things:

1) It had to have a V6.
2) It had to have a manual transmission.
3) It had to have leather seats.
4) It had to cost around £1000.
5) The mileage had to be below 100,000 miles.

Since moving to the UK, I realized that the size of the engine had more impact on my wallet than fuel economy. In my case the car’s insurance group had to be below – Insurance Group 15, anything above that would’ve been too expensive to insure, so V8s were out of the question, but I still wanted the biggest engine I could get, so a V6 was as large as I could go.

Finding a car with a manual transmission wasn’t a problem, considering that I live in Europe. A bigger problem was finding one with leather seats and since most cars only offer them in their higher end trims, it meant that I was looking for a fully loaded car.

The price wasn’t an issue either. Cars are extremely cheap in Britain and just to make it clearer, a 2000-05 Neon costs around £500 and it’s possible to get an R/T that much money. Also, my friend bought a fully loaded 2008 Honda Accord, aka. the ’09 Acura TSX in the US, for around £7,000! So I was pretty sure I could find something in my price range.

And so, I began looking for my car... and it didn’t take me long. After a few days I realised that the only car that fully met my requirements was the 1999-02 Ford (Mercury) Cougar. The Cougar could, leather seats and had lots of equipment to offer for their price. The closest other car was the 2002 (‘03MY) Hyundai Tiburon, with the 2.7L V6, but it was a newer more expensive car, that had 3HP less than the Cougar... and was a Hyundai :/ so I decided to stick with the Cougar.

Exterior

Despite the fact that all Cougars were built in the US, they were designed in Europe and although they were based on the late 1990s Ford Mondeo, those cars looked nothing alike. On the contrary, in the late 90s Ford of Europe was introducing a new styling theme, called the "New Edge", which gave the Cougar a sharp 2000s look, rather than taking the outdated mid 90s design theme from the Mondeo. Just like the Ford Probe, which it replaced, the Cougar is a 2-door sporty coupe. It’s more fun to drive than a family car, but isn’t an actual sports car, which IMO is the perfect combination for someone who’s young and lives in the UK , because it’s sporty, comfortable, roomy, but at the same time not too expensive to insure, while offering decent performance. (for what it is)

The Cougar stands out mostly because of its exterior design, it looks different and doesn’t look like any other car. Some will like it, some will hate it, but it’s definitely not a bland design, especially comparing it to other cars from the late 1990s. Although Ford could’ve done a better job when they were designing the rims.



Interior

There should be no surprise that, the Cougar is pretty roomy from the inside... if you’re sitting in the front. It can offer more than enough legroom and headroom for someone like me, who’s 6’4’’, but like in most 2+2 cars, there isn’t much space for those sitting in the back . The seats are comfortable to sit in, but they don’t provide proper lateral support when cornering at a higher speed. On the bright side it can offer a relatively long list of equipment, like dual front airbags, side airbags, traction control, climate control with air conditioning (which doesn’t seem to work on mine), central locking, power seats/windows, a trip computer and a stereo system with six-stack CD changer that came standard... all of this for just £1000! Also, since the Cougar is actually a hatchback, it has loads of space in the trunk and the rear seats can be folded down to make some more.



Performance

The Cougar's 2.5L 24V V6 isn’t a high performance unit in terms of maximum power output or outright acceleration, but it’s good enough to produce 168 horses and 160 lbft of torque, that should allow the car to accelerate from 0 to 60 in around 8.2 seconds (with the 5-speed manual), which isn’t bad for a car that’s pretty much 2-door Mondeo. The Cougar was also available with a 2.0L V16 4-cylinder engine (129HP/ 131lbft) and the V6 model was also available with a 4-speed automatic transmission, which made it's 0-60 slower by 2 seconds. After driving it for over 500 miles in the city, highway and various country roads and I must say it handles pretty well, but once again is no sports car.



Conclusion

After all the time I spent driving the car, I believe the Cougar can offer a good value for the money. It’s quite luxurious, yet sporty and shouldn’t be expensive to maintain, since it shares most parts with the Mondeo. The market value for those cars starts at around £400 and goes up to around £2000, so for £1000 and bit over, it’s not hard to find one in a good shape. The Cougar will provide you with a decent amount of power, comfort and lots of equipment for a low price and you can also get one with a stick!

[REVolution]

Great review, Art! I didn't know about the whole displacement penalties and stuff. That really sucks.

[ArtRiX]

Thanks, Rev yeah, 170HP is pretty much the limit for me.

[ALUX]

Great review Art!

I hope this car serves you well for many years to come.

[ArtRiX]

Thanks... Maybe I'll have to review my LeBaron some other day as well

[ALUX]

[ArtRiX]

Too bad I don't have access to any other cars, writing reviews is kinda fun

[lengnert]

Good job, Art.

I always liked the Cougar. I see them from time to time in my area still. I have to say the ones I do see that are still in good shape still look very attractive.

You are correct, as well, in that they are not a full on sports car. However, that is a good thing too because you can still have a lot of fun in the car and not have a comfortable car the rest of the time.

[ArtRiX]

Thanks

They could've made it sportier, with RWD and etc., but you didn't need that in the US, because you had the Mustang... meanwhile in Europe we had nothing to fill that spot, since they discontinued the Capri in 1984 (1986 in the UK). But yeah, there are always pros and cons, a softer FWD car won't be a good on corners, but it will be more comfortable for daily driving than a sports car with harder suspension... except that unlike in Europe, you were able to choose in the US. I wonder how come they never sold the Mustang here (at least in my lifetime).

[lengnert]

Take heart, Art (and excuse the bad rhyme, too), the next generation Mustang is Europe bound!

[ArtRiX]

Hopefully by the time I will be able to afford one, I won't be living in Europe

[BasiliskSt]

One advantage the Cougar has is a relatively long wheelbase. Most such FWD coupes use a shortened platform compared to their sedan foundations. The Cougar kept the Mondeo's (Contour's) wheelbase. The long wheel base offers a better ride than contemporary coupe competitors. The long wheelbase also makes for huge carrying capacity under the hatch, particularly with the back seats folded down.

The Ztec double overhead cam four was apparently an expensive and complex four compared to the later Mazda derived Duratec, but I've had good reliability out of the Ztec.

The 2.5 liter V6 is smooth but makes the nose heavier, changing the handling a bit compared to the I4, trading some nimbleness for power.

I still like the looks of the Cougar. The design has aged very well.

[GotMopar?]

I haven't seen to many Cougars in the last couple of years but after reading your review, two popped up in Santa Fe yesterday. One off of Airport road looking very sharp and clean in black with a for sale sign and later on a white one heading south on Cerrillos road. Both cars looked well cared for.
It is funny how this always happens to me. One of good guys at CF mentions a car and I start to notice them! Thank's Art. It helps to keep this old fool alert.

[ArtRiX]

Yeah, you probably didn't care for them before, so never noticed them I remember when my parents bough their Rover in the early 00's I though those cars were rare, but as soon as they bought theirs, I suddenly began to see them everywhere... I guess I just never took notice of them.

BasiliskSt;221836 Wrote:One advantage the Cougar has is a relatively long wheelbase. Most such FWD coupes use a shortened platform compared to their sedan foundations. The Cougar kept the Mondeo's (Contour's) wheelbase. The long wheel base offers a better ride than contemporary coupe competitors. The long wheelbase also makes for huge carrying capacity under the hatch, particularly with the back seats folded down.

The Ztec double overhead cam four was apparently an expensive and complex four compared to the later Mazda derived Duratec, but I've had good reliability out of the Ztec.

The 2.5 liter V6 is smooth but makes the nose heavier, changing the handling a bit compared to the I4, trading some nimbleness for power.

I still like the looks of the Cougar. The design has aged very well.

True. I could've bought the I4 model, but I wanted the extra power though I'm not sure if they were available with leather seats?

[BasiliskSt]

I don't know what was offered in the UK vs. US. I suspect you're right that only the V6 had leather in the US. I've considered trading out our front seats for a set of low back leather seats with separate head rests out of a wrecked V6. Ours are cloth high backs and are a bit narrow in the bolstering for me, but they hug the lower back and thighs well.

I like the clean simple gauge cluster. It looks sporty. And while it is more sporty than sports car its a fun enough drive in corners like on ramps that I can still have some fun.

Hope you're enjoying yours. It looks pretty flawless.