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Comments
Thanks to those of you who have responded to my combining clubs question. I would appreciate more feedback from those who did not get a chance to respond yet.
I will post my views and thoughts of combining clubs after everyone has had a chance to post their views.
On a lighter note, this morning's commute was a regular circus sideshow of stupidity. I pulled off of my street on to the main drag right behind a woman who was going about 25mph. The reason she was going so slowly was because SHE COULDN'T SEE OUT HER WINDSHIELD!! It was covered with a thin coating of ice that she decided didn't need to be scraped off. She had her window rolled down and was literally trying to stick her head out of it in order to see where she was going. Thank God I didn't have to follow her very long. About 5 miles up the highway I was in the left lane and I came across a Honda Incite cruising in the right lane. As I went to casually pass him, he looked over at me and smiled. I rolled my eyes and continued to pass him, but I soon realized that he was actually trying to race me (the key word there is "trying"). Can you believe that a nut in a 1.o liter three cylinder/electric car wanted to race? I maintained my steady speed of 75mph and laughed him off (I laughed because he could barely keep up with me at that speed). Later on I exited the highway and this guy tailgated me for the next 2 miles. I was hoping a semi-strong wind would come along and flip him and his little 3-cylinder cockroach off the side of the road.
There are way to many nuts on the roads.
I think that people should have a choice. If you're dissatisfied with the info in CSG, you could go to NECO or FastCougar and vice versa. Although I doubt you'll get banters like the pickle dialogue in the other sites. If we merged, then we'll be like Microsoft. Badulah will then have to change his name to Rob Gates. It's just too much trouble. Let's just stay the way we are.
Let me be the first then, to propose a hostile takeover. Why, you ask? Well, perhaps the question you should ask instead is, why NOT? Why not indeed. (*nodding wisely, to self in mirror*)
Last night we got a very light dusting of snow, and it's snowing now, but its not supposed to amount to very much. The Dunlops really do hold their own in bad road conditions and they are wearing like iron. I have slightly over 1000 miles on them and there is no wear visible.
Anyone else have any thoughts on merging or "forming a partnership" with NECO and or FastCougar.com? (this is what they called it when Philips and Lucent merged together when I was working there. This is what they called it right before they laid us all off).
Rob Gates, LOL!!!
I have never had an oil filter "blow-out", but my oil filter HAS become loose on at least two occasions. One time it was pointed out by a technician during a tire rotation, the other time I noticed because it was leaking oil. My theory is that the technicians who install the oil filters during oil changes do not always properly tighten the filter due to the awkward position of the filter on the Duratech engine. Those of you who do your own changes can correct me if I'm wrong, but the oil filter seams to be really hard to access.
Came lard:
I agree with you on the winter tires. While all season tires provide reasonable traction in snow and ice, the winter tires make a big difference. Plus you don't have to submit your alloy mags to the corrosive salt conditions. I figured that buying winter tires would be cost effective in the long run since they save wear and tear on the all season/summer tires (although I kind of wish my Fire rocks would wear out soon!).
Badulah St a;:
I really like the group of people we have hear in the COG. Personally, I hope that we don't join with the other groups and get lost in the masses.' Also, a merger could make my CSG sticker obsolete
I hope everyone has a very merry and safe Christmas. Happy holidays!
Andy.
Also, I see that the spell checker had a mind of its own. For example, "Badulah St a" was originally "Badulah et al." and no, I didn't try to rename our group the "COG".
Cheers,
A.
=^..^=
But anyways yeah. About the whole merging clubs thing. Personally, for me, I don't mind if CSG/NECO merge, or stay separate. The one thing I will add is that both CSG and NECO have a lot of good things going for them. Combining the strengths of both groups would create a bigger commmunity that is better than having two separate communities working in separate directions. Although, as i said before, I don't know what the *politics* are like between the two groups. Something like merging may/may not work.
...Pritesh
PS.. I LOVE driving my cougar in the snow!! ;-)
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with lot's of extra quality time to spend with your Cougars.
Krnch:
Gee I thought you were making a suggestion with COG. Cougar Overlord Group maybe:)
Happy Cougaring over the holiday weekend to everyone here!
Sorry I have not been around much! Just dropping in to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a Healthy Safe New Year!
Personally, while I find NECO and CSG both informative, I believe CSG is more professional and responsive. I would not like to see the two groups merge. Badulah and Stageleft have done a wonderful job and I hope they continue to do so!
-Cheers
Denise
PS- I thought perhaps everyone was over reacting to this new format but I must admit this smells!!
"I'm just the messenger on this one. In speaking with a Ford employee, in a VERY HIGH UP posistion, I understand that this past weekend, behind closed doors, in the "Glass House" in Dearborn, the directive was given out. Cease all design divisions work pertaining to Mercury. Cancel all future design teams.
Stick a fork in Mercury -- it's done! Timeline has it at 18 months. 2001 build-out in the normal time frame, July 2001. Returning for 2002, a carry-over Grand Marquis, just as you see it now, likewise the all new Mountaineer. Goodbye Cougar, Villager and Sable.
The birth of the "Premier Automotive Group" is about to dawn. Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar will begin to merge into the same showroom, thusly creating P.A.G. Volvo's pricing covers the $30,000 to $42,000 range, Lincoln's covers the $40,000 to $45,000 and Jaguar begins at $50,000 and goes to $95,000.
Plymouth to Oldsmobile to Mercury >>> Who's next? There will be only seven American cars left after Ford plants Mercury !!
Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Saturn, Ford & Lincoln.
(...."and then there were none")."
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas, and a happy New Year!
Krnch, COG = Cougars Only (from Edmunds.com) Group.
Hey, MWS. Any info on the demise of Mercury. I just read at Cars.com earlier about the demise of Oldsmobile. And now the Mercury name too. I guess all these car manufacturers are consolidating their products. I still love my Cougar.
Happy Holidays!!!
I had been talking with a co-worker bout my "dream" mods for the car, one of which is the addition of a super charger. Two things hold me back from doing this.... 1. Of course I don't exactly have $3,000 laying around collecting dust and the second hang up for me is the problem of torque steer. I have a stock v6 atx and experience it quite frequently (my last car was a rear wheel driven 240sx so perhaps i am just still getting used to the front drive or maybe it's my lead foot??)
In discussing my reservations about having that much power in a front drive vehicle, i got to thinking. I'd imagine it would be somewhat difficult, but would it be possible to fabricate an ALL WHEEL DRIVE Cougar from existing Escape/Tribute components?!?!?! I believe the engine is still mounted transversely in the Escape/Tribute as it is in our Cougars.
I dunno maybe it's the Egg Nog talking ;-)
Jimbo_G
P.S. This new Edmunds format smells like Flatulence :-)
A real pain in the Derierre!!
I can NOT get this to post my damn message!!!!!!
Jimbo_G
PS
To Edmunds staff:
I hope this is not an ongoing issue. We're not trying to be ungrateful or rude, but we're just frustrated with the new format. I hope all the kinks can be ironed out quickly, and CSG can operate smoothly as before.
I know that the new software has had some bugs and trust me, people on vacation at the new software company and at Edmunds worked during the holidays to get all the bugs worked out. I appreciate your patience and if you run into any specific bugs, please post your problem in News and Views under the New Software topic. I believe we have the logout problem ironed out, so keep your fingers crossed! We are working hard to get these technical *bugs* eliminated.
On a brighter note, don't forget...your first COUGAR SUPPORT GROUP CHAT will be on Tuesday, January 9th at 7-8pmET! Badulah will be your gracious host :-) I will let you all know more as the date gets closer, the URL you will need to access the chat, etc. Can't wait to see you there!
Also, just to let you know...I will be now managing not only the chats but the message boards, so you'll probably see me around a little more once I dig out from all of my email
Thank you for remaining loyal Edmunds members,
Dana S. Livingston
Manager of Community
Town Hall
Edmunds.com
I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday!!! My Cat is dirtier than ever, but she is still running great!!
Mouse409:
GREAT to hear from you!! I was starting to wonder where you went.
I too am rather frustrated with this new message board. I hope the staff at Edmunds gets this straightened out quickly. I'm worried that the CSG will lose members because of the difficulties they are having.
So far we have one vote to merge and several to stay separate. Anyone else have anything to add on this topic?
Maybe this is already old news in here... but did y'all see the supercharged 212 hp Cougar in the February issue of Sport Compact Car? Check it out sometime!
They used a Vortech supercharger kit and a few other mods. All in all, they improved the 0-60 to 7 seconds and quarter mile to 15.1 seconds. The supercharger kit cost about $3,775.
The review described the Cougar as "hefty" and "slightly porkish (weight)" for a compact sport coupe, but still said that it "does what it is designed to do very well-- it's a comfortable, quick commuter car." SCC also said that the Cougar fairs better than most smaller sport coupes in this dangerous world full of monster SUVs and other evil things.
I wonder if the Cougar S will roughly have these performance numbers.
I thought the Cat SCC tested was much faster. I recall them saying it was them saying "it was the fastest car we ever tested". I wonder if this is the same article i'm thinking of? I recall an Eaton supercharger in the article i'm referring to. It also had the rear tower brace installed in the trunk. I'll check tonight and let you know tomorrow.
I like all the comments coming in based on the questions and thoughts about merging and would like to interject my own beliefs, which are quite consistent with other's viewpoints. I like having the CSG separate, and seeing how it is that the other groups offer different, useable information on the same car, I like having our group's comaradare and information separate. Not sure how archiving is going to be with the new format of the Town Hall, but we'll see.
I had thought to write an article recently with all the information I've gathered (most I can't actually site because either the links are gone or I forgot to write down the source of the information) on the demise of the Cougar AND Mercury Marquee. I'd like not to see this happen, but the cards seem to be dealt in that direction. Although I can't say for sure what's going on and why it's happening, I'm going to work on a specific article for the site over the next couple of weeks, trying to retrace all the steps that led me to this belief almost a year ago (really). Bear with us, and try not to panic about this seemingly new information, I'm sure everything will work out fine in the end.
My holiday was interesting, to say the least. I went to Seattle to visit with my wife's family this year, and honestly I can say I'm glad to be home. The trip was wonderful, don't get me wrong, but there's something to be said about sleeping in one's own bed at night. The funny thing about that area out there is that there really aren't many Cougars at all, or none that I could see. I was there for 8 days, and saw a scant 3 Cougars the entire time! I was a little distraught, believe me, although it seemed to be "truck country" out there. The biggest problem with that area seems to be the lack of love for their automobiles. I don't really blame anyone for not buying a Cougar out there because it would probably be dirty most of the time anyway. They don't use salt when there's ice on the road, but because of all the rain they have it seems like the cars and trucks out there are filthy. Oh well, not every area can have Cougar lovers like us *grin*.
So, how was everyone's holidays? I just thought I'd ask since I really didn't get the chance to be proactive and ask before I left on vacation (sorry about that). But my thoughts were with all of you and your families while I was away.
Take care everyone, and Happy Cougaring!
I clicked the Post My Message button after typing all of that, and it asked me if I really wanted to login again ... LOL! Oh well. To solve that (or get around it, anyway) I just re-entered the CSG topic and pasted (I remembered to copy the text before I sent it just in case something happened) and posted again. It worked as you can see. It's a hassle, sure, but it's better than losing a well-written post.
Later everyone!
But you made a very smart move prior to posting your message, and that's copying it first. If only you had told us to do that sooner, but hey, better late than never.
Note To Edmund's staff: It might help if you warned all Owner's Club members to do the same until all the bugs are worked out.
CONGRATS TO YOU AND YOUR WIFE!!!!
She is 8 months pregnant and you just found out? Is she carrying very light?
You've got me on this one. I have no idea. Anyone else have any ideas or theories?
Fish8-CONGRATULATIONS...I was once told that a newborn is like a present that unwraps itself daily.
First and foremost...
Fish8 blind? - Um...not to be rude, fish8, but how in the heck did you miss your wife being 8 months pregnant? Congratulations, nonetheless. Next time you drive her to visit the OB, sneak away to the eye doctor down the hall. Jeez!
New tires - I finally decided to get new tires, and the experience has been abysmal. I purchased Pirelli P4000 H-rated tires from Kauffman Tire here in Atlanta. WONDERFUL service experience, particularly during the busy holiday travel rush.
Unfortunately, I declined the alignment in the interest of saving some money. This, plus poorly balanced tires and a little too much air pressure, left me with the WORST ride ever from new tires from GA to NC for Christmas. Thought the steering wheel was going to vibrate loose and fall into my lap.
Luckily, the place fixed everything and deducted $20.00 for my holiday emergency stop at a podunk tire shop in north GA for a re-balancing of tires. Got an alignment and solved the problem.
New format still bites - Edmunds.com, you're going to lose me soon on this new format. I really do not like the clutter, the load time, and the difficulty in finding my last place visited. Plus, I lost valuable placemarks to messages I was interested in keeping for reference.
That groaning sound you've been hearing is a common observation of Cougar owners who apply the brakes while backing up after the vehicle has been parked long enough (overnight). It is due to a very thin coating of rust that forms on the rotors and is worn off at the first brake application. Nothing to worry about though, unless it occurs at other times.
My vote is to keep the two clubs as they are. As has been posted previously, each of the two clubs has its own unique take on the cougar, and I feel that merging the clubs would lose that quality. Also, I remember hearing that MWS got flamed by some of the members of NECO a while back. Having the brand manager for the cougar checking in on us every once in awhile is cool, and merging the two clubs might endanger that.
Brake Groan:
My brakes occasionally do this as well. Each car I've owned had it's own set of idiosyncracies, and brake groan appears to be one for the cougar. In 34K miles, I've not had any brake-related problems aside from the groan issue, and I don't believe it's anything to worry aboot.
Edmunds RE:Web Site Follies:
Folks, I would advise that the next time you do such a major reorg of the town hall you either email the topic managers or post a note to the topic well ahead of when the change is implemented. You've got a great thing going with the town hall feature at edmunds.com; it would be a shame to lose a significant number of members over this.
All:
Happy New Year and a great 2001 to all!
Jdbishop:
I believe Blane is right, as I experience the same. Does this sound you write about occur while you're moving forward as well as backward?
Please bear with us everyone with the new format. I would really hate to lose any of you all because of the shocking changes taking place here in the Town Hall. I can't say that it will get "better" in everyone's eyes, but I can assure you that with time you'll get used to it. I can only reassure you that Edmunds.com is working on it, and KarenS is making sure they do. Thanks everyone for bearing with us. I know it doesn't help for other topics, but remember that most of the CSG topics and other Cougar-related topics have been archived as PDF files on the CSG site: www.cougarsupportgroup.com
Everyone:
Have a safe and wonderful New Year! I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the camaradare we've experienced over the last several years, and hope that with the new millennium (yes, the real one) that we'll continue to grow as a community and a club. I can only hope that our venerable automobile of choice lasts as long, but only time will tell. Either way, have a happy change, and remember to be safe and Happy Cougaring!
Later! -- Until next year .....
Sorry all!!!! I meant 8 weeks!!!!
Everyone: Thanks for the posts and have a Happy New Year.
Has anyone else purchased the Pirelli P4000 tires for their Cougar? I'm just curious. I've driven a very biased 700+ miles on them. Since the alignment and re-balancing, I've not gotten on the interstate. Seems to be OK, though, around town.
Later,
burnsmr