Cougar Support Group - A New Start

stageleft

Great news, Malibu!

I agree, Fish8, because what are we but individualists? We've all got our reasons, and I'm glad that Cougar owners are as cool as you guys are! I'm not so sure about some of those BMW owners, I'm starting to believe that plastic surgury to get your nose at that angle is required in the purchase agreement ... :^)

fish8

Last week I pulled up to a light and next to me was a new 323i. He obviously wanted to race and took off like a bat out of hell. I didn't even bother. It appeared that that car can haul. I wonder if I could of given him a run for his money? Anyone know how fast a new 323 is? Has anyone in here tangled with one?

stageleft

Nope, no Beemers, talk to me about Acuras ...

dasaint1

fish8:
A guy at my job has an older 323. We were just talking about our cars this morning at the parking lot. I was showing him the little scratch that I thought was major, but he just laughed at it and told me to get over it. He told me his 323 has an 189 hp I-6. I would imagine that the new ones have even more. I think it was a smart move on your part not to bother racing him unless you were in a Cougar S.


Katlvr:
I, too, had a rental Grand Am a few months ago. The car looks ungainly (or should I just be bold and say--ugly). I would never buy one, but it's pretty OK for a rental.

dasaint1

Hang in there!!

Soon, it'll be your turn to start posting stories with you and your Cat.

dgemini

Based on what I have read the BMW 323 has a 170 hp I6. I also believe that Edmunds says the same thing.

The 328 has a 193 hp I6.

dasaint1: I do not know what your buddy is talking about. Maybe he thinks it has 189 hp.

dgemini

The following was copied of Edmunds for the BMW 323 Sedan.

SPECIFICATIONS & SAFETY FEATURES

Performance Data
Acceleration (0-60 mph): 7.1 sec.
Braking Distance (60-0 mph): 130 ft.
Roadholding Index: 0.79
Base Number of Cylinders: 6
Base Engine Size: 2.5 liters
Base Engine Type: Inline
Horsepower: 170 hp @ 5500 rpm
Torque: 181 ft-lbs. @ 3500 rpm

As you can see, it's engine size, and performance levels are very similar to the Cougar's for a much lower price. You definitely could have given it a run for it's money.

fish8

I thought the 323 had 170hp. The only problem I have with my Cat is its an Automatic. I guess if the BMW was an auto that might be a different story. But I still wouldn't want to waste my gas on the bimmer. Today driving home this guy in a new Dodge Dakota V6 wanted to go. We did, He lost. Most of the time I don't waste my gas on racing. But if the right car comes along, what the hell as long as you are careful and don't get carried away. I hear about some people racing at speeds above 100. Thats just crazy.

daexpert

I think that a good driver on a Cougar (probably not me = ) )could certainly take a 323. The 328's probably have too much pep for the kitties though. Definitely, they are both great cars, but the Cougar is just a much better bargain.

lmigliore

I actually considered a 323 when I was buying a car. It's a better car than the Cougar in every respect, but not better enough. The performance is really quite similar but the BMW is much more civilized; quieter, smoother, better built. But $12,000 more? Not me.

rickel

I became EXTREMELY more dangerous today! You see, a co-worker lent me a CD of the music from "The Prisoner," that old 1967 series that starred Patrick McGoohan.

Well, the opening theme includes the sounds of Pat's Lotus zooming over the roads of England...and it was MADE for driving at crazy speeds. I found myself zooming along in my Kitty at speeds well above the posted limit, and had to slow myself, saying "This is real life, buddy!"

I'll cut loose when I get on an open Interstate somewhere...hopefully, I'll stay below 100 mph!

I love my Cat!

coolchick

rickel:

Be sure the insurance premiums are paid before you blast off!

fastback2

rickel:

Heh, Heh. Don't feel too bad. I had a similar experience while listening to "Red Barchetta", a tune written by the rock group Rush. The song really goes well with driving the cougar.

stageleft

Those songs and the "Peter Gunn" theme ... oh yeah, and does anyone listen to Cake? Their song about "Going the Distance" is really a good one to drive to.

badulah

All:
Well i'm back and it has taken me an hour to catch up with all the posts. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well.

StageLeft:
Going the Distance is a GREAT song to blast while driving at high speeds!

Fastback2:
Rush is my favorite band! I burned a CD mix with all of their best stuff and that song is on there. Red Barchetta is definitely written to drive fast to.

"I fire up the willing engine,
Responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel,
I commit my weekly crime...
Wind In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenalin surge...
Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.
Suddenly ahead of me,
Across the mountainside,
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide.
I spin around with shrieking tires,
To run the deadly race,
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.
Drive like the wind,
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside."

stageleft

So, if we were to break that down, you could be running from the monstrous SUV's? :^)

patte

If you're still with us - be careful about the back seat of the car you buy. You don't say how old your daughter is but if she still legally needs to be in a carseat or booster, some of these cars will not work. Child safety seat techs complain about some Saturns and Mitsubishis. I haven't tried but I don't think with the scoop in the cougar backseat it would be possible to get some booster or child safety seats in there tight. Just my two cents if that's a consideration for you. (I have seen moms in tears cuz the seat their kid actually loves doesn't fit in the brand new minivan.)

patte

My (slightly embarrassing but worth sharing) personal favorite: Handel's Messiah-the Hallelujah Chorus. You have to experience it to understand.

barhender

patte: Handel's Messiah is one of the finer ways to begin the day when driving the mighty Cat into dawn's sun on my way to the golf course...
Hallelujah!

coolchick

Tuff Enuff - Fabulous Thunderbirds

---------

And I discovered today that my old Cutlass (which I have been ignoring until I do what needs to be done to sell her) was vandalized last night!

Someone drove down the street while a buddy apparently was hanging out the window with a big magic marker type thing on a stick. I've got a thick wavy black line all the way down the driver's side, ending up on the hood with a 10-inch long scratch to boot.

I think I'm going to give this car to the Salvation Army and take the tax deduction rather than try to sell her. Poor thing! I'm feeling very guilty about this.

rickel

I was enroute from work to home tonight, when I saw a deer cross the road about 100 feet in front of me. I started to slow, then "POW!!" I was looking at clouds of smoke in front of me, and I couldn't see where I was going.

I braked rapidly, and when I could see again, I realized that my airbag had deployed. I quided the car into a parking lot, and sat there, wondering what happened.

I got out, hoping it wouldn't be too bad. But it is. Hood, bumper, windshield and right headlight assembly are toast. I was heartbroken.

But I realized, even as I stood there, that I was very lucky. The chances of running off the road while blinded were very good, and I had no clue at the time what was going on.

I never saw the deer I hit until I walked back 200 yards to where it lay dead. It wasn't large, 40 pounds or so, but enough of a missile to really hurt my car. Poor critter.

My car goes in the shop soon. I will miss it greatly!

Rick

coolchick

rickel

I'm so sorry for you and for the deer and your kitty.

I swear, there's something going on with the full moon. Other things are going ker-phlooey in my life right now (besides the vandalism) and I'm going to be very happy when May is over and done with.

rickel

The morning after isn't any better than last night...I can see the damage clearly, and it's bad.

Well, shucks. I'll let you know what the estimates run. At least deer strikes are covered under comprehensive.

Incedible. The more I think on it, the more I realize...there was nothing I could do to prevent this. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Does anybody know if deer whistles really work? I'm willing to try them, now...anything to avoid this again.

stageleft

Rickel,

Really sad, sorry to hear about all that damage, and I'm happy that you're not hurt at all. That sounds like a scary thing to go through, especially in a new car. Take care, and if you need anything, we're here for you!

Coolchick,

Did you get vandalized too?

gustafsc

Did you at least claim the carcass so you could eat it in revenge? :b

Skip G.

badulah

Rickel:
Sorry to hear about your accident, but i'm glad the Cat did it's job and brought you safely through it.

Hopefully the damage can be repaired with little cost to you. You'll be back in action before you know it!

krnch

Rickel:

Sorry to hear about your accident. I'm glad you're okay. Was the smoke from the airbag or the engine. I hope that Duratech is okay. The rest is just sheet metal, plastic and glass.

Fastback2/Badulah:

Red Barchetta is a great driving tune. I'm glad to hear you like the boys from Toronto. I work with 'the biggest Rush fan ever'. He has all of their recordings (on several different media) both in original and remastered form. He is also striving to get every bootleg concert recording of Rush available. His collection is quite incredible. He has seen them live several times and spends more time on Rush enthusiast websites than I do on the CSG.

I hit the rev. limiter the other night on the way home from work. This car sure loves to rev. Sooooo smoooooth!! What a great car.

A.

malibu

Rickel:
Sooo sorry to hear about your accident, but very happy your kitty protected you the best she could.

Coolchick:
You are sooo right about the moon, everyones either acting stupid or being very grumpy! Only a couple more weeks and May will be over! Yeah.

rickel

will not be served at my place anytime soon. I didn't think to load the carcass onto my car, and besides, I was told by somebody that knows that its condition did not bode well for good meat.

The smoke was all from the airbag, which has a remarkably bad smell. Fortunately, my windows and sun roof were open, so most of the airbag gases escaped immediately.

The hardest part about the whole thing was figuring out what was going on. I was still moving along at 40 or 45mph while staring at the airbag, and had I swerved, worse things might have happened then just hitting a deer. I was just sitting there, and only after the bag had started to deflate did I realize what the situation was.

All of my damage is superficial. The engine still starts and runs fine. It won't be cheap or easy to fix my Kitty, but I have a good insurance company, and it should all work out.

Thanks for the well wishes!

coolchick

lefty

See my post #724 re vandals

stageleft

Oops. I read that too, I just didn't remember your Cat getting vandalized, so I guess it didn't sink in. Sorry about that. :^)

badulah

All:
Check out Club topic #19 "Cougar Support Group - Meet the Members".

coolchick

Yes, SIR, Mr. Badman!!! Right away, SIR!!!

jayhawk5

Careful- you're bringing back some bad memories from basic training!

katlvr

rickel, I know what you're going through but, look on the bright side, you're alive. Last month my Professor was at a stop light here in Toronto when she was rear ended, the air bag deployed and killed her, no other damage to her Acura and minimal damage to the other vehicle. So count your blessings and don't let them give you a pontiac grand am as a rental!

dgemini

Sorry to hear about your kitty. I won't go into the spiel about my car again, however make sure you note all the damage to your vehicle and ensure that it all gets fixed.

ktlvr: Sorry to hear about your professor. I really wonder about air bags, I really thought they were livesavers, however having her die from a rear end is really sad.

My fiancee was in a wreck a few months back, both air bags deployed, but thank God she was fine.

badulah

Coolchick:
WHAT In GOD'S NAME ARE YOU LOOKING AT???!!! ANSWER ME!!!!! GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 20!!!!!

-end flashback-

Where am I? what's going on? (rubs his eyes and trys to clear his head). I had the strangest dream, I was back in,,,, well,,, I was,,,,,, Um, never mind.

rickel

I didn't want to have that sad sight sitting in the driveway any longer, so I drove my Cougar to the auto body shop in my neighborhood, who cam highly recommnded.

The fellow at the shop told me that I was the fourth deer strike he saw this week. The deer are really running. There was a Buick Riviera in the lot that had damage similar to mine...even as I was driving in, I was thinking "Deer strike."

BTW, it turns out that my windshield was broken by the airbag cover flipping up and hitting it--NOT by the deer. Airbags may have a lot of benefits, but I will definitely be a little uneasy about them from now on.

I go to get my rental today. It will be a sad couple of weeks driving a merely normal car around. Man!

I feel badly for the deer, though. I reckon I will get deer whistles, on the off chance that they work.

Cheers!
Rick

bobschm

Airbags are what you get when well intentioned but uninformed do-gooders try to protect stupid people from their own stupidity.

Because no one was using seatbelts, we got explosive devices mounted in front of our faces while we drive. Great idea. Now they are investing energy and money in correcting the hazards of having a bag of gas detonate in your face. While they add still more explosives as side airbags, rearseat airbags, and maybe overhead airbags too.

Why not simply require belts to be worn? Those who wish may flaunt the law, of course. But at least, after you die, the money you paid in fines will cover the cleanup of your carcass.

fredly

Kinda scares me though that a 80lb deer can set off our airbags

rickel

I suppose that the end result of this fervent desire to protect drivers will be what was displayed in "Demolition Man," that Sly S. film with Wesley Snipes as the bad dude.

The car Sly is in cracks up, and the entire interior fills with foam to protect the passengers.

Hehe....imagine having THAT happen while you are driving 50mph!

And yes, it bugs me that my airbags deployed. My impact with the deer was not noticeable. The auto body man said that most cars are designed with a single sensor these days, and that air bags go off easier than ever.

Drive safe, folks...and sit as far away from the wheel as you can.

Rick

daexpert

Hey guys,

Do the windows in your kitties get really foggie when it's raining? I was driving home yesterday from work, and my windows were opened because it had stopped raining, but my windshield was still getting really fogged up so I had to keep using that defroster/defogger (whatever is called!) which stinks because it sucks a lot of power from the kitty.

And the brakes in the Cougar are great. Yesterday there was a chain collision right in front of me(cause of the rain) and thank God my kitty stop dead in its tracks. The car in front of me wasn't so lucky though. It was scary but I didn't hit anybody. Great brakes for sure.

fredly

daexpert, yup I get all foggy too, even to the back window too.
I'm thinking about a way to disable the compressor when I switch to
the defroster vents, maybe a little switch, seems odd that I cannot
select those vents without the compressor coming on.
Yup great brakes

jcummings

does anyone out there have a price on the new cougar S type? looking for a bit more power then the v-6 and none of the dealerships seem to want to give me something to go by in price comparison. i live in the pa philly area and have a cougar being built for about 18,000, fully loaded. just great i think for a car of this type

fish8

I don't think the exact prices have been released yet. The Cougar S will ot come out until this fall.

catscratch

my salesman guestimated about 3-5,000 more than the V6....but due to the limited quantity, it will most likely cost a guy a bit more...

stageleft

Good morning all. Hope everyone's weekend was good (even those of us on the East Coast who are getting rampaged by this stupid rain storm).

Just wanted to check in. I think I remember the estimated price for the "S" to be about what catscratch said, plus just looking at the price of the Contour SVT (I've seen that as low as $22,500), I would guess that's about right. But, as mentioned, they'll be in really limited numbers, so we might all be wrong.

rickel

$6,000 in damage by my deer strike, and that's only for largely cosmetic parts and repairs.

One support, the radiator, and probably the fan, need to be replaced. Other than that, it's sheet metal, headlight assemblies, paint and the windshield. Oh, and the airbags.

1/3rd the purchase price of the car--wow. I am staggered.

daexpert

A salesperson at my dealer said that he was expecting the price of the Cougar-S to be in the range ot $25K-$28K. I'm not sure how accurate that would be, but he did say that they would probably only get two of them at that dealer and more than likely the buyers would be willing to pay that and if not more for the Cougar-S.

jayhawk5

25-28K sounds really high for a cougar S type IMHO. If they really are that much I would think that the demand would go way down. I know I wouldn't pay an extra $10,000 for 30 more hp and a better suspension. That would also put it totally out of my price range at that cost, where the regular cougar was just right. Anyhow, it will be interesting to see where they decide to price the S. I think if you could walk out of the door with one for 20-21k that would be pretty fair and reasonable. Just my 2 cents.