Cougar Support Group - Bigger & Better

lmigliore

So, I'm driving along at 80 mph in the left lane of a 6-lane freeway and see a slow truck on an entrance ramp followed by a half-dozen cars. When the truck gets on the highway, the cars pull into the center lane to pass it. Except for this mindless biddy in an old Cougar (the ones they made by uglifying T-birds) who pulls into the fast lane, which is where I was. She was, of course, doing about 30 mph and was in no danger of passing the cars in the center lane. I have no idea what her mackeral brain was thinking.

Cougar brakes to the rescue once again. The thing didn't even screech, it just plain stopped. They'll have to try harder than that to get me. But they probably will.

stageleft

Yes, Lmigliore, they probably will. At least you know that you're secure with the confidence of your driving skills matched with the supreme safety of the Cougar! I hope you at least made your finger known to the old bat! LOL! Just kidding, but it does frustrate me when someone pulls a bonehead maneuver like the one you described.

badulah

camelard:
I know of no way to disable the warning lights. If you pull the fuse, you may disable other lights and accessories throughout the car, so I would not recommend that.

MWS0520:
WHERE ARE YOU!? We havn't seen you in a while, and I sent a few emails to Dan and Heidi, but no one wrote back. Are all of you still with us here in Cougar Land?

burnsmr4

Mr. Badulah ;-)

Where did you buy your Dunlops SP5000s? What did you pay (tire cost only) for them? Does the aggressive tread pattern make a lot of highway or road noise?

My Firestones look like sh...whoa...moderated discussion board here. Um...they look like...well...they're Firestones. I haven't even hit the wear bars, and I can barely get traction on a quick start on dry pavement. My year old Adidas running shoes (with gum on the bottom of one) are grippier than these tires. Hmmm...maybe it's the gum.

Thanks, Badulah. Wish I didn't have to freeze my poor skinny butt off to pump gas. It's unseasonably COLD here in Atlanta today.

badulah

burnsmr4:
I purchased my tires at a local tire and wheel dealership here in NJ. I got a package deal on my tires. For everything, including tax, I paid $500.00 even. I absolutely love these tires, and i'm currently working on a review of them for the web page (i'm literally working on it right now). I should have it completed and posted within the next few days.

I would recommend these tires to anyone looking for an excellent all season performance tire. For the money, I have yet to find a better tire.

jrp6977

I can't find any crash test results on the new edge Cougar. Has anyone heard of any crsh tests being done?

dgemini

I just put your Chip review on the Fastcougar modifications post. Are you still enjoying the chip? When do you plan on getting an aftermarket exhaust.

camelard

Here is the response I got from NHTSA (essentially the projected sales volumes for the cougar didn't warrant testing)

Unfortunately we are not able to test every vehicle in every crash mode. The NCAP list for model year 2000 vehicles scheduled to be tested as well as tentative test dates have been posted on the NHTSA web site. Test dates may change depending on vehicle availability, weather, etc. At Present there are no plans to test the Cougar in the frontal crash. Congress has to approve the money spent on the New Car Assessment Program and we can not spend a dollar more than what Congress approves. This year the New Car Assessment Program has been allotted 2.6 million dollars. We think it is a bargain for the taxpayers and we are working to make the information clear and easier to obtain. In order to optimize the money allotted by congress, we generally only test those vehicles with expected high projected sales volume. Sometimes, NHTSA chooses to test a vehicle that has a potentially innovative safety device, regardless of the sales volume. For example, this year, we will crash test 29 vehicles in the frontal direction and 29 vehicles in the side direction. With carry over vehicles, twins and these 29 new vehicles, we will provide frontal information on 74% of the passenger vehicles sold and side impact information on 72% of the vehicles sold in the USA. You might try the IIHS , EURO NCAP or the NRMA web sites. You can link to them from our web site.Thank you for your inquiry and please continue to check our Web Site for further crash test ratings. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/


I also tried the other sites mentioned but found nothing on them either.

jrp6977

Thanks for the info camelard. I guess ignorance is bliss. I suppose the closest thing to a Cougar test would be a test on the Mystique or Contour. If I remember correctly, they are rated as "acceptable".

badulah

dgemini:
I still have the chip, but currently it is not installed. The last time I went in for service they changed the computer codes (and the HEX code), and forgot to post them on the car. I have gotten the new codes, but I havn't had the time to have the chip reprogrammed.

I plan to build a Borla system this coming spring. The wider tires, Visteon kit, and dual exhaust system will look sweet once they are all done. I'm also thinking about installing springs from KKM, but that will only take place after all the other mods are done.

malibu

Just wanted to wish everyone a very SAFE and wonderful Thanksgiving. Please be patient in your travels and drive safely.

Lisa.

stageleft

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I hope your extended weekend is safe and happy.

coolchick

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
and
Happy Cougaring!

camelard

Happy American Thanksgiving to all. Have a healthy, happy weekend.

patte

MWS: Are you still around?! Our local paper reported yesterday that NHTSA has been talking about 1998 year mystique/contour problems with "spit-out" during fueling and assorted problems with the automatic nozzles shutting off inappropriately. Since the cougar is built on the same platform, how much else is the same? Is it possible that my husband's problem with gushing gas while filling the cougar is related to those problems?

jayhawk5

I too have had problems occasionally with the gas shutting off on time on my 2000 cat. I always have to watch it really closely.

garyinvest

I have had my 2000 Cat since mid-July and love it. I took it to the dealer for the first time this week to have some minor warranty work performed. The car veers to the left when driving and I thought a front end alignment would fix this. It didn't. The car still veers to the left when I let go of the steering wheel. Any suggestions? My real question is about re-painting an entire side panel of the Cougar. I ask them to touch up a very minor scratch on the hood and the side panel just underneath the right rear window. They did a perfect job on the hood. You would never know it was ever scratched. They botched the scratch on the side however and said that they would need to re-paint the entire side panel to fix this correctly. None of this is costing me anything since this is all covered under warranty (scratches were there when I first bought the car). I've never had a car re-painted and I'm just sick at the thought of having a portion of a brand new car re-painted. They guarantee that it will look like new and that I'll never be able to tell it was re-painted. Can anybody provide me with any advice on this. Should I go ahead with this and have it re-painted? It's such a small scratch it's unnoticeable unless it's pointed out to someone. None the less, it is a scratch that I would like to have removed. The color is laser red and they said it's a bit difficult to match the color but they always get it right. I'm having images of an even worse looking car with the re-painting. If anyone in this club has ever had their car repainted, has it in fact looked like new and held up well? Am I panicing about this all for nothing? Thanks for your input.

Gary

dgemini

Just came from reading about some of the much higher priced "competition", ie. Toyota Solara and Acura CL topics.

You would not believe some of the complaints owners have about these "maintenance free" made in Japan, mechanical wonders.

The next time I hear someone talk about "unreliable" American cars I will direct them to these posts!

fish8

I have a Spruce Green '99 Cougar. I have had 2 minor fender benders(none were my fault) including the left front quarter panel, driver side mirror, driver door and the entire rear bumper was replaced. All the mentioned parts were replaced and painted at my local L/M dealer body shop. ALL the work was done 100% to my satisfaction. As some in this board know, I am VERY particular about my car. My wife calls it obsessive, but I like to think of it as particular. I, also, was worried how the car would look after I got it back. The car looked like it did when I drove it off the dealers lot. It is totally amazing what body shops can do nowadays. Obviously, I can't vouch for your body shop, but they are able to do great jobs.

fish8

I am planning on replacing my 15" Firestones towards the end of winter or early spring and was wondering if there would be a problem with me getting 16" tires? I will NOT be getting Firestones again. I will rotate balance and align my tires again during my next service in January since my front tires are wearing terribly on the inside. I just want to wear my current tires down a little before getting a new set. I have about 18,700 miles on them as of today.

Thoughts???

fish8

Will 16" tires fit on my 15" rims? Sorry for my ignorance!!!

lmigliore

They'll fit real good but you won't be able to put any air in them on account of the 1/2" gap all around.

If you want 16" tires you got to go for the wheels too.

stageleft

Yup, and as for the paint issues, I have had an experience where my dealership mismatched the paint on an area, only to have to re-do it for 100% satisfaction. Either way though, the job was done right. I think as long as you're happy with the paint job, they're happy too. After all, an unhappy customer is NOT a return customer...

Anyhow, take care everybody, hope your long weekends weren't as short as mine! ;^)

burnsmr4

What was that coolant light issue?

- I don't want to beat a dead horse, but what, in general, was causing y'all's coolant lights to come on when parking on hills or in cold weather? Nothing mechanical, right? Just low coolant? I'm asking, because I checked my coolant on a level surface the other day, and it was normal.

Can I add synthetic power steering fluid?

I purchased the Mobil brand of synthetic steering fluid the other day to top off my '99 Cougar's power steering fluid reservoir. Bad idea? I've not added it yet, so tell me if I shouldn't. I wasn't sure if you could mix Ford fluid with Mobil synthetic brand fluid.

Later,
burnsmr

burnsmr4

Fish8,

You live in the Atlanta area, right? Where are you buying tires from? Kauffman? NTB? Butler?

Just curious. I'm in the process of doing the same thing. I have 22,500 on my tires.

Thanks,
burnsmr

badulah

All:
Friday I looked out the window and saw how dirty my cat was, so I decided to wash it. I went in to the garage, hooked up the hose, filled a bucket, put on my rubber gloves, and opened the door. That's when I realized it was something like 38 degrees outside. BURRRR, it was cold, but I decided to do a quick wash, so it shouldn't be to bad. Man was I wrong. My hands were numb in a matter of seconds. The wind was causing the water to spray everywhere, and my neighbors were all looking at me like I was nuts. At one point I finished spraying the hose and I dropped it on the ground and the nozzle got stuck open and soaked me. One of my elderly neighbors came walking down the block, stopped, staired at me, and said "If you love your future wife as much as you love that car, MARRY ME!!!" I laughed and admitted that I went a little to far this time and needed a check-up from the neck up for washing my car on such a cold day. I managed to finish up in less than 40 minutes, but there were water spots all over her, and I didn't get to wax her, but under the circumstances, I really didn't care. Besides, it rained the next day making my car look worse that it was to begin with.

badulah

Never heard of synthetic steering fluid. I'll have to check it out.

Synthetic oil should not be mixed with regular oil, but I don't know if this rule applys to synthetic steering fluid. If Mobile has a web site, you should send them an email asking them.

malibu

I too decided to wash and wax my cat over the holiday, Sorry to say it was 72 degrees out, sunny and clear. No water spots and I wore shorts! Ha Ha. Maybe you should move here! then we will have increased the cougar population by one. They are pretty rare around here.

bonnie_rick

in Cougar Support Group - Chats On... (Topic #9).

Enjoy!

Bonnie Rick
Conferences Manager, Edmunds.com Town Hall