1998 Mercury Cougar C2 Sport from North America - Comments

Dash Light went out, passenger window switch down doesn't work.

My cougar has a fair amount of acceleration from it's 197 HP Duratec. A top speed of 120, paired with a 0-60 of around 7 seconds, make it a sport-ish drive. It's super rigid suspension makes the smallest bump seem tragic, while at the same time making small landings feel like a bump should. On stock rubber it handles extremely well on dry pavement, but the first sign of moisture on the track and traction reliability is lost. Although I like the vehicle, especially for it's appearance, after a slew of 80's model vehicle, I can take note of the cheap plastic style of construction which makes this car endurable. It's sleek and sexy appearance do well to make up for it's short-comings, but I say, in a world of cheap, disposable plastic cars, it's one of the decent ones. The Automatic transmission is obedient, all bit is slow and problematic. Inconsistencies in shift patters are evident daily. But it obeys the commands of the shift lever better than I had expected. Care is required, as the car WILL use whatever gear you select, regardless of speed.

This Cougar V6 only generates 170hp, not 197hp. The planned Cougar-S was going to produce 196hp using the same engine found in the Ford Contour SVT, but was scrapped at the last moment. All the various anniversary and C2 packages offered for the Cougar were cosmetic.