Ford Cougar vs Mercedes C220 (1/4 mile race in Germany)
- Thread starter elipton
- Start date
The board is obstructed so it's difficult to say. But from the look of the terminal velocities, (assuming the Coug was in Lane 1) I'd say that the Cougar took it.
If that is a standard-ish W203 C220 coupe, that shouldn't be a surprise. The Cougar is simply more powerful in a straight line, all things being equal and assuming light modifications to both cars.
The Cougar was in Lane 1. The speedtrap suggests it was pulling away pretty well.
The Cougar's quart was 15.36, the Merc's 16+ so it was a comfortable win.
Seems that the Cougar is modified for the track, and it even has it's own Bookface page https://www.facebook.com/cougar.tracktool?fref=nf
The Cougar's quart was 15.36, the Merc's 16+ so it was a comfortable win.
Seems that the Cougar is modified for the track, and it even has it's own Bookface page https://www.facebook.com/cougar.tracktool?fref=nf
I think it says a lot about the fantastic ride quality in the Cougar that there's no G-Force either. I do get irritated by people listing their cars as Cougar S. On the other hand, that dash mod is beautiful on levels previously unobtained
Not to be too contraversial, but the Cougar's ride quality is awful. It's probably its worst attribute! It's fidgety and unsettled and the body flex shows.
I have to say, I kind of agree with this - I wouldn't go so far as to call it awful, but it's not great, especially at low speed (the quality of some of the road surfaces round my way could be partly responsible tho)
I meant it out of jest, but honestly I don't mind it too much. Compared to my brothers car's the Cougar's a slightly nicer ride
Only if we're talking about factory-standard cars, and only if we're comparing to saloons based on the same CDW27 platform.
When all a car really needs is a strut brace and maybe a thicker anti-roll bar to be tractable and docile when it needs to be, I simply can't call its handling "awful". I absolutely love how it feels as stable as a mountain goat, even though it's sitting on 18s and should be aggressive as hell. I've never driven anything quite so trustworthy.
This is a car that I transported T's sister home in with half her skull missing. In snow.
The Cougar has its faults, sure. Plough-on understeer in the V6. A slightly "crashy" way of dealing with vertical loads. But the first is designed in, and the second is there because... well okay. The World platform was never intended for a "personal sports" car that genuine Mercurys were.
Looking through the lens of owning a motor built in the last century, I really can't fault it. Seriously. I just paused for a few minutes to think of things I don't like about it, and all I could come up with were things that are present in Tracey's new Glof. And not one of those things relates to how it holds the road.
You want a car that will chew you up and spit you out because it hates you? Buy an Astra.
Ah now, the handling (even without any modifications) is great, very sure-footed and the steering is superb. This is why I'm happy to forgive the lumpy low-speed ride. I find it gets a good deal comfier at higher speeds anyway.
Why do I find this so funny?
Anyway, if it was too perfect there would be nothing to mod.
And like my old man used to say, anybody can drive a good'un
And like my old man used to say, anybody can drive a good'un
I hope you all understand that Jamie has a wider experience of European cars than I do. It might be that overall, his evaluation of the Cougar is reasonable in the context of 3-Series and Volvos. I'm just saying that characterising the Cougar as "awful" in any way is not justified because I've driven some catastrophically awful cars in my time. They were simply horrible and not all of them were American.
Note I said ride quality Chris, not handling
The Cougar handles pretty well (post mods especially). The ride quality is pants though. It is particularly bad at low speed and about average at higher speeds.
It's nothing I don't think couldn't have been sorted with more development by the Ford engineering and test driving team, but it didn't happen. Most contemporary cars soak up bumps far better. It's not a firmness or sportiness thing - there are contemporary sports cars that are smoother to drive whilst being more agile. It just didn't get enough time trying different suspension configurations before it went to market.
It IS a fidgety car on uneven surfaces. It just wont settle. That's completely unrelated to its handling balance or indeed its gripping abilities.
That and naff seats are probably the only two things I don't miss about mine.
Honestly, I think that Ford were angling for something that the average punter *thought* was a sports car.
I won't second-guess them because I'm not qualified to, but as a driver I think that they achieved near perfection if they were building a GT. I can't believe they didn't know that they were, but I can believe that they didn't fully care that it was a poor fit for the UK's use-case. They had a car that they wanted to sell and were deliberately blind to all the data they had.
I don't like it on country roads, granted, and until stiffened up it's not happy. But once you Anglicise it, it's wonderful.
I won't second-guess them because I'm not qualified to, but as a driver I think that they achieved near perfection if they were building a GT. I can't believe they didn't know that they were, but I can believe that they didn't fully care that it was a poor fit for the UK's use-case. They had a car that they wanted to sell and were deliberately blind to all the data they had.
I don't like it on country roads, granted, and until stiffened up it's not happy. But once you Anglicise it, it's wonderful.