My first cat

Y

y3n2

New user
Sep 1, 2021
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Hey everyone,

I'm Josh from Melbourne Aus. I'll be completely honest, I had never heard of the 'Ford Cougar' in my life. Right up until about a week ago when I bought my first my cat! Thought I got a pretty good catch for the price for a 2001 c2 with only 135,000km on the clock. Had to do a little interior/exterior detailing and fix a few issues (abs was off and a couple leaks) but overall a really sound car and insane fun to drive. I can now confidently say I'm falling with the charm but jee wiz it is hard to find info on this bad boy. I was wanting to make a few modifications, nothing ricer or jdm like but just a few things to make it a bit more mine and get a little more oomph out of it. For now I'm just looking at the basics wheels, tires, suspension maybe exhaust but struggling to find any info. I got 16" 4x108 stocks on at the moment but want to go a little bigger and a little wider maybe diameter of 17-18? If anyones got suggestions for wheels please let me know! Also any suspension suggestions/tips that would be highly appreciated, just feel like the back is incredibly high. Oh, if lastly I'm thinking of adding a pod filter (will retune after) if anyone has a favourite or tips for it. I'll post some pics tomorrow when I can get some decent shots and hope everyones staying safe.

Thanks again everyone!
Josh
 
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Hi Josh, great to hear we have a new convert, and I'm fairly sure you're not our only member in Oz, either.

To address your specific questions in turn:
• 17" or 18" wheels will go straight on with no arch modifications. You'll need 215 (or 225)/45/17 or 225/40/18 tyres to maintain the same wheel circumference and retain speedo and odometer accuracy.

•For suspension, try and track down a set of Eibach springs, which lower the ride height by around 25mm. These were available aftermarket from Ford dealers and are generally considered to give the best balance of looks and improved handling without destroying the ride comfort. You also had a dedicated Eibach special edition model in Australia that we didn't get in the UK, which came fitted with Eibach shocks and springs and (I think) a thicker rear anti-roll bar as standard. If you can track one of these down in a breaker's yard then you may be able to grab the suspension components if they're in decent condition. Other reputable brands are Spax and Apex, but check that you're getting V6 specific springs as the 2.0 I4 Zetec had slightly softer front springs due to the lighter engine weight.

•Aftermarket cone filters such as K&N or Pipercross will fit straight on in place of the factory airbox and make a great noise, but don't really bring any performance gain. If anything, the heatsoak due to the placement of the filter actually degrades performance slightly. A better solution is an aftermarket panel filter, again from manufacturers such as K&N or Pipercross, which fits in the original airbox, facilitates better airflow and still gives a small degree of induction roar.
 
Hello Josh and welcome to the forum.

There's a varied selection of wheels in this thread:

www.ukcougar.club

What Wheels? a pictorial reference

So, i was wondering :idea: what wheels is everybody on? Post pics and relevant info/comments about your wheels but no chat/spam please. Chat will be deleted!!! This thread could also serve as a reference for members wanting to upgrade but need to view different wheel types. This is a pictorial...
www.ukcougar.club www.ukcougar.club

Looking forward to seeing some photos of your Cougar.
 
Thanks guys! already unbelievably helpful.
@Relliott6879 That was really helpful, dont know if u can access the link but do you mean something like this? Eibach Pro-Kit Lowering Springs - Autoware

If so perfect, I can get them shipped from within aus! Would you know of any coil overs? Just in case I'd like to adjust the heights and what not. Just want to say I cannot explain my excitement towards developing this car, I can say now I truely understand why people refer to their cars as their baby's.
 
Hi Josh and welcome.

Performance wise there are bolt on modifications you can do , mainly the parts from what in the UK was the Mondeo ST200.

The items you want are the Upper and lower intake manifolds , fuel injectors the airbox and Air bellows plus the throttle body, although if you can get it I'd go for the throttle body from a ST220 mondeo instead as there is no need to change the throttle cable going this route , all these parts are a straight swap and will give you performance gains.

Getting rid of the precats is a good way to get a performance gain too by fitting aftermarket headers
 
@dandamano Thank you! That is exactly the kind of info I was trying to find. I was wanting to start getting into bolt on modifications, think I might start on some once I've got wheels and suspension sorted. Would changing the throttle body be a big job if I was to grab one from a ST220?

I was looking at exhaust systems but as a bit of a newbie I been struggling to figure out what would fit what ahah.
 
If you use the throttle body from a ST200 you need to change the throttle cable to an ST200 one aswel so that's the pain changing the cable , but if you can get an ST220 throttle body you can bolt that straight on with no need to change the cable.
 
The springs in your link appear to be for a Focus RS, Josh, so it's doubtful they'd fit a Cougar. If you're buying from the UK then, aswell as the Cougar, look for items compatible with the Mk2 (1996-2000) Mondeo V6, particularly the ST24 or ST200. The Cougar shared a chassis with the Mondeo and the V6 is effectively an ST24 in a pretty dress, albeit with a shared front subframe and suspension wishbones with the ST200 (the wishbones are distinguishable by having four mounting bolts per side, rather than two). The Cougar's rear suspension struts do have a flattened section on the inside profile, whereas the Mondeo's were completely cylindrical, but the Mondeo versions have been proven to fit without issue.

Similarly, if buying from the US, look for items from the 1995-2000 Ford Contour or Mercury Mystique, which also used the same platform.
 
Welcome mate! Are you a Supercars /ATCC fan? I usually bore people on here witless with my obsession for all things bathurst etc, so it'd be nice to have someone else to pester!
 
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Hi Josh! Sounds like you've got some good starting points already, so other than thoroughly agreeing with Rich about heat-soak (unless you want to shell out for a PiperX Viper Carbon) I'll just say welcome and please don't be afraid to ask questions!

Just one thing though... I know that Melbourne isn't particularly wet, but it is largely coastal. Not sure what an Australian vehicle inspection is like but if they check for corrosion, there's a few things you might lke to do to protect your car.

https://www.ukcougar.club/threads/welcome-to-your-new-home-wildcat.32604/page-3#post-584969
 
Welcome to cougar ownership, lots of fun, lot of heart ache in equal measure..lol, general lack of interest in the model is our biggest problem, because of that spare parts are difficult to source, running gear not so bad as it's a shared platform with the Mondeo but there are differences, body panels are impossible to get hold of new, apart from the odd ex stock from the states, performance parts are thin on the ground, the V6 engine never had the tunning equipment that the four cylinder unit has had, nothing wrong with the V6 however, it's strong, reliable and has good power delivery though out the rev range, fitted with 225 wide boots and lower springs transforms the handling which is good anyway 👍
 
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