New Cougar owner - possibly.....

Dabooka

Dabooka

Club Member
Apr 30, 2014
1,098
687
North East
Good morning, I hoped to be able to ask the collective a few questions. I signed up to the site some 3-4 months ago and have been reading ever since to try and get an impression of Cougar ownership; needless to say nothing I've read has put me off!

I think I'm coming around to the idea of getting rid of my 6 year old Note (it was the wife's car, but now it's mine. What fun :oops:) and replacing it with a thirsty 15 year old car with higher tax and insurance. The site overall has given me a good idea of what to expect mechanically from a Cougar, but I'd love to know some more about the practicalities of living with one. So, basically I would love to hear your views on the following;

  1. Snow! How does the Cougar handle in snow and bad weather in general? This is a big concern for me, as I live down an unpaved track and getting snowed in is an expected winter occurrence for many along here. That and working in Co. Durham means I can't afford to be off the road whenever any of white stuff comes falling. This is a big deal for me, I don't expect 4x4 performance but I need it to perform well enough.
  2. Doors. I have a 3 year old, travel in my car will be frequent. Anyone live with a rug rat and does the long doors / weird rear seats make it intolerable? I accept I'll struggle in car parks, that's the joys of a coupe (my 320cd had similar doors).

I think I know what else to expect after browsing the forum, which I must say is rather amazing. Genuine, practical help abound on these boards, you should all be proud!

Thanks for your help, and please let me know of anything else I may need to consider.

Sam (aka Dabooka)
 
Hi Sam
As ever I defer to the more experienced to give you the actual ins and outs, but I bought mine on a whim back in February and have not regretted it. I don't expect it would be any better or worse in the snow than any other large FWD car, it's not generally a problem where I live though and I've often access to a 4x4 anyway. The V6 does come with a switchable traction control system.

On the doors front I've not tried a baby seat in the back but we are (according to the Mrs anyway) thinking about having children at some point and I'm not considering changing it. The rear seats are definetly 'buckets' though so some child seats may fit better than others.

There are a couple of nice cars for sale on here presently.

Good to hear from you!:)
 
No heavy FWD with "wide" tyres is going to offer great snow performance on summer tyres, that's just the laws of physics doing it's job and keeping order in the universe. Winter tyres will be of great benefit to you if you really need poor weather traction as ultimately these are the first part of the jigsaw to getting decent snow performance. A Cougar (at a complete guess) should at offer reasonable FWD snow traction on decent cold-rated tyres.

You need to look at light FWDs or 4x4 obviously if this is a serious concern though. I had a 106 on winter tyres years ago and the little thing was going places a lot of other cars couldn't!
 
Thanks for the replies chaps.

We also own a RAV4 for the missus to use on her commute, and the Note is suprisingly good on the all season tyres we have on that, and either all season or a winter set for the Cougar would be a forgone conclusion for me anyway. I've kind of assumed that with the right tyres on it should be reasonable enough, I just wonder if anyone on here has actually tried tried this combination.

I suppose I'm trying to ensure there are no shouts of "Don't do it!" for winter driving!
 
Dabooka said:
Thanks for the replies chaps.

We also own a RAV4 for the missus to use on her commute, and the Note is suprisingly good on the all season tyres we have on that, and either all season or a winter set for the Cougar would be a forgone conclusion for me anyway. I've kind of assumed that with the right tyres on it should be reasonable enough, I just wonder if anyone on here has actually tried tried this combination.

I suppose I'm trying to ensure there are no shouts of "Don't do it!" for winter driving!
Click to expand...

The Cougar is pretty good in the snow - particularly the V6 with it's big heavy donkey over the front wheels. I went through several winters with one and never had any issues - aside from the particularly bad days when leaving the car at home was simply common sense! I'm more worried about my current motor with it being RWD :eek:

As for child seats, there are several on here who regularly drive with child seats in the back. Ok, it's not a four door so it's more tricky than a family car but there is plenty of space in the back of these things. Buy the right seat (that fits the rear bucket type seats) and you'll have no problems.

Have fun with your search, the key to these cars is buying one with a solid body shell (i.e. as little rust as possible on the floor and sills). Everything else (engine/suspension) is easily sorted when you offer bacon and beer ;)

Front wishbones are the most costly thing to replace - around £250 for the pair plus fitting so well worth checking the condition of the outer balljoints and inner bushes (y)
 
Thanks for that, most reassuring. The 320 was pathetic in the snow as you'd expect, but it was a company car and they wouldn't fork out for winter tyres (even though it specifies it in the handbook).

The actual car is a V6 so a full complement of cylinders, and in the best colour too, ebony! :) Basically my father in law is changing cars later in the year and he's offered me his Cougar as I've always admired it. It's his pride and joy so well maintained and garaged too, although that will end if it moves in with me.

I'm not so bothered about the child seat now he's three, as he can clamber in and out quite happily by himself, but thought I'd check.

So already it looks like two possible problems have been eliminated!

Dabooka
 
Hi Sam and a warm welcome to ukcougar.org I live in Scotland, need I say anymore about driving in snow. It's like driving any other car, if you take your time and do not boot the car trying to get moving, you will be OK. I have never fitted winter tyres to my car and even in the very bad winter we had a few years back when the whole country was under a thick blanket of snow, I had no problems.
 
Thanks D1CKL, as long as I know I'm not totally barking for even considering it!

as the day has gone by, I've convinced myself to ignore the sensible and practical option and go with what I want to do for a change. And my missus has been fantastic and is happy for me to do whatever I want, which only makes the decision easier.

Now I just need to actually get the car!
 
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Hi Sam.

I've done many miles in a Nissan Note. I have no fond memories in them!

The Cougar is ok in snow. It's probably the most average snow performer I've owned and was worse than my S-Type Jag, although I put that down to naff budget summer tyres I had at the time trying to save money. Most of snow driving is skill, most of what's left is tyre compound and tread pattern. The remaining sliver is drivetrain. Grab a cheap set of wheels and stick some Nokian winter tyres on and you won't need to worry about stopping at the bottom of hills etc.

They're easy cars to maintain. Easily the cheapest car I've ever owned to keep on the road. The front wishbones are expensive in the context of the rest of the spares, but are positively cheap compared to most remotely interesting looking cars.

They're hugely practical cars in absolute terms which is even more remarkable for a coupe.

Forget milage and buy one with the most extensive evidence of maintenance. You'll want one that someone else has spent money on maintaining properly. A car that has 'never needed anything' will be needing everything very soon.
 
I can assure all that a stripped out MX5 with an open differential is not a lot of fun on compacted snow!

jamie_duff makes some very good points.
 
Thanks Jamie, I think a second set of wheels would be a prompt purchase. I've used all season in the past and even the difference between them and premium summer tyres was astonishing, so some winters should be fine. As for drivers skill, well, let's hope that sliver of drivetrain compensates for me!

Read the wishbone issue, but not much one can do about that, and I suppose if I wanted definite reliability etc I'd be replacing it with a new car. My view is I can buy a lot of sets of wishbones and a canny few tanks of go-go juice for the cost of a new motor over three years.
 
Haha I once took our MX5 with LSD to work in snow just to prove it could be done. It took me 17 attempts to get up the easier hill out of the housing estate I lived in at the time. The Mk1 we had later had an open diff and I physically couldn't move that from where it sat.

The Cougar was ok. Not great, but not bad. It spun wheels a lot on snow and stopping/steering was degraded beyond what I initially expected. Thinking back I was 23 when I bought it some some of it would have been inexperience compared to the snowgod I am now. Winter tyres though are where it's at. You don't wear your summer tyres when the winters are on so it's just the capital outlay. Don't fit big front brakes though and you can fit 15" steelies with very affordable winter tyres for snow. The extra safety margin they give you even if it's just to brake harder when someone else is struggling to stop at a junction you're approaching make them very worthwhile even just in the cold damp drizzle that is most of winter.

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Spot on Sam. You can spend a few hundred on the car when it needs it, or you can spend it on depreciation and possibly finance charges too.

Neither is right or wrong but you can definately run an older car for less money than a newer car will cost you all-in.
 
Well the Note is going to go one way or the other, and my idea is to run the Cougar which is essentially free until it goes terminal, and then replace with a new car. And you know, they just sound so much more fun!
 
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