Puma 2 Cougar

Alucard

Alucard

Forum user
Jun 24, 2011
42
0
stirling
First off, hello to everyone as am a noob. Nice site which looks good and fun. (y)

My puma (which was my first love and car ) sadly, is coming to the end of her life, and it is now time to step up. the little 1.4 moondust/rust silver beast of the b-roads has stood me well and has fended off many a challenge and has never once failed to turn over and get me to where i need to be, but sadly, just yesterday i smacked into the back of a car, and although the Puma, still kept it's looks and runs okish, there is some damage to it that just isn't worth getting fixed....

So, i was wondering if i should go Cougar or FTO bound, and everytime i have this little debate with myself, it would appear god, yes god, takes the time out of his busy diary to send his opinion. I.e, randomly went to the bank today to check the old score, and what rolled up beside me and parked ? yep, the Puma's big brother. An act of god....obviously.

So here i come, i am possibly, ( if all goes well ) two weeks at least away from entering the market for a Cougar.

I don't want to give it the ( what should i look for as 1, you probably get that all the time and 2, i don't imagine it would be that much different from the puma in terms of wheel arches etc )But i would however, like you to tell me what you personally love about your Cougars...

For example, at work, everybody has knackered old pugs and saxo's..... so my Puma sits there in a league of her own and looks class throughout. So what about your personal loves of the cougar..?

I believe, with the money i'm earning + age + economy of the world = 2.0 model....

So, i'll leave my door open to you all to share your thoughts.

Hope you are all having a good day and all is well. (y)
 
Welcome to the site,i must admit out of all the cougars ive seen(and thats a lot) rusty body work is not a problem
 
Hi Alucard, welcome to ukcougar.com.
Act of God indeed eh! :cool:
Right, where to start. The cougar doesn't suffer the rust worm anywhere like the poor Puma did, although you do need to take notice now the cars are getting on a bit. Generally the bodywork has stood the test of time.
Now the first thing you'll notice when you get in a cougar, is the instant silly self satisfying grin that attaches itself to your face. It's a pleasure to drive, and just like you had to look at the one that parked up beside you! that's what you'll continue to do, park it up, walk away and turn around just for another glance at your beautyful Cougar, we all do it :LOL: Beleive me, the cougar will stand proud amongst all of those pugs and saxos. Just park a cougar on any street, amongst any other cars and it's the cat that gets the stares. People just wonder what it is! :eek:
Personally i prefer the 2.0 zetec, though you will here a few bias reports from the V6 brigade :).
Have fun with the search and don't be tempted to jump on the first one you see, there are still quite a few to choose from for such a rare car. (y)
 
It's generally a toucher car all round than the Puma, but it does need a slightly bigger budget to run as parts are a bit more expensive. The bodyshell is much better than the Puma's so if an example you're looking at has visible rust then keep looking.

What does rust though is the rear subrame, so have a good look underneath. The sills can start to rot underneath too so get your head right under. They do tend to need a set of front wishbones if they haven't already been replaced, and they do often need new anti-roll bar bushes and droplinks both front and rear but otherwise they don't generally eat suspension parts like some other cars. Most nowadays would benefit greatly from new dampers if they haven't already been changed.

Interior trim parts can be hard to find and/or command a high price, so if the car has been owned by some fat pillock who has squashed the seats flat, scratched the dashboard with the house keys, lost the little "Cougar head" screw hole covers etc then again I'd hold out for a better example if it were me.
 
As Mikey, Al and Jamie have said, the Cougar doesn't seem to suffer from the dreaded disintegrating back arches like the Puma and Mk 5 Fiesta did.

Cost wise, the V6 isn't really any more expensive to buy than the Zetec, they tend to be priced more on condition and mileage than the engine capacity. £1500 - £2k will get you a tidy, sub 100k mile example in either flavour. Finding one with the front suspension wishbones recently changed is a bonus, these are the Cougar's Achilles' heel in so much as the bushes they rotate on are non-replaceable, you have to replace the entire 'bone using new bolts. They cost around £300ish to change the pair but will usually last around 80,000 - 100,000 miles.

If you see 'X Pack' in a sales description, this was an option on the V6 and basically gives you heated leather and a 6 disc changer in the boot. The heated windscreen and sunroof were factory options on all Cougars, ie an X Pack will not necessarily have these as a matter of course. Don't be suckered into buying a given car purely on the spec though, leather can easily be sourced secondhand for around £100 - £200 and is relatively straightforward to fit, the heated windscreen likewise. Obviously with the sunroof you've either got one or you haven't, but they themselves can be temperamental, with the plastic runners a known weak point and very difficult to source replacements for.

Running costs are not vastly different between the Zetec and V6, obviously the V6 drinks a bit more fuel but not as much as you might think - 30 MPG round town and 35 MPG on the motorway are easily achievable without having to drive like a nun. The Zetec will be nearer 35 MPG and 40 MPG respectively but is a little slower, has considerably less torque (the V6's 'party trick' is it's ability to happily cruise along in 5th at almost any speed) and has a cambelt where the V6 has a chain that never needs replacing. The Zetec is easier to tune than the V6 but, short of adding a turbo, even a radically breathed on Zetec will still only make slightly less power than a standard V6.

What do I like about the Cougar? Well, look at it for a start, they're gorgeous. Other than that, they're very cheap for the amount of power and kit you get, they're reliable (based on the Mk2 Mondeo ST24) and not bank breaking to service or repair if they do go wrong. They're also quite practical with two proper back seats (although headroom is a bit limited in the back for anyone taller than around 5'8) and an enormous boot. In terms of sheer bang for buck, there's very little out there that can compete.
 
Hip said:
...I quite like the FTO :bomb::devilish:
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It does have the second worst sounding V6 ever built though (the honour of worst going to Nissan for the 350Z and derivations thereof). They're also not that much cop to drive whereas with a few changes the Cougar handles quite well.
 
I actually owned an 2.0l V6 FTO GR for two years and now have a 2.5l V6 Cat. So here's my penny's worth of thoughts on what I like / dislike about the two cars.

Firstly, you're choosing between two very nice cars. Both cars are unusual these days in that there aren't many around and they still look good; Both will still win the car-park style award hands down in my opinion!

The FTO was a very fun car, fast and handled well. It also looks gorgeous! However, I found it very difficult to live with day to day - it's noisy, not very comfortable and about as practical as a chocolate fireguard. The boot is tiny and the interior, although it had all the toys, wasn't up to much.

The first time I drove a Cat, it reminded me of a grown-up FTO. The Cat is bigger, more comfortable, quieter, has a humungous boot and is cheaper to run that the FTO was. And it's one of the few cars that I think actually looks as good as an FTO. Yes, it's not quite as fast and doesn't handle as well as an FTO, but the Cat is a MUCH better all round car.

I think this is the main point though. As much as I loved it, I sold my FTO after 2 years. I've now had my Cat for nearly four years, which is the longest I have ever owned a car, and I have no intention of selling her at all. Think that tells you all you need to know!
 
Hello and welcome. It's got to be the Cougar every time. I have had mates who have owned FTO's and they have said never again!!. If your in the younger age bracket then the 2 ltr makes more sense in reference to insurance etc. also you can mod the engine a little easier than you can with a V6 (although I am a V6 owner). There are quite a few to choose from via Autotrader, Pistonheads and the likes. Just choose carefully and take note of what the others have said above. Best of luck and hope you find a nice Coug.
 
Superb thanks for the welcome and replies ? are all 2.0's Zetecs ?

I'm not too fussed about the colour, so long as the car it's self has been in the hands of a loving owner. My puma was frankly, raped throughout it's life before i got it, and it was a sad sight at times.

I've only been up close to a Cougar once when looking at one in a garage, but i've never sat in one, does it have a cockpit feel ? the puma sadly never felt like that, as it shared the same dashboad as the Ka i believe ?
 
Get a 2.0L Cougar 2 rare as rocking horse do do but you get a much better interior and all the problems on the earlyer model are fixed....not that i'm biased obviously ;)
Or if your crazy like me get the V6 and spend your entire life grinning like a mad man .. Or is that just me again? Cousin has had Puma's (including an FRP) and was never happy with the bodywork but loved the handling, he drives a new Mini now but we won't say anymore on that matter :oops:
I've owned my cat since 2004 so it cant be bad.... But then again I am insane :whistle:
 
Yes mate, the 2.0 is commonly referred to as 'the Zetec', although Ford only ever officially called it the 2.0, it shares an identical 2.0 16v Zetec with the Mk2 Mondeo. The V6 is a 2544cc 2.5 24v lifted directly from the Mondeo ST24, although later models had a 2495cc version of the same engine. Power, torque, economy and running costs are identical with both V6 variants. Some people have transplanted either complete ST200 engines or parts thereof, Ford planned a Cougar ST200 but the plug was pulled and it never saw official production.

The interior of a Cougar does have a semi-enclosed feel. You certainly feel that you're sitting in the car rather than on it, but by the same token it's not claustrophobic. The Puma shared a dashboard, along with most of it's mechanicals, with the Mks 4 & 5 Fiesta, incidentally.

As Matt has alluded to, there was a facelifted version of the Cougar towards the very end of it's production run, commonly known as the C2 or Cougar 2. The 2.0 engine was identical to all others but the C2 V6s all have the later 2495cc engine. Visually, the C2 had different headlights, with internal 'chrome' plastic trim and a slighly different lens layout. These headlights in themselves are rare (only 440 C2s were registered in the UK) highly sought after and expensive - good if you've got them, not if you need to replace one following an accident - £400+ for a pair is not uncommon. C2s also have square foglights and a different front bumper design. Internally, C2s have a subtly revised interior with more supportive seats and better quality plastics on the dash.
 
Alucard said:
I don't want to give it the ( what should i look for as 1, you probably get that all the time...
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Nice one; that's pretty much the same in any car forum. It's not exactly a problem since pretty much everyone here loves talking about their cars, but I've no doubt that the etiquette is appreciated. Unlike most PHP boards, the FAQ here is actually useful. Link #1 is "What to look out for".

I agree with...well pretty much everything that's been posted. But particularly WildV6's mates' experience with the FTO. My neighbour and my colleague both have one and they're Garage Princesses; if it's not one thing wrong with them it's another.

I have a near-immaculate V-reg 2.0 Cougar Mk1 which I bought with 70k miles on the clock and FFSH from a dealer who'd taken it as part-ex. £1700 was the asking price; I got £150 off for mentioning that I'd seen the advert online.

If I had to list everything I love about that car, we'd be here all day. Example: I even adore the interior door-pulls that are shaped like big, chunky semi-circles. When you pull on them, you know you're getting into a solid, capable car and junior-school playtime is over.

But what I love about it the most is that it's a big, adult coupe with bags of style and a firm Ford (Mondeo II) pedigree with a helpful amount of parts crossover. And despite that Mundano :sleep: pedigree it has loads of personality and great road presence.

My only criticism of it - and it's a small one - is that I find the gap between 2nd and 3rd gear is maybe a little too large. But despite that it pulls like a train, even from 1200RPM.

My vote would be: Buy the best Zetec you can afford in terms of servicing history, (mileage means nothing to a car like this).
 
Alucard said:
I've only been up close to a Cougar once when looking at one in a garage, but i've never sat in one, does it have a cockpit feel?
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The thread moved on while I was composing the epic tale above, but I can definitely say that the cabin feels like a cockpit. The cockpit of a fighter, not the cockpit of a Cessna.

Even the standard cloth interior is nice. You're definitely in it, as Relliot said.
 
Welcome to the club. I sold my puma to get my first cougar.
Thoroughly enjoyed owning the little cat but the rear arch rot set in. I sold it for more than I paid for my cougar and the big cat was cheaper to insure...strange
 
Cool, thanks for the replies.

I've def got it in my mind that unlike my Puma, I want to get a Cougar and bring it upto scratch and keep it for a while. So i'll be looking to invest time and effort into it.

Well hopefully i can get my hands on an absolute screamer.

the one thing i think i'll have to get used to ( i get this when i borrow my old man mondeo ) is the gear changes are longer than the Puma, which is an old fashinoed short stick design, where as when am in the mondeo its a def movement and change. But this isn't a problem.

looking forward to it... I can only find 1 Cougar for sale in my area at the moment, and it's a blue/purple colour. doesnt look tidy, has something like 147k on the clock.

anyways.. cheers , very interesting.
 
Alucard said:
the one thing i think i'll have to get used to ( i get this when i borrow my old man mondeo ) is the gear changes are longer than the Puma, which is an old fashinoed short stick design, where as when am in the mondeo its a def movement and change. But this isn't a problem.
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Short shift kits are widely available and, I believe, fairly straightforward to fit. Colourwise, for the UK the Cougar was only ever made in Silver Frost, Ebony (ie black!), Melina Blue (the purpley blue colour you describe, the same colour as mine and commonly known as 'Blurple'!) and two shades of green; Tourmaline Green on the C1, which is more or less British Racing Green and Amazon Green on the C2 which is a slightly lighter shade. Laser Red, a kind of metallic light burgundy colour, was available on European and US cars but not in the UK. However, I know of at least one that 'leaked through' to the UK in this colour, there could be more. To my knowledge, Melina Blue was not available on the C2, Ebony C2s were made but are particularly rare.
 
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