Wheels

[martw80888]

Only just got round to watching the vid... what an ill-informed piece of bullsh.. - No idea what planet he's on, but I don't think it's this one...

No wonder the Cougar never really took off with bellends like him spouting nonsense whilst claiming to be some sort of expert...

0-60 in 9ish secs and top end of 130 are more or less the right (on paper) numbers for the Zetec model (although that melina he's driving is an auto, I know they aren't as quick off the line, so who knows...). Bloke really should have done his research...

FWIW, I had 16", 17" and 18" wheels on my Coug at various points, and it drove just fine on all of them

 

[rooster2100]

Yeah so the time 0-60 thing. Quoted from the previous owner of my silver car when he owned it "I ran a 13.4@104mph in the 1/4. And a 8/7@84.9 in the 1/8th." So its possible for 9 seconds 0-90 [emoji38].

Good gravy this is soo far off topic of where we started so I'm done unless its more about wheels.

 

[mabo]

#36. I agree it was a lovely car, on the inside. How the heck those headlights ever made it onto the production version of the car has always been a mystery to me.
If anything killed off the Scorpio that was it.
Having said that I’ve never owned one but driven a few on occasional loan. From the drivers seat they are a great luxury car.

 

[Myusernamewastaken]

Well, I'm glad I shared the vid. I've always had a reasonable handle on cars, but I was worried I was missing something with the electronic suspension part. I actually looked through my manuals and I even jacked my car up and looked around it. I feel a bit stupid now but I'm still gonna admit I did it

 

[rooster2100]

Yeah late 90's they had electronic suspension in some Ford cars here. My 94 Lincoln Towncar which was a ford hard air springs in the back with an automatic ride leveling sensor that inflated or deflated the springs according to if the rear was sagging or not. It was only on the back and unless something sagged the rear it did nothing else.
It wasn't like a reactive suspension which adjusts during cornering or anything like now days.
Those systems were on the BIG cars and SUVs. The 99-02 cougar never had anything. I say that because I believe the 87-88 cougar actually had some sort of automatic adjustment. 87-88 it was also a bigger car and shared the same body platform as the Ford Thunderbird and Ford Mustang.
I wanna say it went away when the 89 cougar came out. It still shared the same body platform as the Ford Thunderbird and possibly Ford Mustang up until around 2000 when Ford redesigned the Thunderbird to look like a modern version of the Thunderbird from the 50s and 60s. The Mustang retained a similar body style and they stopped production of the cougar here in 1997 and later picked it back up for the 1999 model until its end in 2002.
And I've been wondering for a bit if they didnt stop the cougar in 2002 because ford was phasing out the mercury brand which I think happened around 2009 ish.

 

[nvingo]

The Thunderbird Super Coupe (1989-1995) and probably the Cougar XR7 of the same era (when it used the 3.8SC motor, not the 5.0/4.6 V8) had a ride firmness adjustment.
Basically a valve on the shock absorbers that allowed 2 rates of fluid transfer.
In soft mode it would be open normally; in firm mode, either by driver selection or by extreme cornering/braking, it would be closed or more restricted.

 

[rooster2100]

The 3.8 V6 I think started in the tbird and cougar in 83 when they switched from the land yacht up until the modular 4.6L emgine was introuduced I think in 1994.
Fun little tidbit. The 87-88 Tbird turbo coupe was a factory turbo 4cyl. And could be bolted directly into the cougar with direct bolt in parts.
These were all cars that unlike the 98-02 were RWD. I still think thats one of the biggest disappointments when they redesigned the cougar into the FWD car we love.
And just to stick with my previous statement on being done.

Wheels!

 

[Mako]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I worked on and drove Paul's Scorpio a couple of years before she was retired.

Engineering-wise the thing was just incredibly solid. Wishbones so over-engineered that I could barely lift them in place.

The drive was absolutely the same as a Lincoln Town Car of the same age. Source? My nan had a Town Car back in the day and like the Scorpio it was smooth. So smooth.

It wasn't pretty by any means. A bug-eyed motor designed by someone who was relying on bong-hits. But it was a really stunning car to drive. To put it briefly, it was like driving your living room around with the capability of a Mondy.

 

[nvingo]

It wasn't pretty by any means. A bug-eyed motor designed by someone who was relying on bong-hits.

I took it that the headlight design was purely functional; a compact lens for the aerodynamic housing of 'projection' lamps that were a new feature then.

 

[mabo]

If it was then they got it wrong. I’ve yet to meet anyone who said yup they are fantastic and make the front end of the car.
Just my humble opinion, beauty is in the eye of the holder and each to their own.

 

[shirtyzeus]

If it was then they got it wrong. I’ve yet to meet anyone who said yup they are fantastic and make the front end of the car.
Just my humble opinion, beauty is in the eye of the holder and each to their own.

for me it was the extreem bulbuss backside that i was never fond of...they shoud have kept it a hatchback to tone the big arse down..
the front was an attempt to lure mercedes customers away and they failed big time...but one of the reason the scorpio was ended as a model was the planned purchase of jaguar....why did they need to rescue a big failing luxury ford car when they had the jag brand anyway.. at least this is what i was told by a ford dealer.
the looks were.....well lets just say the car grew on u...like a bad taste of a first drink ,the more u had it the more u liked it..
the wife has had 6 since the mk1 granada , she would not have anyother car...and she would tell u the one in the photo was her favorite....strange

sorry to hyjack your thread there by the way

 

[mabo]

That explains it Nvingo. I’ve not met Mrs Nvingo so my comment remains true.

Yes it did have a chunky R send, it was another feature that didn’t appeal to me, my opinion hasn’t changed I stiil prefer shape to volume. In many of these departments Less is SO much more.

 

[nvingo]

That explains it Nvingo. I’ve not met Mrs Nvingo so my comment remains true.

I'm not sure if you're responding to the preceding post, which is by @shirtyzeus
There is no current Mrs nvingo.
The only Granada we've ever had was B882VNG which belonged to Barry (dad), a 2.8 Ghia auto estate (not an i or X).

 

[mabo]

You’re correct Nvingo . I really shouldn’t watch TV and post on here at the same time.