Mercury Cougar

Mercury Cougar Models

The Mercury Cougar is offered in base and S trim. Base-level Cougars offer a choice of two engines.

The standard engine is a 2.0-liter double overhead-cam 16-valve inline four-cylinder rated 125 horsepower and 130 pound-feet of torque. Ford calls this engine the Zetec. The optional Duratec dohc V6 displaces 2.5 liters, and rates 170 horsepower and 165 pound-feet of torque. The V6 comes with a heavy-duty alternator, upgraded suspension and brushed exhaust tips.

Either way, the price of admission includes air conditioning, 15-inch aluminum wheels, power windows, power door locks, a power height-adjustable driver's seat and AM/FM/CD stereo.

Cougar S is powered by a 196-horsepower, 168-pound-feet version of the Duratec V6; it rides on an even stiffer suspension, and adds traction control and four-wheel-disc brakes with ABS, plus a higher level of luxury and interior appointments. Externally, the Cougar S can be distinguished by its fog lights, 17-inch wheels, and free-standing decklid spoiler.

In fact, Cougar buyers can use a variety of equipment packages and options groups upgrade a base V6 to something closer to S specification. Most notable among these is the Sport Group, which adds four-wheel disc brakes, 16-inch wheels, P215/50R16 all-season tires, and a long list of interior luxuries.

Driving the Mercury Cougar

The Mercury Cougar offers surprisingly good handling, and solid stability at speed, as I discovered at Road Atlanta, a gutsy high-speed road-racing circuit in north Georgia. Nowhere was this more noticeable than at the entrance to Turn 2, a relatively slow technical spot in terms of chassis dynamics. The turn-in point for this right-hand corner is at the top of a hill and is immediately preceded by a quick left. I crested the hill topped out in third gear. As the car comes over the top of the hill, of course, the suspension is unloaded, so there is little weight on the tires, and therefore little traction for smooth braking. But fairly hard braking is required to slow the car, and it's easy to brake too late and shoot past the turn-in point, or even spin the car in this situation.

But the Cougar felt rock solid at the turn-in point, allowing me to open up the V6, plunge down the hill and take the following set of high-speed curves flat out. By comparison, a previous-generation Mitsubishi Eclipse GS felt uncertain, which reduced exit speed from the corner. A Saturn SC2 felt downright crude, though it handled fairly well. Through the high-speed turns, the Cougar was the Rock of Gibraltar. Its steering offered better feel than the other two cars and the suspension provided more control.

Cougar's platform is based on the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, but it rides on a wider track (the distance between the right and left tires) and uses a much firmer suspension to please enthusiast drivers. A rigid chassis, stiff anti-roll bars, and high-rate springs are calculated to enhance handling. Specially designed motor mounts are intended to reduce noise. Weight distribution is 50/50. The front suspension uses MacPherson struts with coil springs and lower A-arms. The rear is a Quadralink system with strut-type coil spring/dampers and passive rear steering.

The racetrack exercise was followed by a lengthy blast through the mountains north of Atlanta, where the Cougar clung to the road like a cat to a tree. The Cougar felt at home in the mountains and seemed aptly named there. Its stability provided confidence while its crisp handling and brisk throttle response encouraged spirited driving. The bigger brakes used on the S-model and Sport Group V6 borrow their 10.9-inch rotors from the high-performance SVT Ford Contour, and they performed without fade in spite of repeated hard use.

My impressions were reinforced a week later, where the Cougar's precise steering and well-tuned suspension helped it slice cleanly through a tight autocross course near Baltimore. By comparison, an SC2 seemed destined to collect pylons, and the power steering pump on an Eclipse GS could not keep up with steering inputs through the slalom.

And though it handles well, the Cougar's suspension offers impressively good compliance for a nice, smooth ride on rough pavement.

Even the base Cougar is a highly capable car that encourages spirited driving. Ford's four-cylinder Zetec engine provides good response at highway speeds. This engine weighs less than the V6, which improves the balance of the car.

Still, it seems a shame to order a Cougar without the brilliant Duratec V6. Smooth and sophisticated while cruising, it emits a satisfying growl when riled. While it doesn't give the Cougar the punch of an Acura Integra GS-R or Honda Prelude SH, it could keep up with those two sport coupes on north Georgia's mountainous roads. Just don't get talked into a drag race for pink slips because you might lose. Low-speed and standing-start acceleration is good, but passing power is excellent. Top speed is estimated at 137 mph, but we haven't tried that.

The smooth-shifting five-speed manual gearbox is suited well to the V6, with ratios that complement the torque of the engine. We highly recommend it. The four-speed automatic ($815, and available only with the V6) is designed to offer smooth shifting and to minimize hunting for gears when traveling up and down long grades.