Limited Edition Kitty is Fabulous !

I am 24 years old and was recently in the market for a new car after my 1997 cavalier gave out on me. I had narrowed my search down to 2 cars. The Cougar and the Celica.

The reasons I chose the cougar over the celica are more budget and comfort minded that style or driving related. For one the Celica GTS only uses premium gas. OUCH! Sure the Six speed tranny is a blast to drive but paying 30+ dollars per fill up would break my pocketbook in a hurry. The celica also has much less headroom than the cougar. I found this a bit odd since supposedly the celica was aimed at the masculine audience and the cougar at the feminine. The trunk space is also much greater in the cougar. The engine of the celica is a 4 cylinder. The Cougar has a lovely supple V6. MMMMMMMM.....

So after my test drive of the Celica and a Cougar I was out to find the Cougar which would be my dream ride. I was poking around some dealerships here and there looking at the different combinations when i saw it. The YELLOW kitty. Oh it was soooo beautiful. I actually ran to look at this thing, leaving the salesman standing in the dust of my sneakers.

Wow. I started looking at the car a little closer because I was not even aware that you could get one of these things in YELLOW. (yellow is my favorite color you see) I noticed that the wheels were the 16" aluminum wheels with a little extra in the middle. The cougar emblem was painted to match the car. Upon closer inspection I saw that there was a neat little piece of molding that said "Special Edition". Too Awesome! There are lots of smaller details which made the Special Edition really stand out from the rest of the cougars I had looked at.

In the back of the head rest there is a Cougar emblem embroidered in the same color as the car. When you open the door there is a fancy little chrome mirror in the door jam which also plainly says Special Edition. The floor mats also have the same beautiful stitching as the head rest and are accompanied by the same "Special Edition" scripting. The rear spoiler is quite different from the regular v6 sport spoiler. The fins stick out to the edges of the car and it just looks completely kick but! I could go on and on about all the little things they did to the Special Edition Cougar but then again I don't want to spoil the fun for those of you who are still looking into purchasing one.

The special edition which I chose came with a 6 disc IN DASH cd changer. Yep you heard me correctly. No going to the trunk to change Cd's. You just load up 6 of the suckers in the dash, just as if it were a single cd player. You can easily switch between cd's and you can replace any one of the cd's independently. There is no cartridge or bulky loading system. Its just great!

I did replace all of the factory speakers with some aftermarket ones because im a definite audiophile. The speakers in the car were good but not great. After a day of pumping them pretty hard the began to distort a bit. I however HAD to leave that 6 disk changer in the dash. If you were to purchase an aftermarket version of the same thing it would cost you well over a thousand dollars.

The Special Edition I have came with an automatic transmission. I had told myself I was NOT going to get an automatic, but let me tell ya. The Yellow Special edition is simply too beautiful just as it is. With the fancy computer Ford/Mercury has installed into the new cougar you really don't need the manual. The car LEARNS how you drive and adjusts to you. Yes its completely cool... Im also planning on adding a supercharger from paxton as soon as they finish the 2000 model. That should boost my little cougar to up around 300hp.

It will leave any stock mustang or camaro in the dust with 300 horses behind it. If your looking to soup up or sport out your cougar the parts are not too expensive. You can purchase new springs, struts and stabelizer bars for about 150 bucks a set. That will drop your ride about an inch all the way around and give you control of the exact ride you want. You can then add an aftermarket exhaust system and air intake for 200 and 150 dollars respectively. Performance computer chips are not yet avalible for the 2000+ models. Or so I was told. With the upgrades that are out as of now you can really add some beef to your Cougar and make it hang corners at 80 mph with NO problem and continue to accelerate at a frightning pace :o). Oh, but dont forget to change your tires. I would recomend Yokohama A520's or Pirelli PZero.

The Special Edition is loaded with every option you can get plus some more that are unavailable on regular cougars. The only thing Mine is missing is the traction control system. Im not really worried about it because im not going to be driving around in Ice and Snow.

As far as the ride and comfort factor go; I think most of the other reviews have really driven home the fact that the back seats are small and the front seats are a dream. (you MUST get leather) The ride is great. It is sporty and hugs the road well while filtering out the large bumps nicely. The ride is not smooth to the extent where you loose touch with the road, but not so stiff that it breaks your neck driving down a back road. I have taken quite a few narly turns at high speeds and simply been sucked into my seat while I accelerated through them. I am very impressed with the ride of this car for the price. The 16" wheels and tires offer the best traction and ride for the cougar. Dont go smaller since the upgrade is only 250 bucks or so.

So comparing the 25000 celica with the 21000 cougar. The cougar got my money. I paid cash for the car and got it at exactly 21000. If you can do it you should ALWAYS pay cash for your car. The cost of my car would have been around 23500 with tax, title and license even with a 1500 discount for whatever their promotion was that month. Another good piece of advice is to find the dealer invoice price of the car.

The only problem I had with my car which I consider to be a freak accident was that on the 2nd day of driving the serpentine belt broke. (the belt that drives all of the engine accessories.) The air conditioner compressor had evidentially locked up and caused the belt to break. After a few ehem...Strongly Upset phone calls, my complete air conditioning system was replaced and i was back on the road in about a day. I have only had the car for about 2 weeks as of 7-30-00 but there have been no other hints of distress.

If you want a cougar, ask for the limited or special edition. It rocks hardcore, and looks MUCH MUCH MUCH better than ALL the other ones.