Mercury Cougar sports coupe reinvented with new edge design
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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BRASELTON, Ga. -- Grab a helmet, slip into a cool cockpit and buckle up for some speed-cheating tests of a new American sports coupe conducted at Road Atlanta, a closed-circuit raceway with 12 quick corners strung across red-clay hills in Georgia.
Vehicle for this test: Mercury's Cougar in a fresh design which pares the coupe to compact size on a rigid new platform, then installs sport-tuned hardware and drapes the package in a stunning shell which reveals hard-edged lines in a theme of rakish triangles.
Never has Cougar looked so good.
It's daring and racy in a windswept statement designers call New Edge, due to defined creases in lines on shoulders and hood which interrupt so many fluid contours.
Triangles come from the shape of jewel-like headlamps and taillights, door handles and mirrors, plus the overall profile with graceful rise of the laid-back windshield and trailing roofline.
The New Edge styling of Cougar marks a moment in the design history of vehicles for Mercury and Ford as harbinger of new shape and tone for future products.
It also signifies a bold new moment for Cougar, which in its last incarnation had evolved into a behemoth of a personal luxury coupe weighted with rear-wheel powerline and too much glitz.
New Cougar, tagged as 1999 issue, condenses to compact dimensions in a cleverly disguised hatchback coupe sporting two doors and 2+2 seating, plus a choice of thrifty 4-cylinder engine or a zippy V6 in front-wheel-drive format.
Behind that cutting-edge design, Cougar amounts to a stiffer coupe variation of Ford's Mondeo sedan from Europe and domestic siblings, Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. Although produced in Flat Rock, Mich., many of these Cougars wearing a Ford badge will be exported to European markets.
Expect no equivalent coupe from Ford for the United States, however, as product lines for Mercury and Ford will henceforth segment into unique models which will not compete against each other.
For that raceway test at Road Atlanta, Cougars with both engine variations await.
So crank up Cougar's V6 and tap into 170 horses tucked beneath a slanted hood. Slip the stick into first of five forward gears and at the starter's flag peg pedal to floor and rip it out of the pit.
A tachometer clustered among new white-faced analog gauges on the instrument panel swings toward red and lots of low-end torque propels the first tester Cougar to speed in a run up to third gear, which at Road Atlanta comes atop the first hill in turn two.
String through apexes of turns three and four and five and fly through the chicane Esses in a swoopy valley leading uphill into a sweeping new right for turns six and seven. Now run third gear to redline and shift up beyond a gentle turn eight for the straight that follows as speed builds to triple digits.
Despite such a fast clip, Cougar feels firmly rooted to blacktop and highly controlled, with scant evidence of noise from road or wind or engine.
Now brake hard and drop to third gear for a new tight left at turn nine set deep in a valley, then cut the steering wheel back to right at ten and haul over the hilltop turn eleven in a romp back to the start.
Safely in the pits, switch to a Cougar with the 4-cylinder engine and lap the course again. Speed won't reach above a hundred on the straight but it still feels lively, with plenty of torque reserved for lower gears.
The smaller of Cougar's two powerplants -- the so-called "Zetec" iron-block 4-cylinder model, fortified by dual overhead cams, four valves in each cylinder and sequential fuel injection -- comes together in Chihuahua, Mexico, while the lightweight aluminum "Duratec" V6, out of Ford's Cleveland, O., engine plant, also appears in Contour and Mystique in North American and Mondeo in Europe.
Horsepower for the base 2.0-liter Zetec four runs to 125, and fuel economy figures reach well beyond 30 miles per gallon for highway cruising. The strong dual-cam 2.5-liter V6 achieves 90 percent of its torque at low engine speed.
A notchy 5-speed manual transmission, built in Europe, works with either engine, while an automatic 4-speed with electronic shift control -- made in the United States -- serves as the option of both.
Cougar's athletic personality begins with a rigid platform borrowed from Mystique but strengthened at key flex points to improve stiffness by 20 percent.
The independent subframe-mounted front suspension with anti-roll bar attaches by drop links directly to low-friction struts, while at the back Ford's Quadralink independent rear arrangement adds a form of passive rear wheel steering. Apply sticky tires and the resultant Cougar exhibits highly predictable driving characteristics when cornering, braking and accelerating.
Safety elements for Cougar range from a cellular body structure with crumple zones to high tensile boron steel door braces, dual airbags and anti-submarine front seats.
Optional front seat-mounted side airbags -- a first for this class of domestic cars -- are designed to shield not only the rider's torso but also the head. The new safety devices list for $375 extra.
Specify the V6 and Cougar earns disc brakes for all wheels, which is necessary for an optional anti-lock system. Another option with the V6, integrated traction control uses low-speed braking or high-speed torque intervention in twin balanced modes to prevent dangerous wheel slippage.
Cougar's interior includes twin front seats separated by console and a rear bench scooped for two positions. Rear seatbacks split and fold to increase cargo capacity.
Driver's seat, deeply contoured with firm side bolsters, fits snugly against the backside, as new glowing instruments and adjacent tactile controls on dash and door mount in ideal positions for driver's use.
The steering wheel, small in diameter and sporty in design, feels good to touch and requires only minimal effort to turn when whipping through curves.
A number of comfort and convenience items show up as part of the standard gear for Cougar, including integrated heating and ventilating system with air conditioning, audio equipment with AM-FM radio and cassette deck, and central locking with passive anti-theft device.
1999 MERCURY COUGAR COUPE
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| 1999 MERCURY COUGAR VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS |
| Description: |
Compact coupe |
| Model Options: |
Compact coupe |
| Wheelbase: |
106.5 inches |
| Overall Length: |
185.0 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 2.0-L I4
DOHC 2.5-L V6
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| Transmission: |
Manual/5, Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
Front |
| Braking: |
I4: Power disc/drum
V6: Power 4-disc/ABS opt. |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
I4: 24/34 mpg
V6: 19/28 mpg |
| MSRP Price: |
$ 16,195 to $ 22,000 |
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