Are Fords really that SH!tty ??

 

I have seen alot of kids with them that have jsut fallen apart after daily driving. In my opinion especially in the higher miles imports hold there ground the best.

SuDZ

 

it seems ford owners don't really care.. my buddy Ian has a SHO.. and everytime he and his buddies go to the track.. a SHO owners breaks something.. but then they take it as normal.. they don't care..

 

I have to jump in and say that the guys over at Contour.org are generally some of the most friendly, cool, un-biased car people on any internet car site. Most of them are interested in the new Altima, Maxima, and G35 as replacements when they need to sell their Contour. Why is it so hard to believe that an SVT with those mods could beat a 4th gen Max? Race stories get posted all over the web, but I never see those guys trolling other car sites. They post kill stories too, almost all of them believable, but they rarely hate on other cars. A couple Contour guys even follow up by praising Maximas.

Yes, the Contours have tons of problems just like most Fords. Their "Problems" forum has more topics/posts than their Off-Topic section and is second only to the "General" section. For that reason I'd never consider buying an SVT Contour (or any Ford). But the SVT Contour is a still cool car. You won't find many (if any) automotive journalists who would rather drive a Maxima SE over a SVT Contour.

Anyway, I think all the Maxima trolling over there makes us look kind of bad. Just my $.02, but since most of those guys respect the Nissans and would probably even buy one, I hate seeing them ragged on.

 

Same with some Mustang people I know.

SuDZ

 

Contour is cancelled by ford 2 yrs ago, didnt sell well, reliability problems, Maximas are selling strong into 6th gen. Case closed.

 

Well, most are. The Ford Taurus has had head gasket problems to name one. It's always seemed to me that Fords have front-end and electrical problems. But the Crown Victoria is one of the best buys there are. The reasons that I say this is because Ford hasn't made any major changes to the C. Vic. in ten years. They have only refined it along the way. The engine will go for 200,000 if maintained. It is still rear wheel drive. It's not (of course) a performance car but they are durable and what I believe to be a good buy. There is one bad thing on them. They made the intake manifold of plastic and they are prone to cracking (up to 2001 model) and I don't think Ford has fixed this yet.

 

My mom bought a Grand Marquis (Mercury's Crown Vic) and had so many problems with it that she sold it after 6 months. And they were all different problems so she couldn't even invoke the lemon law. Plus Ford/Mercury dealers are notoriously inept and slow, and they had the car in their possession trying to fix it for about 1/3 of that time.

 

I'm much more interested in papasmurf's 14.0 second NA maxima than a wimpy ford contour. Anyone else?

 

read this http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=87888

 

almost as bad as KIA
Killed In Action.

 

Hey Sprint,
Your right no NOS/turbo/or SC
Im working on a turbo kit for our car as we speak it uses a t3/t4 and a bunch of plug and play stuff but im having a hell of a time with the damn manafold but ill keep you all informed when i complete it. and what were you all saying about my top side? yeah by the way the exact time was a 14.093 with a 1.94 60ft with a 98.30 trap speed like i said though i think i could have broken into the 13's but i missed 3rd a little that damn ACT is tricky when speed shifting. And yeah my car is a lot lighter. ive probably droped 300 or 400lbs off my baby.

Bruce

 

By the way i was running on slicks, with racing fuel, and i had my interior striped when i made the run i was not street legal by anymeans, but its my daily driver with 151,000 miles.

Bruce

 

congrats... you're now the fastest known NA maxima. (I used to be with a 14.2) but you have a lot more mods so I got some work to catch you.

 

Hey thanks, but ill get the time slip up as soon as i get home im at work tonight but im not sure if anyone is interested but im working on a turbo kit so if you want any info on that write me and email at chessieone@yahoo.com and ill give you the details. Im going turbo in the spring im shooting for a street legal max runing twelves. Dont worry it can be done.

Bruce

 

It didn't sell well in N. America, because it was too close in price to the Taurus/Sable, but smaller. In Europe, it's sold as the Mondeo and is one of the most popular cars there. Ford put a new body on the Contour/Mystique platform and currently sell it as the Cougar (yes, same engine, trans and chassis).
I guess ignorance is bliss for Max drivers.

 

ouch... i know how good contours are and they are fast , quick handling cars. we dont mean to start a war or anything. We are just saying , maxima is a more reliable car, and loses value less. HOWEVER, i will say , what ford lacks in reliability , they make up in parts/labor cost, CHEAP . My waterpump on the max was almost an 800 dollar opperation with like 6 hours of labor, and the ford only takes like an hour to do yourself and is much cheaper.

 

we are talking about a FORD Contour. why would anyone ever do this to themselves??? If you get something domestic get a RWD pushrod or a big *** truck. and whats up with the front end on those things??

 

the svts can be just as fast as us

 

Nobody said it wasnt well received in other parts of the world. In europe mpg rules, so it did well against 1.3L engined FIATs and alike.
You still can't buy SVT version anywhere else. IMO mercury version looked better. Cougar is not doing well either.(inUS)
Yeah, we'r all ignorants, one way or another.

 

I just had a few questions for you. 1. How did you lose the weight on your max? I know of some weight loss mods but curious where that much came from.

2. After the lightened flywheel how much difference did you notice? Did you jsut have your lightened or was it the aluminum type that Unorthadox Racing sells? After having the lighter one or shaving yours or wahtever you did was the ride still the same? I did not know if there would be any shaking or what not.

Thanks

SuDZ

 

maybe, but im sure that isn't the same for all ford cars.

 

didnt someone post about racing an contour svt, tvr, vtr or whatever. I believe the guy said he spanked the ford??

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=28422

 

I used to drive a '96 Contour SE and spent some time on contour.org. The '96 was probably the best/fastest vintage of the Contour family until the SVT came out in '98. I bought my Max this past August and like it much more. I actually still have the Contour, it's been tough to sell. Anyone interested, haha. The Contour died because it wasn't quite a Taurus or an Escort and took sales from both.

I spent two years driving it before I had enough of the constant TSB's and poor build quality. On one hand, it was moderately fast, had good handling (significantly more nimble than when my Max was stock) and had decent brakes. But the tranny sucked (like shifting through peanut butter) and the reliability was sketchy.

Overall the Max is a nicer car. Definitely a step up in terms of comfort, reliability & dealer support. If you're a gearhead (ie- willing to do your own repairs) and are looking for fast and cheap, the Contour isn't a bad bet. Find a nice low-mileage SVT, upgrade the clutch and differential and you're good to go. A lot of SVT's are available with little or no owner abuse.

One more thing, the guys on Contour.org (and their old mailing list) were a good bunch. Not a lot of rudeness over there, and I give them credit for continuing dialogue on a car that's soon going to be three years gone.

Regards,
TOM

 

More on that 14.0! Like how'd he lose the 300-400lbs? What size wheels were used 15"?

 

Yes.

 

Bruce,

Do you live in the DC area? I thought I've seen some of your posts in the DC forum. If so, cool! I'll have to catch you at the next meet. I'd like to hear more about this turbo kit and see some of your mods. 14.0 is sweeeettt!

 

Personally i think the contour svt looks way better than the maxima and the svt is a very rare car also.
http://a8.cpimg.com/image/82/46/6628...-028001E0-.jpg
http://a0.cpimg.com/image/18/BE/6616...-028001E0-.jpg
http://a7.cpimg.com/image/2F/B7/6616...-028001E0-.jpg
http://a0.cpimg.com/image/2C/BF/6616...-028001E0-.jpg

 

Hey guys whats up, yeah i used 15 drags and by the way to the dumb *** up above me contors suck and i eat them for lunch so bring it on.

Bruce
chessieone@yahoo.com
PS yeah i live in the dc area

 

http://todras.20m.com/images/ff1.jpg
http://todras.20m.com/images/ff2.jpg

I dont See any Maximas

 

Damn dude if you were going to put those links up a least do a good job those things look like Sh@# and i mean my little sister could have done better than that and shes only 10. Dude get a life.

Bruce

 

I just wasted 20 minutes of my life reading over the SVT board stuff. Both cars are pretty much dead even when modded. Stock Max is a bit faster. Ok. I am going to close my eyes and pretend I never read this now, before I end up tearing up all the SVT's I ever see.

 

How disappointing. Was reading the thread over on contour.org and all the smack talking visitors from here.

With one or maybe two exceptions, I saw children posting.

I can applaud enthusiasm for a job, a hobby or personal interests.
I think you represented yourselves poorly. The least some of you could have done, after invading another site is stay to honestly listen rather than ignore the comparisons. Most of the guru's on Contour.org tend to tell it how it is...not how they wish it might be. If more had returned to read the follow-up posts and analysis, well, you'd have been both impressed and shamed by your own lack of courtesy.

The ones that need to take this to heart the most, are going to ignore it or worse. Love my tour, but I have a life away from it.

 

Hey Guys,
I'm just here to clear a few things up! Not Fight!

The Contour platorm is still alive and well as the Jag X-type and soon to be Mazda 6 adn Euro Mondeo, maybe a Mercury soon too. The tour was caught in no mans land between the Taurus and Escort/Focus! The developer of the tour platform was Jack Nasser's (former CEO) rival at Ford and pretty much made sure the tour didn't do well. The Tour platform does have it's quarcks but isn't a bad car if taken care of.

I've had my 99 SVT for two years with only a couple minor problems! Performance wise I run 15.6 at 88mph pretty consistantly with stock tires and rims. I have an intake and an aftermarket resonator. Nothing big yet! We have pretty much built our own aftermarket. The Tour and Max are in different classes. The Tour is a compact and Max is a Mid-sized! We can give you a run for your money in most categories and it would come down to a drivers race.

Later,
Andy

Vote for the location of the 2003 Six Pack Nationals!

www.v6nationals.com

 

I see the maxima and contour as competitors in the 4-door sports car catagory in which both come with a rare manual tranny and offer the performance of cars that cost twice as much (with the mild assumption that owners in this catagory buy to mod) The maxima tends to win with its power (low 14s NA compared to mid-high 14s NA) but the contour may have an adavange with its smaller size at autoX. I like both cars a lot but I choose the maxima beacuse its faster.

 

Ben is funny(just read through the contour thread).

 

I know I'm a bit late but...I just thought I would come over and say a bit.

First off I'm not going to get into which car is better...etc. I truly believe that opinions don't matter. If you like a car better than the another and buy it for certain reasons, that’s totally up to you. Its really a personal choice, don't you think!

I have raced several maximas, Lost to a few and won a few. Don't know which models...etc they were but most of my run ins have been with the 4th gens. I like Nissan in general and I think they make great Torqueful engines! My father drives a Altima and I'm always surprised which he takes off in it, it really jerks you back in the seat.

But just because our car is made by Ford doesn't mean its crap. When I first read about the Contour I thought to myself "FORD Contour..heheh no way", and I was actually looking to get a Maxima. Its true Ford is known for problems, but I have yet to have a problem with my SVT.

But after owning a 98 Contour SVT, you wouldn't believe how many questions, compliments, and turned heads I receive. I love my SVT and I think I made a good decision. Although our aftermarket isn't that great, its sometimes makes it more fun. I'm sure you all know what I mean.

As far as who will win a race, I think were getting the birds eye view of alot of these races....Which are filled with exaggerations and oversights. I mean honestly who is going to post about a race which they lost???

Anyways, thanks to all the maxima guys who actually had logical and decent things to say.

Again I think the Maxima is a great car, as I do the Contour SVT. I just choose to purchase the SVT because I liked it better. And I'm sure this is why you choose the Maxima!

I'm not going to get into which car is faster and which car looks better. Its obvious thats a battle no one will win Its all about personal choices. Just don't attack a persons car simply because you don't like it.

You have to admit its a nice Looking, Fairly Priced, Great Performing, mildly spacious, and Great Handling Compact Car.

Sorry to take up so much time!

Later,

Justin

PS. Is Pete M. from Raleigh lurking in here anywhere?

 

hey guys im a member of the kentucky forum over at contour.org cause a lot of my friends have contours. in my experience the SVTs are very close to us in terms of straight line performance but beat us in handling (stock for stock). it really is useless to argue over it cause no one can ever prove a point, but im kinda embarrassed to own a maxima right now, there is no need for all the flaming and bickering. if maximas didnt exist i would have a contour. drive one and youll see.

 

No reason to be embarassed. Be proud that you made the best decision