You know youre in trouble when, after driving a certain car for just three days, you find yourself desperately looking for something to like about that car. Gear shifter looks cool the reasoning begins. But alas, it just is not mean to be  the Mercury Cougar is simply not a great car. The trouble with the Cougar is that it is a perfectly fine car when judged on its own merits  adequate power, distinct styling, plenty of options etc., but it falls short when one considers the vehicles that the Cougar is competing against  VW Turbo Beetle, VW GTI, Dodge Stratus Coupe. Frankly there is little reason to choose the Cougar when shopping for a sporty coupe in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.  
 
Cougars of past have been big, luxury cars, or high powered muscle cars. This Cougar is neither. It is front-wheel drive and a V8 engine is nowhere to be found. Without the badges, youd be hard pressed to figure out that this is a Cougar. Not so with many other Ford products; Mustang, Thunderbird, F-150. They all look like what they are. Even if you dont know the first thing about cars, a Mustang still looks like a Mustang.  
 
The Cougar XR (essentially an appearance package on the Sport) offers many standard features: V6, 6-disc, in-dash CD changer, leather seating, traction control, split folding rear seat, air-conditioning etc. The outside is jazzed up with a hood scoop, rear spoiler, 16 inch alloys, and fog lights. There is actually quite a lot of stuff packed into this little car considering the price. XR Cougars come with special logos on the door pillars and floor mats. Coming soon; a 35th anniversary edition  you guessed it, just another appearance package.  
 
The Cougar is not without its strong points, mainly, stand-out exterior styling and an interior to match. The Mercury Cougar is a good looking sporty coupe. Its edgy styling gets noticed in a crowd. Certainly styling is subjective, and the Cougar is proof  many feel the Cougar is nothing less than the very definition of ugly. Whatever your perspective, youd have to admit it is different looking.  
 
Note to Ford: The Cougar is not a half-bad looking car, loose the fake hood scoop FAST!  
 
So many modern cars lure us with their rakish good looks on the outside, only to fall short once were inside the car. Not so with the Cougar, the edgy styling theme continues inside the Cougar with metallic looking surfaces and racy gauges. Aftermarket style pedals, chrome accent door sills, sport seats with body color inserts, bucket rear seats, and an elegant but simple door panel design continue the style-fest inside. Other features worth mention inside Cougar XR include: split folding rear seat, rear seat cup holder, 6-disc in-dash CD changer, power drivers seat with height adjustment, and high quality leather seating.  
 
And that is where the praise ends  a simple summation of all the Cougars strong points could easily be stated as such; looks cool inside and out.  
 
Although the interior is great looking, it is essential useless for carrying more than two people. Rear seats are for kids only, and even the front seats can seem cramped times. A cup holder for the back seat is thoughtful feature. Storage space up front is limited, and what storage containers there are feel cheap and plasticky. The glove box alone seems as if the hard plastic it is made of may break with just one overly assertive slam. Switchgear feels durable, but lacks the ergonomic correctness of many Japanese cars.  
 
On the road the Cougar handles well. In fact, at times, the Cougar can be downright fun. The P215/50R16 tires provide more than adequate grip when carving up back roads, and traction control is a welcome addition on a budget priced car. On paper, the Cougar seems to have it all, but in the real world just ok comes to mind. Road noise is unacceptably high on all but the smoothest streets. Certainly no one would expect a $20,000 sporty coupe to feel like a Lexus, but the harshness of the Cougars ride is enough to make an owner want to avoid long trips. Compare this to a car like the VW GTI where road trips are a welcome excuse for some extended seat time. Even the Dodge Stratus has more pleasant road manners on the open highway.  
 
Engine noise is pronounced as well. Yes, it is great that the Cougar is available with a V6, but that 170 hp V6 is noisy and unrefined, running through the gears would be so much more rewarding if the noise level was kept down. Power is adequate, but no more. An imprecise shift linkage saps some of the driving fun. Further sapping any fun one might wish for with the Cougar is balky and jolting experience which results from driving the 5-speed with the A/C on. The compressor switching on and off so taxes the engine that a jolt, or slight buck results  not fun! Again, a car like the Dodge Stratus boasts a more refined engine and transmission. Even the 4-cylidner version of the Stratus is less abrasive than the V6 version of the Cougar. The Cougar is available with a 4-cylinder engine as well, but given the barely adequate performance of the V6, one cant help but feel skeptical about viability of the 4-cylinder version in everyday driving situations.  
 
A bright spot in the Cougars power train is fuel economy. The 2002 Cougars 2.5L DOHC V6 has an estimated 30 mpg highway and 21 city  not bad for a little V6.  
 
 
When all is said and done, the Mercury Cougar is a car with a few bright spots, but is generally quite lack-luster overall. The Cougar is an attractive looking sporty coupe, with many features at a reasonable price. The main drawbacks are: lack of refinement in the engine and transmission, a noisy cabin, and a rather small interior. While no one can argue with the fun of a V6 hooked up to a 5-speed manual, there are plenty of other cars that offer twice the fun, and twice the refinement at about the same price. If one is shopping for a new car and the Cougar is the first car they drive, it will most likely impress. But, as soon as that same shopper drives a VW GTI, the Cougar will be but a distant memory.  
 
Fitting, because the Cougar will soon be a distant memory for us all  Mercury will no longer make the current Cougar after the 2002 model year. And frankly, its easy to see why.  
 
