I've read in many a car magazine how great the Ford Contour is. How the road handling and engine are 'european' like the mondeo and its Fords best car. My father had one in Germany not too long ago and said it was a good car. I shouldnt have believed the guy who owned a Dodge Dart and Omni.<p>So I go to Detroit (Dearborn) for the weekend and decide to rent a Contour. Afterall, I cant rent anything good, I might as well go with what everyone says is a good car.<p>Boy are they wrong. This car is almost as bad as the Neon I rented a couple years ago.<br>This is what passes for $22,000?<br>The fit and finish isnt all that great. You can almost see through the cracks between the door and the b pillar. The plastic is horrific. The radio has these tiny buttons. The tilt steering moves with a *crack*. No RPM Gauge. cupholders that arent deep enough to hold anything in a corner. Very slim seats. The shifter (automatic) feels like its going to break off any second.<p>The engine sounds like a go kart. You have to turn the overdrive off to keep the thing in a power zone over 70 (which consequently is the speed limit in Michigan - nice for them there).<p>The seat belt kept getting stuck - have to ease the belt out of the place its stored to get it to pull.<p>Anyway, Its no A4, its not even a Nissan Altima. For all those articles that compare one to the other, I have no idea where they are getting a comparison. I cant imagine the svt being that much better.<p>I will never rent this car again.<p>As for my trip to Detroit. It was interesting. Spent it across the street from the Ford Proving Grounds. I saw the 'Ka' and something that looked like a CRV with a lot of black cladding hiding it. 99% of the cars are American. I saw two Audis in 4 days. It was as if everyone had a rental car. Everything was a contour or taurus. Ive seen one mercury cougar in NYC since it was released. 1 in 10 cars in Dearborn is a cougar. Not to mention how many are Camaros. I thought I was in a bad movie about Long Island.<p>Thank the grand poo-bah there are choices in cars. I love my A4, may nobody compare it to a Contour again.<p>98.5 1.8TQTipSportWett<p>

The rental version of the Contour has the softest suspension and the smallest motor (the 125 HP, 2.0L Zetec). Most of the excellent Contour reviews are either on the 170 HP V6 Duratec version with sport suspension or, since 1998, on the SVT. The SVT is nothing like the rental. The interior has a very nice leather interior with great sport seats and the engine puts out 200 HP from 2.5L using extrude-honed intake ports (the first on a production car) and 10:1 compression ratio. The car was also tuned extensively in track driving and, as of 1999, has tires with 0.9G lateral grip.<p>Stop by an SVT dealer and drive one to see.

Dearborn IS Ford country after all. You should find some Volvos in Ford country since that is an acceptable import in Ford's family now. Now, had you gone a little north and east you'd find a much different story on the quality of cars. I see A4's everywhere (too much at times). I see BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Lexus, Volvo, Saab and more imports than you can imagine. Up north of Detroit and Dearborn a little way, you'll find DaimlerChrysler HQ and VWoA/AoA HQs and GM which of course owns Saab. It's more acceptable to drive an import around here than it has been in the past with all the globalization. <br>Also, had you been able to venture out of Dearborn, you may have even spotted a modified laser red A4 2.8qm with a full A!AvantGarde S system kit! ;)<br>-Cathleen

I would rent a Contour having had very good experiences with 2 prior rentals from Hertz. Of course both cars I rented had less than 50 miles on them!<p>Based on those experiences, I almost bought a Contour. However, the Contours I test drove here in NJ each had unique problems (whistling thru the top left of the front windshield or a whiny drone that sounded like a bomber in a Bugs Bunny cartoon or rattling. I would not consider buying one anymore. The deal breaker was when the salesman told me to crank up the radio so I wouldn't hear these noises!<p>Thankfully, I was able to get an A4, a great car.

I have an extensive drive on the European edition Ford Mondeo Ghia designer edition in Hong Kong in the summer of 97 and one of my friend rented a Ford Contour GL last spring when he visited me. I have a completely different sorts of feeling between these 2 versions.<br>Even though the European Mondeo is still powered by the same Zetec 4-cylinder as the America Contour, the chassis dynamics are completely 2 different animals. Mondeo feels like a sports package A4 while the Contour feels like a Camry in handling/control department. Since the Contour is tuned by those "excellent" Dearborn enginner, the car feels so soft that you think" what the hell is a world car by German engineers?". I think you have the same feeling when you drive the rental car, right? When I drove the Mondeo in HK's famous cuvvy road, I felt a complete control of the vehicle just like any German Audi or Bimmer is. Even though the Zetec I-4 is underengined the chassis, the car feels as one with the driver. Maybe its the reason the Mondeo made in Germany, I felt the Mondeo's I-4 is smoother than the Contour I-4. More on interior refinement, even though its not as classy as the A4 in fit-and-finish, the whole package is better than E36 BMW.<br>More on the trip to Whistler on the rental Contour GL last spring.<br>4 words: A PIECE OF S**T. Handles like a Taurus, interior quality is so cheap. Go through the steepy hilly roads to Whistler, the car feels sluggush and unrefined even a Dodge Strarus is way superior. Forget the Altma and Accord, their refinement is not in the same class as Contour.<br>Most prasie of Contour in North American critics is the Contour SVT edition. This car feels much more refine and handles like night and day compares with the rental car. Interior wise, the quality still not up to the European Mondeo standard. <br>Tom<br>97 A4 1.8TQMS<br>99 JETTA IV GLS 2.0

as an owner of both vehicles, ifeel as if i am qualified to discuss the differences/similarities of the vehicles.<p>the svt is very fast! the g force tires are nice and the sound of the the exhausts is beautiful. the car handles well, has a short, but notchy shifter, and has great clutch engagement. this is the racer of our garage. handily smokes mustang gt owners who cannot control their rear wheels. exterior is boy-racer looking, but gets lots of complements. some issues with fit and finish...not as tight as the audi. lots of options for the money, but lacking climate control...<p>my audi with wett 1.0 chip, brullen exhaust, ram air filter, bilstein shocks/neuspeed springs, etc, is very refined. it is a great cruing car. it is buttoned down and refined in comparison to the svt. <p>the svt is great for a driver who wants to squeeze every ounce of performance from a vehicle. it feels like a highly modified car for amateur racing. the audi is a smoother peformer, but will probably get smoked by the svt in a drag race or quick jaunt through the twisties (unless the weather turns ugly).<p>i like them both....i.e. both in the garage.<p>joe s.<p>98.5 TQSM wett1.0/brullen/bilstein-neuspeed/euro lights-piaa superwhite/avant-garde grille/turbo gauge/rockford sub-amp/etc...<p>99 SVT Contour<br>borla exhaust/kkm intake/razo interior pieces<br>

(nt)

Hate to say this, but my previous car Mondeo 2.5 was a great car and handles better than my '99 A4 non-sport. I am not sure but I think that 2.5V6 Mondeo has somekind of sport suspension as a standard.

I was driving to my friends in Plymouth when I spotted a Laser Red A4 (one of the two A4s I saw). I was in the middle of turning so I missed any mods, but it could have been you. Thursday around 1:30ish?<p>As for the two swedes staying at the Dearborn Inn, they got into a Neon so I figured they weren't Volvo folk.<p>I did get up past GM headquarters (Dave and Busters) and it was much the same. Everyone had a new rental car. I do wish I made it up to VW/AoA though.<p>

The Contour SE of 1995 and 1996 (first two years) were very well reviewed. Great handling, great sport seats, and lots of features for the money including all-speed traction control and little niceties like illuminated exterior door locks! However, they started "decontenting" the car in 1997. Lights disappeared, the sport seats lost padding and bolstering, etc. Handling remained the same. Then, in 1998, they revamped the trim levels and the SE version lost its significance, resorting to the standard suspension (sport suspension became an option). Also, only the 5-speed retained its 4-wheel disk brakes. At some point, I think in the 1998.5 model, even the fabric on the interior of the door panels was replaced by plastic.<p>Still, Automobile magazine has rated the V6 version of this car as a 10-Best car in the entry level family sedan category for the past few years, and Car and Driver had this car as a 10-Best for the first 3 years of its production - prior to the SVT's debut.<p>Too bad not enough people bought the 1995 and 1996 models or Ford may not have decontented as it did. Of course, they did almost no advertising at all for the car and the little advertising they did totally ignored the praise that the media had given the car for its well-balanced handling and performance.

It was a leftover that he picked up from AutoLand when his 1974 Nova died. I don't remember what he paid for it, but I drove it and it's pretty smooth. It is manual and its comfortable to drive... It has balls though...<br>Aren't the Contours that you can rent the base models?...I'm sure if you were looking at a Contour to purchase (depending on if you were an enthusiast or not)you would probably opt for a bigger engine.<br>Are the '97 Contour Sports the fastest version of the car until they made the SVT version in 1998?<p>Christian Andersen<br>'97 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L<br>NYCity

Sorry, I wasn't near Plymouth. There are lots of A4s so I am guilty of trying to be very different by having the kit and wheels.<br>Next time we'l have to bring you up to Birmingham where German cars rule and to Auburn Hills to Audi/VW country. ;)<br>-C.