Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General The Contour is a great highway car!

I totally agree. The Contour is an awesome car for highway miles. Well,actually,for any miles,anywhere. I don't do alot of city driving,so I'm like 95% highway miles.

I had a zetec atx mystique,and I hated everything about driving that car,especially on the highways. I found it had no passing power,no uphill power,was very rev happy,but wheezy. I had to put my foot to the floor everywhere I went just to keep up with the pace of traffic. I always had piss poor fuel economy,usually 300-400km to a tank. The car was always well maintained,and completely stock. It was a terrible car to drive,and I would never buy another Contique with an automatic. I would settle for a Zetec with an mtx,but no way would I ever go back to an automatic. Plus,I never liked autos and the Mystique was the first car I had with an auto.

My duratec mtx is a different story. All sorts of stupid power left over to pass anyone and anything,but the governor at 180kmh keeps things "slow". Need my chip....
Anyways,I find it to be an incredibly comfortable car to drive. Of course it feels weighed down with 4 or 5 people in it,but with just me or 1 passenger the thing flies. The stock seats are great,suspension is well tuned,but I'm still going to lower it,and overall,out of all the cars I've owned,I think my Contour is the best one yet. I love my car,and it would take a lot for me to want to give this one up. Gas milage is great,as I regularly see 500-600km to a tank with hard driving (100-140kmh highway driving,backroad carving,roaring off from traffic lights etc).

I had an incredible bond with my Celica,but my Contour just 'fits' me. I think it is the perfect car.Looks good,has been exceptionally reliable,great on gas,comfortable,very practical,and most of all it's fun to drive,which can't be said for a whole lot of vanilla sedans out there.

I totally agree. The Contour is an awesome car for highway miles.


I love driving my car contour on the highway. I feel very relax when I go to Va Beach from Summerville, Sc. Once a month.

right now im in greensboro nc. i'll be driving back to summerville, nc when i get my car inspeceted. I cant wait for the long drive back. Cant wait to get back. I live off of 78.

I'm also really impressed with the handling and ride of my Contour. Friday, I went in Ottawa to visit some friends and on 417, cruising at 110km/h, I got an impressive 36mpg. I never thought a car smaller than our 96 Stratus would've had a simillar ride and handling. But I drove many cars, and the best cruiser is my Premier, smooth, excellent handling, fast.

The Contour doesn't even compare to the other cars I've had. My '87 Celica,which may well of had the best seats ever designed,was a great car to drive,but it kind of wore you out behind the wheel. Firm ride,sitting low,also not in a very ergonomic position.

Even with tilt and telescopic steering,at 5'9",I needed the seat almost all the way back for my feet and legs to properly operate the pedals,and I also needed it reclined quite a ways to be comfortable without sitting upright,while I had to reach quite a bit for the wheel,and the shifter was very long and truck-like,and you really had to reach for the gears. Fun car to drive,and cool car to have when you're 17,but it only lasted me till shortly after my 18th birthday.

I moved on to an '88 RX7 after the Celica. Driving position was great,but this was a very tiring and unforgiving car to drive. No power steering made it an arm wrestle around town,and the lightened Racing Beat flywheel and heavy clutch took a toll on my left knee.

My '88 Isuzu Trooper is a ton of fun to drive. Good driving position,comfortable,handles well,even if it is slow as molasses.

The Contour is in so many ways so much better than everything I've driven. I've driven a G35,WRX STi and the like,and ofcourse those are amazing cars,and they do everything well,but they cost a pretty penny for those of us on a budget. For relatively little money,we can build our cars into something that can compete with and beat cars like them. I paid $1600 for my Contour and with modifications and major repairs included together,I've got about $4k into the car,with another $1000 being dropped into on SVT brakes,SE skirts and paint within the next 6 weeks. Sure it sounds like a bit of money dropped into the car,but with all that,the only original mechanical,suspension or transaxle parts left is the engine itself! In almost 3 months,I have had new oem suspension installed,new brakes all around,which are also going to be further upgraded,new rims and tires,new ball joints,cv shafts,wheel bearings,transmission,intake,muffler,complete tune up etc. It's basically a new car,and even with the aging engine,at 270+k KM,it still runs like a champ and doesn't burn a drop of oil. When this motor goes bang,in goes an SVT motor in it's place.

Alright,I'm just rambling now,but jeez,still being a young'un at 19,you wouldn't think this is the age for someone to get hooked on grandma and grandpa's car! Oh well,my best friend drives a modified 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis!