Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Just bought a 99 Contour SE and ive been thinking,

LT1, first off, since your post has seemingly turned into a debate over what is faster, may I suggest you try the search feature. i know I've seen this question anmswered a few times in the few months I've been here. Not trying to be a search nazi, just trying to help answer your question is the quickest manor possible.
As for the which is faster debate, I'm sure stock for stock, the SVT is faster in a straight line. In an Autocross, I'm not sure. i don't know a lot about it myself and have never done it, but it seems to me more torque at lower rpms would be an advantage there, and the SVT's extra weight would most likely come from having almost every option standard. All the luxo stuff adds up. Just a guess.

There sure are a lot of misconstrued ideas floating about...

The difference between an SVT & non-SVT are extremely numerous. Even beyond the 20+ things different under the hood alone.

All performance aspects are in the SVT's favor as well.

Also those that think the SVT is considerably heavier than a non-SVT are again mistaken.
Both cars weigh right around 3000lbs.

I won't even get into that autocross debate, because 75% of your times is skill related. I've seen a good driver in a mid 80's Dodge 600 (bone stock including tires!) turn lap times with in a few seconds of the STS guys! (~40 second course)

Having no proof, but having an SVT and having driven a couple hundred miles last weekend in a '99 MTX SE Sport, I will say it FEELS like the the SE has its peak torque lower.
There was rarely a need to take the SE much over 3k RPM, and in fact I when I did I felt like I was abusing the car, a feeling I don't get in the SVT until about 5k .
The SVT has a relatively flat torque curve, where it seems the SE has less torque (which it does) but an earlier peak. Why wouldn't they have different curves? They share an engine but are tuned very differently and have a number of different parts. (headers, cams, flywheel, radiator, water to oil cooler, injectors to name a few)
The SE also has a much lighter feeling and earlier grabbing clutch which unlike the torque curves, did catch me off guard. I thought it was rather icky but that is just my opinion after being used to the SVT.

-CtrAltDel

Ok so I did a search and in one of the threads i found someone named DemonSVT said that you couldnt come close to getting SVT quality by buying an SE and modding it before you'd surpass the SVT's price. Thats the biggest crock of **** ive ever heard. I bought my 99 Se for 8k with only 24,000 miles on it. All 99 SVT's are atleast 11k in the trader. Hmm, an extra 3k in my pocket, i think ill take a sway bar and oh yeah, that jrsc supercharger. lol

heres the link : http://www.contour.org/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=012514

The SE to SVT transformation is very substantial. Apart from the obvious stuff under the hood (LIM, UIM, cams, pistons, ECM programming, MAF, air filter, etc), the wheels, tires, suspension, anti-roll bars, front disc brakes, front and rear fascias, exhaust (quasi-dual instead of single), side skirts, front grille, front and rear seats, and gauges are all different.

I believe even the ABS has a different calibration, and may even be a different manufacturer (SVT is 4 channel Bosch -- similar to BMW). I remember a thread about ABS/EBD/Traction Control and we weren't sure if the regular Contours had a different brand of ABS system.

Kerry

I could give 2 craps about having an SVT. If i had wanted one i would have got one. Who in their right mind would try to disguise their SE as an SVT anyways, thats just lame.

What im trying to get at is that the SE is far more bang for the buck. When ive added a jrsc and some suspension extras. Ill have a Contour SE that will out perform the SVT in all areas. Its not about copying the SVT, its about a higher level of performance for the money.

Come on guys, this topic has been discussed to death. Give it up, SVT's are better in every aspect. Faster 1/2 mile, better handling, better braking, and of course looks. The only thing the standard contours have on the SVT's is the price. I love my SE, but i'd also love to have an SVT. Who wouldn't? If you say you wouldn't want an SVT you're in DENIAL. Get over it the SVT's are better.

what point are you trying to make here? this guy wants to have the performance of the SVT. it CAN be done and exceeded for not much money. why can't we just support him instead of trying to compare the cars.

again, LT1, try the search feature. look in the classifieds. there are plenty of people pimping SVT parts. if you want rear disk brakes, i have a set for sale. if you want the upper and lower intake manifolds, there are vendors available here (although putting your through their own glass bead process might yield better results). TBs, no problem. i would also suggest investing in some of the Terry Haines goodies like the DMD and LSD to extend the lives of your motor and tranny.

good luck with it!

and try to post additional questions in the Performance sections. you'll probably get more helpful/directed responses there.

yes!, somebody finally sees what i was talking about. Thanks for the response baco99.

Why don't you search for the discussion about last year's (2001) SZ AutoX results. I drove pretty bad in my stock SE with a clogged up exhaust, and my time was still comparable to the some modified SVT's time. Here's the result from 2001's SZ Cup. Average time for all non-SVT's was 40.836s, while the average for SVT's was 41.032s.