OK, in my search to replace the totaled SHO I have driven 4 Contours
2000 Zetech ATX
1998 DURATECH MTX
1998 SVT with a Duratech 3.0 complete engine swap
1998.5 SVT
The Zetech was as expected (ho hum), the SE Duratech MTX was a pleasent surprise, the 3.0 SVT ran like poop below 3k and stalled frequently, but ran like a scalded dog from 3-6.5K.
I drove the SVT today, which is on Ebay but in my area. The SVT was a little dissapointing. It was butter smooth and wound willingly to the rev limiter, but it did not have much torque anywhere and needed to be wrung out to feel like it was moving. I had to listen carefully to make sure the secondary intake runners were opening. But it just did not have the turbo like rush of the old SHO motor.
So I am wondering what these are supposed to run like?
It could be that the power is just so smooth and lineir that is just feels slow, but the torqueir SE felt much stronger, although was done by 6.5K RPM. It just seemed ike the SVT would HAVE to be kept buzzing in normal driving, which could get old.
Also, I searched quite a bit last night and found some conflicting information, do all the E1 SVTs have 200 hp, or just 99 and 2000 MY?
Thanks!
