Originally posted by FROSTY SVT:
Interesting you posted that because i was just thinkn that the SVT is a great highway car and quite nice to have the ability to go 143 mph (on a closed track)...this thought came up for me tho because before going out today i couldnt decide if i'd take the SVT or the hoop-di (Grand Am)..i opted to take the grand am because the svt was clean and i didnt wanna dirty it up just running on the beltway for a short trip..silly i kno...anyway as i was driving on the beltway i got into a traffic situation while doing 75...now the gears in the grand am are really long 62 in 2nd gear 97 in 3rd and off the speedometer in 4th..i chose 3rd and was able to get out of a heavily jammed lane...i got to thinking that had i been in the SVT in this same scenario i would not have been able to do that as it only goes to 82 in 4th...also the svt is stock minus a K & N cone filter...but 5th gear in the contour is a helluva lot better than the grand am because of the torque curve...but when u need instant power for stupid driving..."3rd gear from hell" is a good thing to have..anyway does the zetec final drive gear signigicantly increase the gear duration (shift points).


No, the SVT goes to 82 in 3rd, and well over 100 in 4th. I know this not only from the stats, but from experience

Anyway, what amazes me is that my CSVT gets such good gas mileage (28 on my last trip, with A/C on) while cruising at about 75 mph, even though that means that the engine stays right around 3200 rpm. That's a pretty high speed for the engine to cruise at on the highway - most other cars I've driven cruise around 23-2500 at the same speed.

E0 Silver Frost CSVT #3095/6535 Alpine CDA-9851