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Well I've been driving up and down South Carolina for the past few days and finally got the Contour out on a road trip. I don't drive on the highway regularly so it was pretty cool driving from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach (no cops whatsoever). I've found that the Contour is a pretty comfortable highway cruiser. Very stable, great ride control, and good top-gear acceleration.
Even at extra-legal speeds the SVT is very stable and doesn't feel anywhere near winded at those speeds. I was going down I-26 with a Jaguar S-Type R and a 99+ Mustang GT(the driver looked at me like "WTF?") and well Contour kept up very well. The seats in this car are also very comfortable which is a good thing on long trips. It's no road-crushing Mercedes but its at home on the highway or the twisties. The fuel economy over 80mph is nothing to brag about, especiailly with the A/C on but that's to be expected. Overall I'm impressed at this car's capabilities, it's pretty cool.
Just wanted to share my experience. Anybody else have any thoughts on the Contour's road trip skills?
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 343
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I agree, I do a lot of highway travel and I always look forward to it! The car cruises very well but its easy to pass and get out of peoples' way! Also, you can get good gas mileage if you try  I get between 30-34mpg cruising between 70-75 mph, not too bad 
99 T-green svt
K&N & heatshield
Opt. y-pipe
Borla
Superchip
DMD
Magnecore wires
Metal impeller water pump
BAT / Bilstein kit
21mm BAT bar w/ boxed subframe
215/45/ZR17 Toyo Proxes FZ on Rage 5.0's
jimmkreider@yahoo.com
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Joined: Apr 2004
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I couldn't cruise 70-75 because the big rigs were about to run me over so had to step it up a little bit. I was getting aroun 23-25mpg.  
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 95
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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).
98 Silver Frost EO
90 Grand Am H.O. Quad 4 300,000+ miles
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Joined: Jun 2000
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i spent about 11 hours in my SVT on the way to SZ02 and i had no gripes.
1999 Silver Frost SVT
#609 of 2760
Quaife, lightened SVT Flywheel, SPEC stage II clutch, removed resonator, k&n drop in - various other goodies too.
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Joined: Aug 2003
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I concur. It is stable, aerodynamically and suspension-wise, and has a smooth highway ride. It's got all the passing power you'd ever need in 3rd: redline at 80mph!
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Joined: May 2005
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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
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Joined: Oct 2003
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DAmn meant 82 in 3rd and for the record the speedo in the grand am only goes to 115 so that doesnt say very much about being able to go off the speedo in 4th gear
98 Silver Frost EO
90 Grand Am H.O. Quad 4 300,000+ miles
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My '95 V6/ATX liked to cruise right around 70-72...any higher than that and the secondaries would crack open and fuel efficiency took a dive, especially in the high 70s. I cruise my '97 MTX at about 72 also, and it gets reaaaally good mileage there.
"Think of it, if you like, as a librarian with a G-string under the tweed." Clarkson on the Mondeo.
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Joined: Apr 2005
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I love my SVT on the highway. I used to have a 96 Saturn Wagon and a girlfriend in Atlanta so I was driving 200 miles from Asheville, NC to Atlanta like every other weekend for a while ...dear god I wish I had the SVT then. The Saturn would feel really, really unsteady if you took it over 80, the SVT will cruise 90 smooth as can be. Gas millege is kinda poor once you get up over 80 though...oh well. Contours rock my socks off.
98 Black Contour SVT
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