well as far as "strong enough" doubt it...the 98's have weaker ring lands. Another issue with them is the differential...they break on stock contours.
I "think" a lot of boosted 2.5 guys (stock 2.5 that is) are hitting avg 275-285 to the wheels...trust me more power than this car was designed to handle.
I guess they are asking about what other dealers are, but if you search around...I can't imagine paying much more than about 4k for one like that..I may be wrong...I haven't been shopping for SVT Contours lately.