Originally posted by theorem:
Congrats on your kill but just make sure the IS was racing 
People have run the IS300 MTs in the 14s, fully stock. According to many sites I have read the Contour SVT does 0-60 in 7.9s. Lexus' website lists the IS at doing 0-60 in 6.8s which is a very conservative number (ive done it in a lot less) This is a big difference and its quite possible my numbers are wrong. Its also quite possible that the kid in the IS cant drive for his life (the day i ran 14.9 someone with a similar car ran high 15s) Please dont take this as a flame. Im not a big Ford fan but I think Ford did on a good job on squeezing more HP out of the SVT and its a good car. If someone could list performance specs on the 2000 SVT MT and AT we could compare and see just how close they really are Ford SVT's conservative numbers for the SVT Contour's acceleration are produced with the vehicle carrying ballast to simulate the vehicle's weight under average conditions...mostly full of fuel and with an extra passenger.
Further research on your part will reveal that, in fact, the SVT Contour produced much better numbers. Motor Trend's '98 prototype posted 60mph in 7.5 seconds, C&D's '98 production model ran it in 7.1, R&T's '98 production model did (I think) 7.2, and C&D's '99 models ran 60mph in 6.9, 1/4 in 15.4@92, and 130mph in 33 seconds, topping out anywhere from 141 to 143 mph.
Since no SVT Contour was ever available with automatic transmission, it's apples to oranges against a slushboxed IS300, though numerous bench racing comparisons are made anyway. Numerous tests have put the AT IS300 to 60mph in the low-mid 7's.
However, I would expect the 5-speed IS300 to nudge ahead of the SVT Contour, both being well driven.
