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Originally posted by 2000GreenTour:
Originally posted by RogerB:
Ford 500 = 
Many auto writers have said that about the Contour, too. Especially if you got a GL.
Maybe the "500" is how many they plan to sell the first year  Especially since, according to Car and Driver, all the four wheel drives are going to have the CVT transmission. I guess we'll see how they do. I don't mind the styling, but it's a bit dull to me.
'99 Sport TropicGreen,Duratec, SVT exhaust, Brembo rotors, Ceramic pads, K&N filters(oil & air), Alpine CDM7874, Polk DB570 speakers front and rear. Fog light mod. 50% Formula One tint.
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Originally posted by 2000GreenTour:
Originally posted by RogerB:
Ford 500 =
Many auto writers have said that about the Contour, too. Especially if you got a GL.
OK. Contour GL=
I'm not an automotive writer, but every article I've read about the Contour gives it kudos for handling, steering, and even power (for the v-6, esp with MTX.) You need to cite some actual sources.
Looks? Yeah, some have said it's jelly-bean exterior defies notice, but that's a good thing in a sleeper.
The 500 reminds me of the early Passat. Good car, nice technology, lots of interior space, but underpowered and kind of a snoozer.
And OK all you snowhounds, FWD is better in the snow than RWD, but for the other 11 months of the year, I'd rather have RWD. If I lived in the snow belt, I'd take a RWD-based AWD'er, if it were available. (G35)
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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b0x @dm1n
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b0x @dm1n
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Originally posted by Mad_Medeiros:
I hate fwd in snow, thats my preferance..... I crashed my old golf into MANY snow banks a couple years ago because of DAMN oversteer! where I would just go straigt into the snow bank.. or down an incline..
when I had my 240 RWD... nissan, I felt much safer in the snow, even tough thats probably not true to people who can't drive!
lol its just different, with my 240, I could always AIM where I want to go.. pop the back end out and always keep her steady... I do admit RWD was more fun in the snow to!
FWD
my mx-3 sucks.
Oversteer with FWD! LOL! That takes talent. You really don't know what you are tlakin about you. Whipping the rear out is oversteer.
-Andy
Andy W.
The problem with America is stupidity.
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment
for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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Originally posted by Andy W.:
Originally posted by Mad_Medeiros:
I hate fwd in snow, thats my preferance..... I crashed my old golf into MANY snow banks a couple years ago because of DAMN oversteer! where I would just go straigt into the snow bank.. or down an incline..
when I had my 240 RWD... nissan, I felt much safer in the snow, even tough thats probably not true to people who can't drive!
lol its just different, with my 240, I could always AIM where I want to go.. pop the back end out and always keep her steady... I do admit RWD was more fun in the snow to!
FWD
my mx-3 sucks.
Oversteer with FWD! LOL! That takes talent. You really don't know what you are tlakin about you. Whipping the rear out is oversteer.
-Andy
Why don't you cool down for a second bub. It's quite easy to skid out of control in a front-drive car. Just because it's front-drive doesn't meant it's protected from oversteer one bit. I have kicked out the rear in the Taurus before going around turns in the rain. The problem is when you hit the brakes. I shouldn't hit the brakes while turning? Tell that to the millions of idiots out there.
The guys who are talking about throttle control have this to say. Your tires can do one of 3 things, right? Steer, accelerate, brake. What happens when you ask your two front tires to speed up? Well they can't steer anymore. In a rear-driver, you can accelerate AND steer. Front-wheel drive cuts your options down. Yes, it gets better traction, but when the situation spins out of control, (Especially in rain...we don't have snow down here, but I've driven it) good luck getting it back under control in a front-driver. Any true car enthusiast will tell you that RWD is superior to FWD.
Why don't you guys take better care of your tires if you fear the snow. Your tires are the most important part of your car. I can't stand seeing $40K+ sports cars with balding tires. You're better off in a POS 80's rusted away American boat with brand new Yoko's than one of those. Most people that complain about this or that in the snow are people who do not take care of their tires. And that is sad. Very sad. I hope you're not next to me when your tires decide to stop gripping.
2000 Contour SE
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Originally posted by Andy W.:
Oversteer with FWD! LOL! That takes talent. You really don't know what you are tlakin about you. Whipping the rear out is oversteer.
-Andy
Yes you can have oversteer with a FWD. I experienced this in my 'tour and ditched it because of it. The back end slid out on me, I managed to recover it only to have it slid out the other way, recovered from that, slid out the other way again and went right the way around and down into the ditch(road was icy). With FWD the only direct control you have over the back wheels is by applying the parking brake, not good in oversteer situations, useful with understeer.
A Crown Victoria in a snow coverd parking lot is just damn fun.
My Cars
1999 Silver Frost SVT - 80,000km #2603/2760 Aug. 10, 1999.
1996 Mercury Mystique LS V6 MTX - retired @ 323,151km.
1995 Ford Contour V6 MTX-sold @ 214,000km
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If you guys read the comment Andy was replying to, you'll see that the kid was confusing inability to steer, silding forward instead of turning, with oversteer - which is sliding the rear end out while turning. So Andy's comments would be correct then. I also agree that anyone having problems with vehicle control in the winter should get snow tires. It is really that simple. 'nuff said. 
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b0x @dm1n
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b0x @dm1n
Joined: Jul 2000
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Anyone who has problems with traction in bad weather should start by looking at their tires and there driving habits.
Whipping the rear around on FWD cars happens only in a few situations and all are caused by excessive speed. If it happens during bad weather, it's the driver or in some cases bad tires.
I have gotten the rear of my car to slide, but I do it controlled on a sharp turn in the dry. Not in bad weather or with other cars around.
When your rear comes around and snaps back the other way of of control, that is poor driving, whether it's speed or throttle/brake control.
Everyone keeps switching back and forth with between foul weather driving and spirited sunny day driving. Anyone who thinks whipping the end around on a RWD drive car in the snow safe, is nuts.
Two winters ago my roommate and I were going to work on a very snowy day in his 88 TB TC. Going straight he tapped the throttle to get up a slight incline and the rear came around on us on a 4 lane interstate and we went coompletely sideways before he recoverd, luckily just clear of traffic. A FWD car would not have done that, the tires would have spun a little but would have gotten traction before getting out of control.
-Andy
Andy W.
The problem with America is stupidity.
I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment
for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 699
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When it happend to me, I was avoiding a head-on collision because some idiot thought it would be better to drive down the middle of a 2 lane road. My rear wheel caught a ridge of snow at the side of the road, causing the back end to slide out. Fortunatly I ended up in the opposite ditch that was empty, and not on the one to my right which was full of trees.
I realize that Andy was talking about the confusion of oversteer and understeer, I was more making the comment that oversteer can happend in a FWD car.
My Cars
1999 Silver Frost SVT - 80,000km #2603/2760 Aug. 10, 1999.
1996 Mercury Mystique LS V6 MTX - retired @ 323,151km.
1995 Ford Contour V6 MTX-sold @ 214,000km
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Getting back to the subject at hand, the 500 does about as much for me as the current Taurus.
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Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Originally posted by 2000GreenTour:
Originally posted by RogerB:
Ford 500 =
Many auto writers have said that about the Contour, too. Especially if you got a GL.
Where?
Car and Driver did a comparison test in fall of 1997. Tested a 4 banger GL with ATX, came in last out of like 7 cars, so there.
And the 500 isn't meant to be a "Contour SVT replacement". It's a full line car, not a "cult car" like the C-SVT, (or SVT-C for the anal retentives.) Compare it to the plain Contours/Tauruses, and it is world's better.
It is only its first year anyway, there are planned changed alrewady. Like 3.5L V6 which will make the beloved 2.5 SVT motor look like a Tempo engine.
Last edited by 2000GreenTour; 09/27/04 11:29 PM.
2005 Nissan Sentra 1.8 SE, Code Red. '00 Tropic Green Ford Escort SE [Contour's little cousin]
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