What pleases you having a Cat? [Archive]

P999LTS

09-02-2003, 08:29 PM

:biggrin: OK we have had a thread about what's wrong with the Cat but what is the opposite. I like the cost (cheap), the driving experience (even though my wife's is automatic); the comfort and the load carrying ability (taking son to Uni in Germany 29/9 vroOOOOOOOOOm:grin;) Anyone had a bike carrier on the Cat?

Mac1

09-02-2003, 09:00 PM

They mess in other people's gardens! :ugh:

keif

09-03-2003, 05:18 AM

Something that always pleases me is seeing some spotty teenager with a baseball cap in a tricked up Nova, with every accessory from Halfords costing less than a tenner stuck on, and watching him fade away into the distance in my rear view mirror.

Also you got to love the V6 growl when you start her up, and ripping down your favourite road. and maybe taking that roundabout a little bit faster than last time.

Raggy

09-03-2003, 06:11 AM

V6 growl & all the kit for the money(second hand anyway).

Got a bit miffed recently when a Golf TDi started to pull away from me accelerating on to the motorway :flushed: - until I found out it was chipped etc to nearly 200BHP!!! with shed loads of torque - then I was well chuffed that I kept up with it for as long as I did. Bloke in the golf told me not many cars stay with him through the gears and he even gives scoobys a fright now and again.:biggrin:

CougarUK

09-03-2003, 06:19 AM

I just like the view as you're driving down the high street, and you catch a glimpse of yourself in a shop window....damn you and the car look good.

And the fact that there is never much that overtakes me on the motorway, well not yet anyway!

active

09-03-2003, 06:25 AM

Good post Pete

In a nut shell EVERYTHING!

Going fast is one thing but I don’t mind driving slow, it gives people a chance to see the car and you know they’re always looking. I’ve been to places where people have asked me what I’m driving, purely because they’ve never come across a Cougar before.

Also, when people just stop and stare and naturally you have to give them what they want, so what do you do, you go round the block again.

My little nephew calls my car ‘kit’ and ‘knight rider’ because of the shape, the Cougar, brings joy to everyone apart from those who don’t own one, mainly because they're jealous.................

pioneer

09-03-2003, 07:07 AM

Got to agree, I'd tend to think the Cougar is one of the best cars you can buy second hand in the value for money stakes. I mean, what other car can you get for about £6500 on a T plate with all the kit that we have? And yes, the fact it is one of those cars that quite a few people haven't got a clue what it is...the posing potential is definitely there:cool:

timjford

09-03-2003, 08:03 AM

Top end acceleration. If you really push it hard it just keeps going - had to duck out at 126 mph (on the same 'private road' that Madmale uses of course) but it would easily have gone to 140 maximum.

Tim.

pioneer

09-03-2003, 08:31 AM

I can verify that...on another private road (seems like there are quite a few around??;)) on a long flat straight I saw an indicated 142mph at 6400rpm. So with a bit of a tailwind, who knows where it would stop?:bowdown:

Raggy

09-03-2003, 08:55 AM

Originally posted by: pioneer
I can verify that...on another private road (seems like there are quite a few around??;)) on a long flat straight I saw an indicated 142mph at 6400rpm. So with a bit of a tailwind, who knows where it would stop?:bowdown:

Beats me - I bottled it at just under 140 (on a disused airfield) didn't think to look at the rev counter I was fiddling with the CD player and using my mobile at the time. ;)

From your figures you can do 22 MPH per every 1000 rpm in 5th which gives a top end of 160mph if the engine could reach the rev limiter which I think cuts in at about 7250rpm (on a track day or private road of course). Also at that speed the indicated MPH can be miles out - when you are doing an indicated 80mph you are probably only really doing about 76-78mph and most speedos get worse as they go faster.

keif

09-03-2003, 09:16 AM

I see, if we are talking about posing and being proud of ones cat, then this one is a killer.

Spending a whole saturday washing the body (on the hottest day of the year), opening all the doors and cleaning in the nooks and cranies, taking a washing up brush to the wheels, buffing up the door sill plates, waxing and drying those annoying water marks from the rear lights and door handles. hovering the interior, polishing the dash, and making sure the air freshner is topped up, the whole time sweating and bleeding from your knuckles.

And then picking up a girl for your first date, walking past a beat up toyota, and stopping a your shiny Cat and watching the look on their face. Pure magic and totally worth all the effort.

Jacko

09-03-2003, 09:55 AM

Being a bit of a Billy bad ass I love to wind to boy racers up.

Having dropped and tinted the cat, plus debadging, none of them know what I am driving as I cruise past. I have even had them hanging out of windows trying to catch up, shouting '' What is it!''.
At this point I floor it, leaving clueless expressions on there faces, the mystery intact and the words '' What the fcuk!!''hovering in the air. Love it.

GCatz

09-03-2003, 10:00 AM

I love pulling into a cruise and having a unique car :D its my own, its the way i like it!

pioneer

09-03-2003, 10:45 AM

Yeah, I know the speedo isn't the most accurate thing in the world at those speeds! But it was so smooth, it was as if I was doing about ninety at most. Until you go past other people using the 'private road' and its as if they weren't moving...custom_images/emoticons/shocked.gif

GCatz

09-03-2003, 01:29 PM

Oh I also like the way ford have made a sort of symbol which is the cougar and slapped it onto the steering wheele and inside door handles, its always a talking point when somebody new gets into the car... Although it has been mis-identified as the thundercats symbol and some local sport team the Peterborough Panthers *See attached... sneeky gits*

Raggy

09-03-2003, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by: CougarUK
I just like the view as you're driving down the high street, and you catch a glimpse of yourself in a shop window....damn you and the car look good.

And the fact that there is never much that overtakes me on the motorway, well not yet anyway!

Know what you mean - I go of my way just to drive past a library near me that has big mirrored windows:cool:

P999LTS

09-03-2003, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by: timjford
Top end acceleration. If you really push it hard it just keeps going - had to duck out at 126 mph (on the same 'private road' that Madmale uses of course) but it would easily have gone to 140 maximum.

Tim.

Have you noticed how the gentle bend at the end of the private road becomes quite tight at those speeds?

Jason J

09-03-2003, 04:30 PM

Originally posted by: timjford
Top end acceleration. If you really push it hard it just keeps going - had to duck out at 126 mph (on the same 'private road' that Madmale uses of course) but it would easily have gone to 140 maximum.

Tim.

got to agree its ace on the motorway but i go to a lot of cruises aswell and the car gets photod on average around every minute and a half to two minutes got to the stage where i left the strobes and neons on and just stood watching everyone try to figure out what it was from the other side of the road!!:biggrin:

FlamencoAssassin

09-03-2003, 08:02 PM

Somebody once asked me, "Is that a Porsche?"

AndyT

09-03-2003, 08:20 PM

Probably me and Gareth before Inetrford last year....yeah you remember.....that poor sod in the middle lane!! It has become a regular event for me now on the way to a show!!

cougarfella

09-03-2003, 09:23 PM

i use the same private road as jason (madmale) and have seen 145 with some still to go. but the best yet has to be driving down to london last christmas and having porsches and beemers moving out of my way, then the look on thier faces when they saw the blue oval.SWEET!!!!

Matt

keif

09-11-2003, 05:38 AM

Some thing that gave me a BIG BIG smile to my face this morning,

Touching 130+ this morning at 6 am, and then sitting in the slip stream of a Carrera 4 at 100ish and then showing him the ford badge on the boot lid!!!!

What a great way to start the day, got to be better than Frosties :biggrin:

Elgrande

09-11-2003, 02:25 PM

Keif, what was that Carrera doing on your private road?:rolleyes:

catnamedog

09-11-2003, 08:17 PM

I love it when my next door neighbour (a diesel Vectra, no less - hairy geezer!) starts his engine, complete with loud dieselly engine-falling-out-noises and smokes his way out of the cul-de-sac we live in, only for me to follow, with a sweet throaty starter, and a gurgley-burbley smoooothie right behind him. If I could stand the smell, I'd park right up his exhaust pipe at the lights, but its enough to fly past him on the change from 2nd to 3rd. God is indeed, good!:)

keif

09-12-2003, 09:53 AM

I wouldnt say the M23 is a private road, I did give the Cat a ragging tho, over 30 mile trip my MPG was down to 22!! :puke:

That is some thing that you have to love about the car, the power and the noise of the V6, I dont think I would want to smoke about in a 4 pot engine ever again,

I also managed a very impressive power slide in a field last weekend when i went camping with some mates, doing it on grass defo saves on rubber lol.

G8RUM

09-12-2003, 11:42 AM

over 30 mile trip my MPG was down to 22!!

Lucky you... I average 21mpg.

Jason J

09-12-2003, 12:54 PM

lucky you i average 18.......

G8RUM

09-12-2003, 01:27 PM

lucky you i average 18.......

But I drive quite sensibly. Not that I'm saying you don't :tongue:

keif

09-12-2003, 02:33 PM

In this thread alone i have mentioned speeds 130+ and silly mpg, think i drive that sensible lol.

LeonsCat

09-12-2003, 07:47 PM

What do you people in UK mean by a 'private road'? By this do you mean a private race course? In the US, there are some special urban area expressways that are privately operated toll roads. Some operate in Califronia and near Denver, Colorado. The local/state speed and road rules still apply and the local cops can patrol them.

P999LTS

09-12-2003, 08:15 PM

:beer: Guys, let's stay on madmales private road, its fast enough for all of us, but I hate the bend at the end - tried it last Sunday morning and at 130 it was tight!!!!!!!! Remember over 100 mph on any M road and the licence is gone for about 3 - 4months and all you can insure after that will be a Fiat Panda for ££££££. On other roads its 4 - 6 months and ££££££££!!!

From all I've read the Cat is speed limited to 140 unless rechipped, but as usual I am probably wrong.

Maximum a car I've been in has managed is 135 - but the structure on the roof was an aerodynamic problem (but it was legal - job has some perks).

Take care out there.

Off to Germany in 3 weeks, will let you know what I manage:banana:

P999LTS

09-12-2003, 09:11 PM

Originally posted by: LeonsCat
What do you people in UK mean by a 'private road'? By this do you mean a private race course? In the US, there are some special urban area expressways that are privately operated toll roads. Some operate in Califronia and near Denver, Colorado. The local/state speed and road rules still apply and the local cops can patrol them.

:biggrin: It is like Never Never Land, it exits in the imagination. How can we admit to breaking the law? So we have an imaginary land where we transfer our existence (well most of us), so on this private road, with a horrible bend at the end, we can do what we like. It's like the yellow brick road - no existence in reality, but a great way of transfering a tale:goofy:

Jason J

09-13-2003, 04:53 AM

Originally posted by: P999LTS

Originally posted by: LeonsCat
What do you people in UK mean by a 'private road'? By this do you mean a private race course? In the US, there are some special urban area expressways that are privately operated toll roads. Some operate in Califronia and near Denver, Colorado. The local/state speed and road rules still apply and the local cops can patrol them.

:biggrin: It is like Never Never Land, it exits in the imagination. How can we admit to breaking the law? So we have an imaginary land where we transfer our existence (well most of us), so on this private road, with a horrible bend at the end, we can do what we like. It's like the yellow brick road - no existence in reality, but a great way of transfering a tale:goofy:

pete that is the best damn expanation i have ever heard ive just been sat here giggling to myself!!:rofl:
and i know exactly what you mean about the bends at 90ish they seem ok add another 30-40mph to that and it gets "interesting" to say the least luckily on "my" private road i have a very long straight thats pretty flat its enough to touch 140mph on.
G8RUM i drive very sensible ISH but i have an auto as well so you put your foot down and it guzzles the gas im assuming by sensible that you mean foot to the boards all the time.........:biggrin:

Jason J

09-13-2003, 04:56 AM

Originally posted by: madmale007

Originally posted by: P999LTS

Originally posted by: LeonsCat
What do you people in UK mean by a 'private road'? By this do you mean a private race course? In the US, there are some special urban area expressways that are privately operated toll roads. Some operate in Califronia and near Denver, Colorado. The local/state speed and road rules still apply and the local cops can patrol them.

:biggrin: It is like Never Never Land, it exits in the imagination. How can we admit to breaking the law? So we have an imaginary land where we transfer our existence (well most of us), so on this private road, with a horrible bend at the end, we can do what we like. It's like the yellow brick road - no existence in reality, but a great way of transfering a tale:goofy:

pete that is the best damn expanation i have ever heard ive just been sat here giggling to myself!!:rofl:
and i know exactly what you mean about the bends at 90ish they seem ok add another 30-40mph to that and it gets "interesting" to say the least luckily on "my" private road i have a very long straight thats pretty flat its enough to touch 140mph on.
G8RUM i drive very sensible ISH but i have an auto as well so you put your foot down and it guzzles the gas im assuming by sensible that you mean foot to the boards all the time.........:biggrin:

LEONSCAT on a race track i saw my fuel consumption drop to ten miles to the gallon thats scary when fuel is 75 pence around $1.19 a litre

G8RUM

09-13-2003, 12:10 PM

G8RUM i drive very sensible ISH but i have an auto as well so you put your foot down and it guzzles the gas im assuming by sensible that you mean foot to the boards all the time.........

Not at all... I stop when I reach the mats! :cool:

Elgrande

09-14-2003, 05:52 AM

Pete
That has to be the best and most slippery description of a private raod that I have ever read.
Well done.
:rofl:
Garry

LeonsCat

09-15-2003, 07:40 PM

I think I get it as to a 'private road' - either 1) a place only in your mind or 2) a section of road where you have gotten away with very high speeds. I was in last in England and Wales in 2002, driving a Focus 5 door/stick rental, (and paying = US $ 4.40/ US Gallon = 3.9 L) and on some motorways got up to 85...just to keep up with fast lane traffic!:crazy: On a 1993 trip, got to low 90's on Motorway west of Liverpool (driving a Vauxhall Corsa 5 door auto). Here in US, sometimes get up to 80--85 on Interstates (= to your motorways) in my Cougar and have gone up to 95 years ago in past cars. Wish could drive a proper car (like our Cougars!) on German Autobahns. Was a great post of a guy getting up to 140 on a trip from Netherlands to Paruge. In western US, states like Montana, Nevada while have high speed limit (75), are few cops, so might be able to get to 100+ if road, car good, cops having doughnuts and coffee and traffic light. Right now paying about US$ 1.65/US Regular grade Gallon (3.9 L), although some states like Califronia paying US$2.19.:goofy: (Premium about 20 cents a gallon higher) Having a Cougar in the US is a pleasing experience. While common in some areas (like where I live in northern New Jersey) have had complements and looks, and not just another ricer.:cool: Our cars are made for open highways or curvey, properly banked rural 2 lanes. Have been on many fine and fun to drive M, A and B roads in UK in my several travels there.

P999LTS

09-15-2003, 08:33 PM

LeonsCat - in the UK a private road is one where the Cops (and I am one) have no juristiction. We can do what we like on a private road!! Madmale is an eccentric millionaire who has a private road on his Estate and occassionally allows us mere mortals to use it (but it ends in an awful bend). No speed limit, no Gatso cameras and privacy guarenteed! Bring your car over and see what we mean. - Pete :biggrin: