i own a 95 taurus, but the transmission is dead on it. i was planing just to get another taurus, but latley i've been growing fond of the thunderbirds and the cougars, i'm just posting to get some advice on what to look for when buying one and which would be better to buy, a thunderbird or a cougar. any advice would be great.
thunderbird or cougar?
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well it depends what body style you prefer. Both cars are the same, just different looks and options. The cougar is the more luxorious version of the tbird. It also depends on what years you are looking at. The V6 birds have a problem with head gaskets. The 94-95 birds and cougs didnt have the best trannies. If your looking for the supercharged you can have a 89-90 coug or a 89-94 bird. There is a bunch of varibles so you have to figure what you like best and go from there.
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given the option, I'd go with a 4.6, or a 3.8SC.
As far as whether to go Cougar or Thunderbird, I think its mostly just personal prefference. I have a t-bird (at home in AZ), but when I was younger my folks had an early ''90s 5.0 Cougar. Electric red, spoiler, sunroof... *****in'
Reminiscing aside, go with what you can find, they're mechanically the same. See what ya can find.
As far as whether to go Cougar or Thunderbird, I think its mostly just personal prefference. I have a t-bird (at home in AZ), but when I was younger my folks had an early ''90s 5.0 Cougar. Electric red, spoiler, sunroof... *****in'
Reminiscing aside, go with what you can find, they're mechanically the same. See what ya can find.
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chicks drive cougars!
*runs off back to the 50inch 1080p Sony and the 360!
*runs off back to the 50inch 1080p Sony and the 360!
The 3.8NA isn't a bad motor from a reliability standpoint, but it just has no performance to it. Also every 3.8 will need headgaskets between 110K-160K, and if you have to pay a shop to do them for you, it gets pretty expensive. The 3.8SC is a great motor, but it is very high maintenance, and nothing is easy on it. If you want a fun car to mess around with, the SC is great, but if you are depending on the car as a daily driver, you should stay away from them. The 5.0 and the 4.6 will both run forever. There are several guys on this board with 5.0s and 4.6s over 300K miles. 94/95 4.6 cars have several transmission issues, but for a stock daily driver, a few little changes and they will be fine. The original trans in my 94 cougar made it to just under 200K before finally dying.87LT said:
Mike
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472 Posts
tbird all the way
Myself, I like the Cougar since I own two but it is all personnel preference I like the 97 ether model and would stick with 4.6L it’s better to have the extra power than to be under powered unless you get the 3.8L with a turbo installed. But that’s my $.02
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hey last time checked i was male .The Great Obucina said:
that should say chicks drive 99+ and newer cougars !
besides the cougar is better looking than the tbird.
dont waste your money on a n/a 3.8 car week in tons of ways , aside from head gaskets .
like the above post said if you want a 6 get a 89-95 s/c or 89-90 xr7
5.0 cars are great , just need uncorked
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I'm partial to the Cougars. Main reason is because I love the back window. But like everyone else states, personal preference.
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Personal I've found the Cougars body style has aged better to my eyes. I really don't care for the Tbirds styling all that much anymore tho I would of loved to own one at one point. (I still see a few I really like) It's funny back in the day when they were still new it was the other way around. But I think the Cougars body styling has aged more gracefully.
One caveat is they have to have the spoiler on them or that trunk becomes a huge styling wasteland. Another thing I like is I can get bigger stuff in my Cougars trunk. Bird owners have to deal with that huge curved freakin window intruding into the trunk opening. Down in FL I don't see that huge easy-bake rear window as an advantage either! And up north in winter I suspect the Cougars rear window is a hell of a lot easier to clean snow and ice off of.
Oddly enough I can't think of any other notchback's I like off the top of my head (maybe going back to 60's~early 70's i could think of a few). I've always hated that style for the most part. Especially the FOX Cougars. Talk about fugly, no comparison to my long gone '85 Bird. the Bird wins that styling contest hands down IMO.
And get over it jk89cat most of the Cougars I've seen one the road ARE driven by women, older ones at that. Middle aged women love MN12 Cougars. :tongue:
Well the oldtimers around here used to love them too but most have gotten newer rides by now, or died and it's passed on to someone else a bit younger.
One caveat is they have to have the spoiler on them or that trunk becomes a huge styling wasteland. Another thing I like is I can get bigger stuff in my Cougars trunk. Bird owners have to deal with that huge curved freakin window intruding into the trunk opening. Down in FL I don't see that huge easy-bake rear window as an advantage either! And up north in winter I suspect the Cougars rear window is a hell of a lot easier to clean snow and ice off of.
Oddly enough I can't think of any other notchback's I like off the top of my head (maybe going back to 60's~early 70's i could think of a few). I've always hated that style for the most part. Especially the FOX Cougars. Talk about fugly, no comparison to my long gone '85 Bird. the Bird wins that styling contest hands down IMO.
And get over it jk89cat most of the Cougars I've seen one the road ARE driven by women, older ones at that. Middle aged women love MN12 Cougars. :tongue:
Well the oldtimers around here used to love them too but most have gotten newer rides by now, or died and it's passed on to someone else a bit younger.
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Perhaps, but when it comes right down to it.......Cats eat Birds.The Great Obucina said:
Wish I had a good picture of mine to show off, but half finished crappy ones are all I've taken thus far.....
I am obviously partial to Cougars, however if a 94/95 5 speed SC came along I could justify buying, it would be mine. An 89 Cougar XR7 is my ideal car, but I like the newer body styles, my 89 Cougar looks 20 years old, but the 97 looks new enough that non car folks think mine is 3 or 4 years old.
Only reason I would want a Thunderbird at this point is to use the gas strut and hardware I got to add it to the trunk, mine doesn't stay up with the Sport spoiler on it, but the stuff I got only works on the Thunderbirds! Hmm, I should sell it and not have that hanging over my head.
Only reason I would want a Thunderbird at this point is to use the gas strut and hardware I got to add it to the trunk, mine doesn't stay up with the Sport spoiler on it, but the stuff I got only works on the Thunderbirds! Hmm, I should sell it and not have that hanging over my head.
i'd take a cat over a tbird anyday. cougars are much less common, and when you see a cougar, chances are it's taken care of, which is rarely the case with tbirds. the downside is you have to constantly tell people it's not a new edge cougar. and nothing beats a '95 front end.
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