Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Discovered an unexpectedly fun to drive car..

irseg · 08-02-2005, 10:54 PM

A couple weeks ago, I totalled my Lincoln. I swerved to the left to avoid a deer, the deer followed me, so I swerved back to the right. The car began spinning out and went into a shallow ditch. I was in the process of recovering from the spin and getting it back on the road when I hit a tree stump that was hidden under some brush, at about 35-40 mph. Needless to say the car was pretty much destroyed. Thankfully I got nothing more than a scrape on my neck from the seatbelt.

It was my only car, I didn't have comprehensive insurance, and I wanted to buy my next car outright rather than go into more debt. Which means I was in the market for a used car for around $2500-4000, and in a big hurry.

I drove all over town, and everything sucked. Pretty much all the used cars in town were boring 2 year old family haulers for $10k+, or old pieces of junk that barely ran. Finally out of sheer desperation I test-drove a '99 Ford Contour because I was running out of ideas. I had driven a '96 Mystique (same thing, basically) before with the 4-banger and automatic, and I didn't like it at all. However this model had a V6, 5 speed, and sport suspension, so I thought it might be semi-bearable.

I sure was in for a surprise. That little bloated Escort-looking sedan is one of the most fun-to-drive cars I've ever encountered. It felt amazingly similar to my friend's 2000 BMW 325i, which is a hell of a feat for a cheap front-wheel drive Ford. I knew it was pretty much designed from the ground up by Ford of Europe, but I didn't know it would feel so much like a good European car.

So if anybody is looking for something cheap and fun to drive, I highly recommend the V6-equipped Contour/Mystique.

08-02-2005, 10:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
irseg Junkie Location: Florida	Discovered an unexpectedly fun to drive car.. A couple weeks ago, I totalled my Lincoln. I swerved to the left to avoid a deer, the deer followed me, so I swerved back to the right. The car began spinning out and went into a shallow ditch. I was in the process of recovering from the spin and getting it back on the road when I hit a tree stump that was hidden under some brush, at about 35-40 mph. Needless to say the car was pretty much destroyed. Thankfully I got nothing more than a scrape on my neck from the seatbelt. It was my only car, I didn't have comprehensive insurance, and I wanted to buy my next car outright rather than go into more debt. Which means I was in the market for a used car for around $2500-4000, and in a big hurry. I drove all over town, and everything sucked. Pretty much all the used cars in town were boring 2 year old family haulers for $10k+, or old pieces of junk that barely ran. Finally out of sheer desperation I test-drove a '99 Ford Contour because I was running out of ideas. I had driven a '96 Mystique (same thing, basically) before with the 4-banger and automatic, and I didn't like it at all. However this model had a V6, 5 speed, and sport suspension, so I thought it might be semi-bearable. I sure was in for a surprise. That little bloated Escort-looking sedan is one of the most fun-to-drive cars I've ever encountered. It felt amazingly similar to my friend's 2000 BMW 325i, which is a hell of a feat for a cheap front-wheel drive Ford. I knew it was pretty much designed from the ground up by Ford of Europe, but I didn't know it would feel so much like a good European car. So if anybody is looking for something cheap and fun to drive, I highly recommend the V6-equipped Contour/Mystique.