[montanaghost]

Greetings fellow Cougar owners. It has been quite some time since I last had a "muscle car"
my last being my 1977 Black/Gold "Smokie and the Bandit" Trans Am T/A 6.6. I bought my 1989 XR7 w/supercharged 3.8 V6 and 5sp manual, with every available option, including
the drivers choice ride control and the opening sunroof, in bright red. She looks almost like she did when she rolled off the end of the line at the factory, the only signs of her age, the cracks on the dash, only in the 3 inches right up against the windshield, and the red paint on the side mirrors looks like it was sandblasted just on the top side. Other than that, it looks like it was well cared for. The one thing that even after 2 weeks of driver her the 110 mile round trip to work that I am still not used to and it still puts a huge smile on my face, is the simply incredible acceleration when the tach goes over 3000 RPM w/7-8 LBS boost in practically any gear! Especially when going about 55 behind an RV or semi, on our 70 MPH speed limit roads, I drop into 3RD and FLOOR it, WHAT A RUSH!!!! By the time I had passed 2 full doubles (2 48 foot trailers with the tractor as well) and that RV, I had shifted into fifth, and as I was pulling in front of the RV, my speedo was bouncing off the stop at the 120 mark! I dont know what the previous owner did to it, other than that they obviously maintained it well, but a ford mechanic, after I tok it in because the "check engine" light stays on all the time, he said it was because the exhaust system had been replaced with a true dual stainless steel w/converters in place, but the o2 sencers were gone, and it had been "chipped", whatever that means. without a dyno, he had to guess, after he took it out on the freeway, that it was at least 15% oer stock in HP and tourque. There are some items that I hope someone with an 89 or 90 model (the only 2 years of Cougars w/supercharged 3.8 V6 w our body style) that know what I should be watching for (she has 147,000 on the clock, and uses zero oil) I see by a sticker on the windshield that the oil was changed 1500 miles ago, with valvoline dino oil, and I want to switch it ti Mobile One asap. What weights would be best? The gauge says "premium fuel only", and that is what I am using (91 octane) is there any belts or chains that I should be inspecting at these miles (my chrysler had to have the belt that ran the water pump replaced at 100,000 miles in the manual, and mine broke at 97,000) any info along these line would be very much welcome! In closing this thread, All I can say, is Ford really did make one hell of a "sleeper", as although I have seen these on the roads for years, I had NO idea just what they really were capable of! The fit of that racing seat with it's air bladders, the great dash layout, the great ride and handleing, and the sheer fun that the supercharged 3.8 V6 can easily provide, and, when I tried for one whole tankfull to stay out of the "boost" on the s/c gauge, I got 30 MPG! Looking forward to hearing fom some,
well, as many who will respond. And any helpfull info also. From Gods Country, here in southcentral Montana, Glenn Merideth, AKA: Montanaghost.

 

[old wood]

Hello Glenn, sounds like you found a really nice Cougar. I had a totally stock loaner from my local Ford dealer for about a week and it was fun. Yours sounds like a real blast. Most of the guys on here are focused on 67 to 73 Cougars. But I know quite a few have later models as well. Someone will chime in soon I am sure. This is a very freindly, helpful group of car nuts. I myself do not have any specifac knowledge of your year model.

 

[mopardon]

I had a 1994 T-Bird SC with leather and sun roof. Even had a factory Cel Phone. It was that Lipstick red color with Tan Leather and was a very fun car to drive. I did always wish it had the 5 speed. Sounds like you have a nice one,hang on to it !

 

[montanaghost]

Thanks for the welcome old wood. Your right about finding a nice one, as I, after doing a lot of surfing, discovered that the 89 XR7 was not a car
that Ford produced in the 6 figure numbers. In fact, there were a total of 4780 XR7's produced, 2679 w/4 speed automatic, and 2101 w/ 5 speed
Mazda Truck scourced manual. Now, I have no idea just how many are left after one considers the number that were totaled in wrecks ( it is one VERY fast car, with a fully independent rear suspension with user ccontrolled firm/sport ride, which put together literally causes people to drive them with an aggressive mind set, which of course, is the reason for most sports car crashes. Looking throuh the owners manual, I came across the original window sticker (the official factory appplied one) and the original owner, who it turned out was at the time, in his late 40's, and treated it more like a luxury car than a sports car, and maintained it like it was a really expensive automobile, and never hot rodded it, which is all good for me now (it has 147,000 + change on the 6 digit odo) Since I discovered that it is somewhat rare, I have really began to keep her off
the supercharger most of the time, and have limited myself to no more than 3500-3750 RPM. At 75 MPH, with her 0.75-1 OD 5th gear, she is ticking over at about 1650 RPM. I do have to be honest, and say, that even at 48 years of age, 2.5 million accident free miles trucking, even I have a hard time NOT driving her in a "fun way" Now, I wish that there is another member with an 89/90 XR7 that I can ask a few questions, but I am always eager to hear from any member about near anything to do with just about any subject that's on one's mind. And, if there is anyone who is planning on visiting Montana soon, I would be more than happy to suggest a few places that one should, at least once in one's life, visit, or a road driven, as Montana, I have been told by many visiters over the years, has some of the most spectacular scenery and winding mountain roads in the American Rockies. God Bless everyone who reads this, and I'm waiting to hear from more of you soon.
Glenn "MontanaGhost" Merideth.

 

[montanaghost]

by the way, I plumb forgot to provide the link to my photobucket web page. It mostly has
pictures of my different cars and motorcycles that I own/have owned over the past few years. there is a sub-album titled 89 merc cougar XR7 somewhere on the main page, I only posted about 7 pics of her. http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr176/montanaghost/
all can view all albums if your heart desires. (photobucket is a family friendly picture posting site, and they have a large crack team that closes ANY member that has ANY nudity at all, A good friend of mine posted Sturges pics, and a small number of them had a ****** or two in them, they shut him down within 2 hours of his posting them!)

 

[Bad69cat]

X2 on that one - should be a very nice and much more modern ride than what most of us run.....I'd kill for 30 MPG! Just keep up with the basics on it fresh oil when needed, plugs last longer on the high energy systems but check them and see what kind of shape they are in 100K is tops on them. Keep tabs on the vacuum lines/hoses on turbo cars things get a bit heated under the hood.....may want to replace them if they haven't been.

 

[bosscat40]

Welcome Montanaghost, You have a very nice ride! Now you must check out Tccoa. It's a website for the later model cougar,T-birds & Linclons. (Hope I don't get in trouble for suggesting this site).You will learn lots of valuable info!