Hi Jay!

Weird-o-rama, huh?
I gotta tell you, the Cougar has been a pretty darn decent car. Mine has had some issues with alternators (& therefore batteries, etc.) & some front end issues but all in all it gets you where you want to go plus it's not too godawful in the looks dept. Mine's now pushing 160K, is starting to lose paint behind the front wheels & is treated more as the family utility-mobile than anything else. Plus it's the wife's drive-all-of-2-miles-to-work-car. BUT, guess what car I drive when mother nature decides it's time to throw some snow at us?
How's yours been, Jay?

 

Just by their very nature All-Season tires are a compromise. Dedicated winter tires are the best for use in any snowy or icy conditions.

Secondarily Winter tires are also siped (cuts across the tread blocks) this gives them superior traction on , as well, winters have the ability to retain traction at lower temperatures.

That said if you are in a fringe are that gets a minor amout of winter, All-seasons may work for you.

I am in the Toronto area and we have had over 2 feet this year so far, more in the outlying areas.

On our Crossfire we use Yokohama AVS Winter in 225/40-18 on MB replicas.

More Info Here

Ron

 

Weird, alright. Especially if yours is silver, too. I really like the Cougar. I hardly drove it since the snow melted but it's nice to be using it again. Obviously it's not in the same class as the xfire, but it has everything you need (including a cavernous hatchback) and it looks great, too. I have the V6 with the manual transmission + Sport package. It's been a great car (44,000 miles on the odometer and counting). My only issue with it is the check engine light and Ford can't seem to fix it. The final straw was a new computer last year but it still didn't solve the problem. Oh well... I can live with it. The car looks and drives like new and it cuts through snow like a hot knife through butter.

 

Sorry, Jay, mine's red otherwise we'd be in some kinda parallel universe!
Man, the hatchback....you can darn near stuff anything back there. SUV, don't need no stinkin' SUV....just buy a Cougar! My check engine light has been on since I darn near bought the car back in '01. Supposedly oxygen sensor but it's been replaced to no avail. Like you, oh well, it still runs great. I'll keep the car until it falls apart.
But, hey, we better stop gabbering about the Cougar or we'll be banned from this forum & sent to cougarforum.com instead!
Pleasant dreams!

 

Yes, they're a pretty tough group... banishment surely awaits. But my Crossfire is tightly locked away in an underground parking lot and I won't see it again until late March. So I'm just living in the moment - and sadly there aren't any xfires in it. Luckily I found the Maisto 1:18 scale Crossfire at Costco to keep me company for the winter : )