I had a 98 SVT Contour. Was a fun car. I debadged it and threw SE badges and rims on it. Lol broke a few hearts street racing on the 410 loop and military drive in San Antonio. Fondest memory was a turbo civic spraying started to pull on me and reved out. He lost it when I told him exactly what it was.
This was my old Contour SVT everybody!! I loved the review David! I sold her almost a year ago today to a great owner who is loving it just as much as I had for about 9 years... I bought it when I was in the Air Force back in 2010 since I needed a cheap, fun, comfortable, and reliable daily instead of my SVT Lightning at the time and gas was almost $4/gal!! I had fun driving and tinkering on it and did most of the mods when I was in the military in my free time at the auto hobby shop on base with friends ha. I literally did every bolt on possible to that car short of a turbo kit I always had a love for these unique, but unusually satisfying cars to drive, and have owned two including this one. David, I am really glad you enjoyed driving the car as much as I did and I loved all your comments about the car. Looks like she still pulls pretty good through the gears! My new DD is a Focus ST, but this car will always have a special place in my heart and had received more compliments and praise in that Contour than any other cars I've owned :-P
Yessir and thank you very much I appreciate that!! I just think it’s great that they are into the car as much as I was. I bought that car bone stock in 2010 off an older woman in NY when I was on leave and just carousing the old Craigslist... I put a lot of time and effort into keeping that car as clean as possible, and it was starting to show its age in certain areas, but definitely one of the cleanest CSVT’s you’ll still find remaining. They are cool cars for sure. 😎
I have never seen this shape (the older shape) mondeo in ST form. Ive seen 2002 plus mondeos in ST form. And i live in the uk... and our mondeos have a different back end to this one. Crazy
@@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502 das ist die erste bau reihe von den mondeo st da war nen st195 mit 195ps und der mehr beliebter st205 mit 205ps der amerikanische mondeo st hat die svt vordere stoss stange der anders ist
@@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502 the rear half of the car is not the same as our mondeo, it's weird as the fronts mondeo and the rear was based on a tourus from the US market hence it having rear steer which we never had and I think it's not a setup you can bolt to a mondeo due to the rear being so different.
Hahaha, I LOVED this video! The 98 Contour SVT was my very first car. I bought it second-hand, back in 2002, with 58k miles on the clock, for $3,250. This video brings back ALL the memories. Every comment and observation is spot on. 1st and 2nd gear does have good torque. It falls flat on it's face with 3rd, and on. However, it did sound pretty gnarly for such a small displacement V6. It was certainly not always reliable. It lived in the shop from time-to-time.. The water pump failed and the engine overheated - the plastic impeller exploded and left plastic shrapnel everywhere. The clutch seemed to always prematurely wear, and had a rear rattle that no mechanic could ever figure out. Oh, the reverse lights would flash every time I hit a bump. Friends thought that was cool. Cops, not so much. Still, it was my baby, and I loved it. This took me back to the simpler days. Thank you!
Yes, the Contour was smaller than the Taurus yet bigger than the Escort. The SHO engines came from Yamaha, while the Duratec engine was designed by Porsche which Ford had then bought and S.V.T. later changed it to get more power for their additions to the car in 98'.
It was, pull into a dealer with an SVT vehicle you also had SVT specific techs who went over it. The name came with more perks than extra performance. SVT belongs with ford much more than using a dead mans name who hasn't actually been involved with mustangs since the 60s
David in my opinion car like this are the unicorns of the car community as enthusiast sure we gravitate to the popular cars like GTR's, EVO's etc . but these builds like them a lot personally because of how unique they are.
I love the fun funky late 90s Ford cars that SVT messed with. These were the start of the factory hot cars that proved American's wanted more then just V8s and helped bring more the fun cars from other parts of the world to the US. Someone with an early SVT Focus get on into Davids hands.
In high school I had a 91 Taurus S.H.O 5speed that had some bolt on stuff and a tune and it was so fun to drive went through alot of front tires being able to burn the tires through 3 gears and face it 150mph + in a family car of the 90s is pretty respectable and holy torque steer.
This is amazing! My first car was a 1998 Ford SVT Contour, it was in red and was a Honda destroyer in high school lol. I still daily drive it actually :) I will never get rid of her, to many memories.
I've got #583 of 2760 1999 SVTC Color Green. Bought it for $800 with a busted motor, the car itself was very well taken care of by the first owner, I am the third owner, but it's even rarer because it's stock. You can imagine just about everyone put mods on their SVTC just like the owner of the one in this video. I'm curious to see what happens to the value of these cars in the next couple of years.
@@leomedina5614 ive had 2. My 99 green/tan one stayed stock. My black/MNB 98.5 was heavily modified. Sable 3L swap, shaved UIM, gutted LIM, widened Mazda Milennia lower front bumper molded in, custom splitter, Mystique front end swap with Lexus ES300 projectors, widened the fenders/quarter panels/ rear bumper woth center exit exhaust, custom built tail lights, Mystique dash with custom center console, Cougar steering wheel, BAT struts/B&G lowering springs and a Bonneville lip spoiler.
I owned an '89 SHO, '93 SHO, and then a '95 Contour v6 SE back in the day. All were fantastic cars. Always wanted to own an SVT Contour as well. The '93 SHO is possibly the best all around car I've owned to date and I've owned quite a few cars. Thanks for this review!
In the sea of all mainstream tuner cars we can see every day it's really cool to see something like this, it reminds me why I love cars and car culture.
I have a black CSVT. It was my first car. It's dead and has been sitting beside my brother's shop for like 10 years. Maybe I'll rebuild it some day. I actually put a Quaife differential, intake and Bosal catback on it. Great first car, I loved it.
@@snakebitten1997 I just picked up a similar Silver Frost C-SVT. Would you have any details on the front lip that you found? I really think that sets off the grounding look -- particularly with black wheels (which I am also adding). Thx in advance if this actually gets to you.
jonny j It’s literally still the same guys they’ve just been wrapped up into the performance division and actually have a greater impact on development as a whole. SVT of old was from an era where the industry was very cookie cutter, and frankly ford never really did enough with SVT because they’ve always had a very disconnected performance nomenclature from GT, to Shelby, to Cobra, to RS, to cosworth, to SVT, to Salem, etc. and it becomes impossible for one badge to stand above the rest. Meanwhile Bmw for example has //M and that’s basically it. It’s cheesy but it gives a rally point to consumers. I’m not sure SVT ever had a chance of being that
I was absolutely in love with my 2000 CSVT. Very under rated car and it certainly had no issues reaching the 140's. It hooked very well with the G-Force tires although, I went through a few sets pretty quickly. I would buy another if I could find a super low mileage example. I wouldn't buy one with more than 45-50k miles though. The majority of them got flogged daily lol. Miss it and wish I never sold it; bottom line.
The only brand new car I ever bought was a 1998 Contour. It was a mid range model but had the V6 and a 5sp manual. The regular spec V6 was rated at 170 hp. The Contour, even the base models, were very athletic cars. They got very positive driving reviews from the enthusiast media - favorably compared with the 3 Series BMW. That was the Ford of Europe influence showing through. Considering they weigh less than 3k lbs, with the V6 they moved out nicely for what is basically a commuter car. The difference with the SVT V6 was it had a ported intake (extrude honed), cams and a little more compression. Those wheel on your test car can't be from a current gen Focus as they are 4 lug. I think they look like the 17" option from 08-11ish Focus models. The stock SVT wheels were 16".
Those wheels were originally offered on the SVT Focus as part of the European Appearance Package, and the original 5 stars on the SVTF are 17s. But you're right about them also being offered on the Focus from '09-'11. They weren't an option yet in '08.
I also deleted the factory rear mufflers on mine, so it just had the factory resonator before the y-pipe, and it sounds amazing! Not too loud or raspy whatsoever. Sitting at an idle it sounded especially beefy, and I've had many people say it sounds great, and that it almost sounds like a V8.
Dude! I never expected this video, but I thought of suggesting it. I too took my driver's test in a contour. We had 4 of them! The SVT is one of my attainable dreams. I just can't believe you reviewed one!
My SVT Contour is a year 2000, and she is 1698/2150 Contours built that year. By the end of this summer, she will be making between 230-250hp from a 3.0L Duratec V6 swap out of a Taurus/Sable or a Escape Hybrid. The swap will have: a 3.0L block, 3.0L heads that are honed and ported with the 2.5L SVT cams, adjusted intake ports so it can mount the beautiful intake manifold off of the SVT engine, better air intake, aftermarket headers, stainless steel exhaust with chrome tips from Trubendz (a company that can specialize in Contour/Mystique/Mondeo/Cougar exhaust systems), and maybe if I can find a early 2000s Cougar 5-speed. Supposively the Cougar transmission has updated and/or better internals than what the Contour offers in its transmission, which means more reliable power delivery.
I totally get where your coming from. My mom had a contour svt, and I learned to drive on that car... As a 16 year old kid that was an amazing car to me. A few years later I bought a focus svt... And again... Not a super fast car by any means(buddy had an srt4 neon that would eat me), but the sensation while driving them was second to none!
I own 1998 SVT #6522 in toreador red with midnight blue interior. Mine is upgraded with MSDS headers, aluminum pulleys, cat delete, 2.5” Borla exhaust, H&R lowering springs, 17” wheels and battery relocate to the trunk. It’s an absolutely lovely and comfortable car to drive and lots of fun even without being that fast. Reliability has been very good, as it currently has 215,000km on it. It’s a difficult and annoying car to work on and getting hard to find parts for these days. But overall, I enjoy it for what it is and love the quirkiness of it and puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.
6:26 "But they(SVT) were willing to touch ANYTHING" I like how SVT gets praised for this quality, but when I'M willing to touch anything it's "creepy", ok double standards
I had one of the first ones ever made, built in March 1997. Drove it 275,000 miles in 8 years. It was very reliable even though I ran the snot out of it all the time. Once calculated that the tach saw redline a good 30,000 times before I sold it. It was the best handling 4 door FWD car you could buy according to the automotive press, but the ride was quite good and the leather bucket seats were very comfotable. Loved it and always drove it like I stole it.
Interesting review, especially considering thinking about the stock contour, as my friend had one that blew up 3 years ago, so it’s funny to think about the contour as a sports car.
Owned two of these: a BRAND NEW 2000 model- Black/Tan and a 1999 with a 3.0L conversion.... Both had full stainless exhausts and were a ton of fun to drive! Decent gas mileage.... Comfortable long distance cruiser..... Decent power. Handling was surprisingly neutral with a *bit* of front push.
I had four of these.. they were cheap bmw fighters. For 10 grand less in town they were every bit as fun. I had several e36s.. they’re a better dynamic being rear drive.. but in 2000, these were boarding on fast and they were definitely fun. Ford did blow up the engine in the first one not changing the oil and saying they did.. late nineties Ford for ya.
This is so ironic David... Quick story i just bought and 1998 Ford contour svt, so I have been watching videos on them trying to see what pros and cons are. And there really hasn't been anything. Now one of the best reviewers of all time comes out with a video. Keep doing you Blue!! Thank you!
snakebitten 97 Yes, but the way it’s compared to the Prelude here, which has active 4 wheel steer, is misleading though. Good review regardless, just don’t want people to wonder why the rear wheels don’t turn if they go to buy a SVTC after seeing this video lol
I love the subtle styling principle of all the 93-04 SVT vehicles. This looks nothing like a normal Countour, but they didn't make any drastic changes. Genius!
Nice review, most of what you said about these cars is spot on. Fun to drive, great handling and that exhaust note is awesome for a small V6. Get these things above 4200RPM and the fun begins. I currently own two of these, a '98 and a '99. Go for the earliest build ones, they seem to be of higher build quality than the later ones. My '98 is going on BaT in a couple of months, the '99 is a 3.0L swapped track car.
As a previous owner of one of the most iconic SVT Contours, it was cool to see this. The Contour didn’t sell well, which is why it was discontinued after only 5/6 years of production. There is no “rear wheel steering” on the SVT Contour btw. I wish I still had my bagged SVT for you to drive, I’ll share a photo of it with you on insta or Twitter.
I owned a 1998.5 and a 99. Absolutely two of my favorite cars ever. Iv owned 3 mustangs and many many other cars. I still miss my Contours more then any other car Iv owned. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Wow. Now I want to buy another. I loved driving that car for days. so comfortable. Thanks for the great review. 👍
Completely living in the shadow of the first generation Taurus SHO. Is the Contour cool? Absolutely, I love factory sleepers. But if I owned one myself it would 100% be because I couldn't find a gen 1 Taurus SHO that was half way decent.
My buddy had a Taurus SHO around 00-05 when everyone had mustangs, Camaros and Honda’s. He put a ton of work in it and it was nasty as hell. Beat a ton of cars in it.
It's cool. Quickness wise it's about as fast as an Integra GSR or Civic SI but the handling and mid range torque is better. Like most FWD V6's it can be a real pain in the ass to wrench on
Props to the owner very Clean SVT. I had a Red 99 Contour SVT had it for a few years till it got totaled in a car accident. Fun car though and pretty quick for what it was!
A WRX for the most part is nothing more then a Impreza with a turbo engine and reworked suspension. The STi comes with even better suspension and other supporting chassis mods and a better AWD system with its limited slips and active center differential. It’s still a Impreza chassis
jaredmxz it’s not a rally car, it’s a sports car. A REAL rally car is not road legal, making a SPORTS car. WRX’s are also not impressive you should test drive them if you don’t believe me
The ford contour svt was my first car it was such an iconic car for me and it was the car that I learned how to drive stick in but I sold it for mazdaspeed3 there’s days where I see old videos of doing burnouts or pulls with the svt and I low key miss it
I used to own a 2000 SVT Contour. Great car for what it was. Very comfortable and drove pretty smooth. I gave to my son and he rolled it on a rainy day.
@@fusewerks it was called the ford mondeo 2.5T in either ghia x trim or the titanium X trim and there was either a "wagon" or saloon version im not sure what is was called in the states i hope this answers your question if it did not then all i can say is that if the US version of mondeo has a 5 cylinder turbo in it the its the same as the european mondeo then its the same car with either a different front end or a different name or both
@@fusewerks i mean you can import then if you want to buy but you may have to wait untill 2033ish for the early pre facelift model and 2037 for the facelift with the nicer front end a slight remapped , more powerful version
My buddy had one with every available bolt on you could buy at the time. Topped out at 153mph! Handled pretty damn good too. Crazy how much better it looked than the base model. Turned a lot of heads lowered with rims...
it is, but the most common engine in european mondeos is the 1.8 turbodiesel, which was never offered in the US market Contour version. the non-st v6 version is pretty rare and hard to find.
I grew up watching BTCC in the Super Touring era. The Contour was sold as the Mondeo across the pond and they did very well in racing. Won the championship in 2000. The best era in touring car racing.
Honestly, I forgot about this car until just now, and I honestly dug them back in HS, and still do now. The SVT Contour is one of the only decently looking Ford sedans ever made.
My 1st car was a 1998 Ford Contour SE in light denim blue. I got it in mid October 1999 before getting my driver’s license. It took me a couple times in getting my driver’s license. I took it mid November that I failed the test by couple points. I took the test in mid December and passed it for the second time. My 1st car was an automatic. It had everything that I want in it. It was a very good car. I even had a neighbor that also had one,too in white. She gave her car to her grand daughter. I even had a couple friends that used to drive one in a dark red color.
My good friend almost like a brother had one back in the day. The Dark Demon, it was an amazing car when the butterflies worked. We used to have a great time racing each other. His SVT Contour was modified and my 1995 VR6 GLX Jetta and they were great races. The SVT Contour was a hell of a sleeper back in the day. It was damned quick for what it was back in the day and I saw them crush more than a few people in it. You could actually modify The SVT Contour pretty well. It was not uncommon to use a 3.0 Bottom end and a 2.5 cylinder head. With extrude honed manifolds and ported exhaust manifolds, Flash, Cat back, pulleys, bigger MAF, and decent Intake and you got a quick car. If what my friend told me was true, The SVT Contour was originally designed to be an AWD Twin Turbo car, the designer I believe was a designer for Porsche. Ford however balked at the concept and what we got was a much more watered down version. The SVT Contour none the less fit the perfect definition of a Sleeper just like The VR4 Galant, ARC Neon, MKIII VR6 Jetta, etc. The 4dr cars no one paid much attention too but with a little love could be quick cars. I understand that these cars are from back in the day and by today's standards a base Corolla, Civic, Mazda 6, etc. could easily hand them their ass's but from the middle to late 90's there were some great sleepers. You see that's what I like about certain cars from back in the day, they didn't look fast and b/c most had 4 doors they weren't even considered to be fast but at a stop light or just running around looking for fun they could and did beat quite a few people. Well that was me reminiscing on my younger years. Today the future belongs to electric cars that have much more power but besides Tesla have been purposely scaled back b/c of the Oil Industry.
Also Ford probably didn't want a grocery getter giving their money maker , the mustang, any serious competition by introducing an awd turbocharged beast. I hate to say it but a lot of decision in the car industry revolve around politics and not building great cars. Look at the Grand National.
@@kwedog2373 You're absolutely right on that which sucks b/c holding the competition back even within your own company shows stupidity and fear masked by "Good Market Sense" and other bollocks of that nature.
As a Lightning owner I'd have to say the Cobra is the most well known of their creations but the Lightnings drew a lot of attention in their day as well. It's pretty impressive to make a 4500 pounds pickup run and handle on par with a Mustang GT of the same time that weighed almost half that. But then again when you say it like that its pretty odd to make a pickup do that anyway. SVT definitely did some crazy vehicles.
I had a contour, a base model with the zetec, and it wasn't garbage. It rode very well, had no rattles despite 120k miles, and tracked straight and true. I miss that car, it had plenty of room, and was reliable.
My turn-of-the-centurey car! I didn't autocross it or anything, but it made the drive to work very enjoyable. I always regretted that I didn't pull the trigger on an '88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (to pricey), so when I could afford this car, I went for it. Lots of fun and my older son learned to drive a stick on that car. Very reliable, as I remember, too.
My Parents had a special order Contour SE that had a full SVT interior, but in an interior colour that wasnt offered in the SVT. Their car also had a 5spd manual, and it also had aftermarket plugs, wires, and upgraded lubricants in it. It wasnt as fast/powerful as the SVT, or the SHO, but it handled well (optional suspension in it), and it was actually faster and more nimble than most of the cars in its class. David, you are correct about newer Ford parts working on them, as you can use Focus, Cougar, and some Mazda parts on them. These cars were Fords equivalent/answer to the Nissan Maxima SE, and the Accord V6. The tech from the 2.5 Duratec was used in early to mid-2000's Ford V6's that came after it.
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Oh the memories of trying to pass my drivers test in a contour.
Have you ever seen an SVT version?
I've never even seen a NON-Svt Countour. 😂
I have, I like sleeper type cars. It's pretty snappy for only 200hp. I got to drive my GFS brothers when I was learning stick and it was a blast.
I've never even heard of SVT variants
SVT contour with a 3L swap 👀 things stupid scary fast
I had a 98 SVT Contour. Was a fun car. I debadged it and threw SE badges and rims on it. Lol broke a few hearts street racing on the 410 loop and military drive in San Antonio. Fondest memory was a turbo civic spraying started to pull on me and reved out. He lost it when I told him exactly what it was.
This was my old Contour SVT everybody!! I loved the review David! I sold her almost a year ago today to a great owner who is loving it just as much as I had for about 9 years... I bought it when I was in the Air Force back in 2010 since I needed a cheap, fun, comfortable, and reliable daily instead of my SVT Lightning at the time and gas was almost $4/gal!! I had fun driving and tinkering on it and did most of the mods when I was in the military in my free time at the auto hobby shop on base with friends ha. I literally did every bolt on possible to that car short of a turbo kit I always had a love for these unique, but unusually satisfying cars to drive, and have owned two including this one. David, I am really glad you enjoyed driving the car as much as I did and I loved all your comments about the car. Looks like she still pulls pretty good through the gears! My new DD is a Focus ST, but this car will always have a special place in my heart and had received more compliments and praise in that Contour than any other cars I've owned :-P
I didn't know you sold it to snakebitten97, much respect for the work put into it. It was and still is a clean car!
Yessir and thank you very much I appreciate that!! I just think it’s great that they are into the car as much as I was. I bought that car bone stock in 2010 off an older woman in NY when I was on leave and just carousing the old Craigslist... I put a lot of time and effort into keeping that car as clean as possible, and it was starting to show its age in certain areas, but definitely one of the cleanest CSVT’s you’ll still find remaining. They are cool cars for sure. 😎
I had E1 5480. Mirko. HMS. Quaife. H&R on Koni. Miss the fuck out of it
Louis Tricerri gas is almost $4 a gallon now a days in parts of the country
Is this the car I heard in RVA last week?
Pop the trunk and you'll find a spare tire, Limp Bizkit's first album and a pair of Jnco jeans
Lmao. Truth
Queens GTO/Viper Regular Car Reviews? Is that you?
omg jnco...stop making me feel old bro lol
Lmao
@@uber_stuber if you rocked jncos like me than you are getting kinda old bro. :(
We call them Ford Mondeo st200 in europe
I was about to say that
Just found someone who said it
I have never seen this shape (the older shape) mondeo in ST form. Ive seen 2002 plus mondeos in ST form. And i live in the uk... and our mondeos have a different back end to this one. Crazy
The European back end is way better but I still prefer the mk3 mondeo
@@qam2878 yeah
THE CONTOUR IN EUROPE IS CALLED THE MONDEO AND THE AMERICAN SVT IS CALLED THE ST Big love from across the pond
But whats up with the rear? The body lines dont match and the lights are wrong
@@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502 das ist die erste bau reihe von den mondeo st da war nen st195 mit 195ps und der mehr beliebter st205 mit 205ps der amerikanische mondeo st hat die svt vordere stoss stange der anders ist
@@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502 the rear half of the car is not the same as our mondeo, it's weird as the fronts mondeo and the rear was based on a tourus from the US market hence it having rear steer which we never had and I think it's not a setup you can bolt to a mondeo due to the rear being so different.
@@warummussmeinnameangegeben6502 of course the lines match u most fucking blind dipshit
I thought the mondeo was in reference to what we know as modern day american fusions
Hahaha, I LOVED this video! The 98 Contour SVT was my very first car. I bought it second-hand, back in 2002, with 58k miles on the clock, for $3,250. This video brings back ALL the memories. Every comment and observation is spot on. 1st and 2nd gear does have good torque. It falls flat on it's face with 3rd, and on. However, it did sound pretty gnarly for such a small displacement V6.
It was certainly not always reliable. It lived in the shop from time-to-time.. The water pump failed and the engine overheated - the plastic impeller exploded and left plastic shrapnel everywhere. The clutch seemed to always prematurely wear, and had a rear rattle that no mechanic could ever figure out. Oh, the reverse lights would flash every time I hit a bump. Friends thought that was cool. Cops, not so much.
Still, it was my baby, and I loved it. This took me back to the simpler days.
Thank you!
that front lip and those rims actually make this look badass
So like a mini SHO Taurus
Basically.
Yes, the Contour was smaller than the Taurus yet bigger than the Escort. The SHO engines came from Yamaha, while the Duratec engine was designed by Porsche which Ford had then bought and S.V.T. later changed it to get more power for their additions to the car in 98'.
Special Vehicle Team sounds cooler than Ford Performance
BASITH PH Agreed, I wish they would bring back the SVT name. I appreciate seeing the SVT badges all over my cobra mustang.
It was, pull into a dealer with an SVT vehicle you also had SVT specific techs who went over it. The name came with more perks than extra performance. SVT belongs with ford much more than using a dead mans name who hasn't actually been involved with mustangs since the 60s
@philip ahern in the states cosworth short of the want for the cossy escort, has been lackluster
Well technically they slap the ST badge on things
Jasan Allen no need to speak on Shelby like that, you’re reaching by suggesting SVT has more ties to Ford than Shelby lmao
David in my opinion car like this are the unicorns of the car community as enthusiast sure we gravitate to the popular cars like GTR's, EVO's etc . but these builds like them a lot personally because of how unique they are.
I love the fun funky late 90s Ford cars that SVT messed with. These were the start of the factory hot cars that proved American's wanted more then just V8s and helped bring more the fun cars from other parts of the world to the US. Someone with an early SVT Focus get on into Davids hands.
In high school I had a 91 Taurus S.H.O 5speed that had some bolt on stuff and a tune and it was so fun to drive went through alot of front tires being able to burn the tires through 3 gears and face it 150mph + in a family car of the 90s is pretty respectable and holy torque steer.
I love this class of car, a normal shitbox that a company decided to make fast. This, the escort zx2, neon srt4. I love them all.
It’s not a neon bro
Ion redline, cobalt ss
Paulo I was just making the neon srt4 owners joke lol
It was a very euro inspired commuter car far from standard civic or escort or neon shitboxes of those days.
Escort zx2 was fast?
This is amazing! My first car was a 1998 Ford SVT Contour, it was in red and was a Honda destroyer in high school lol. I still daily drive it actually :) I will never get rid of her, to many memories.
All the grandpa sleepers getting exposed David stop so we can keep running unsuspecting kids with civics
Only 11,445 made 20 years ago, they're pretty rare these days.
mike boots it’s funny because your right. There used to be a lot on Craigslist around my area and now they don’t pop up..
Yeah you can find them if you join the Facebook group or look them up on google advanced search.
mike boots I agree but it’s interesting because you would rarely see this cars being modified
I've got #583 of 2760 1999 SVTC Color Green. Bought it for $800 with a busted motor, the car itself was very well taken care of by the first owner, I am the third owner, but it's even rarer because it's stock. You can imagine just about everyone put mods on their SVTC just like the owner of the one in this video. I'm curious to see what happens to the value of these cars in the next couple of years.
@@leomedina5614 ive had 2. My 99 green/tan one stayed stock. My black/MNB 98.5 was heavily modified. Sable 3L swap, shaved UIM, gutted LIM, widened Mazda Milennia lower front bumper molded in, custom splitter, Mystique front end swap with Lexus ES300 projectors, widened the fenders/quarter panels/ rear bumper woth center exit exhaust, custom built tail lights, Mystique dash with custom center console, Cougar steering wheel, BAT struts/B&G lowering springs and a Bonneville lip spoiler.
I owned an '89 SHO, '93 SHO, and then a '95 Contour v6 SE back in the day. All were fantastic cars. Always wanted to own an SVT Contour as well. The '93 SHO is possibly the best all around car I've owned to date and I've owned quite a few cars. Thanks for this review!
In the sea of all mainstream tuner cars we can see every day it's really cool to see something like this, it reminds me why I love cars and car culture.
Work's dragging, thanks for the entertainment!
I have a black CSVT. It was my first car. It's dead and has been sitting beside my brother's shop for like 10 years. Maybe I'll rebuild it some day. I actually put a Quaife differential, intake and Bosal catback on it. Great first car, I loved it.
def was cool to see this car out there. very rare and neat cars!
"Definitely" is almost like "infinite" so just remember that when you're using the word definitely and can't remember how to spell it
Congrats to the owner! Really fine example of a Contour SVT, loved the wheels and the contrast with the silver paint. Used to have one, still miss it.
mtzmueller thank you it means a lot!
@@snakebitten1997 I just picked up a similar Silver Frost C-SVT. Would you have any details on the front lip that you found? I really think that sets off the grounding look -- particularly with black wheels (which I am also adding). Thx in advance if this actually gets to you.
Man I miss SVT
It’s still here only the name/badge is gone
jonny j It’s literally still the same guys they’ve just been wrapped up into the performance division and actually have a greater impact on development as a whole. SVT of old was from an era where the industry was very cookie cutter, and frankly ford never really did enough with SVT because they’ve always had a very disconnected performance nomenclature from GT, to Shelby, to Cobra, to RS, to cosworth, to SVT, to Salem, etc. and it becomes impossible for one badge to stand above the rest. Meanwhile Bmw for example has //M and that’s basically it. It’s cheesy but it gives a rally point to consumers. I’m not sure SVT ever had a chance of being that
I was absolutely in love with my 2000 CSVT. Very under rated car and it certainly had no issues reaching the 140's. It hooked very well with the G-Force tires although, I went through a few sets pretty quickly. I would buy another if I could find a super low mileage example. I wouldn't buy one with more than 45-50k miles though. The majority of them got flogged daily lol. Miss it and wish I never sold it; bottom line.
The only brand new car I ever bought was a 1998 Contour. It was a mid range model but had the V6 and a 5sp manual. The regular spec V6 was rated at 170 hp. The Contour, even the base models, were very athletic cars. They got very positive driving reviews from the enthusiast media - favorably compared with the 3 Series BMW. That was the Ford of Europe influence showing through. Considering they weigh less than 3k lbs, with the V6 they moved out nicely for what is basically a commuter car.
The difference with the SVT V6 was it had a ported intake (extrude honed), cams and a little more compression.
Those wheel on your test car can't be from a current gen Focus as they are 4 lug. I think they look like the 17" option from 08-11ish Focus models. The stock SVT wheels were 16".
I haven't heard anyone discuss extrude honing since my sport compact car subscriber days lol, I always wanted one but never got around to it
Those wheels were originally offered on the SVT Focus as part of the European Appearance Package, and the original 5 stars on the SVTF are 17s. But you're right about them also being offered on the Focus from '09-'11. They weren't an option yet in '08.
I also deleted the factory rear mufflers on mine, so it just had the factory resonator before the y-pipe, and it sounds amazing! Not too loud or raspy whatsoever. Sitting at an idle it sounded especially beefy, and I've had many people say it sounds great, and that it almost sounds like a V8.
I like the older fords.
Nostalgia / Memories.
Dude! I never expected this video, but I thought of suggesting it. I too took my driver's test in a contour. We had 4 of them! The SVT is one of my attainable dreams. I just can't believe you reviewed one!
You can really see that rear end SQUAT at like 6:01 hahah, love it.
Lol legit, my favorite thing when I had one, was to watch the squat and lift while shifting... that 2-3 shift was fun!
I drove one of these SVT Contours in 1998. My friend had one and I borrowed it for a few hours. It is the only Ford I have ever wanted.
I love svt contours
Bring back old memories of my old SVTC. Same silver color but with the factory spoiler. Loved that car....
You got to review a SVT Focus now! I love seeing unique vehicles on here
My SVT Contour is a year 2000, and she is 1698/2150 Contours built that year. By the end of this summer, she will be making between 230-250hp from a 3.0L Duratec V6 swap out of a Taurus/Sable or a Escape Hybrid. The swap will have: a 3.0L block, 3.0L heads that are honed and ported with the 2.5L SVT cams, adjusted intake ports so it can mount the beautiful intake manifold off of the SVT engine, better air intake, aftermarket headers, stainless steel exhaust with chrome tips from Trubendz (a company that can specialize in Contour/Mystique/Mondeo/Cougar exhaust systems), and maybe if I can find a early 2000s Cougar 5-speed. Supposively the Cougar transmission has updated and/or better internals than what the Contour offers in its transmission, which means more reliable power delivery.
I totally get where your coming from. My mom had a contour svt, and I learned to drive on that car... As a 16 year old kid that was an amazing car to me. A few years later I bought a focus svt... And again... Not a super fast car by any means(buddy had an srt4 neon that would eat me), but the sensation while driving them was second to none!
That’s just awesome that would have been the best hand-me down car ever
@@basithph8958 ya... Once my cousin and I rebuilt the motor, replaced the Trans, and replaced 90% of the suspension... It was great lol
A 3l svt swap eats stock srt-4 lol..
@@carlosbarragan1673 your right... It would have, but at 16, 17, and 18, even the rebuild I did was super budget friendly!
I own 1998 SVT #6522 in toreador red with midnight blue interior. Mine is upgraded with MSDS headers, aluminum pulleys, cat delete, 2.5” Borla exhaust, H&R lowering springs, 17” wheels and battery relocate to the trunk. It’s an absolutely lovely and comfortable car to drive and lots of fun even without being that fast. Reliability has been very good, as it currently has 215,000km on it. It’s a difficult and annoying car to work on and getting hard to find parts for these days. But overall, I enjoy it for what it is and love the quirkiness of it and puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.
6:26 "But they(SVT) were willing to touch ANYTHING"
I like how SVT gets praised for this quality, but when I'M willing to touch anything it's "creepy", ok double standards
I feel you. As of may of 2017 I'm required by law to avoid and stay away from minors 😤😤😭
I had one of the first ones ever made, built in March 1997. Drove it 275,000 miles in 8 years. It was very reliable even though I ran the snot out of it all the time. Once calculated that the tach saw redline a good 30,000 times before I sold it. It was the best handling 4 door FWD car you could buy according to the automotive press, but the ride was quite good and the leather bucket seats were very comfotable. Loved it and always drove it like I stole it.
Interesting review, especially considering thinking about the stock contour, as my friend had one that blew up 3 years ago, so it’s funny to think about the contour as a sports car.
Mitsubishi evo is just a lancer.
Wrx STi is just an impreza.
@@MidwestDankAlumni exactly, I have seen plenty SVT's for sale in my area for less than 3k
I always loved the random svt line up that ford did throughout the years. This was one of my favorites.
The most impressive thing about this video is that a Contour lasted 350,000 miles.
Impressive??? there are several examples
several as in 5?
Owned two of these: a BRAND NEW 2000 model- Black/Tan and a 1999 with a 3.0L conversion.... Both had full stainless exhausts and were a ton of fun to drive! Decent gas mileage.... Comfortable long distance cruiser..... Decent power. Handling was surprisingly neutral with a *bit* of front push.
I had four of these.. they were cheap bmw fighters. For 10 grand less in town they were every bit as fun. I had several e36s.. they’re a better dynamic being rear drive.. but in 2000, these were boarding on fast and they were definitely fun. Ford did blow up the engine in the first one not changing the oil and saying they did.. late nineties Ford for ya.
i love seeing unique cars like this. someone who build a unique car that nobody would do.
Always wanted one and still do.
So cool to see you reviewed Blake’s car! Can’t believe you didn’t get in his focus too!!
That is one underrated performance car for cheap
It is like the American Mondeo ST
This is so ironic David... Quick story i just bought and 1998 Ford contour svt, so I have been watching videos on them trying to see what pros and cons are. And there really hasn't been anything. Now one of the best reviewers of all time comes out with a video. Keep doing you Blue!! Thank you!
The SVT Contour does not, I repeat, DOES NOT, have all wheel/rear wheel steering like the Prelude.
I was Just thinking
Never heard about That with the st200s
It has a mechanical rear toe adjustment made by body roll called quadralink.(not to be mistaken with the rwd quadralink)
Aaron Hengst that got me to
Aaron Hengst it does have small measure of passive rear steer.
snakebitten 97 Yes, but the way it’s compared to the Prelude here, which has active 4 wheel steer, is misleading though. Good review regardless, just don’t want people to wonder why the rear wheels don’t turn if they go to buy a SVTC after seeing this video lol
Had a 2000 for my first car and loved it. I’d buy another one in a heartbeat
This is different I like it 🤔
Right these were waaay better than srt 4s
@@natec9719 your strecing it...
I love the subtle styling principle of all the 93-04 SVT vehicles. This looks nothing like a normal Countour, but they didn't make any drastic changes. Genius!
Yo fam.... My old contour did not sound like that! Im jealous.
Nice review, most of what you said about these cars is spot on. Fun to drive, great handling and that exhaust note is awesome for a small V6. Get these things above 4200RPM and the fun begins. I currently own two of these, a '98 and a '99. Go for the earliest build ones, they seem to be of higher build quality than the later ones. My '98 is going on BaT in a couple of months, the '99 is a 3.0L swapped track car.
My grandfather had a contour. Instead of being quick it had blood stains in the back seat from someone being murdered.
One of the best cars Ive ever owned. Not fast but an incredible drivers car.
As a previous owner of one of the most iconic SVT Contours, it was cool to see this. The Contour didn’t sell well, which is why it was discontinued after only 5/6 years of production. There is no “rear wheel steering” on the SVT Contour btw. I wish I still had my bagged SVT for you to drive, I’ll share a photo of it with you on insta or Twitter.
I miss my 00' 3L :( Is CEG still alive?
Barely, it’s mostly all on a Facebook group now
They call it passive rear wheel steer. As the car leans the wheels in the rear turn slightly. Most people who lowered them lost that handling aspect.
It's passive rear steer. There is a toe link in rear suspension that helps the ass end come around as the body leans out in a turn.
I owned a 1998.5 and a 99. Absolutely two of my favorite cars ever. Iv owned 3 mustangs and many many other cars.
I still miss my Contours more then any other car Iv owned. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Wow. Now I want to buy another. I loved driving that car for days. so comfortable. Thanks for the great review. 👍
Back then, the Ford contour was a cool car..who would of thought it would now be called a grandpa car
I thought my dad was the only person with this car and this is like one of the only RUclips videos on this car
Completely living in the shadow of the first generation Taurus SHO. Is the Contour cool? Absolutely, I love factory sleepers. But if I owned one myself it would 100% be because I couldn't find a gen 1 Taurus SHO that was half way decent.
My buddy had a Taurus SHO around 00-05 when everyone had mustangs, Camaros and Honda’s. He put a ton of work in it and it was nasty as hell. Beat a ton of cars in it.
It's cool. Quickness wise it's about as fast as an Integra GSR or Civic SI but the handling and mid range torque is better.
Like most FWD V6's it can be a real pain in the ass to wrench on
Props to the owner very Clean SVT. I had a Red 99 Contour SVT had it for a few years till it got totaled in a car accident. Fun car though and pretty quick for what it was!
Hey man cool car I'm glad you do stuff like this 😁
That's awesome! I learned to drive in a contour that my grandmother still drives 15 years later.
Should check out a Jaguar XType 2.5 Manual Transmission version. It's a really nice Ford Contour with AWD.
Thats just a slow luxurious version of this
I love my 99 Silfro. 20 years old and I can still pull up to the show looking good!
What about the Ford Probe?
Jacob Leon YES!! I have a 1993 Probe GT and I absolutely love it!!
The probe was more mazda than it was ford so he should review the mx6
I like this V6 sound of the SVT Contour. One of my favourite sounding cars by far.
Hey David, why would Subaru make a sports car of a commuter car then?
Let's not forget that the wrx STi is just an impreza.
A little different. The WRX was made for racing. The contour svt was just made to be a little more fun commuter.
@@clar9425 A subaru WRX is not "for racing." Its a sport compact, nothing more.
A WRX for the most part is nothing more then a Impreza with a turbo engine and reworked suspension. The STi comes with even better suspension and other supporting chassis mods and a better AWD system with its limited slips and active center differential. It’s still a Impreza chassis
not a sports car its a rally car and the wrx is not based on the Impreza anymore
jaredmxz it’s not a rally car, it’s a sports car. A REAL rally car is not road legal, making a SPORTS car. WRX’s are also not impressive you should test drive them if you don’t believe me
The ford contour svt was my first car it was such an iconic car for me and it was the car that I learned how to drive stick in but I sold it for mazdaspeed3 there’s days where I see old videos of doing burnouts or pulls with the svt and I low key miss it
called mondeos in britain. always wanted the v6 st.
Thomaso Yeomans I knew it was a Mondeo ! I thought I was goin off my nut for a minute 😂
I used to own a 98 Contour SVT along with a 98 Cobra SVT Convt. Loved those years.
The rear of the european one is way better
Yes! The Mondeo has a much nicer rear shape and rear lights
Still created my Americans tho
@@_Anthony___ not really being that ford Europe is based in Germany
Generic Soviet but it wasn’t...
This brought back the memories....I still really miss mine. Super hard to find even in decent shape anymore.
Got to be onest
The contour rear is kinda ugly compared to the mondeo
A colleage Just bought a st200 mondeo
Rare car here
Most are crashed or crushed
Ugh so many most have been lost to the scrappage scheme.
yeah the Mondeos rear does look a lot better
Look up svt contours with the 95 trunk (boot) lid swap, it looks much better!
I used to own a 2000 SVT Contour. Great car for what it was. Very comfortable and drove pretty smooth. I gave to my son and he rolled it on a rainy day.
Try to find a Volvo 240 wagon
More fun to experience than the car content itself: your somewhat bemused enthusiasm for it! Thank you for this delightful post.
The 3rd gen mondeo estate and saloon even got a volvo developed and made 2.5t 5 cylinder turbo engine I dont know if that was sold in the US
Younes Lahyani They did. Just not for the states. We did get a variance with Volvo in the states. Are you talking about the mondeo xr5 turbo?
@@fusewerks it was called the ford mondeo 2.5T in either ghia x trim or the titanium X trim and there was either a "wagon" or saloon version im not sure what is was called in the states i hope this answers your question if it did not then all i can say is that if the US version of mondeo has a 5 cylinder turbo in it the its the same as the european mondeo then its the same car with either a different front end or a different name or both
@@youneslahyani2198 yeah, no 5 cylinder Fords here.
@@fusewerks i mean you can import then if you want to buy but you may have to wait untill 2033ish for the early pre facelift model and 2037 for the facelift with the nicer front end a slight remapped , more powerful version
The mk4 got the 2.5 5 pot the mk3 got the 3.0 v6
My buddy had one with every available bolt on you could buy at the time. Topped out at 153mph! Handled pretty damn good too. Crazy how much better it looked than the base model. Turned a lot of heads lowered with rims...
Wait isnt this a ford mondeo?
yes in europe
it is, but the most common engine in european mondeos is the 1.8 turbodiesel, which was never offered in the US market Contour version. the non-st v6 version is pretty rare and hard to find.
I want to buy one back... This car was so awesome to drive... I hope I can find one again.... I really miss the driving experiance of this car
No! Stop giving these attention!
I want them to stay cheap!
The svt focus is pretty damn cool. I really enjoy the unconventionally cool cars, especially from the 90's and early 2000's
that's just a normal Mondeo, nothing grandpa about it. Just a car for drug addicts or arabs
a favourite of taxi drivers here in the UK for a decade at least.
I grew up watching BTCC in the Super Touring era. The Contour was sold as the Mondeo across the pond and they did very well in racing. Won the championship in 2000. The best era in touring car racing.
Honestly, I forgot about this car until just now, and I honestly dug them back in HS, and still do now. The SVT Contour is one of the only decently looking Ford sedans ever made.
My 1st car was a 1998 Ford Contour SE in light denim blue. I got it in mid October 1999 before getting my driver’s license. It took me a couple times in getting my driver’s license. I took it mid November that I failed the test by couple points. I took the test in mid December and passed it for the second time. My 1st car was an automatic. It had everything that I want in it. It was a very good car. I even had a neighbor that also had one,too in white. She gave her car to her grand daughter. I even had a couple friends that used to drive one in a dark red color.
My buddy years ago had one in black, I had a 98 mustang GT. And he was able to keep up. That was impressive!
Love SVT Contours and SHO. They had their place and purpose in the 90s.
My good friend almost like a brother had one back in the day. The Dark Demon, it was an amazing car when the butterflies worked. We used to have a great time racing each other. His SVT Contour was modified and my 1995 VR6 GLX Jetta and they were great races. The SVT Contour was a hell of a sleeper back in the day. It was damned quick for what it was back in the day and I saw them crush more than a few people in it. You could actually modify The SVT Contour pretty well. It was not uncommon to use a 3.0 Bottom end and a 2.5 cylinder head. With extrude honed manifolds and ported exhaust manifolds, Flash, Cat back, pulleys, bigger MAF, and decent Intake and you got a quick car. If what my friend told me was true, The SVT Contour was originally designed to be an AWD Twin Turbo car, the designer I believe was a designer for Porsche. Ford however balked at the concept and what we got was a much more watered down version. The SVT Contour none the less fit the perfect definition of a Sleeper just like The VR4 Galant, ARC Neon, MKIII VR6 Jetta, etc. The 4dr cars no one paid much attention too but with a little love could be quick cars. I understand that these cars are from back in the day and by today's standards a base Corolla, Civic, Mazda 6, etc. could easily hand them their ass's but from the middle to late 90's there were some great sleepers. You see that's what I like about certain cars from back in the day, they didn't look fast and b/c most had 4 doors they weren't even considered to be fast but at a stop light or just running around looking for fun they could and did beat quite a few people. Well that was me reminiscing on my younger years. Today the future belongs to electric cars that have much more power but besides Tesla have been purposely scaled back b/c of the Oil Industry.
Also Ford probably didn't want a grocery getter giving their money maker , the mustang, any serious competition by introducing an awd turbocharged beast. I hate to say it but a lot of decision in the car industry revolve around politics and not building great cars. Look at the Grand National.
@@kwedog2373 You're absolutely right on that which sucks b/c holding the competition back even within your own company shows stupidity and fear masked by "Good Market Sense" and other bollocks of that nature.
One big thing make me loves American Car Manufactures is that they still make stick shifts
As a Lightning owner I'd have to say the Cobra is the most well known of their creations but the Lightnings drew a lot of attention in their day as well. It's pretty impressive to make a 4500 pounds pickup run and handle on par with a Mustang GT of the same time that weighed almost half that. But then again when you say it like that its pretty odd to make a pickup do that anyway. SVT definitely did some crazy vehicles.
the 24v duratec from ford was a beast of a motor they used it for so long and still use the same design for the v6 they used in the taurus sho
First car was a Contour. Thanks for bringing back the memories David
Also got my license in one as well
I had a contour, a base model with the zetec, and it wasn't garbage. It rode very well, had no rattles despite 120k miles, and tracked straight and true. I miss that car, it had plenty of room, and was reliable.
My turn-of-the-centurey car! I didn't autocross it or anything, but it made the drive to work very enjoyable. I always regretted that I didn't pull the trigger on an '88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (to pricey), so when I could afford this car, I went for it. Lots of fun and my older son learned to drive a stick on that car. Very reliable, as I remember, too.
love these cars, I remember watching then in BTCC racing on the Speed network growing up. very underrated car.
Kid back in high school had a black one, never won a race but he loved it
My Parents had a special order Contour SE that had a full SVT interior, but in an interior colour that wasnt offered in the SVT. Their car also had a 5spd manual, and it also had aftermarket plugs, wires, and upgraded lubricants in it. It wasnt as fast/powerful as the SVT, or the SHO, but it handled well (optional suspension in it), and it was actually faster and more nimble than most of the cars in its class.
David, you are correct about newer Ford parts working on them, as you can use Focus, Cougar, and some Mazda parts on them. These cars were Fords equivalent/answer to the Nissan Maxima SE, and the Accord V6. The tech from the 2.5 Duratec was used in early to mid-2000's Ford V6's that came after it.