Hi
 

Recently bought a used 1996 Ford Contour with only 89000 miles on it after my 1993 suburban died after 230,000. Well, the suburban is just taking a break until I find time to fix the transfer case. Anyhow I drive about 125 miles a day round trip and figured now was the time to take advantage of my dead truck and get me something a bit easier on the pocket book as far as gas goes.

Sounds like a smart move to me. Welcome to the site.

Rainh2o -

Welcome to EM! Good choice in a car. What is your drivetrain configuration? :

2008 Fuel Economy Tests - 1996 Ford Contour
CarloSW2

Hopefully you got the 6 cylinder 5 speed... the .5 liters doesn't make much of a difference in FE, but it helps out with low-end grunt, making it "feel nicer" to shift low.

Welcome to EM, and happy motoring!

I got the 2.0, 5 speed M/T...didnt have any choice in drive train or even car for that matter, I knew I wanted a 4 cyld M/T. VW, Honda, Toyota or Ford where the only requirments for make. This one just happen to be the right price and available at the right time, my suburb died at 4 pm and I bought this one at 10 pm the same day...LOL...Im happy with it though. I once had a 91 metro when they first came out, I had wished I had kept that car over the years, who knows if I find one for the right price...

The 4 cylinder is quite capable as well, and just feels a little choppy to me at lower RPMs, so I tend to shift a bit higher while accelerating, like around 2800-3k RPM. You can cruise at just above idle, though... ~1200 RPM.

Hi Everyone,
I am new here and visited the site.
There are many interesting things I have seen in the site.I like forum discussion since people can share their views and ideas to others.They can give commnents on others topic and suggest them.
I am eager to do my first post and start forum posting.