hi guys!
i'm the Probe driver who can be found at many NASA events! it's a bit funny; a few years ago i had a student at Summit Point with an SVT Contour; it had very mild 'street type' mods; suspension, exhaust, etc. really nice car, seemed to handle well. brakes were good, power was nice. it really felt 'european' in nature!
that being said, the Contour V6 is a 2.5 duratec motor; the 2.5 V6 in my Probe is a KL series mazda motor. both are good powerplants; the general consensus is that the KL mazda motor is practically bullet proof; the bottom end is incredible in these motors; i have routinely over-revved mine purposely 1200-1400 over redline; i've never freshened the motor, or even had the oilpan off it. its got more than 45k track miles on it, and other than a timing belt change, and two oil changes per year, and spark plugs once a year, it's been perfect... the one weakness the motor has is the internal coil and ignitor in the distributor (especially if it is a 93 or 94). when racing, it gets really hot and the coil/ignitor pack will fail, leaving you stranded. i fixed this by going to an external coil and HEI module for the ignitor. zero problems after that with the ignition!
the tranny that comes with the Probe/MX6/626 is a little fragile; it uses the same gearset as the escort does. you have to baby it when shifting (i can't shift it quickly like my Honda Civic racecar); the synchros wear (my 2nd and 3rd have been crunching for the last couple of years, unless i'm perfect on the match revving, especially when it gets really hot). the stock diff is weak, and has been known to break (mine never has, though). the axles are really good; i've never broken one (unlike the honda, which i've broken LOTS).
there is a little bit of aftermarket support for the Probe/MX6; i'd expect that there is much less for the Contour. i will tell you that the Probe/MX6 has lousy brakes from the factory -- it's definitely the weakest link in the armor. the brakes are LOUSY!!! i've fixed this, by designing my own brake upgrade (custom brackets and hardware to adapt mazda millenia S calipers and mitsu 3000 GT VR4 twin turbo rotors up front); problem is, that is completely legal for PTx, but not for SCCA ITx.....
very mildly prepped (i have a bolt in cage, no lsd, no final drive, stock ecu, and mostly home grown parts, running toyo ra-1s) i ran a 1:27.04 at summit point yesterday, at 2693 lbs on the scale (2660 is my min weight, but i had too heavy a fuel load!). so, the car can be plenty speedy!
i have very little experience with modding up the duratec V6s; i've been told that the KL V6s 'take better' to tuning and IT-like mods.... i remember my contour student telling me that the tranny is kind of weak in the contours (he'd had his out to fix something with the shifter/forks a month before the track event).
hope that helps; i'm happy to answer any questions i can! i'd love to see some other 'oddball' racecars out there; for the last 5 yrs or so, i don't think i've ever seen another Ford Probe take the green flag at any races (or Contour, or Cougar)! we do have a Focus that shows up occasionally, though..... (thats a 2 liter Zetec motor).
todd
ReidSpeed
Thanks for your input though, its always good to hear from someone who's built a car already.
Hoping to have a shakedown day or two in it and then maybe the August Daytona Double.
