You can get the pressure sensitive (think near-zero-movement as in the F16) gimbal mod and make a $1,500.00 stick out of your cougar

IMO, the original Cougar had two issues, the housings for the dogfight/speedbrake were plastic and misaligned, and the gimbal was made of cheap metal that wore poorly. Both have been rectified by the community at Cougar World (a subsection of Frugal's) and now it is nearly perfect.
But yeah, you are right. Comparing my $1K stick to the plastic (POS) Saitek and CH versions is not fair...LOL.