Shortly after the Cougar was released a few years back, I parted with $265 and bought one. Within a month or so, I was experiencing drifting and nose bounce...constantly...even after calibrating the stick in the game and in Windows.
Some research on the nose bounce led me to a Cougar web forum at
http://www.frugalsworld.com It seems, back then anyway, a LOT of Cougar owners were having the same problem. So much so that a few enterprising souls were selling repair kits for $125, which replaced the potentiometers and joystick base gimbels that shipped with the Cougar. Rather then spend my hard earned money fixing defective parts, I sold the stick to a guy in Croatia, warning him of the porblems. You'd be well advised to check the website I mentioned to see if Thrustmaster has resolved that issue.
The Cougar has no provision for rudder input...no twist handle. TM was talking about companion peds...dunno if they ever did anything. While you can add in a set of Saitek or CH peds, you're talking another $100 minimum.
Bottom line, I wouldn't touch another Cougar with a 10 m pole
Having been to several AH Cons, in a room of 100 players, 65% use CH Gear, 25% are using the Saitek X45/52 stuff and the rest have the various stuff available on the market. The Siatek X52 does seem to be gaining in useage/popularity.
Why not post a little poll in the Hardware/Software forum, asking who uses what and why? Also, if you have access to a store that sells this stuff, wrap your hands around different sticks...there's a pretty wide difference in height, width, tension, etc.
Good luck!