Taurus SHO Test Drive Impressions...

[johnny--2k]

Well, I just got back from driving the SHO, and all in all, I'm pretty impressed.

Seating Position: Pretty much perfect. Tall, short, skinny, fat, doesn't matter, you'll be able to find a nice comfortable position, and the seats are GREAT! The one I drove had active front seats that ever so slightl massage as you are driving to reduce fatigue, and it is definitely a cool feature. Blind spots are minimal, only gripe is the rear window is kind of short leading to some rear visibility issues. I would highly reccomend the rear view camera (can be had with or without nav) for backing up.

Noise/Suspension: Quiet ride, some engine noise, but not much. The standard non-SHO is quieter. Suspension is great. Eats up the small imperfections, but still gives enough feedback to know your not in grandpas car...

Steering: GREAT! Electronic Power Assist that is tuned for the car leads to great feedback, effortless in parking, nice and stiff at speed, but not too stiff.

Power: Pretty damn good! The 6-speed with paddle shift holds gears until you shift, rev-matches downshifts, and is pretty quick in terms of responsivness. Full 350 ft-lbs from 1500 RPM up to 5500 RPM gives for some pretty good uumph off the line as well as mid-range grunt. Freeway driving is a blast, and it pulls out of corners pretty strong as well.

Brakes: The one I drove had the Track Package with the 20's, higher final drive ratio, upgraded suspension, and upgraded brakes. All in all, they were pretty good. Pedal feel was a bit soft for my liking, but then again, I'm coming out of my jeep with 4 piston brembos on every corner, so I'm a bit biased with brakes on damn near any car!

Overall: Overall, I would def reccommend this car. It's solid, powerful, fun, and practical. 25+MPG on the freeway, upper teens in the city, V8 Power, responsive, and just a blast.

[Nick]

But how does it compare to an EVO?

:lol:

great review. Nothing less than what I expected.

[johnny--2k]

:rolf

Haha, thanks!

[STANMAN]

Lucky!!!! Nice review, wish they would have allowed us peons to test drive it:rolf

[Prince Valiant]

What I like about it is that Ford seems to finally have something worthy in the large car personal luxury/performance market...alas, now GM is giving up on the G8 in the near future, for now at least they still have the impala SS and Bonneville/Grand Prix V8's to hold snuff.

Though I still worry that this is the "last days" sort of thing...you know, like 71-74, when muscle cars were gasping their last breaths before flatlining in 75? Fords come out with a car that doesn't reinvent full-size performance expectations...heck, it probably doesn't even take the top honors from the current class leaders. It just fits in, so to speak...much like all the 71 GM/Fords and 72 Mopars all came out and were nice cars...but they weren't the 69-70 models.

[SSLEVO]

But how does it compare to an EVO?

:lol:

great review. Nothing less than what I expected.

Since you are obviously so hard over this car, when are you picking yours up?

[Nick]

Since you are obviously so hard over this car, when are you picking yours up?

Maybe tomorrow.

[DirtyMax]

Maybe tomorrow.

Why not... you can afford it.

[Nick]

Why not... you can afford it.

:rolf
:rolf
:rolf

[88Nightmare]

it would look nice in his garage next to the subaru. people wouldnt know which one is which.... is that two subi's in there? two fords? one of each? who knows?????? :D

[Red97GTP]

The car looks awesome! I just watched a Youtube vid of an MKS with Ecoboost that ran 13.9 @ 111MPH!!

[BOSS LX]

The car looks awesome! I just watched a Youtube vid of an MKS with Ecoboost that ran 13.9 @ 111MPH!!

111mph? :wooo

[Red97GTP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe2hAalVyYU

[GTSLOW]

A hot rod time of 13.9 :rolf

[88Nightmare]

A hot rod time of 13.9 :rolf

street car :thumbsup

[BOSS LX]

111mph is faster then 75% of BCM has ever gone! :confused

If it really does trap 111, I say Ford under rated the hp!

[WhatsADSM]

111 or 101?

[BOSS LX]

111 or 101?

It's gotta be 101. What you think Johnny, does it have 6 more mph's then the Jeep?:rolf

Either way, 101 is not bad for a Lincoln!

[johnny--2k]

prob 101. The Taurus has 10 more HP, better gearing, and less weight. Should be good for a mid-13 all day long. Even at GLD!

[johnny--2k]

0-60 I was told is 5.8, but it definitely seems quicker than that. It doesn't have the typical turbo car boost feel, it's very very linear. Hell, peak torque at 1500RPM, that's almost diesel territory!

[Flicktitty]

i doubt the 111 trap speed, but thats pretty slick at a 13.9....

are they still doing the eco-boost mustang?

[BOSS LX]

i doubt the 111 trap speed, but thats pretty slick at a 13.9....

are they still doing the eco-boost mustang?

SVO? That would be cool!

[johnny--2k]

It's a very strange thing to stage a quiet, luxurious, $48,000 Lincoln next to snarling, barely-road legal Mustangs and GTO's, but we made our way to the front of the line. We lined up at the lights, windows up, air conditioning off, traction control disabled, brake stand, revs at 3000 rpm and green! The unassumingly Lincoln then proceeded to return a 14.1 second quarter mile with a trap speed of 104.4 MPH. When we parked, there were quite a few more people interested in what was under the hood. Ours wasn't even the fastest time of the evening. Later in the evening, when the temperature had dropped and the cars had cooled down, former Jalopnik hack and Car & Driver man about town Mike Austin managed a 13.9 second run at 104 MPH. Yes, that's right — you can buy a 13 second Lincoln.


from: http://jalopnik.com/5264270/ecoboost-goes-drag-ford-flex-lincoln-mks-hit-the-strip

[WhatsADSM]

104 makes a little more sense for the Hp/Weight.

Although one wouldn't think that AWD + 104mph trap = 13.9ET? 104 + AWD should be capable of a mid 13.
Ford must have done something to limit the launch capability or something.

[Irish]

104 makes a little more sense for the Hp/Weight.

Although one wouldn't think that AWD + 104mph trap = 13.9ET? 104 + AWD should be capable of a mid 13.
Ford must have done something to limit the launch capability or something.

I ran a 13.8 @ 104. :mad:

[WhatsADSM]

I ran a 13.8 @ 104. :mad:
Yea but u don't have AWD and a torque band with full torque at nearly off idle. This setup *should* handily out launch you.

[URLOZIN]

pics???

[Nick]

Are you guys seriously bench racing these cars?

[Irish]

Yea but u don't have AWD and a torque band with full torque at nearly off idle. This setup *should* handily out launch you.

It should out launch me for sure! I know John was handing me my ass off the line all day! :rolf

The cool thing though is even though my ET dropped, my mph didn't. 14.4 @ 104 vs 13.8 @ 104 2.5 60's lol... I have tuning to do. I need to get my lazy ass back to the track...

Sorry, didn't mean to Hijack...

We now resume our regularly scheduled thread...

[tommyt5078]

Are you guys seriously bench racing these cars?


Yep and the EVO wins hands down !!!!!

[Prince Valiant]

Are you guys seriously bench racing these cars?Why not? Bench racing is fun...I mean, it's no substitute for the real deal or anything, but when it's all you got right now...

[johnny--2k]

I got better pics with my camera today. I will post them up tonight or tomorrow for sure.

[SSLEVO]

How heavy is this thing? I wouldn't expect it to have any turbo lag, i bet those things are so small they are spooled just off idle. With awd and a 104 mph trap it shold be running low 13's really. They must have it setup so its impossible to launch. Did they post a 60' time in any of those tests?

[Waver]

i doubt the 111 trap speed, but thats pretty slick at a 13.9....

are they still doing the eco-boost mustang?


rumor has it that it is a go, however wont be out till after the 5.0 makes its return in moduar form

[CannotPost]

It doesn't have the typical turbo car boost feel, it's very very linear. Hell, peak torque at 1500RPM, that's almost diesel territory!

It has really tiny turbos, there was a cut-away sho engine @ the Chicago Auto show. I wonder what boost it runs....

[Waver]

It has really tiny turbos, there was a cut-away sho engine @ the Chicago Auto show. I wonder what boost it runs....

does it really matter, I have a feeling that it wont be long till people swap them out for some bigger ones

[CannotPost]

does it really matter, I have a feeling that it wont be long till people swap them out for some bigger ones

It will be awhile before the turbos swaps start happening. So yes it matters, with the smaller turbos there is unlikley to be much room for improvment in the stock setup.

[SSLEVO]

It will be awhile before the turbos swaps start happening. So yes it matters, with the smaller turbos there is unlikley to be much room for improvment in the stock setup.

This isn't a tunner car guys. It's a luxury car with a peppy engine, no one will try to make it go faster, its not marketed towards those people.

[BlueOvalBolt]

A Ford rep touring with a pre-production model told me that Hennessey has a turbo set up ready to go that ups the hp to 500.

[Nick]

This isn't a tunner car guys. It's a luxury car with a peppy engine, no one will try to make it go faster, its not marketed towards those people.

When did you come to your senses? :)

[Car Guy]

Of course it's not a 'tuner' car but the people that had the 'original' SHOs (more tuner-ish) will be buying this one, and to say they will not be modifying this version is silly......:goof

[Nick]

I am just kind of flustered and dumbfounded that people are arguing the price point of a luxury sedan to that of a car that is focused toward performance and handling more than anything. Especially being one that is in an entirely different class and age demographic.

The cost for this car is not outrageous by any means. Its a well rounded luxury sedan with great power to boot. That's all. They didn't design it with racing in mind. it's not an AutoX'er, it's not meant for the Strip.

That's all I have left to say on this subject because i'm cranky.

[Car Guy]

The personalized plate on mine will say L GRWN UP......:devil

[johnny--2k]

AWESOME!

I would get : IM BACK

[Car Guy]

Another good one......:thumbsup

[SSLEVO]

When did you come to your senses? :)


Lol, just stiring the pot. I am willing to bet a good portion of these will be modified though, its not everyday that a turbo car comes out. It is especially cool that it's an american car. Hell maybe in a few years it would make an affordable daily driver. I'm still liking the ls6/ls2 CTS-V's as well, almost bought one over the evo but it just wasn't responsive enough.

[DynoTom]

does it really matter, I have a feeling that it wont be long till people swap them out for some bigger ones



http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/16/hennessey-ready-to-tap-2010-ford-taurus-shos-potential/

[johnny--2k]

Thats what I'm talkin about! Even though I'm personally not too fond of Hennessey, it's nice to see he's got stuff planned. Hopefully that will open up the door for many more options.

I said it to my boss after my drive, intake, exhaust, and a Boost Controller and that car would be a LOT more fun to drive!

[Karps TA]

Jalopnik reviewed it

http://jalopnik.com/5296925/2010-ford-taurus-sho-first-drive

[88Nightmare]

im still undecided if I completely like the way the car looks

[07ROUSHSTG3]

sounds like a luxury car to me.

[Nick]

sounds like a luxury car to me.

That's because it is.

[07ROUSHSTG3]

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/2010-ford-taurus-sho-ar75859.html

[BAD LS1]

whoopsidoozers! The same car that Johnny took the pics of: http://i41.tinypic.com/2wp0cb6.jpg

[johnny--2k]

Yup! Crunched in Chicago traffic!

[BAD LS1]

i wonder if they had to spend 15min looking for the inertia switch?

[WhatsADSM]

Ouch!