I had a plan, though. As I wound through the mildly twisty road of this colossal auto mall, I was narrowing down which vehicles I’d like to drive. What about the Aston Martin Vantage? No way, the Aston folks would (understandably) want to know that I was definitely a prospective buyer before they let me into one of their gorgeous vehicles. Something a little more mainstream, perhaps? Yeah, that seemed like a sound idea. But there are so many vehicles that fall into that category. I’ve already tested the 2010 Ford Focus SE, but following that line seemed a little docile given my proximity to motor city. I decided some domestic muscle might be interesting, so I headed towards Troy Ford. Walking inside the large, frontal glass showroom, I was excited to see a 40th anniversary Shelby GT500KR. Stirring, but also above the price of what I wanted to look at. Initially, I was hoping to hop in a 2010 Mustang GT with the manual transmission. Sadly, despite the size of the dealer, they didn’t have any manual GT models, so I was left hanging for a moment. Just as I was about to leave, I remembered the fantastically redone 2010 Taurus. And, of course, Ford brought back the high performance version of that car…the SHO. “SHO” stands for Super High Output, and the engine is true to the badge. The heart of the Taurus SHO is a twin-turbocharged (Ford calls it “Ecoboost”) 3.5L V6. That engine puts out a hefty amount of power, with 365 hp and 350 lb.-ft. of torque. As it turned out, there were 3 SHOs on the lot, so I figured a drive might be in order.
I stepped outside, and it was nippy. Maybe 28 degrees, but the constant 15 mph winds made it feel much colder. I followed the salesman down the steps, and to a deep red-colored 2010 Taurus SHO. I’d seen pictures, but pictures don’t accurately portray most cars…and the Taurus? It’s a big one. Everyone mentions that cars weigh so much more than they used to, and you can really see it if you look at the Taurus by generation. The previous generation Taurus was about 1,000 pounds lighter. The headlights are somewhat aggressively cut HID (more simply, bluish white) units. The side has nice creases and contours, which make it elegant enough for an appearance a nice restaurant, or executive business meeting. None of your friends would guess that it’s a Taurus if it weren’t for the large blue Ford badges. The back end has a short trunk lid with chrome-accented taillights on a slightly forward sloping trunk. The whole car has an oddly intimidating sort of elegant and civilized look…a bull dog in a tuxedo, if you will. The salesman gave me the key fob (the small, keyless device which let the car know that I was nearby) and I stepped inside. The first thing you'll enjoy about the new Taurus, or any car for that matter, is the delicious new car smell wafting out as you open the door. I'm the kind of person who would buy an air freshener in that scent, so I enjoyed it throughout the test. The interior is light-years ahead of any previous generation Taurus. There’s a waterfall-style center console which cascades down between the driver and front passenger, allowing easy access to all of the controls. This center console faces upwards, which is very convenient for visibility and ease of use while driving. Towards the bottom of this bunny slope of nice materials, the Taurus has a stocky t-handle shifter with the options P, R, N, D, and M. M is for Ford’s SelectShift mode, where the driver can choose the optimal gear using paddle shifters which are mounted on the steering wheel. Ford went ahead and followed the paddle design of new BMWs, and it shows. IT’S TERRIBLE. That’s an opinion, but the shifters don’t work the way you might expect them to. Instead of upshifting with the right paddle, and downshifting with the left, you pull on either paddle to upshift, and push on either paddle to downshift. I don’t know who came up with that, or thought it was easy, but they were wrong. Instead of playing “Michael Schumacher, fantastic Ferrari F1 driver”, you end up playing “idiot who can’t even drive a paddle shifted Taurus.” Even if you miraculously figure out how to use the paddles (yes, one can learn how…eventually) you’ll find yourself waiting for the shifts. The transmission just takes too long to do what you ask of it. Kudos to Ford for the attempt, but really, unless you want to look like that person who just got their driver’s permit and certainly doesn’t know how to drive a standard, stick the transmission in Drive.
Speaking of drive, how does the SHO? I figured it was time to find out. The driver is positioned high up in the car, making the most of the rakish angling of the front and rear windows. I thumbed the starter button to the right of and behind the steering wheel, the 3.5L mill whirred to life, the gauges awoke, and the center stack became a city of small indicator lights. After adjusting my mirrors and seat position, I grabbed the hefty steering wheel and shifter, and selected drive, easing out of the parking space. Before the main road, I realizeed how responsive the brakes are; light application is all you’d ever need for normal driving. I took a right out onto a busy six lane Michigan road, and enjoyed the subdued but noticeable snarl from the exhaust. It’s just enough sporty noise to remind you it isn’t a normal Taurus, but civilized and unobtrusive for everyday driving. After driving for roughly two minutes, the engine was up to normal temperature. My rocket was ready for liftoff. I got into a right turn lane, made the turn, and hit it. This car moves; the 0-60 sprint is over in 5.2 seconds. The first gear acceleration is a powerful, linear surge, and second and third gears have that same flat torque curve, though the acceleration is slightly slower. That comes as something of a surprise, because the SHO weighs roughly 4,400 lbs, which is quite a lot for a performance sedan. There’s no risk of burning your tires up with all that power; the SHO has a permanent all-wheel-drive system to keep the all 365 ponies in sync with the road. Another thing one quickly notices when driving the SHO; the suspension is decidedly sporty. There’s no wobble, and it absorbs bumps nicely, but there’s no body roll or bounce. The car just stays on the road, ignoring the small bumps that try to manifest themselves, and absorbing the larger ones. Because of the SHO’s muscular but civilized “bouncer in a business suit” sort of stance, cornering is impressive and composed, with little drama, and high limits. Though vented, the brakes are not quite as powerful as an initial tap might suggest, but they’ll handle everything short of a track day.
I’d like to tell you that all of this driving prowess and business prestige comes at a low price, but that wouldn’t be exactly true. The SHO that I tested was $42,000, and that was without the navigation system. It certainly didn’t lack features, though. There was still a backup camera with a screen in the rearview mirror, the front seats were heated and cooled, and the back seats were heated. Those are just a few of many notable features that the test car had. If you’re willing to stick with the base Taurus, which has a 263 horsepower, naturally aspirated Duratec 3.5L V6, you can get into a Taurus for $25,170. That model is front-wheel-drive, and has Ford’s AdvanceTrac electronic stability control to keep everything in check. There are plenty of standard features here, too, with Ford’s inconspicuous Securicode invisible keypad, and an input for and MP3 player or iPod.
The SHO starts at $37,770, but be careful, the options are enticing. Ford offers such luxury features as a 390 watt, 12 speaker system, a power rear window sunshade, rain sensing wipers, voice activated navigation with SIRIUS travel link, and Active Motion massaging front seats. That’s right; the Taurus now offers massaging seats. That’s quite a luxurious step up from the last generation Taurus. These options can really push the price up. Online, I was able to push a top-of-the-line model up to $47,320, which includes roughly $10,000 worth of options. If you’d like a little more prestige, the new Lincoln MKS is similar to the SHO, but offers the Lincoln brand-name, as well as a few more features. Of course, that model is more expensive, starting at $41,270.
Overall, the Taurus SHO offers great comfort, performance, and looks for a reasonable price. This makes it very versatile, covering the role of muscle car, executive sedan, and first car amazingly. (Though the SHO is a little pricey, MyKey is a brilliant feature). Ford hit the nail right on the head with the new Taurus and Taurus SHO.
-Stephen Purcell
