Charging into any of a thousand deep green tunnels of trees, twinturbos spin 170,000 rpm just in front of the firewall. Theall-wheel-drive bites into the asphalt tossed across North Carolina'sBlue Ridge Mountains. Only way deep, way hot into the corner do thetires begin to sound off. Nanoseconds before, the steering alreadycommunicated the impending understeer. The paddle shifter calls for athree-to-two downshift. It engages with a rev-match in 0.75milliseconds. Nail the throttle for instant power. Clipping aleaf-strewn apex just for effect. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Because you've already read the headline and seen the picture, youknow that we're writing about the full-size 2010 Ford Taurus. Doesn'tthat strike you as weird? Or unexpected? Or at least improbable? Withslightly different mechanical particulars, your mind's eye couldpicture the above in an article about an Audi TTS, a BMW 3er, or aSubaru WRX STI.
But a Taurus? The former pariah of rental car fleets? The car Fordso ignored for so many years that it went from being the pride of thecorporation to banished from the company roster? Yup, that would be thesame nameplate.
(Click through to continue reading this review.)
 
A Different Breed of Bull
At some point in the 1990s, FordMotor Company forgot what was important about cars. At some other pointin more recent times, the corporation rediscovered what was lost, notonly about cars, but about itself.
In a conversation with Moray Callum, Ford's Executive Director forAmerican design, he reflected on that process and said, "There comes atime when a company has to step away from trends and design for theirbrand." Referencing out outgoing Taurus/Five Hundred, he said, "Justbecause we could design a car to look German, doesn't mean that was agood idea. The outgoing Taurus had a more Teutonic theme to it --meaning it was intentionally clean and frill-free. It didn't work. Wewanted the new Taurus to be American, and I believe it is."
Ford's corporate rediscovery didn't just play out in the designstudios. Engineers got the message too. Crissy Rodriguez tuned thesuspension for the Taurus and Taurus SHO. When talking aboutcalibrations and responses, she was quick to point out what a Fordshould drive like, and it's nothing like a Toyota. Rodriguez said,"We're sporty, they're relaxed. The Taurus needs to be engaging."Adding details about the Taurus, she said, "It can't be stiff like a(Mustang) Shelby GT500, but it also can't be too soft like a Camry. Wewanted to keep most of the suppleness of the Lincoln MKS sedan, butmake it more responsive and direct."
Truth or PR pablum? We would test the reality of Rodriguez's description.
 
Out of the Bullpen
Until recently, we had only seen the2010 Taurus in Ford studios or on turntables at auto shows. Thoseidealized environs unnaturally accentuate what the manufacturer wantsyou notice, so it's always a revelation to see the showpiece on theroad or a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Callum's team succeeded in creating a design that looks good in theharsh light of day. It communicates its American roots with a differentvocabulary than one of its articulate cross-town rivals, the Chrysler300. The Taurus features interesting detailing and lines that holdsone's attention.
While the standard 2010 Taurus is handsome, it takes a keen eye todistinguish a SHO Taurus from its mainstream brothers. The modesty isintentional because the SHO has never been about being showy. Look forthe trunk spoiler and standard nineteen-inch rims with P255/45VR19tires (base Taurus models wear seventeen-inch rims). To our eyes, theTaurus will never be confused with any Nissan, Volkswagen, or Toyota.It's a sedan that doesn't disappear into the asphalt.
The 365-horsepower, twin-turbo, direct-injected, 3.5-liter EcoBoostV-6 fires innocuously to life with the press of a button. Theleather-wrapped wheel feels good, but the black plastic paddle shiftersbehind the three-and-nine bar look a little cheap compared to thebalance of the rich interior. Carbon fiber or aluminum would have beena better material for the shift actuators.
Scanning the deeply recessed gauges, the tach doesn't have ared-line and that there's no boost gauge. Fixes are underconsideration. The front seats comfortably position the driver withinthis big sedan. If you can't get comfortable using the power seat,adjustable pedals, and the tilt/telescopic steering column, you mustsurely be an oddly shaped person.
Shifting the console-mounted gear selector into A or M gets thingsin motion. In Auto, the heavy-duty six-speed automatic transmissionshifts smoothly and without fuss. Throttle tip-in is gentle, making theTaurus easy to drive smoothly. The car isn't high strung, and cruisesquietly offering no telltales about its performance potential. Wind andtire noise at highway speeds are subdued. The feeling is refined.
But the original 1989 SHO Taurus hasn't become a legend because ofrefinement. They were about power and speed and handling and fun.
So is the 2010 Taurus SHO.
 
Slam the throttle open and the big Ford sedan rockets forward, nowaiting required. There is no turbo lag because the Garrett turbos areso small, that almost any time the engine is running, the blowers areready to produce instant -- INSTANT -- boost. The max fed into themanifold is 12 psi.
Modern engine electronics give the SHO 350 pound-feet torque from1500 revs on up to near the horsepower peak (5250 rpm). The torquecurve really isn't a curve, it's a broad, flat plateau that results ineffortless acceleration at any speed. Unlike some other performancecars we know and like, the SHO's rate of acceleration doesn't reallybuild. It's a linear delivery.
Under full power, the SHO's chassis remains rock-solid. Thank theall-wheel drive. It's a Haldex system that sends more power rearwardthan on the related systems under a Lincoln MKS or MKT. There will beno adolescent burnouts from this car. Putting 365 horsepower to thepavement through four contact patches is a piece of cake for thispowertrain, so even during all-out acceleration runs, the car neverfeels stressed, strained, or directionally challenged.
Burnouts or not, the 2010 Taurus SHO should be able to rip off 0-60miles per hour in under six seconds and run through the quarter-milelights in a bit over 14 seconds at close to 100 mph.
Through the hills of North Carolina, we charged the SHO up and downtwisting ribbons of asphalt. The pavement wasn't perfect, but the evenwith a sport-calibrated suspension (about 10-percent stiffer than astandard Taurus), there wasn't any significant ride harshness fromsharp impacts. Big pavement swells were also easily absorbed. Thesteering's turn-in feel was spot on, and the electrically-assistedrack-and-pinion gear (with SHO-specific calibrations) fed just theright amount of information up the steering column. Electric steeringsystems are getting better, and the SHO's is among the best we'vedriven.
Hustling through any corner, the SHO leans before taking a bite.Once set, the feeling is balanced with a bias toward understeer. Pushedhard, the front tires squeal, an audible "Hey, Stupid!" warning Fordengineers provided to signal the outer edge of the handling envelopefor those with too little skill or sense to notice otherwise.
Curiously, the SHO uses the same brakes as the standard Taurus.While we never felt them fade, we drove hard enough to successfully getthe brakes smoking, stinking up acres of the North Carolinacountryside. Heavy-duty brake pads are part of the Performance Pack,but aren't part of the standard SHO package.
On our drive route, the SHO's paddle shifters were a definite asset.The right and left paddles work the same way; pull for an upshift, pushfor a downshift. In manual mode, the gearbox won't upshift even atredline, a characteristic we like. It will, however, down shiftautomatically under certain circumstances. The logic may seeminconsistent, but it works well in real-world driving.
According to its engineers, Ford's Select Shift transmission ripsoff cog-swaps faster than the automatic in a BMW 335i. The sensationduring full-throttle shifts is different from other cars. While somepowertrains limit or even reduce engine power during upshifts (makingthe shifts feel soggy), Ford engineers designed a torque-matching shiftalgorithm that delivers identical torque before and after the shiftevent. The result is quick but fluid shifts delivered without harshness.
Compared to the standard front-wheel-drive Taurus with itsnaturally-aspirated 263-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6, the SHO rightfullyearns its position as Ford's new flagship. It delivers a much higherlevel of performance in a package that works well for the generalenthusiast.
Somewhere, deep inside the culture at Ford Motor Company, somepeople still knew what a Taurus could be. Ford has found itself again.Welcome back. |
發表於 2009-6-27 11:02 AM
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