Test Drive review: 2010 Ford Taurus is full of surprises
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A bright red 2010 Ford Taurus with lots of goodies. A sunny spring day. Hundreds of miles of open road. Hit the interstate, wind 'er up, settle in. Pleasant surprise: Taurus is wonderful to drive all-windows-down. The entire 569 miles from here to USA TODAY Galactic HQ in McLean, Va. — in temperatures of 91 to 95 degrees — passed with nary a buffet or a roar. Never once considered closing up and airing down.
The Taurus SEL with optional all-wheel drive, leather, satellite radio and so on, makes a road trip more of an opportunity than an imposition.
Unpleasant surprise: Partway home, the seat cushion began to feel rump-wrecking stiff. The optional massaging-seat feature didn't help, and neither did the array of inflatable support bladders.
It's crazy. You could adjust the seat every way from Sunday and not find that just-so position. A $45,175 high-performance, loaded Taurus SHO with the same singing, dancing seats, likewise began to make a person butt-weary.
Physiques differ. Yours might take more fondly to Taurus' fancy seat options.
Another unpleasant surprise: torque steer. That's when the front pulls to one side under hard acceleration as the front-drive system copes with more power than it perhaps was built to do gracefully.
All-wheel drive would quell that, right? Nope.
Nail the throttle in the AWD tester and hold on. Ford's six-speed automatic downshifts a gear, the front end yanks sideways, then the trans downshifts again and the front really skews. Unexpected, surprisingly virulent. Powerful SHO did the same.
It's a hard flaw to overlook.
Other salients:
•SHO uses electric power steering, and it's nicely tuned. It feels better than the conventional hydraulic power steering on the non-SHO cars.
•SHO is the first Ford-brand car with "EcoBoost" technology that adds two small turbochargers to the V-6. The claim: V-8 power, V-6 mileage.
On premium fuel, Ford says EcoBoost delivers 365 horsepower, 102 hp more than the standard V-6. But use the EcoBoost the way you're tempted and V-6 fuel economy fast becomes an illusion.
•Finally, a manual-shift mode for a mainstream Ford automatic transmission. But the steering-wheel paddles are neither easy nor fun to operate.
•Interiors are classy. Truly the premium ambience Ford wants as it repositions Taurus upscale.
It's a tad snug for the car's full-size footprint; 2% to 6% less interior volume than major rivals, per automakers' published specifications. One example: Honda Accord, full-size after its 2008 makeover, has more headroom and front leg, hip and shoulder room. But Taurus has a huge trunk. If you're a toter, that might be more important.
•Quietness abounds.
•Gee-whiz factor is high. Optional radar systems notify you of traffic and obstructions in the danger zones, including traffic from the sides as you back blindly out of that narrow slot at the boutique grocery where customers are mainly car-haters.
Optional radar-based cruise control can slow the car (dramatically, we verified) if you get closer than a set distance to a car ahead. It's theoretically capable of emergency stopping, but Ford doesn't think people want to surrender that much control.
•Styling has its ups and downs. The roofline is lower than the previous Taurus' (so's the Empire State Building) to be sleeker. A so-called gesture line — a crease along the side about halfway down — provides visual drama.
But the indentations in the upper and lower grille bars make no sense. The fake vent on the front fender shouldn't have happened. The thick-looking rear end is not especially pleasing.
No question the 2010 Taurus is a dramatic update and upgrade. You feel special inside, and the car's generally pleasant to drive. The availability of all-wheel drive is a plus unmatched by most rivals.
But the fancy models, the ones you want (and you really want the SHO, the best overall even if you don't care about its performance) will cost as much as a luxury car, and that's hard to swallow.
ABOUT THE NEW FORD TAURUS
•What? Remake of Ford's big four-door sedan. Available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) and as SHO high-performance model with AWD.
•When? In showrooms about Aug. 1.
•Where? Built at Chicago alongside the mechanically similar Lincoln MKS.
•Why? Because the CEO said so — with good reason. Previous Taurus, nee Five Hundred, was a sales dud.
•How? Modify the chassis of the previous model, totally change almost everything else.
•How much? Base SE, FWD only and aimed at fleets, starts at $25,995 with $825 shipping. SEL starts at $27,995 (FWD) and $29,845 (AWD). Limited is $31,995 (FWD), $33,845 (AWD). High-performance SHO (FWD only) starts at $37,995.
Ford says about $29,000, typically equipped.
Loaded SHO test car, $45,175.
•Who? Developed for target buyer Ford calls "Jack": age 45, kids in middle school or younger, uses the car for commuting but not as the primary family car.
•How potent? 3.5-liter V-6 rated 263 horsepower at 6,250 rpm, 249 pounds-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm. SHO: Twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 rated 365 hp at 5,500 rpm, 350 lbs.-ft. at 1,500 rpm.
Both engines mated to six-speed automatic with manual-shift mode.
•How lavish? More gadgets, optional, than a tinkerer's basement. Details: www.ford.com.
•How big? A few inches longer, wider, taller and about 400 lbs. heavier than Toyota Avalon or Chevrolet Impala, yet slightly less roomy inside. Taurus is 202.9 inches long, 76.2 in. wide, 60.7 in. tall on a 112.9-in. wheelbase.
Weight: 4,015 lbs. (FWD), 4,224 lbs. (AWD), 4,368 lbs. (SHO).
Passenger space: 102.2 cubic feet. Trunk: 20.1 cubic feet. Turning circle: 39.7 feet.
•How thirsty? Rated 18 miles per gallon in town, 28 highway, 22 combined (FWD); 17/25/21 (AWD). SHO: 17/25/20. (20 mpg is 5 gallons per 100 miles.)
Trip computers in three test cars showed: 20.4 mpg (FWD, rural roads); 24.7 mpg (AWD, interstate highways); 16.2 mpg (SHO, city/suburban/highway). All models burn regular, but SHO requires premium for rated hp. Ford won't provide SHO hp rating using regular.
•Overall:Premium car, premium price.