2010 Taurus SHO gets twin turbo V6

[timot_one]

^And that's coming from a previous Ford owner!^

[Sworkhard]

I wouldn't personally drive a taurus over a 3 series, but I know plenty of people that would because they need the extra room.  The three series does not have a lot of room in the back seat while the taurus, as a large car, does.  Personally, I'd like to get my hands on a 335i coupe, but you can't compare it to the Taurus because of how much smaller it is.  You'd be better comparing it to a mustang if you want to compare it to a ford, but they are such different cars that they don't really compete.  (Mustang's price is much lower than 335i, but 335i is a much nicer and better driving car).

In terms of reliability (in things gone wrong), European vehicles < North American < Japanese as a rule of thumb, and BMW is probably the least reliable German brand (French and Italian brands are probably worse), and even if they aren't, their dealership service experience is generally horrible (although there are some really good dealers, non of them are near me).  If I was to buy a new vehicle here in Calgary, I'd buy anything but BMW just because of the dealership experience.  I'd consider a used BMW though as I wouldn't have warranty to worry about and could do my own maintenance so the dealerships would never see my car for warranty work and as such I wouldn't need to worry about the dealership taking my car for a joyride and breaking something else.

As for ford reliability, they have made some pretty massive strides.  I know a lot of people who owned earlier models won't touch a ford car, but all the people I know with fords introduced or updated after 05 have been very happy with their their reliability and have had no major problems with their cars.  Before 05 though, and it 50/50 you'd have a lemon (their trucks were decent i guess, but their cars had more transmission problems than early honda v6 5sp autos).

[Mike]

Okay I don't know what your grudge is here with BMW service. But, i've owned both a BMW, and a Ford and the service at BMW dealerships at least near me was 100000000000 times better than for dealerships, and when I had my cobra I had an oil like I took it to nine dealerships before one fixed it under warranty! IMO Ford service, and reliibiltiy blow!

[Sworkhard]

Actually its more the dealer network (two dealers, one owner) in Calgary, and few other cities in Canada owned by the same people that have a very bad reputation.  There's a website dedicated to keeping people away from this dealership because so many people have been burned.  Go 3 hours north to Edmonton, and their dealers are very good (probably like the ones in your area).  Every area is different, but when you buy a premium vehicle you expect premium service and where I live, that's not the case.  At least with ford I get the level of service I expect.  That being said, I wouldn't really cross shop ford and bmw, but rather I'd compare bmw with audi, lexus, etc that are also premium vehicles with great service.

[BliNx197]

This is why American Car Companies are going out of business!! Talk about making a freakin under achiever!! a 3.5 liter TWIN Turbo V6 making 365 is awful and for a performance car?!?! Theres a hanful of cars you can get for cheaper with the same displacement and more HP w/ minor work. What a freakin joke! I mean really this is right up there with the amazing 4.0 liter V6 Mustangs making an astonishing 210 hp! Just an amazing bang for your buck! GOD DAMN IT THIS GETS ME HEATED!!

K just read the rest of what Sworkhand had to say,.. AWD is a big difference!! but its still a porker! I mean I could see this stealing a few sales from the Hemi Chargers, I mean gas isnt as bad as it was but it still aint cheap and still, hearing V8 makes folks shiver.

[rafaeljose73]

Ford is pointless. I had a 02 Taurus and engine blew @ 49k on the clock (CARMAX car). That been said, the only way I will drop out Hondas will be for BMW's, which i think, Honda is better for the price you paid.

[Sworkhard]

This is why American Car Companies are going out of business!! Talk about making a freakin under achiever!! a 3.5 liter TWIN Turbo V6 making 365 is awful and for a performance car?!?! Theres a hanful of cars you can get for cheaper with the same displacement and more HP w/ minor work. What a freakin joke! I mean really this is right up there with the amazing 4.0 liter V6 Mustangs making an astonishing 210 hp! Just an amazing bang for your buck! GOD DAMN IT THIS GETS ME HEATED!!

K just read the rest of what Sworkhand had to say,.. AWD is a big difference!! but its still a porker! I mean I could see this stealing a few sales from the Hemi Chargers, I mean gas isnt as bad as it was but it still aint cheap and still, hearing V8 makes folks shiver.

The performance for the engine size is no more awful the than bmw's 300hp 3.0L twin turbo inline six.  In fact, it actually provides more hp per liter.  It competes with with chargers, the 300c, pointiac g8, nissan maxima's, and even the acura tl.  It is a bit heavy, no disagreement there, but considering it's one of the quetest cars an the market in it's class, that's not surprising.  The nice thing comared to the other cars meantioned is you can probably boost it to 400hp easily with a simply tune and given it's domestic, such tunes will probably be available within months instead of the years it takes for honda ecus to be cracked (still not readily available ecu for our cars for example, but you can tune a ford fusion (released in 06) with a $600 tuner and a laptop for years already, and there's really no point to tuning that car because of the lack of aftermarket parts available for it...  I'd expect to see some reviews in the next few months so we'll know how well it performs then, but i'd expect it to be similar to an acura tl sh-awd 6sp manual.

Ford is pointless. I had a 02 Taurus and engine blew @ 49k on the clock (CARMAX car). That been said, the only way I will drop out Hondas will be for BMW's, which i think, Honda is better for the price you paid.

Every company has it's problems.  The 02 taurus was a surprisingly reliable car for most people.  Japanese have thier problems as well, take for example, the 3 acura tl's i've seen with with busted engines after 40000 miles.  That being said, I do believe that in general honda does take better care of it's customers, and those 3 actura tl's had the powertrain replaced for free and a 7 year warrent slapped onto the powertrain, something ford likely didn't do for you.  Usually german < domestic < japanese once the cars are more than 5 years old in terms of things gone wrong.  Before that (years 0-5), the differences are very minor and there is very little difference.

[Mike]

LOL you continue to worry me!!! There are some differences in the way car companies release HP numbers. Usually japanese/german cars understate there output. You would have to put the engine on an engie dyno to really find out. I think you are out of your tree to think this car will be any where near the TL, or the maxima maybe in initial performance but, after 5 or 6 years the Ford is shit. Trust me i've owned my own personal junk yard full of there products! My girl's kid sister drive's an 02 taurus and it's been to the shop more times in 7 years than all the toyotas and honda i've ever owned added together. You might like this car, but to try and compare longevity is just not wise.

[BliNx197]

I seem to remember reading in a motortrend article that BMW extensively detuned or even lied a little about the 335i's power at first simply because they had not yet released the E90 M3s yet and did not want to kill sales for the E46 M3s in its last year. Ive heard that car is closer to 300 whp than 300 crank hp. But then again this is just what I remember ill try and find that article.

Either way Ford dissappoints me! Even looking at their 2010 Mustang. Design isnt bad at all and neither is the SHOs but a 4.6l V8 putting out 315hp now a days is laughable, and I wouldnt be so dissappointed if it wasnt the same company!  

With Cars like the Challenger R/T - 380hp GTO - 400hp as well as the G8 - 350hp, A mere 365hp for their top of the line performance trim is pretty underwhelming. Even worst is most of those cars I listed werent even the high performance trims. All in all I must say my original post did neglect the sheer awesomeness of a OEM Boosted Vehicle as well as the possibility for a "SHO+"? In the long run say a good $4-7k invested in a 3.5l TT AWD sedan should have more than enough power to run with anything mentioned. Only if they could find a way to keep that price down! ehh! Thats my final .02

[Sworkhard]

No disagreement about the mustang 4.6, but once again the audi tt (a nicer car no doubt) is smaller than the SHO and as such doesn't directly compete.  Only the g8 competes (the gto is 2 door, try hauling a family with that).  That being said, ford's coming out with a 400 hp 5.0 for 2011 mustang gt which shouldn't be too bad.  I'm just saying, you have to remember the target market and and the market segments it competes in.  For most of us car enthusiasts, this is not the car you want to drive, but for people who like a large car, with a decent interior and lots of features, and above average power for the segment, its a good value.  

As for the 02 taurus reliability statement, they were either really good or really bad, but compared to earlier years taurus, there were more really good than really bad.  Not close to japanese quality, but pretty good for a domestic car at the time.  Later model fords 06 plus have gotten much better and I personally won't buy a ford before the 06 model year, but i'm willing to compare thier later models to japanese cars when I'm buying a new car.  They are in the best shape of the big three and seem to have some good upper management in place that seem to understand that to suceed you have to build vehicles people want.  Ford is counting on reducing warrenty cost with their ecoboost line of engines so i'm pretty confident the SHO will be a reliable, decent performing car.  There are better choices for driving enthusiasts, but overall, I hope this car preforms as well as promised and is a sucess for Ford.

This is my final .02 on this matter as well.

[BliNx197]

but once again the audi tt (a nicer car no doubt) is smaller than the SHO

Where did I mention an Audi TT? I said a 3.5l TT (Twin Turbo) AWD Sedan

But either way that 5.0 sounds pretty damn beast and Im excited to hear that! I have to admit! I havent kept up with upcoming cars as I normally do considering all the research I do on my car but that being said! I brought up the GTO and Challenger because they are some of the Original American Muscle Machines from other competitors and didnt wanna throw out false hp #s for the Charger R/T w/o being sure! For the Record I Fux wit Sedans!

Anywho! I understand what Ford is shooting for in this market. But at first glance I just saw another OEM dissappointment coming out of their garages wearing a ford badge and racing stripes when it was undeserving of praise! And to be Honest tho! Ima lil scorned that people praise this car and not my Idolized Mazdaspeed6 which was by far my dream car for a while! But thats enough on that!  Wheres the next car for debate?!

Either way my final .02 on this thread

[BliNx197]

but once again the audi tt (a nicer car no doubt) is smaller than the SHO

Where did I mention an Audi TT? I said a 3.5l TT (Twin Turbo) AWD Sedan

But either way that 5.0 sounds pretty damn beast and Im excited to hear that! I have to admit! I havent kept up with upcoming cars as I normally do considering all the research I do on my car but that being said! I brought up the GTO and Challenger because they are some of the Original American Muscle Machines from other competitors and didnt wanna throw out false hp #s for the Charger R/T w/o being sure! For the Record I Fux wit Sedans!

Anywho! I understand what Ford is shooting for in this market. But at first glance I just saw another OEM dissappointment coming out of their garages wearing a ford badge and racing stripes when it was undeserving of praise! And to be Honest tho! Ima lil scorned that people praise this car and not my Idolized Mazdaspeed6 which was by far my dream car for a while! But thats enough on that!  Wheres the next car for debate?!

Either way my final .02 on this thread

[Sworkhard]

Woops.  Reading > Me I guess.  Thanks for the clarification.

[CrackerTeg]

I guess I'm going to stop staying quiet on this topic now. The easiest and best way I can put this as far as Ford reliability goes is this: found on road dead, or fix or repair daily. No matter how many "refinements" the big 3 make, they are not like they used to be. Funny thing is, every time a new model comes out they are riddled with TSBs and recalls. I still say it will be garbage.

[Sworkhard]

Since you decided to post this mis-information, i feel obligated to reply

The ford Fusion: 0 recalls
the ford Taurus 500: 0 recalls - ufi issued a recall about an aftermarket fuel filter they made, but ford never issued a recall on this car.

These are both cars that were released since 2006 and they have 0 recalls.

The focus still has it's share of problems, but that car is 10 years old.  We'll see how the 2011 focus (all new focus) does.

Ford cars have improved by leaps an bounds over the past few years and in general is now on par with Honda and Toyota.