Ford Taurus: 2013 Updates Add New EcoBoost Power, SHO Revised

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Joey D
Why the hell don't we get that car? It looks so much better than the Taurus, which is just 20 some feet of boring, average car. That actually looks somewhat sporty and something not the size of a house. Although I don't know how I feel about the neon green paint.
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That's a car they could probably sell here. It fits pretty well between the Fusion and Taurus. Length-wise at least. I imagine it's comparable to the G8, and hopefully when put on decent dealer lots with proper advertising, we'd see them sell pretty well. Then maybe GM will finally decide to keep the G8 alive.
 
Jim Prower
I dunno. I actually rather like the look. Granted, if they'd gone full-bore RS-kit on the car, it just wouldn't look right.

Granted, if IS a big car, but it's replacing the Crown Victoria, I'm pretty certain, and it'll be more spirited than that car ever was.
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Hell it even weighs more than the Crown Victoria!
 
Philly
That's a car they could probably sell here. It fits pretty well between the Fusion and Taurus. Length-wise at least. I imagine it's comparable to the G8, and hopefully when put on decent dealer lots with proper advertising, we'd see them sell pretty well. Then maybe GM will finally decide to keep the G8 alive.
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Or we could just get the Mondeo and be done with it.

JCE
GM's dumb they won't keep the G8. :(
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They aren't dumb, they are smart. The G8 isn't selling so there is no point to keep wasting money building and importing them.
 
They are smart for finally ditching the Pontiac line, which includes the G8.
 
I don't like it, it just doesn't seem like a real SHO, just a higher performance Taurus.
 
I'll take my SHO lowered, and with 2-inch wider wheels, front and rear. Give that thing a stance like a bigass STi or something. Awesome.
 
So any idea if Roush or Saleen will get ahold of one of these?

Joey D
They are smart for finally ditching the Pontiac line, which includes the G8.
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I am going to politely disagree and move on.
 
Joey D
They aren't dumb, they are smart. The G8 isn't selling so there is no point to keep wasting money building and importing them.
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It's a shame because the G8 is like the only desirable car they have. Seriously, my uncle has all this money sent to him in rebates and customer-appreciation coupons, and I literally can't find one GM product that I would like to spend that money on.
 
I'd agree on the GM lineup, mostly when it comes to affordable models. The Cobalt is still for the most part competitive, but it needs a better interior (the Cruze can't come soon enough). The HHR SS is pretty bad-ass, but it suffers from the same problem. That, and its dead for 2010.

Now that they're taking the G8 out of competition, GM is left with only a handful of desirable cars and trucks:

Malibu LTZ, Camaro, Corvette, LaCrosse (2010), CTS, Equinox/SRX (2010), Vibe. Otherwise, yeah.
 
YSSMAN
Now that they're taking the G8 out of competition, GM is left with only a handful of desirable cars and trucks:

Malibu LTZ, Camaro, Corvette, LaCrosse (2010), CTS, Equinox/SRX (2010), Vibe. Otherwise, yeah.
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This is exactly the point I've been trying to make but haven't been able to come up with the right wording.

You want to know why Toyota is crap? No desirable cars. GM is slowly going that route by eliminating desirability in their lineup. If it wasn't for the Challenger, Viper, Charger and 300 Chrysler/Dodge would be in very much worse shape then what they are. Why is Ford doing so well? They have desirable vehicles. Not as many as we'd like but they have some. Mustang, F150, Fusion, Edge, the new Focus (coupe), MKX, MKZ and etc.

GM's solution is to rebadge the G8 and keep it as a limited production model somewhere. Buick Regal? <-- That makes perfect sense as far as I'm concerned. Keep the Vibe, keep the Camaro (improve it next year) and probably more importantly keep the Solstice in some form or fashion. I just can't see a realistic justification for eliminating the G8 and Solstice just because some people say it doesn't sell well and its they aren't worth the money. Its the only proper European influence GM has! Without that they are pretty much hopeless. Cadillac can't save them if the other GM brands are worthless and anti-desirable. I want GM to succeed, no really I do. But only if they market and produce desirable automobiles and not the green drivel that the goverment will influence them to make in the next 5 years or so.

Anyway need to get back to the SHO and how brilliant it is. :D
 
Joey D
They are smart for finally ditching the Pontiac line, which includes the G8.
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Not quite, because if they were smart then Pontiac would've had decent cars. The Solstice and G8 were good, just the rest wasn't there.

If the Grand Am and Grand Prix had been kept around in some way shape or form and had actually been proper Pontiacs in terms of chassis tuning and styling (rather than a massive slab of bland), and the brand had stayed the excitement division there would've been no need to kill it.
 
YSSMAN
I'd agree on the GM lineup, mostly when it comes to affordable models. The Cobalt is still for the most part competitive, but it needs a better interior (the Cruze can't come soon enough). The HHR SS is pretty bad-ass, but it suffers from the same problem. That, and its dead for 2010.

Now that they're taking the G8 out of competition, GM is left with only a handful of desirable cars and trucks:

Malibu LTZ, Camaro, Corvette, LaCrosse (2010), CTS, Equinox/SRX (2010), Vibe. Otherwise, yeah.
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Guess what? Only two or three of those cars are cars that matter. We are not looking for a Corvette, the Camaro sucks, the Vibe is too small (I already have my Accent representing that segment), and my grandma can't get into an SUV.

That leaves the Malibu, LaCrosse, and CTS. The CTS is nice but far too expensive for what it is. The base model rides like crap, and, while it has ample legroom in the front, it becomes a 3-seater when I'm driving. The Malibu is major meh factor, but I haven't driven one. Definitely wasn't impressed when I sat in one though. What's stopping me from saving ten grand and buying a Sonata or Camry or something? The LaCrosse is the new entry here, and while it looks nice, I have no idea what it's like. Reminds me of the Avalon though.

The Cruze is the wildcard, but even assuming that it's great, then GM has only, what, like 1 good car and 2 "ehh" cars for a major mainstream market segment. Out of how many?
 
I think you are being harsh on a few of those. The Camaro might not be your cup of tea (or mine) but it IS desirable afterall.
 
JCE
I think you are being harsh on a few of those. The Camaro might not be your cup of tea (or mine) but it IS desirable afterall.
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No, it's the opposite of desirable for the purpose I described.

G8, Taurus, and Genesis fit the purpose at the premium-without-being-super-expensive level.
 
If it isn't desirable then why are thousands of people buying them and tens of thousands of people drooling over them? They ARE desirable, just not to you or me.
 
Omnis
...Then GM has only, what, like 1 good car and 2 "ehh" cars for a major mainstream market segment. Out of how many?
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I guess it depends on what kind of segments you're looking into, and what exactly you're classifying as "desirable." Fumbles aside, they have a lot of affordable, reliable, and otherwise value-laden products in the channel currently. Problem is, none of them really offer range-topping qualities outside of those aforementioned vehicles.

I think, at least right now, we're seeing a situation that was certainly a part of Ford a few years ago. There was a significant gap between their headline models and the rest of the pack. Blame it on the shakeup in management and the changes in development dollars, but we haven't started to see the fruits of Mulally's work until recently. I recall dozens of times for praising the guy, and shaking a stick at him - but by golly, he's done the right thing.

I see GM's portfolio essentially functioning in the same way. Dead-weight vehicles will be giving way after this year, leaving us with a few of those aforementioned "pretty good cars," which will be giving way to the next set of models in the next year or so. I think GM will end up having a similar problem that Ford is having as well, where the core brand is going to end up getting too much attention - The Blue Oval and the Bow Tie getting the good stuff first, everyone else later on. Between the Viva, Cruze, Orlando, Volt, Camaro, Corvette, Equinox and Traverse - Chevrolet stands to have a fairly awesome product lineup in the next year or two. Problem is, whats coming in 2011 should have been here in 2008.


...But, we're getting off-topic...



So, the SHO's main competition:

  • Hyundai Genesis 4.6L
  • Acura RL
  • Buick LaCrosse CXL
  • Chrysler 300C AWD

Any others?
 
Apart from Omnis (no offence Omnis, I just don't agree, no biggie) I agree for once with what most are saying about GM. My theory is the designers and engineers are smart and creative but the boffins in charge stifle anything good from getting to the surface bar those select few.

Re: Mondeo instead of Falcon, you're forgetting the Falcon is sold along side of Mondeo in Australia, and represent two entirely different market segments.

@ JCE, I'm very interested to see if Saleen or ROUSH will get the SHO, isn't it direct injection? I'm really hankering to see how tuners handle direct injection, as Commodore will likely go down that path soon too, plus it'd be interesting to see them open the taps on the SHO.;) (Australian tuning companies are already offering 400+kw packages on the 4.0L single turbo 6 on the Falcon).
 
JCE
If it isn't desirable then why are thousands of people buying them and tens of thousands of people drooling over them? They ARE desirable, just not to you or me.
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Don't you get it? Because they're not looking for a big sedan. That's what we're talking about here. Yssman brought up the vette and the camaro in this thead. Why? I don't know.
 
RE: Paulie

The EcoBoost setups are all direct-injection, the V6 engines (so far) are twin-turbocharged as well. With SEMA coming up, I'm fairly certain that a few will dabble in the game, but its hard to tell who will bite. I could see Roush doing it, but not Saleen. What would be epic would be having Cosworth coming back to do some Ford work.

RE: Omnis, "Desirable Models"

Off the top of my head, I did a blanket run of GM. Otherwise, your point on not having many great mid-size sedans is completely valid. The CTS, G8 and such were all that mattered previously, the LaCrosse being the only newcomer. The Malibu sneaks in on value, but even then, the price of a LTZ I4 gets to be silly. Sad, especially when that is one sweetheart of a car.
 
G8 for about half a year?


What's this 300C AWD?:odd: The Buick and Acura don't stand a chance, these are performance luxury sedans, the Buick and Acura don't have the mojo to go toe to toe with this SHO, bro.;)

Edit: BTW, that's not how I talk, but it rhymed, so I did it.:lol:
 
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Chrysler has offered an AWD version of the 300C since it's debut here in the US - essentially running the Mercedes 4MATIC AWD system matched with the five-speed slushbox. It has never been as popular as the "traditional" RWD options, but you see a fair number around here on account of the snow.

Problem with the Buick and Acura is that they're waaaaay down on power, but still fit into the pricing game, and offer competitive levels of luxury at a fair price. Although now that I think about it, it would have to be the TL, not the RL, which starts at a $10K+ price difference. Not that Ford minds, they'll be comparing this to every big sedan with a hi-po engine and AWD.
 
No one in their right mind would buy the RL and its absolutely fugly face over the SHO. Absolutely nobody--at least no one with any sense and or eyeballs that work.

Ford is not trying to compete with the Germans, and I don't feel that the SHO does. I don't even think the SHO is trying to compete with Acura or Infiniti either. They are trying to make the best America sport executive saloon to crush the other two. The only possible true overseas competition is the Genesis 4.6--which is one hell of an awsome car to compete with. I'd love to see a drag race between the two---and on TopGear as well. :D
 
JCE
No one in their right mind would buy the RL and its absolutely fugly face over the SHO. Absolutely nobody--at least no one with any sense and or eyeballs that work.

Ford is not trying to compete with the Germans, and I don't feel that the SHO does. I don't even think the SHO is trying to compete with Acura or Infiniti either. They are trying to make the best America sport executive saloon to crush the other two. The only possible true overseas competition is the Genesis 4.6--which is one hell of an awsome car to compete with. I'd love to see a drag race between the two---and on TopGear as well. :D
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do you really want to see clarkson bending over backwards to find things to nitpick about?




after thinking about it, the answer should be, "yes."
 
Apparently, the new SHO is an incredibly lame car to drive. Too be honest, I'm really not surprised. There really isn't much Ford or SVT or anybody could have done with a car this massive. I'll take one German offering, please. Because that torque curve is the only thing that appeals to me about the SHO. And it isn't enough to make the car great when it's this big. And the Germans do everything else right so it pretty much is no contest.
 
I'd still love to test drive one though. I wonder if the local Ford dealer will have any of these in the showroom soon. I'd like an all black SHO with blacked out chrome trim with the SHO badges taken off. Mmmm sleeper.....
 
Philly
Apparently, the new SHO is an incredibly lame car to drive. Too be honest, I'm really not surprised. There really isn't much Ford or SVT or anybody could have done with a car this massive. I'll take one German offering, please. Because that torque curve is the only thing that appeals to me about the SHO. And it isn't enough to make the car great when it's this big. And the Germans do everything else right so it pretty much is no contest.
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So essentially Ford built a Camry with a bigger engine? Guess it could be worse right? At least people like to buy uninspiring cars.
 
Joey D
So essentially Ford built a Camry with a bigger engine? Guess it could be worse right? At least people like to buy uninspiring cars.
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But a Camry really is poor in the handling aspect, the SHO is good right? They're just saying it's not as fun as its speed suggests? Personally I don't see how anyone could ever say a 270kw twin turbo V6 sedan isn't fun.......
 

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