2010 Ford Taurus SHO
The Ford Taurus SHO is a variant of the Taurus that was originally produced from the 1989-1999 model years. It was originally quite popular, but barely sold 3,000 units its last year. The SHO stands for Super High Output. What this means to you is that it is fast. What it means to the muscle car crowd is that the minute it was discontinued, it attained cult status.
In response to its growing cult status and the the recent retro-muscle car craze, Ford decided to bring back the SHO in 2010. Part of its allure is that it is classified as a “sleeper.” A “sleeper” car is a car that looks nondescript on the outside, but has a very powerful engine on the inside. Since the SHO looks like a regular Taurus, it surprises a lot of people who don’t know what it is.
The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO is a high-performance, full-size sedan that seats five. It is regarded as either a solo variant of the Taurus, or the highest of four trim levels. It has a 3.5 liter, twin-turbocharged V6 that produces 365 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. For reference, that is about as much horsepower and torque as an F-150 full-sized pickup. It has 19-inch painted alloy wheels, all-wheel drive, and a 6-speed shiftable automatic transmission. It is rated at 17 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, and goes from zero to sixty in 4.8 seconds.
The SHO comes with a leather-covered, tilt-telescope steering wheel which houses the audio, cruise, and transmission controls, 8-way driver and passenger sport seats with lumbar and height adjustment, a 60/40 split-folding rear seat, leather upholstery, keyless entry, full-power accessories, a universal remote garage door opener, 12-volt outlets in the front and rear, rear parking sensors, 2-zone climate controls for the driver and passenger, leather and alloy trim, two driver memory settings, a rear spoiler, a rear defogger, automatic xenon headlights, and a trip computer. The audio system has 7 speakers, AM/FM/satellite radio, a 6-CD/MP3 changer, an audio jack, a USB/iPod port, and Bluetooth.
The SHO also comes with stability control, traction control, antilock brakes, front side airbags, and side curtain airbags. The SHO got perfect marks of 5 stars from the US government in side, front, and rear impacts, and it got perfect scores of good in side and front impacts from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Conclusions and driver feedback:
The SHO’s performance might be retro, but the interior isn’t. The dash has a stark, modern design that is both practical and visually pleasing. There are a few harder materials here, but nobody really buys a SHO for soft-touch interior pieces. The front and rear seats have a lot of space, with headroom and legroom to spare, and the trunk offers 20.2 cubic feet of cargo space.
The handling is what you would expect, and the ride is better than you would expect. The engine gives world class acceleration, and the steering and suspension are high-performance. Somehow, the suspension’s response under extreme driving demands doesn’t detract from the ride, which is smooth and compliant. In addition, the cabin is very quiet, with great insulation and aerodynamic tweaking that almost erases wind noise.
Ultimately, the Taurus SHO isn’t highly recommended as a family car, but it will have muscle car devotees yelling, “SHO-time.”
The verdict: it was named 2010 Car of the Year by Esquire magazine; in this case, we trust their judgment.
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