An eagle-eyed member of TTAC’s Best and Brightest spotted something curious on the 2010 Ford Taurus micro-site: a heads-up on a cookin’ Taurus. Did I just say that? Sounds a bit like “tuned Corolla.” Still, FoMoCo has a long and noble history of offering performance versions of everyday sedans. Even though Ford chassis guru Richard Parry Jones has left the building, and the SHO folk have been transferred to more mundane duties (allegedly), The Blue Oval Boys have more than enough engineering expertise to make the jinxed D3 platform a lot more interesting. To see the possibly inadvertent shout out, click on this link, click on “Key Features” and there it is: “Performance Series.” Mouse over that bad boy and the James Bond license plate effect tells you it’s “Coming February 2009.” That would be the it really is called The Chicago Auto Show.
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It was a given among people at the show that the EcoBoost engine would power a special performance Taurus. One guy said he was sure it would be called an SHO. But I still wouldn’t be surprised if it received the current ST designation.
I am impressed by the speed with which Ford is deploying the Ecoboost 3.5. Consider this car together with the 2010 Fusion ST, and they’ll have a pair of fine sedans for enthusiasts.
The Lincoln MKS Sport with the Ecoboost engine might also be well worth a look.
I thought the Taurus was being released in the Spring, not Summer. Oh,well
I just think the Fusion is a much better candidate for the EcoBoost now. Isn’t the Taurus a little… ponderous?
Jalopnik had the spy photos of an SHO badged (at least on the interior) Taurus. It’s a pretty easy job given that the 355 Eco Boost V-6 and AWD hardware are already being fitted to the MKS.
Let’s hope the camshafts stay attached to their sprockets.
When it says “February 2009” on the “Performance Series” link, it probably means that information will be available on the website in Feb, not necessarily that the car will be in showrooms then.
Yay, a reason to go to the Chicago auto show this year.
@dwford:
Job1 is May 15. I would expect that retail sales will begin July 1 assuming there are no quality holds.
SVO? You mean SHO, right?
Interior volume is down to 102.2 cubic feet from 108. Styling came at a cost.
Kudos to Ford for investing in (and actually marketing!) the Ecoboost. It’s about time someone decided to take a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too approach to efficiency. Bravo!
So says gaycorvette I tend to agree. Although glad you made the reference…nice looking sedan.
As much as I like the idea of a new SHO, I find it hard to be excited about the 3.5 Turbo in a ginormous D3 sedan. How sporty is that going to be? Also, won’t it have serious overlap with the Lincoln MKS, well if anyone were actually buying the MKS?
The Taurus should have come out sized between the Fusion and the current Taurus and with much better styling from the get go, you know kinda like the Mondeo!
Sounds nothing like a tuned Corolla to me, since the original SHO V6 made some actual horsepower. Another difference: a Taurus is a halfway decent place to be in.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.
This car will suffer the same fate as the previous Taurus SHO sedans. No one is interested in buying a hopped up rental car, when for about the same money you can get a real sports sedan.