Full sized ain't what it used to be!!

 

Thats for sure. Just park one of the newer full sizes cars next to a full sized cars of the 70's.

 

Ya, I remember driving Grandma'a Plymouth Fury II, it was huge.

 

I saw the new Taurus for the first time last weekend. In the pictures it's a decent looking car. In person, it's a very awkward proportioned car. A low front end (looks good) and a ridiculously high rearend (looks like a San Francisco designed car). The average price at the local dealer is about $35k msrp. WAYYYY overpriced! I like Ford, but they are not gonna get Lexus ES 350 money for that thing. To get the performance model, they were starting around $42k. Maybe the local dealer is marking them up high, but I doubt it. I don't like any of the Japanese brands, but Infinity and Acura have so many cars in that price range and they are better looking cars and Chrysler SRT's are in the same vicinity with rwd and v8 power. Ford is over-reaching badly on this thing. I bet the new Taurus sales crash and burn until they cut $5k-$8k from the prices.

 

I had a booger green plymouth fury II when I was 17...lol

 

The Mustang has always been a poseurs car?

Uh, ok. Thats like saying Chrysler products are known for their quality.

 

I haven't had a chance to drive the new Taurus, but I have had a chance to look at them extensively. The interior looks excellent. It blends luxury, performance, modern, and classic looks perfectly. I personally like the exterior. In my opinion, it unseats the 2nd gen as the best looking Taurus ever made. If you didn't have the badges on there, I would assume not only a nameplate above and beyond Taurus, but above Ford. The SHO is expensive but what do you except. It is a more premium car.

I have a love-hate relationship with the EcoBoost concept. In my view, forced air induction takes a back seat to having two more fire holes because forced air induction shortens the life of the engine. If you are going to have forced air induction, make it worth it (case and point Nissan GTR). This doesnt accomplish this. If you look at Ford's newer models that offers the Cyclone V6 engine the 3.5 produces 285hp. Add GDI, increase the displacement, adjust the engine tuning, and you could match the Ecoboost version without shortening the life as much. However, for the SHO legacy and the total failure of the Catfish SHO V8, I'm glad they learned their lesson. Only make it a V8, if it is justified. The SHO should always be a V6.

Standard AWD isn't my cup of tea. In the opinion of a FWD fan, they should look into making the SHO RWD (not a typo) standard, and AWD optional. FWD should be for commuters, RWD for performancers, and AWD for those who want both.

Even as a Chrysler fan, I would take the Taurus over a 300 because the 300 in my view is a Daimler attempted Plymouth and not a true Chrysler (look at the grille for crying out loud). The Ford is more luxurious, more looks more modern performance, and more balanced.

As for the size, the Taurus falls under the definition of full-sized. Full-sized isn't what it used to be. The LX cars are even less full-sized. At rental lots on my trips, I dread getting LX cars when I have a group because those tiny trunks are pathetically small. My 02 Intrepid's trunk would be enough with space to spare. The Volvo based Taurus (current ones) have trunks practically as big as the Crown Vic. The problem with the new Taurus was the interior design. As much as I love the new interior, they must have hired people from Pontiac for this version because the design gets in the way too much and steals the space. The 09 version which my father has for a company car as ugly as it is, is a very roomy comfortable car similar to my intrepid. The old interior was a lot more open and was one of the easiest vehicles to enter and exit. The old school Taurus 07 and older were definitely mid-sized, they were reliable but were not a competitive offering. The engines were course and underpowered, seats and ride hard as a rock, styling was awful, interior was cheap, bad fuel economy, but the handling wasn't bad.

The sad thing is the Taurus will be the only Police Cruiser built in the U.S. and I know it will have a small market share. I fear the Charger will not gain nearly the amount that GM will just because of that favored nameplate they will use.

Sorry mantisman51 but just about everything that Acura has looks like they took a Pontiac Aztek and beat it with an ugly stick. Infiniti is okay but I'd take the Taurus's styling over their styling. In my area, Taurus cost in the mid to upper 20s, of course those are most basic ones, but even then base cars are loaded these days and they have the most comfortable cloth seats I have sat in since my father's 1991 Dynasty.

I think the one that is going to be a real failure is the Lincoln Sable (I know it is named the "MKS" but seriously besides the 49-51 Sport, there has never been an "S" named Lincoln, they should just call it what it is). Why would you buy it? The Taurus looks better, has much better fuel economy, much lower base price, more youthful styled interior, and a much better nameplate that isn't easy to confuse between models. They really need to observe the success of the CTS and 300, and follow through utilizing the Falcon to prevent repeating the Mercury mistake of making the same model in every division and making the Ford the best offering despite being the base division.

 

I'm thinking when designed for a turbo - engineers have taken it into consideration. Look at all the turbo diesels running up to one million miles without failure.

 

sorry my 2 sents the SHO looks like ford was like...mmm lets copy the Toyota camry.... the 300 looks American and has American power

 

I agree with you 100%. Dam near all the cars built today look like they were designed by the same design team. I pretty much don't like most of todays cars. The ones I do like don't fit the cookie cutter look alike group. Thats one reason I like the 300,it is differant from the rest.