Ford Taurus, Taurus X, Sable
02-06-2007, 08:47 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 08-20-2006
Location: Hillsdale, Michigan
Posts: 21,640
Ford Taurus, Taurus X, Sable
Ford is going to bring back the Taurus name and add a Taurus X(
). Apparently the 500 designation was doing nothing. However when most people think Taurus, they think rental car. The only Taurus that ever stirred any emotion was the SHO. Does Ford think this will sell more cars? I don't.http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums...3&#entry140283
02-07-2007, 06:11 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: 04-11-2006
Location: Eufaula, Oklahoma
Posts: 166
X
[QUOTE=Harpozep;118711]I had a Taurus SHO for twelve years! WHAT A GREAT CAR!
A boring car it was, without the Shogun Engine and suspension.
Here is the engine of the only Taurus worth owning:
Looks like it came out of an small single engine aircraft !!!!!!!!!!!!!
A boring car it was, without the Shogun Engine and suspension.
Here is the engine of the only Taurus worth owning:
Looks like it came out of an small single engine aircraft !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ford? 
02-07-2007, 07:59 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: 05-01-2006
Location: New London, CT USA
Posts: 2,507
[QUOTE=moose-e-man;118715]
I Know, And what a cool ride it was. I miss it
The engine was designed by Yamaha division and wedged into the Taurus. The SHO also got some wicked handling tweaks and I became known to the local agents of social control as a result
Yes, it was a red ticket machine.
I sold it to a friend and he fell asleep one hot summer day and plowed into another car at a stop light. 
A sad fate to a great car.
No one really hurt thankfully.
I wanted to get the engine and bucket seats out of it , but the insurance company had other plans = scrapped.
Likely the fanciest and best car I'll ever own in a lot of ways. It got 25MPG too!
Well, our Rainier has even more bells and whistles, and MIGHT do 150 MPH from the factory like the SHO did, but with little of the handling and none of the styling stealth. 'Sides, who wants to take a Four Wheel Drive to 150 MPH?
A bit from here:
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...Tell/index.php
Origins of Taurus SHO
Undeniably one of the most successful cars of the 80's and 90's, the Taurus was and still is an unsuspecting family oriented mid-sized sedan. Unsuspecting until it was the subject of courageous improvisation for the 1989 model year. Improvisation that resulted in dropping a 220 hp Yamaha DOHC 3.0L V6 into the sedate Taurus and backing it up with the Mazda built, but Ford designed, MTX-IV manual transmission. Ford called it the Taurus SHO (Super High Output). There are several stories behind the conception of the SHO, all of which fall somewhere between fact and theory. The story that is most widely accepted among SHO owners is that Ford was developing a sports car in the early to mid-80's to compete with the Fiero, MR2, RX7, and 240/280/Z cars. The sports car was called the GN-34. Ford worked with Yamaha to produce a light yet powerful modern engine for the world class two seater. Unfortunately competition was going away and the market for 2 seater "fun" cars was gone before the project was completed. The contract with Yamaha remained and Ford needed a place to put these motors, so they decided to make a "sport" version of the Taurus. For introduction into the 1989 model year, engineers stuffed the chassis with the Yamaha V6 along with the MTX-IV transmission. In order to round out the SHO performance package the special submodel got a stiffer suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, alloy wheels, ground effects, full power accessories, side lumbar supported leather seats, and a redesigned dash with a 7000 RPM Tach. The SHO was complete.
The most striking feature of the SHO engine is obviously the intake system. It uses airflow characteristics to its' advantage by utilizing a dual stage runner set-up. At any RPM below 3950, the long
runners, know as snakes, provide good low RPM torque. Once you hit 3950, vacuum actuated butterflies snap open in front of the short runners. These are commonly known as "secondaries". SHO owners can really feel and hear when the secondaries kick in. Once felt them for the first time, it's not uncommon to get addicted to the Yamaha's secondaries.
Man, I miss that engine......................
Now back to our regularly scheduled Chevy program
And what a cool ride it was. I miss it The engine was designed by Yamaha division and wedged into the Taurus. The SHO also got some wicked handling tweaks and I became known to the local agents of social control as a result
Yes, it was a red ticket machine.
I sold it to a friend and he fell asleep one hot summer day and plowed into another car at a stop light.
A sad fate to a great car. No one really hurt thankfully.
I wanted to get the engine and bucket seats out of it , but the insurance company had other plans = scrapped.
Likely the fanciest and best car I'll ever own in a lot of ways. It got 25MPG too!
Well, our Rainier has even more bells and whistles, and MIGHT do 150 MPH from the factory like the SHO did, but with little of the handling and none of the styling stealth. 'Sides, who wants to take a Four Wheel Drive to 150 MPH? A bit from here:
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...Tell/index.php
Origins of Taurus SHO
Undeniably one of the most successful cars of the 80's and 90's, the Taurus was and still is an unsuspecting family oriented mid-sized sedan. Unsuspecting until it was the subject of courageous improvisation for the 1989 model year. Improvisation that resulted in dropping a 220 hp Yamaha DOHC 3.0L V6 into the sedate Taurus and backing it up with the Mazda built, but Ford designed, MTX-IV manual transmission. Ford called it the Taurus SHO (Super High Output). There are several stories behind the conception of the SHO, all of which fall somewhere between fact and theory. The story that is most widely accepted among SHO owners is that Ford was developing a sports car in the early to mid-80's to compete with the Fiero, MR2, RX7, and 240/280/Z cars. The sports car was called the GN-34. Ford worked with Yamaha to produce a light yet powerful modern engine for the world class two seater. Unfortunately competition was going away and the market for 2 seater "fun" cars was gone before the project was completed. The contract with Yamaha remained and Ford needed a place to put these motors, so they decided to make a "sport" version of the Taurus. For introduction into the 1989 model year, engineers stuffed the chassis with the Yamaha V6 along with the MTX-IV transmission. In order to round out the SHO performance package the special submodel got a stiffer suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, alloy wheels, ground effects, full power accessories, side lumbar supported leather seats, and a redesigned dash with a 7000 RPM Tach. The SHO was complete.
The most striking feature of the SHO engine is obviously the intake system. It uses airflow characteristics to its' advantage by utilizing a dual stage runner set-up. At any RPM below 3950, the long
runners, know as snakes, provide good low RPM torque. Once you hit 3950, vacuum actuated butterflies snap open in front of the short runners. These are commonly known as "secondaries". SHO owners can really feel and hear when the secondaries kick in. Once felt them for the first time, it's not uncommon to get addicted to the Yamaha's secondaries.
Man, I miss that engine......................
Now back to our regularly scheduled Chevy program
02-07-2007, 06:01 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: 02-01-2006
Location: Groveville, NJ
Posts: 2,300