The 2008 Ford Taurus is not the Taurus you used to know. For starters, it's a large sedan, not a midsize, and is a remodeled version of the 2005-07 Ford Five Hundred it replaces. The remodeling goes far beyond a name change. Ford says the 2008 Taurus incorporates some 500 improvements ranging from a larger, more powerful V6 engine to safer seatbelts to snazzier styling. Despite this, base prices rise by only $210 for SEL models and by $235 for uplevel Limiteds. As before, both trim levels are available with front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive sans low-range gearing.
 Ford says the 2008 Taurus incorporates some 500 improvements ranging from a larger, more powerful V6 engine to safer seatbelts to snazzier styling. |
A similar 2008 switcheroo turns the sister Mercury Montego into a reborn Mercury Sable, another name from palmier days at Ford Motor Company. And in a third case of identity theft, Ford's Freestyle midsize crossover wagon, also new for 2005 and sharing the sedan's D2 corporate platform, becomes the 2008 Taurus X.
What's in a Name
Why recycle a 20-year-old name for a three-year-old car? Most people didn't know what the Five Hundred was, says Cisco Codina, vice-president of Ford's North America Marketing group. He hastens to add that once people discovered the Five Hundred, some 60 percent ended up buying.
Trouble was, Ford needed a big profit machine--as it still does--and the Five Hundred wasn't it. Though sales were an okay 108,000 in first-year 2005, deliveries skidded below 89,000 in calendar '06, and demand has fallen further since. Taurus, meantime, did 205,000 sales in '05 and over 181,000 in '06, though most all were low-margin fleet deals for a car that hadn't changed much since 2001. (Production ended last October.) Even so, Ford researchers found the Taurus name still had a high 80-percent recognition factor, second only to Mustang and F-150 among Ford-brand monikers. That is, perhaps, no surprise. After all, Taurus was America's top-selling car line back in 1992-96, after which an oddly ovoid redesign and subsequent neglect handed the sales crown to the Toyota Camry and, occasionally, the Honda Accord.
So why wasn't the Five Hundred called Taurus to start with? Well, someone had decided that Ford car names--Mustang and Crown Victoria singularly excepted--must start with "F" (which also explains Freestyle). Given that, someone else likely figured that the baby-boomer target audience would relate "Five Hundred" to Ford's popular Galaxie 500s of the 1960s--which they mostly didn't. Then too, Ford was still building the old Taurus when the Five Hundred launched, and "Taurus II" was a non-starter.
Alan Mulally, Ford's new CEO, was probably unaware of this when he swept in from Boeing about 10 months ago and promptly criticized his new colleagues for squandering such valuable "brand equity." He also perhaps didn't appreciate that the Taurus name wasn't worth as much as it used to be, what with the car increasingly relegated to the fleet market after 2001. Dismal trade-in values testified to that.
 A new-for-2008 Taurus standard safety feature is traction control. |
What Else is in a Name
As mentioned, the Five Hundred's morph to the 2008 Ford Taurus involved a great many changes. Chief among the things that aren't changed are dimensions, a shape recalling the previous-generation Volkswagen Passat (Ford's chief designer used to work at VW), and an underskin structure originated at Ford-owned Volvo.
Though Ford still doesn't trade publicly on Volvo's safety reputation, the Taurus launches with ads headlined "Rated America's safest full-size car." But that claim stretches the truth a bit. Taurus, like Five Hundred, competes mainly with V6 versions of the Chevrolet Impala and Chrysler 300, plus the V6-only Toyota Avalon. Of these four, only the Ford is rated a "Top Safety Pick" in crash testing by the privately funded Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It's also the only one to earn four five-star ratings in government crash tests.
However, a look at www.safercar.gov shows the Avalon earns identical NHTSA ratings, and the Chevy and Chrysler are but one star behind for side-impact protection (rear and front, respectively). In addition, all but the Chevy offer an optional antiskid system--which the new Taurus X wagons have standard. Memo to Ford: You're in big trouble, so this is no time to scrimp on standard stuff just to meet a price. It hurts your public image, and besides, you know you're going to discount these cars anyway.
At least all Tauruses come with traction control, where only AWD Five Hundreds did. Also carried over are standard front torso side airbags and curtain side airbags with rollover deployment. But Ford has also beefed up the inner structure in ways that enhance both safety and refinement. For example, there's a thicker cross-car brace between the front suspension's strut towers (visible under the hood), and extra metal strengthens the rear package-shelf area. Also new are load-limiting retractors that spread seatbelt forces more evenly across the chest and pelvic areas, thus lessening the chance of injury. Serving the same goal is a redesigned driver's front airbag moved 0.6-inch further forward.
Other unseen changes aim to quell noise. Windshield pillars are now filled with foam pellets, and a new "Sonosorb" material lines the insides of all pillars, doors, and roof. There's even a new climate-control system claimed to be 50-percent quieter than the Five Hundred's.
Ford also splurged on a different engine/transmission mounting. In the Five Hundred, the powertrain sits on a subframe that also carries the front suspension and brakes. In the Taurus, it bolts directly to the body through hydraulic mounts, an arrangement claimed to reduce interior vibration. Relocating this 600-pound assembly allowed suspension retuning for a smoother ride: recalibrated springs, shock absorbers and antiroll bars, plus a 10-percent increase in front-wheel travel. The basic suspension design is unchanged, however, as are the standard four-wheel disc brakes with ABS. Also carried over are standard 17-inch all-season tires for SELs, 18s for Limiteds. One interesting tweak is the addition of a solenoid to the steering pump to reduce parasitic power losses in straight-ahead driving.
Stronger, Like Bull
By far the biggest change in the 2008 Ford Taurus is its 3.5-liter V6, an engine fast spreading throughout Ford Motor's domestic fleet. In this application it makes 260 horsepower--a healthy 58 more than the Five Hundred's 3.0-liter V6--and 245 pound-feet of torque, up 38. Like the older V6, the new "Duratec 35" features all aluminum construction and twin overhead camshafts operating four valves per cylinder.
 2008 exterior changes include a new grille with the Ford brand's new signature three-bar motif, plus dummy chrome air vents on the front fenders, bright caps on the door mirrors, sparkly taillights, and two exhaust tips instead of one. |
Fuel economy? About the same, interestingly enough. With front-wheel drive, the 2008 Ford Taurus earns city/highway ratings of 18/28 mpg by the EPA's new, more-realistic test procedure that lowers label estimates for most '08-model vehicles. Measured the same way, a front-drive Five Hundred would rate 19/27. Figures with all-wheel drive are 17/24 for Taurus, an adjusted 17/23 for Five Hundred.
More Flash, New Features
The 2008 Ford Taurus naturally inherits the Five Hundred's passenger and cargo space--still tops in class, Ford asserts--and sedate sedan styling. The budget didn't allow for more than trim changes, so designers settled for a dazzling replacement grille with the Ford brand's new signature three-bar motif, plus dummy chrome air vents on the front fenders, bright caps on the door mirrors, sparkly taillights, and two exhaust tips instead of one. Interior updates are harder to spot; a restyled gauge cluster and revised door panels are the most obvious.
Standard and optional features are mostly as before, so Limiteds again come with leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, and in-dash CD changer. Power-adjustable pedals and rear-obstacle detection remain available for all models. An optional navigation system returns with voice activation added, and the available rear-seat DVD system gets a larger, eight-inch screen. One new option, due later in the '08 model year, is the Ford Sync system. Developed with Microsoft, Sync allows cell phones and digital music players to be operated through the vehicle's audio and navigation systems. Sync also provides automatic recognition and voice control for some devices. We haven't tried it yet, but will be interested to see how well it works.
Second Look?
Preview drives suggest the 2008 Ford Taurus fixes most everything wrong with the Five Hundred, which was good enough to earn Consumer Guide's Recommended label. The extra power is especially welcome. Acceleration is noticeably stronger off the mark and at highway speeds, so Taurus is far more relaxing to drive, abetted by a smooth, responsive--and normal-acting--automatic transmission. Taurus also seems a touch quieter than Five Hundred. Wind and tire noise are modest, and the 3.5-liter V6 emits only a classy, muted growl at full throttle. Cornering feels as stable and well-planted as ever, especially with all-wheel drive, but the suspension is still biased toward ride comfort, so there's more body lean in sharp turns than even a family four-door deserves, plus minor "hobby horsing" at speed over big humps and dips.
Otherwise, the new Taurus impresses as a refined, comfortable and capable mainstream sedan, with room aplenty for five adults and their vacation gear. In fact, with 129.2 cubic feet of interior volume, including 21.2 in the trunk, the Taurus could replace some midsize SUVs, as Ford happily points out. A standard fold-down rear seat and class-exclusive fold-flat front passenger seat enhance versatility. Taurus also boasts a higher seating position than most other cars, another Five Hundred legacy that appeals to some buyers, though the elevation is far from SUV-lofty.
The only question is whether the many updates and a different name can turn a slow-seller into a star money-maker. After all, styling is still arguably bland next to the macho Chrysler 300, there's no V8 option as in the 300 and Chevrolet Impala, and the rival Avalon basks in Toyota's reputation for high reliability and strong resale values.
The old midsize Taurus was allowed to become an uncompetitive "rental car" selling mainly on low price. The new Taurus is nothing like that, except for offering the same good family-car value. So if the Five Hundred didn't move you, the 2008 Ford Taurus might warrant a "second look." Mr. Mulally and company sure hope you'll give it a chance. With the way Ford is going, they don't have many chances left.