Do YOU Agree With Ford's Opinion Of The New Taurus Against Honda and Toyota?

they targeted those cars in terms of quality, desirability, value, and ownership experience. wtf does weight have to do with any of that?

'you can get an Accord for 1000 lbs. less' ...who cares about that?

How much does the base Taurus weigh? Also isn't the Taurus a LOT bigger in, almost a whole class size larger.

Exactly. With the gas savings from the V6 engines, the weight issue is chalked up to safety implementations.

The additional weight may be in the form of better safety features. If that is the case, I am sure they will be bragging about it soon enough. Also, take a look a Nissan's GTR and how portly that pig is. Yet, everyone seems to love it's performance. Comparisons are not that far off.

First right off the cuff, Autospies did a good job at covering the new Taurus with great photos and information. Thank you for being there for us. Believe me, if we could be at a majority of the new product outings, we would and I think I speak for most of the guys on this site.

Now the car. Taurus has a lot of ground to catch up. From the start, Ford targeted a number of cars in class above and below its size and price range. Features offered on the Taurus range in some cases isn't offered at all or on more expensive vehicles. How will this strategy work, depends on how good the car is. Ford would be smart to keep the Taurus out of municipalities and government hands for awhile. We don't want to see RoboCop remakes with Taurus cop cars again.

This car has great potential. Ford is flexing its design muscle, and the response so far on this thread is very positive. We are harder than the public when it comes to what is offered, so it seems fitting to say the Taurus has a great chance to do extremely well. Ford is smart in spreading the Euro DNA across the model lines, and design features for the first time seen on the Fiesta and Mondeo has shown up on the Taurus. Tech seems to be Taurus game this time around and features like Cross Traffic Alert, MyKey (great for families) multi-contour seats, SYNC with 911 Assist, Vehicle Health Report Sony Sound Systems and the EcoBoost V-6 (I'm sure the EcoBoost 4 cylinder will be offered later with even better fuel economy) no cap fueling (Easy-Fuel) power sun shade, BLIS, etc, etc. The Taurus will be a novelty at first with all the features for the money. The car looks good, has great features and safety is written all over it. The only thing that registers on the "chintzy" scale is the faux side air intakes that everyone seems to be doing now, a little to much chrome around the grill and rear light assembly, (polished wheels look better that chrome which is so 90's) and thinking hard plastic can be used where no one touch on the interior looks like cost cutting, uh WE can see it.

Overall I thing the Taurus is on such a tech curve, most didn't see it coming. Smart. The SHO is brilliant in position, performance and price. With proper tweaks, the EcoBoost could easily pump 375-390 HP. So far, so good. We will see come June 22 it this is all hype or not.

This looks a little too good to be true... I doubt that there's really that much in the Taurus, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Isn't it the Fusion that is supposed to compete with the Accord and Camry's ?

Bing!

Oops, that term is now copyrighted.

I was thinking that the Fusion was supposed to be Accord/Camry competition also. I do understand that in benchmarking quality, driving dynamics, and content Ford should aim higher than both of those popular cars.

Ford probably didn't want to mention "Avalon" b/c they want gain/retain as much youth attention as possible. And while mentioning the Camry and Accord, they may get the attention of older consumers that would normally prefer the Honda/Toyota over the new Taurus.

It looks amazing and it's awesome to see what Ford has done with the Taurus. It now can be a true competitor to the Accord, Camry, Mazda6, and Maxima

It has NO SPARE Tire...need I say more?

It has RUN FLAT TIRES...need I say more?

what is your obsession with weight??? if the car meets its performance and fuel economy targets, then who gives a shit how much it weighs?

It weighs almost 500lbs more than a Nissan GTR

weight IS an issue.

less weight gives you more performance AND fuel efficiency.

Correction: The SHO has no spare, the crappier ones get donuts, if I wanted a donut i would go to DD's

How many cars have a full sized spare and the same wheel that's on the car? The Audi A6 and the Lexus ES350 are the only cars that I know that have it? Can anyone confirm others?

Speaking in general terms, there are some out there that will find anything, anything to cry about and put down one thing to lift another. For example, issues about weight, spare tire, butt plugs, etc, are just stupid. Just 5 years ago, the major complaint was that the domestics couldn't compete against the Japanese in fit and finish, quality of materials, whatever it was, they didn't have it going on. Now, not only do domestics compete, they surpass them in many cases, in tech, price, gas mileage and design. WTF do you want now? What possible reason besides what once was the main reasons do anyone have to say domestics are equal? If these little things are an issue now, then truly, the ones complaining have always been liars from the start.

you can always buy a spare wheel and tire if you're that concerned about it.

Do you get a flat tire every day; drive on a road of nails? Relax buddy, you're not going to buy a Taurus anyway.

Looks promising.

I hate run flat tires; they're more expensive and ride rougher than a traditional tire......"need I say more".

Domestics are not equal, they are not the class leader in ANY Vehicle!
WHAT AMERICAN CAR IS BETTER THAN FOREIGN CARS besides PRICE? Competing on price just makes you a commodity. What American cars are ACTUALLY BUILT BETTER?

Corvette ZR1 better than the Lamborghini LP650?

I can't think of ANY!!! NONE!!!

Maybe The Jeep Wrangler is better off road than a Range Rover Defender and Toyota FJ Cruiser

Well actually, the Vette does have a faster ring time is immensely more reliable and many times cheaper to fix. The lamborghini plays in a different game altogether, they built a car that sells based on passion, between the looks, how fun it is to drive a mid engined awd super car and the badge on the front you really can't compare the two.

trucks!

on a dollar/performance basis, the Corvette eats the Lambo's pasta marinara........

The problem with the Ford comparison slide is that its impossible to gauge the relative scale for each characteristic.

For example, when Ford rates Handling they show the Camry at the far extreme of "Relaxed", the Accord towards the "Sporty" side, and the Taurus more sporty than the Honda. But what does this really mean? Its a small step from "slightly more sporty" to "hard, harsh, punishing, clunky, noisy, and crappy".

As for me, I HOPE that Ford got it right and that the Taurus really is a world class car of just another domestic car that can't stand up to the competition but is a good deal for the (subsidized) price.

A pillow will have better suspension than the Camry what are you talking about. Handling has NEVER been a Camry's strength.

Considering the others don't have a SHO type vehicle. Toyota has a V6 XLE, Honda a V6 Limited, and I guess Nissan but I am not sure they still make a SE-R Altima.

I would have placed the Taurus in the bigger realm of the Avalon, Maxima, etc. I thought the Fusion was the Accord/Camry competition. So where does that put it now? In the small sedan market against whom? The Jetta?

I really don't see the need to put Adaptive Cruise Control on these cars..
Unless you use the highway on wide open roads, it is unnecessary...
many manufacturers have been offering this for several years and very few opt for it.
It makes more sense in Europe.

Camry starts at 19395
Accord starts at 20905
Taurus starts at 25170

I don't know, it just seems that they are not in the same class....

the taurus has a higher MSRP to allow for the SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNTS they will have to offer if they expect to snag ANY accord or camry buyer.

Now that Ford has this car it seems like there is no reason for the Mks

They can't just get rid of the MKS unfortunately, even though you're right, there's no longer a need if they have the Taurus. Ford has all kinds of Union Agreements in place that guarantee Ford will continue to look like badgeengineering morons. Now if Ford would take a chance, and produce a dedicated platform for Lincoln, then they could rid themselves of the badgeengineering reputation.

However, Ford being capitalist, they're going to squeeze every red cent out of their investment even after the money has dried up. Speaking of which, I think somebody has a birthday coming up....Ford Panther platform, you little stinker....or is it old fart?

I would neve have a need for that ACC option. Living in the Northeast you never see highway clear enough to use it, unless your driving in the middle of the night around trucks. But then you have to watch for deer who jump in front of the car too.

I just don't see the need for it and would never be able to trust it.

I drive Honda's and have never cared for any Ford product but I will admit this is the first decent looking Ford product I've seen, perhaps because it looks less like a Ford. I've seen the car and it is a bit larger than either an Accord or Camry so I'd have to agree there not comparing apples to apples...the Ford Fusion is the appropriate comparison here (check any recent car magazine comparison road test articles!) and we know that it doesn't stack up against either an Accord or Camry in the long run. They should have changed the name though....TAURUS became the legend of rental car lots back in the 80's and 90's which led to it's demise in sales, people soon associated TAURUS with lacklustre qualities....lately Ford doesn't seem to know what to name their vehicles either resurrecting old names from the 60's that means nothing to the this generation or renaming vehicles such as the TAURUS with a name that conjures up the previous poor seller. Hopefully it will help FORD though, but why do N.A. companies keep having to compare to HONDA and TOYOTA?..because they ARE the benchmark in quality and reliability.

oops...they forgot to benchmark hyundai who already benchmarked the other 2. they could've saved some time.

how ironic would it be if toyota and honda benchmarked the original taurus way back when?--which they probably did.

Well, the Taurus was the best selling mid-size sedan and Ford allowed it to die on the vine. The Accord then the Camry came in. It would be appropriate that Ford would try to regain that title. But look out, the Hyundai Sanata is on its way...

I owned a 90 Taurus. The car handled well but fell apart quickly. I thought back then (when Taurus was the best selling car) why are they not paying attention to quality? A friend who owned and convinced me to get a Camry (which I got in 94 and have stuck to the Camry ever since) said Ford at that time was more interested in making money and not in quality. Today it seems Ford has finally got it. However many may to jaded to give them a try again. However their cars are starting to look good. I would have to wait a bit before testing the Ford waters again.

The current Camry and Accord are in the Large Sedan class, so that puts them in the same class as this Taurus SHO, but 1000 lbs lighter. That is significant.

Which FWD car handles better than new Camry V6SE or acceleration? I think they compared the Taurus to an LE probably.

the accord coupe isnt even a valid comparisson in all this being as its a coupe not a full size premium sedan

Mazda Spd3 & VW GTI r very different.

I would like to see performance numbers instead of opinions that are stated here, Safety ratings will sell me on this car, I think it is too expensive for something that originated from the bottom.

They are comparing a car that is not in their class they should compare the Taurus to the Toyota Avalon, Buick Lacerne, Chrysler 300, and Cadillac DTS

well cars CAN be compared across price classes, if the dimensions and performance are similar.

according the the CR road tests, the Camry LE Four rates the same as the Audi A8L. and not only does the lexus ES beat it out by far, the v6 camry XLE does so too! both also surpassing the MB550.

this is ASIDE from their reliability studies, where of course only honda is even comparable to toyota.

Honda is better than Toyota in reliability, Toyota may have less road noise?

The Taurus is my father in laws favorite car because of its poor resale, He would buy it a few years old for very cheap and have a relatively new car for little money.If this is still the case I will buy one too, I like this car so far.

Ford would have done better to stop using the Taurus name. Besides confusing the price classes and comparisons, the Taurus was still an unreliable POS. Whatever the car is, it is probably far overpriced and until these new models are proven on the long term they will remain fleet staples and leasemobiles. so what if it comes with an MP3 player?