ASHEVILLE, N.C.: A colleague of mine once said if a coffee table book was ever produced about the cars of the 1980s, the Ford Taurus wagon would be on the cover.
The first generation Taurus (including the Mercury Sable) was one of the most popular cars Ford ever produced. Coupled with the simple, but reliable, Ford Tempo /Mercury Topaz, Ford's coffers swelled and they went on a buying spree gobbling up Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin and much of Mazda.
Then things went pear shaped. There are many theories of what went wrong in Dearborn but Carlos Ghosn, the miracle worker who turned Nissan around, has said there is no such thing as good management and bad results, which pretty well sums up where Ford was at the turn of this century.
More recently, the economic and domestic car meltdown has since separated the wheat from the chaff. That Ford did not put its hand out for government aid was reassuring to a lot of consumers who have now changed their minds about Ford.
At the press introduction of the 2010 Taurus lineup, Ford used the phrase "the car that changed America's view of sedans" to describe it.
And that's what Ford is hoping will happen again with its full-size flagship sedan.
The core message at the press launch in North Carolina was the Taurus offers more but costs less then its competitors. In fact the base 2010 Taurus SE at $29,999 is $2,000 less than its own 2009 SE.
Ford also made a big thing at the preview about Taurus having more technology features (10 of them class exclusive) than premium luxury cars they benchmarked like the Audi A6 and Lexus ES350.
Some of these are Adaptive Cruise Control and Collision Warning with Brake Support, BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert, MyKey and SecuriCode with its Keyless Entry Keypad.
The MyKey is really slick. Besides not letting the driver move off until seat belts are buckled, it allows the owner to set the maximum speed to 129 km/h (80mph) with speed warning chimes at 72, 88 and 106 km/h to slow down lead foots like the owner's kids. And just so they won't blow out their eardrums listening to the optional Sony sound system, MyKey can also restrict audio volume.
Another nifty piece is the Easy Fuel capless gas tank filler. That's right, there is no cap. You just insert the nozzle and squeeze but it's going to take some time (for me at least) to get used to it.
The 2010 Taurus is a full-size car in every sense. Its multi-curved sheet metal takes away some of this visually, but it will fill a normal garage.
The overall impression is one of tall flanks and a tidy greenhouse much in the style of the Chrysler 300 and Audi A6.
The interior, even on the base car, will surprise you. Soft touch trim abounds and the trim fits are as good as the Lexus. On the topline Limited I drove, the leather seats were supportive with enough travel for any stature. These seats came with heating and cooling, each with three levels of intensity. On full cool, it actually got too cold for comfort. It's the first time I have ever encountered such a thing.
The 2010 Taurus is a front-driver (FWD) with all-wheel-drive (AWD) standard on the Limited and optional on the mid-range SEL.
Power is a 3.5-litre DOHC V6 producing 263 hp and 249 lb/ft of torque on regular gasoline. There is a twin-turbo EcoBoost version of the 3.5-litre producing 365 hp and 350 lb/ft of torque but it is only available on the Taurus SHO featured separately on these pages.
All Taurus models have a six-speed automatic transmission with the SEL and Limited equipped with paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel.
Fuel consumption is 11.6/7.2L/100 km city/highway for the FWD and 12.3/7.9L/100 km city/highway for the AWD.
The SE comes with 17-inch tires, the SEL with 18-inch, the Limited with 19-inch and the SHO with 20-inch boots. A new rear suspension for the Taurus is the reason why there is such a wide selection of wheel sizes.
A cutaway of the chassis at the press launch showed how the body structure was optimized for strength and stiffness. At the front, an energy-absorbing front structure has octagonal front frame rails, tunnel rails and "shotgun" front structural members. They are designed to absorb and redirect crash forces away from the passenger compartment.
Also included are dual-stage driver and front passenger air bags, side impact air bags and Safety Canopy with rollover sensor.
Ford's Advance Trac electronic stability control (ESP) is standard across the board.
The Taurus comes in four trim levels starting with the SE FWD at $29,999, the SEL FWD at $32,299, the SEL AWD at $34,799 and the Limited at $40,699. For the record, the SHO starts at $48,199.
The Taurus Limited as tested here was no lightweight at 4,224 lb. Rather than feeling ponderous, this translates into a sense of great solidity, reminding me of the Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic not just in terms of pace, but also of interior space and appointments.
The area around Asheville is a combination of wide, rolling freeways and tortuous backwoods two-lane blacktop.
The latter would be a challenge for any full-size car. Here, the normally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 had its work cut out for itself especially in the higher reaches of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I don't bother with paddle shifter transmissions as a rule but the ability to pick a gear and hold it, paid off when climbing up a steep incline.
Out on the highway, the big Taurus was where it was meant to be, clicking off mile after mile in sixth. For covering long distances in comfort, this car is hard to beat.
And it's quiet too thanks to things like triple seals and acoustically laminated windows.
One thing I have to mention is the Taurus also puts you in the mood. Yep, you can dial in five different interior illumination colours.
If there was one gripe, it is the thickness of the B pillar that is hard to see around if you don't use your mirrors. But, this is solved in large part with the Blind Spot Monitoring System. What I like is it not only sees a car coming up in your blind spot and flashes as light on the outside mirror, but when passing, as soon as you get far enough in front, the light goes out and you know it's safe to pull in.
Ford set its sights pretty high by trying to match or better cars like the Audi and Lexus. Thankfully, this has been largely accomplished but I'm personally glad they did not try to build an Americanized A6 or ES350.
The 2010 Taurus has its own persona and that's a good thing.
Ford has two big things going for it. Besides impressing the public by not taking a handout, Ford is also at the start of a whole new product life cycle.
We'll still be seeing the Fiesta sub-compact, the Lincoln MXT crossover, a new Focus and a new Mustang among others in the coming months.
And leading the way will be Taurus; the flagship Ford hopes will once again be "the car that changed America's view of sedans."
(FORD TAURUS 2010 AT A GLANCE)
BODY STYLE: Full-size sedan.
DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, front/rear-wheel-drive
ENGINE: 3.5-litre, DOHC V6 (263 hp, 249 lb/ft).
FUEL ECONOMY: FWD, 11.6/7.2L/100 km city/highway; AWD, 12.3/7.9L/100 km city/highway.
PRICE: SE FWD, $29,999; SLE FWD, $32,299; SEL AWD, $34,799; Limited AWD $40,699.
WEB: www.ford.ca
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