Ford offered me $50 to test drive a car. I asked for a Mustang GT or Taurus SHO. They offered an SHO. OK. I think it's the most powerful car I've ever driven.

What does 365 hp feel like? Silent and seamless. I never noticed the car shifting gears. Even when I used the steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters I didn't feel much. Luckily Ford puts gear indicators in the right-hand instrument pod to tell you which gear you're using.

I never heard anything, either. The engine is silent. No induction noise, no cam noise, no valve clatter, and no exhaust noise. You don't hear the blowoff valve, either. I heard wind noise, though. It was a windy day, and the car had a moon roof.

Visibility sucks. As with all cars these days, door sills are high, as are decklids. Ford has you covered with an excellent blind spot information system (a yellow light flashes on your side mirror if a vehicle is in your blind spot). There's a rearview camera that is excellent for back-in parking.

You sort of sit in a hole. The seating position is high, but so are the door sills. The console is extremely wide (no making out in the front seat), and the dash has an extreme slope (ostensibly to ease reaching controls, but when you're 6'4" that's not an issue).

Steering feel is very light. You can tell that the car is heavy, but the EcoBoost moves it effortlessly. If you punch it from a dead stop there's no wheelspin at all (at least not with Traction Control on).

The sales guy wanted to show me all the gizmos. The SHO is definitely a technology showcase. Once you get up to speed, you can drive by simply turning the steering wheel as necessary. The radar adaptive cruise control is pretty amazing. You set the speed, then can increase or decrease speed (by looking at a number displayed in the gauge rather than merely judging by speedometer needle position) by pushing a steering wheel-mounted button. You can also set the interval you wish to maintain between your car and vehicles ahead of you.

Practical features include split fold-down rear seats, heated seat backs and bottoms front and rear, and a nifty electric roll-up rear window shade to keep sun off back seat passengers. I think there are four cupholders up front (for two people?) and two in the rear fold-down armrest. The sales guy told me that an ashtray isn't even available (no cigarette lighter, either).

The top of the dash is covered in soft foam (quite a contrast from the hard plastic I'm accustomed to in Fords). Yes, there is a lot of plastic in the interior, but it is of much better quality than that in my '01 P71. The leather seats are nice and firm. They don't have big side bolsters, but this isn't really that kind of car. I liked the look of the gauge cluster and the steering wheel felt nice. It has all the cruise control buttons on the left and media control buttons on the right (all new territory to me). Of course SYNC is standard.

Trunk space is comparable to a Panther but doesn't have the deep well. I didn't get in the back, but I think there's more rear legroom. The front is roomy enough in terms of legroom, but width seems to be an issue. If your waist size is much bigger than my 36 inches, you may feel cramped. I'm guessing the upcoming police version won't have a console, because it takes up a lot of space.

The route we took didn't permit much in the way of performance evaluation. I got to hit the gas a few times, but I didn't get to take any corners aggressively or really pound the brakes.

The car is clearly more of a grand tourer (it's a four-door sedan, after all) than a sports car. The sticker price was high on this car, but it was fully loaded and included a $3700 option package.

I forgot to mention that the sales guy didn't realize I'd turned off cruise control while I was driving. Since I've never had a car with cruise control, I have mastered the art of holding my foot still (it's flat here).

Anyway, here are some more pictures.

They seemed to have a glut of GT500s on the lot, plus a "Manager's Special" GT500KR.

Wow, that GT500KR looks mean ! I always wanted a Knight Rider car lol

Sweet nice to read a review from a CVN member instead of a Car Mag. I'd like all those nifty gizmos in a P71.

Based on your drive, what do you think of it now in terms of a police vehicle (considering that we don't know the changes they'll make exactly)?

The SHO would be ridiculous (and prohibitively expensive) for a police vehicle. But if Ford put the SHO suspension and brakes on a new Police Interceptor, it should be competent. And optional AWD would be welcome for pursuit vehicles and northern states.

The poor visibility of the Taurus will be an issue in replacing the Crown Vic, but I don't suppose it's any worse than the visibility in the Charger. I really don't know about visibility in the Impala. I would hope Ford could trash the console for a police vehicle, but I don't know.

So, using my rule of getting 10,000 miles for every $1,000 I spend on a car, even being generous and saying I could get a SHO for $40k, I'd have to drive it for 400,000 miles. Of course, I also know I am not their target customer with the Taurus.

I don't think all those gizmos would be so appealing when they start going on the fritz.

I wonder if those wheels would fit a 03+ Vic?? I saw those at the Ford Dealer the other day and really liked them as well.

Yeah very true about the visibility - Charger also presents some difficulties in that area. I've never been inside the Taurus driving it but your picture of the rear deck speaks well. I did see the Taurus' console while at the Ford dealership, and it is very large, something that will or at least should probably be deal with.

As for rear legroom, I saw one video review on the internet and it looked terrible and was one of their complaints but I wasn't inside of the Taurus yet so I don't know for sure.

Those rotors need a few good 60-0 stops.


Oh yeah...


In black = WANT

Taurus really has a big ass hey.

wow moby that is a very well written review of the SHO, i was surprised at the size of the center console myself when i sat in the new taurass. its definitely not something that you can really describe without sitting in the car yourself.

IMO, if ford wants to sell the kind of numbers as Camry or Accord, they should not build a police version, unless it get different styling.

Sounds kind of like my test drive of the 2009 Subaru WRX. It was fast, but not as fun as I would have thought. Just smooth power and ride, not much excitement.

I like Ford's styling in their cars lately but I would not pay $46k for a Taurus. We need the Euro spec Focus which I would probably buy one if they had it in the states.

James