2010 SHO Long Lead drive event
By Don Mallinson
July 19, 2009
(Note Ford approved the posting of this story a little early since several on-line sources already are posting their impressions of the new SHO. More about this later in this story).
Have you ever read one of the major magazines where they put a small notice in about how they just got to drive some hot new model of car, but they can't talk about it till sometime later?
Well, this is the story about when that happened to me!
The background story: Late Fall 2008 I get a call from Ford to put together a group of local (to Chicago/Midwest) area SHO enthusiasts to attend a focus group for a possible upcoming Ford performance sedan. The three letters we like and enjoy, S.H.O. are not mentioned. 
The group meets in Chicago at a major hotel and we are shown some "competitors" in the large sedan segment, a 300, an Impala. We are asked our thoughts, and we have a round table discussion where we are asked what we would want in a new Ford performance sedan. As expected, we wanted lots of horsepower, lots of brakes, a manual transmission but most of all, great handling and personality.
Soon after, I am called by the representative from Ford and asked if we would like some support for the next convention. Of course we would I answer. I begin to think in terms of a new SHO, or at least something from SVT that we can look to as the successor to the SHO. Then within a few days, the same person calls and says forget it. ALL budget for the car is gone, he is getting moved to another project.
OK, I have been resigned to the SHO never coming back to life for several years, so this isn't a huge deal.
Fast forward to Winter 2009 before the Chicago Auto Show, and I get a call from Ford. Different person asks if I can help put together 25 people to help introduce the new SHO.
Well knock me over with a feather!
Between myself and Ryan Pasch of BringbacktheSHO.com, we get 25+ and manage to have virtually every top mechanic in the SHO universe; Doug Lewis, Eric Lehmann, Doug Mellum, Kirk Doucette, and one of the great experimenters, Paul Nimz, plus representatives of SHO Source from out west, and many of the top enthusiasts in SHO Club and on-line. SHO people come from every part of the country arrive to be a part of the intro.
 We arrive at the press preview day for the Auto Show and see the new SHO, and it is good. Sharp looks, 365 HP, and AWD. But how does it drive? I keep the pressure on my contacts at Ford for a quick drive since I know pre-production prototypes are out there, already being shown around. I expected to get a short drive at the Chicago plant where all Tauri will be built in the future, but get another call in early April, asking me to a long lead preview (long lead meaning the magazines can't write about the event for a long time, in this case, June 22nd for the regular Taurus, and July 22nd for the SHO). In this case I personally am invited and I can't bring anyone else. (NOTE: all dates are moved up more than a month when Esquire magazine and then Car and Driver post drive reports on the SHO early).
April 29, Ann Arbor, MI. Ford puts me up for the night in a nice hotel. I am a cheap date for them, I could have flown from Peoria, IL, through Chicago or Atlanta and charged a bunch of meals, but accept only one nights accommodations, and drive my '91 SHO Plus (Mocha/Mocha) so there is at least one older SHO in the preview area.
April 30, Brighton, MI, Lakelands Golf Club. I pull in and see several regular Taurus models lined up. We have a meeting, and then pair up for a drive. Understand that in the room are major writers for all the top magazines, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and more. I pair up with one of the "other" types of magazines, one of the Mustang monthlies. I am heading to a Red SE, when one of the Ford representatives that I have gotten to know over the last few weeks, taps me on the shoulder and says: "take the white one, it is the only Limited, and has all the bells and whistles". Well, OK, I can do that.
I take the wheel first as we are to drive to Jackson, MI through the country and switch drivers half-way through. The drive is about 80-100 miles on a wide variety of roads. We enjoy some narrow curvy country roads, a little interstate, some rough two-lane county and state roads. The Limited drives wonderful, the 263 HP, 3.5L engine, a hold over from 2009, is a nice tool, and the new 6-speed auto tranny (co-developed with GM) works very well.
 (NOTE: the entire day it rained pretty steady, so we could not get super high G-force turns, or full throttle acceleration without the traction control taking over. So dry testing will happen later.)
But the Taurus Limited is not what I am looking forward to. We pull into Jackson and the directions have us drop off the car downtown.
We have lunch with more Ford representatives and a presentation on the new SHO. I was happy that SHO Club and on-line community was getting a lot of credit for keeping the enthusiast community together and helping make the car better than it might have been. For lunch we ate at Daryl's Downtown Restaurant at 151 W. Mi. Ave in Jackson. I can recommend this as a great place for a meal. There are 6 new SHO's lined up out front.
After lunch, I pick the Cinnamon SHO, as it is a kind of "brown" color, and anyone that knows me, knows that I like brown (or gold/copper/sand/tan) cars best over any other color.
 Ours has all the regular equipment plus every option available except the Performance package, which wasn't available for this drive. One other option it didn't have was the two-tone interior. I would want that on my "new" SHO. It did have heated/cooled seats, moonroof, 12 speaker Sony audio system, heated rear seats, rear window power sunshade, blind spot monitoring, Rain sensing wipers and auto high beam, Rear view camera, and adjusting pedals. Just for fun, it also had Adaptive radar cruise control, voice activated navigation (that we will need later in the drive) and the 20 inch optional wheels. Base price: $37.995, but out the door, including $825 destination sticker is a whopping $44,580. The one option it didn't have was the Performance package that would add about $1200 to the price. That package includes better brake pads, defeat capability for the electronic stability control, high performance summer only 20" tires, a slightly different calibration in the computer and the big deal, a 3:16 tranny final gear in place of the SHO standard 2.77 gear. Interestingly, the standard Taurus comes with the 3:16 in AWD version, with a 3:39 shown as optional!
Two main things that Ford is emphasizing are:
1. The new Taurus/SHO is the flagship for Ford now. Nothing is better or more important in a sedan.
2. The SHO with the EcoBoost engine has virtually zero turbo lag.
Two small turbo's on the 3.5 engine come up to full boost/torque QUICK. With maximum torque of 350 lbs ft arriving at 1500 rpm. It is rated at 3500 rpm, but the torque "curve" is essentially flat as a straightedge from 1500 to near 5000. HP is 365 at 5500 rpm.
So what does it drive like?
 Wow. That is what. Torque is instant, and rams your head back against the headrest. AWD keeps the steering where you point it, and means no more excuses in a 0-60 contest with a Mustang, or anything else. At least two magazines have reported 0-60 times of 5.2, and quarter miles of 13.7 @ 104 mph! Instrumented testing was not allowed or really possible during our drive. For a 4300 pound full size sedan, this is rare territory.
Ford didn't hesitate to compare this SHO with cars from BMW and Audi that cost $15,000 to $25,000 more.
For me, the new SHO displayed an uncanny ability to do EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. For example, the Chrysler 300C Hemi I bought in 2005 (because Ford offered nothing for me at the time) has a gas pedal tip-in that still to this day baffles me sometimes.
The new SHO steered where I wanted it, seemingly reading my mind. The gas pedal did exactly what I thought it was going to do from tiny inputs to full throttle and everywhere in-between. The brakes were doing what I wanted. 
The steering wheel is one of the best I have ever grabbed onto, and the seats, while being cushy, and great for long drives, will hold most people pretty well. Consider that this cars mission is not to be a Sports car or racer, but a refined luxury sports sedan. It isn't a lotus, or a Viper, it is a great full size car with handling and performance that is the equal or better of anything in the class. Actually, Ford may have created another class of one, like they did with the Gen I SHO, only moved it upscale some in size and performance.
Nits to pick? Very few actually.
- The accent lights on the front lower corners are not practical in any way. They are decorative, and not really visible in daylight. They don't even make decent DRL's. I would remove them and put in real driving/fog lights, cornering lights (I miss the ones on my '91 when I drove my '96 or my 300C) or brake cooling ducts.
- The chrome accents on the front fenders serve no purpose, and I would remove them, and replace with something carbon fiber that at least looked more like a performance part. Hint to some enterprising fabricator: take the first two items, produce something cooler looking and/or more useful, and make a few bucks.
- The console inside is WAY too wide. My "wide" body was hard up against the console both hip and legs. This is a full size car, and it is tighter inside than my '89, '91, or the '96 SHO I had. They could take an inch out of each side, and still have an imposing console that would make the interior much roomier. Unless there is a mechanical reason for the width, they should make this a running change.
- Brakes. The ride I took put little stress on the brakes, but we have heard of a few track experiences since, that indicate that the new SHO is under sized in the brake department again. I expect some aftermarket kits to be out soon for the dedicated track dog. But the stock brakes should be more than up to high performance street/mountain driving, and for shorter track day sessions. The Performance package with different pads may...MAY solve the problem, but that hasn't been tested publicly at this point.
That's it!
Surprises
- The car looks much better outside and on the road than inside at the auto shows. From the front, it looks aggressive and modern.
- The back of the car looks MUCH better in motion than on the show floor. It manages to look impressive and interesting without looking like it has a big butt. Some in Chicago said they thought the back was boring, but I disagree. In motion it looks great.
- The steering wheel is one of the best I have ever had my hands on. Comfortable, easy to use the controls, and nice looking. Compare to Porsche or any import and it will stand up and beat most of them.
- The entire package delighted me.
- Sound. The car is QUIET! Or should I say "quiet". Many that have driven it have commented that a little more sound from the engine, turbos or exhaust would be welcomed. For the Limited, I think the quiet is just right. For the SHO there should be more feedback. I wasn't able to tell if the engine was blipping on downshifts like it is supposed to or not. A peek at the tach showed things were working as advertised though. One of the first things many new owners will do is modify the intake and exhaust for more volume. Sound familiar? Yea, the club SHOs remained stock in this respect ONLY for the first convention in Peoria, by 1993, many were modified in more ways than one. Wonder if there is a "cone of silence" in the intake we can rip out right away?
NOTE: my co-driver and I didn't play with many of the controls on the dash. Read below about our experience with the GPS. I tried to find the rear sunshade unsuccessfully. We turned on the excellent Sony 16 speaker stereo just long enough to confirm it worked and sounded great. I still think the "football" for the '96-99 Taurus/SHO was one of the best things for drivers ever. Easy to use safely when driving. The new SHO has typical buttons that all look the same and are somewhat hard to read when in motion. Drivers will get used to this pretty quick, and if you like German cars, the SHO will feel right at home control wise.
 Now a little about our drive. (weather overcast, drizzle to modest rain all day)
The drive to Jackson in the Taurus Limited was a relaxing joy. We both thought the car was a great car, but we both were just waiting to drive the SHO. If you don't need the power of the SHO, then I would say you should consider the regular Taurus, it gets the same valuable suspension and chassis tuning upgrades and costs a lot less.
On the way back to Brighton in the SHO, my co-driver drove first, and we did well at following the yellow arrows with a Ford oval on them. We were given a card with directions, but not much else. We switched drivers about 40 miles into the drive, and I took over. Now my co-driver was responsible for keeping me on track. We followed the arrows, and at one point I had another SHO on my tail.
Understand that these events are famous for the writers getting all macho, and trying to out-drive the others, and I was being pushed. But we were in a rural residential area, and sight lines were not great. Plus the roads were totally new to me. The police have also been all over the place so far, so I didn't do much till the houses went away, side roads reduced in numbers and the sight lines improved.
Then I was off and pushing this new SHO! The road at this point was a typical country road with center stripe and narrow lanes, but was smooth. It was also rolling and had many fun turns.
 I went to my track training...."Slow in/fast out". I started using most and then all of the 365 HP, and torque. The paddle shifters were easy to get used to, (they don't turn, so you have to remember where they are if you are shifting while turning) and was keeping rpm's up, even it it wasn't really necessary.
I looked back after about 5 miles and the other car was nowhere to be seen. As soon as we got back into civilization, I slowed down, and the other car appeared, passed us and was gone, but I knew I blew them away when it counted. I don't count putting others at risk in congested areas as "fast or good" driving.
At some point, I am enjoying the drive and realize we should be close to the golf club. My co-driver mentions we haven't seen an arrow in a while, and the last turn didn't seem correct. We are on a road that is miles long and straight. NOT what they have had us on so far, and we determine we are lost. I turn around and get another surprise. For an AWD car, with very wide tires, this thing seems to turn MUCH smaller a circle than any other SHO. Must research the actual numbers soon.
We decide to use the GPS, but neither one of us can remember the name of the golf course, but we know it is in Brighton. My co-driver finds the golf menu on GPS and asks it to list all courses close to us. The screen comes up with about six or seven clubs starting with one .5 miles, then .8 miles, then 1.2 miles from us etc. Next page, courses 2.3 miles, 5 miles, 6 miles etc. About the 5th page we see a course in Brighton. Now we thought we were close some time ago and have backtracked more than 10 miles by now, and the GPS says we are THIRTY-NINE POINT SIX miles from our destination. Wow, we really got off course, and being a gentleman, I offer to let my co-driver take over so I don't get the most miles, he declines, being so impressed (at least I think that was his reason for not driving) with my "safety-fast" style of driving (an MG phrase) that he is happy to just ride. My co-driver might also have been afraid that the driver would be arrested on site as Ford may have put out an all-points bulletin for us by now.
 We get back to the starting point just fine though, and I park the Cinnamon 2010 next to my '91 to get some pictures. The new car makes the original look a little small, but not as old as you might think, but then I am biased.
Ford isn't upset, and they are happy that I am impressed and delighted with the new car. They knew that the old guard writers would be reserved, and look for faults, and while I tried my best not to see the car with rose colored glasses, I found little to fault and WANT one as soon as possible. Note that I came into this test with a lot of reservations about the new car. I wasn't that impressed with it at the Chicago Auto Show, so the car had to win me over, much like the V8 had to do when I got my '96.
I know many in the SHO universe have them on order already. Will that be enough to keep the car going more than a year or two? Well, this car has a couple advantages over the original. The original had a unique engine that added to cost and drove down profits. The engine in the new SHO will be shared with at least two other cars (Lincoln MKZ and the Flex I believe) so that cost will be less per car. The basic engine is not unique, and the car itself is very much the same as the Taurus. So how many SHO's need to be sold to keep it going? We know that 15,000/year or more was what Ford expected last time, and the car didn't hit that but a couple years. This time though, they have indicated that sales numbers and expectations are lower, especially with the economy what it is.
I expect this car to do well, but maybe not real well till the economy turns around. Until then, the lucky few that can afford and get one will be VERY happy with this new car.
 NO it doesn't have a Yamaha engine, but it has 145 more HP than any stock V6 and 130 more than any stock V8 SHO plus AWD, and some very nice toys inside and outside to keep owners happy. I declare it a true and proper SHO, and although different than the original, it is a better car, a faster car, and should be a joy to drive long distances, keep the stealth mode and get 26 mpg while doing it. Car & Driver reported 16 mpg but they are lead foots and I expect the SHO will be very similar to the V8 in MPG while increasing performance a LOT.
I also know that the SHO mechanics in our group, have already got plans for upping the HP and upgrading in several places. It is a very good car, but anything can be improved upon with enough skill and money.
Let the SHO begin.....again. |
FROM 
SOURCE: FAST NEWS FROM FORD RACING EMAIL - April 3, 2009 · Volume 2 · Issue 13
