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March 19. 2008
200 8 Ford Taurus Limited AWD
New Name - New Face
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K aiiii n s C arr
People change their identities for many
reasons. They don't like their name, they 're
on the lam from the law, or they simply
want a new start. It happens with autom o­
biles, tot). Case in point: the 2(M)X Ford
Taurus, which falls into the category of
wanting a new start.
Along cam e a new head honcho at
Ford. Alan M ulally, who cam e up with an
idea that was brilliant in its sim plicity. He
decreed that, for 2008, the Five Hundred
would be re-nam ed the Taurus.
Even if you’ve never ow ned a T aurus,
you probably know som eone who has.
Before the dem ise o f the original Taurus,
it was Ford's bread-and-butter family car
and had a prom inent spot in drivew ays
across America.
But a name change alone obviously
wouldn't fool too m any people. So the
2008 Taurus got a m akeover and more
power. A new, 3.5-literV 6engine delivers
260 horsepow er @ 249 pound-feet of
torque; through a six-speed autom atic
transm ission, and the pow er goes either to
the front w heels or all four wheels.
This new pow ertrain makes the Taurus
a whole lot more fun to drive than the ill-
conceived Five Hundred was. lts()-60 mph
acceleration perform ance has been re­
duced by more than a second and a half.
Specifications: 3.5-Liter, 24-valve 263-hp @ 249 Ib-ft. torque, V-6 Duratec engine: 6-speed automatic transmission;
17-City, 24 Highway MPG: $ 33,600. MSRP
from 9.2 seconds down to 7.6 seconds,
which is a huge chunk of performance.
The new engine and transmission trans­
form the car. There's plenty of power,
w hich com es on strongly and the trans­
mission shifts smoothly, if a bit slushy. If
you opt for the all-wheel drive model, the
pow er goes directly to the wheels without
w heel spin. You can't peel rubber with this
Detroit iron.
And a little better mileage would be
nice. Taurus is rated at 17 m.p.g. city/24
highw ay, though in fairness nearly all
vehicles have seen their num bers cut
Ford put a new face on the 2008 Taurus.
The new front end is dram atic and pow er­
ful. Ford’s signature three-bargrille draws
the Taurus into the family and adds m a­
chism o to the wispy wire mesh grille. The
new front fascia gives it a more substantial
look.
And there's that trunk. It can hold eight;
count ’em , eight sets o f golf clubs, which
means it will holdall the luggageorgrocer­
ies the family wants. Need more cargo
room ? The rear seat backs fold flat. Need
even m ore? The front passenger seat folds
flat at the pull o f a strap so you can slip a
than ks to more real - world testing for 2(X)8.
The Taurus' crash-test perform ance is
as good as they get, according to the
federal government: the m axim um five
stars in frontal and side impact protection.
Standard safety equipm ent includes
dual-stage driver and passenger front air
bags, seat-deployed side airbags for driver
and front passenger, and F ord's Safety
C a n o p y IM side curtain air bags for both
rows. For an added m easure o f safety, a
new steering wheel design recesses the air
bag 15 m illim eters farther aw ay from the
driver.
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www.captainyes.com
•
ladder or lum ber inside.
T he 2(X)8 Ford Taurus Lim ited also of­
fers a num ber o f m ust-have technologies.
In addition to a standard auxiliary audio
input jack, available convenience features
include a voice-activated navigation sys­
tem, a D VD entertainm ent system and
factory-installed SIRIU S® satellite radio.
Ford Sync is also available on the new
2008 Ford Taurus. Sync is a voice-acti­
vated hands-free in-car com m unications
and entertainm ent system which fully-
integrates mobile phones and digital m e­
dia players. T he Sync in-car com m unica­
tions system was developed in collabora­
tion with M icrosoft and will be offered
exclusively on 12 Ford, Lincoln and M er­
cury products in North Am erica begin­
ning this year.
Ford partnered with M icrosoft tocreate
Sync as a way for vehicle ow ners to stay
connected with their cell phones and digi­
tal m usic players. Instead o f needing sepa­
rate connections for these devices. Sync
w orks as an all-in-one solution that can be
updated as new phones and players are
released. Ford Sync looks to provide a
sim pler, one-stop-shop for connection and
use o f cell phones and MP3 players.
A new nam e, looks and pow er should
help but so should retaining m assive cabin
and trunk room in a midsize sedan loaded
with goodies — plus the all-season secu­
rity o f A W D — for around $33,000.
r 1 / r t
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