Ford has fully embraced the exhaust-driven horsepower-enhancer known as the turbocharger, and the payoff is fully apparent in their newest sport sedan, the Taurus SHO. Expectations among enthusiasts have been high because the original Taurus SHO was a big surprise—a mass market family car that was tweaked to keep up with the best German sedans. The new Taurus is a lot bigger, but spend a few minutes laying into the SHO’s “EcoBoost” twin-turbo V6 and it’s clear that the more things change, the more they stay the same. What’s the same is that this fast sedan is like a superhero: mild mannered around town, but when called upon it sheds its pedestrian roots and charges forward as if it had a stonking V8 underhood (that’s because advanced engine technology virtually eliminates turbo lag and makes the V6 act like a tuned smallblock). While there’s no denying the Taurus is a large car, the addition of all-wheel drive helps the SHO power out of corners, but more importantly lets the SHO catapult itself off the line with authority. The straight-line performance is really incredible in a family sedan, and will cause more than a few drivers of fast four-doors from other manufacturers to sit up and take notice—just like the original SHO. Mission accomplished, Ford.
