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Road Test: 2010 Ford Taurus Limited: Recast

The era of the family car is over, they say, and the time of the Ford Taurus as a family car is done. Figuring that families, the dad, mom and 2.5 kids have moved irretrievably to minivans, then SUVs and now to crossovers and Fusion-sized automobiles, Ford will no longer try to make the Taurus something for which a market no longer exists. The old Taurus, we’re told, was about “we.” The new 2010 Taurus is about “me.” The Taurus is dead. Long live the Taurus.

 

The Taurus has been dead before, of course. The original car to bear the name was a game changer for American sedans, and its rounded contours were so imitated that “jellybean cars” became a slur about the sameness of American cars. It didn’t help that Ford neglected the franchise with the success of the Explorer, another game changer as the originator of the modern SUV. The Taurus languished in the dismal swamps of fleet sales.

 

Ford attempted to bring back what it had lost. But with the Taurus name thought irredeemably tainted, Ford called its new generation the Ford Five Hundred, a reach back into its heritage. It was a reach too far, as most of those who can remember the Sixties don’t remember the Ford Galaxie 500. The name apparently a dud, Ford immediately said, hey, perhaps Taurus wasn’t so bad after all. Unfortunately the car itself was underwhelming. Good enough, perhaps, but good enough never really is.

 

So now Ford, with the all-new 2010 Ford Taurus, is repositioning the four-door sedan as the brand’s flagship rather than workaday workhorse, and a personal car for someone who has friends or family who might occasionally want to ride along. The new Taurus is to be what carmakers call “aspirational,” a goal or destination rather than a waystop or, worse, a transportation settle-for.

 

A recent first-drive in a top-of-the-line Taurus Limited AWD gave an initial impression that the Taurus, at least that top of the line model that we drove, is certainly something to which one could aspire. We’ve written about the 2010 Ford Taurus before in a report from the Detroit Auto Show, laying out the basics. The 2010 Taurus with Ford’s 3.5-liter Duratec V-6, rated at 263 horsepower and 249 lb-ft of torque. Front-wheel drive is standard with optional all-wheel drive.

 

Ford offers two new six-speed automatic transmissions in the Taurus, the SEL and Limited getting SelectShiftAutomatic, Ford’s term for paddle shifting. The transmission also matches revs on downshifts and holds gears until the driver wants them to change, not some microchip somewhere. The Limited has a higher numerically final drive ratio than the SEL, and the all-wheel drive’s radio is higher yet for improved acceleration and sportier feel.

 

Our test Limited AWD was surprisingly quick for the size and weight that comes with a full-size sedan, though not hang-on-for-your-life so. The paddle shifters on the steering wheel frustrated us during our test drive because we couldn’t remember whether pushing was an upshift or was it pulling. For the record, it’s pull up for upshifts, push down for downshifts. Just like Porsche, said the Ford rep. While we would have liked some sort of marking on the paddles as to which is which, no doubt after a day or two the average owner would remember.

 

We were also pleasantly surprised by the handling. Ford calls the new suspension SR1 and along with the MacPherson strut front suspension, the multilink rear setup has “one-to-one” rear shock absorber ratio—the shock absorber moves as much as the wheel—which gives, says Ford, a “superior balance between cornering and handling while providing a stable baseline for fine tuning.” The redesigned rear suspension also makes room for 19-inch and 20-inch wheels, sufficiently in fashion that no “me” car can do without the option.

 

Our test 2010 Ford Taurus Limited tackled North Carolina’s Appalachian byways with sincere confidence, or maybe that was us realizing that the this full-size Ford wasn’t going to embarrass us, even if it isn’t a racer and was never intended to be. It was easy to place the car—and that’s important for a fill-the-lane full-size car—and suspension travel didn’t feed in any of its own ideas where the car might go. Again, ditto. Appropriately enough, we think. A flagship needn’t handle like a barge.

 

A flagship should also have attention to detail. One Ford engineer relayed to us that the car wasn’t eviscerated by cost accountants. Typically, items such as improved air seals around the door windows—which he described in loving parental terms—were easily approved, as long as it improved quality. In this case it did, reducing wind noise. The interior of the Taurus was sufficiently muted that at highway speed, conversation with a backseat passenger was wholly unstrained. In fact, it was quiet enough that after turning off the radio and then the main ventilation system to find what vehicle noises there might be, we heard another wind-type noise we couldn’t find—but which we finally determined to be the gentle whoosh of the ventilated seats’ fans. Most cars would drown that out with sounds.

 

As Ford’s flagship the Taurus should also be well equipped, in either standard or optioned up status. Above the SE and SEL, our Taurus Limited is the top of the Taurus line—not counting than the performance-equipped 2010 Ford Taurus SHO—starts out at $33,845 with standard features including ten-way power front seats, Ford/Microsoft SYNC communication and entertainment system, 19-inch wheels, and leather with a wood-accent steering wheel. That’s on top of dual-zone climate control, anti-theft alarm and an auto-dimming rearview mirror of the SEL, of course.

 

The option list is long, complete and tempting, with Ford selling items in an overlapping trio of Option Groups for you figure out: The items include heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats and a rear-window power sunshade, proximity key access and starting, Sony 12 speaker 390 watt audio, auto high beam headlights, rain sensing wipers, and the BLIS (blind spot information system). Features available singly include adaptive cruise control with collision warning and brake support (which could pay for itself without one ever knowing), massaging front seats (worth the cost for long-distance driver), sunroof, and two special paints.

 

The navigation system is also available as a standalone option, available with Sirius Travel Link. That latter includes a number of useful features but what impressed us (and no doubt everyone addicted to the weather.com or weatherbug.com) was the digital precipitation and wind direction overlay on the navigation map. was during our rainy test drive. That Ford arranged several massive downpours during our test drive was equally impressive.

 

Finally, a flagship should look that way outside and in. We think the 2010 Ford Taurus Limited succeeds in both. We like the chiseled new look with the higher shoulder-line and lower roofline, the unique grille slats and the multi-beveled rear end.

 

Inside, the dash is split by a console that sweeps down and back in once continuous arc. It’s classy and is intended to emphasize the driver’s personal space. It could also emphasize space taken away from the driver and front passenger, though a Ford representative suggested the more open front seat area of the Ford Flex for those wishing to maximize interior room—something the Flex does exceedingly well.

 

The Ford Flex and its crossover ilk of course, represent the new archetype of the American family car, the classic full-size four-door sedan eclipsed once again. So Ford seems to have played this one right, counting on the aura the 2010 Ford Taurus to shine on the rest of its lineup. We’ll stand behind our Detroit show prognostication that the Taurus could have been Ford’s most important car at the show. It’s a good one at that.