On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, May 6, 2000

Taurus SE Wagon doesn't forfeit style

Ford Taurus SE Wagon Base price: $19,900 Price as tested: $23,320 Drivetrain: Fuel-injected 3-liter Vulcan V-6, 155 hp; four-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs with optional anti-lock (ABS) EPA mileage: 19 city/27 highway Web site: www.ford.com

  Not that you asked, but what the heck: I'll tell you anyway. It's always seemed to me that if a certain car strikes your fancy - particularly if it's the styling that appeals to you - the thing to do is snap it up during its first or second year of production, before the corporation gets the chance to mess it up with design tweaks intended to give it that new! exciting! futuramic look!
   For whatever reasons, car makers almost always manage to make the vehicle in question look worse rather than better. Consider the 1958 Chevrolet. Its immediate precedessor, the '57, was and remains a classic '50s icon. The '58, however, with its ungainly lines and its lavish chrome, fairly cries out: Designed by Wurlitzer!
   On learning that Ford's Taurus - no longer the No. 1-selling car in the nation, thanks to those guys over at Toyota, but still a marketplace monster - was in for a heavy massage to usher it into model year 2000, I felt some . . . misgivings. The latest Taurus, introduced in '95, was a striking piece of work - so striking, in fact, with its taut curves and its profusion of oval shapes, that it may have scared off some of the faithful. Would FoMoCo render it bland and featureless in the upgrade?
   More interior room
   Nah: The new Taurus (like its corporate sibling, the Mercury Sable) does have rather a more bulky feel about it, more of a solid-citizen look than the '95, but it's still a handsome customer: a student prince, if you will, rather than the Wild Child of yesterday.
   What's more, the re-sculpting has made it possible for the Taurus to regain some of the ground it lost in its last major re-style - especially in regards to interior room. A slightly higher rear roofline makes possible a much-needed increase in headroom, for instance, while some tweaks out back restore about 1.2 cubic feet to the trunk.
   Additionally, like everyone else in the business, FoMoCo has been giving lots of attention to structural rigidity and NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness). In the 2000 Taurus, it shows. This is for the most part one hushed ride.
   Ride quality
   A contributing factor in that department is Ford's commitment to what it describes as "plushness" in ride quality. Suspension mods deliver the goods - though, on the down side, the car's handling is not as crisp as I remember it being previously. Predictable? Definitely. Exhilarating? Well . . . there is, in fact, an odd sort of damped-down feeling about the whole driving experience. The steering in particular has a ponderous quality to it.
   Our tester, as you will have noticed from the photo, was the Taurus Wagon, which comes only in the upscale SE trim line.
   Now, I have long (and annoyingly) maintained that most of the people herding big ungainly sport utes to the shopping malls and the soccer fields would be vastly better served by a wagon - and this is one of the slickest. You can accommodate five sojourners in the first two rows, plus, in a tip of the hat to yesteryear, there's a rear-facing seat out back that can accommodate munchkins. OK: Vinyl woodgrain trim for those curvaceous flanks is not, alas, on the option list, but you can't have everything, right?
   Adjustable pedals
   Our tester arrived with a fairly generous helping of options - leather, anti-lock brakes, side-impact air bags and so on. (Ford in fact has safety very much in mind with this people-hauler, pointing out it is one of the few vehicles out there to get five-star federal safety ratings for head-on crashes.)
   The most entertaining optional feature was one that addresses both comfort and safety: power-activated adjustable pedals. Hit the appropriate button on the side of the driver's seat, and the accelerator and brake pedal will move back and forth through three inches of travel. This means short drivers can position themselves farther from the steering wheel - and from airbag-related injuries. Shrewd.
   A spirited ride
   Our tester came with the standard 3-liter Vulcan V-6, which proved to be blazingly . . . adequate. Face it: 155 horses doesn't give this vehicle much in the way of urge.
   Trust me on this: Should you buy a Taurus, be it sedan or wagon, be sure you check the box for the optional 24-valve Duratec V-6, which will get you 55 more horses.
   True, whichever way you go, you'll get a car that's safe, smooth and silent. Ante up for the higher-performance engine, and you'll get one more "S" - spirited.
   You'll thank me later.
  

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