2010 Taurus SHO

[Rob Hall]

There are still alot of surprising cars out there with available manual transmission. did you know you can buy a regular Cadillac CTS with a 6sp. manual

a Manual was a must when I bought my Subaru Impreza, and I had no issues finding one I liked. in fact I've never owned an automatic, my first car was a 95 Geo Prism, then an 01 Hyundai Accent, and then an 01 Ford Ranger. all sticks.

Yes, the CTS w/ a manual is one of the cars I'm seriously considering for my next new car. I test drove an '08 with an automatic, very sweet car.

[Aaronw]

I've also wondered what's the ratio of cars stolen that are automatics as opposed to ones that are sticks?

I frequently refer to the three speed column shift in my Land Cruiser as an anti-theft device.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Aaronw

[Rob Hall]

I frequently refer to the three speed column shift in my Land Cruiser as an anti-theft device.

Yeah, I could see that being confusing....I've never driven a car with a column shift manual..seems like it would take some getting used to.

[James Flowers]

Sadly in today's world the automatics are consistently better in every day driving, drag racing , off road racing , better control with shift points with the rpm of the engines. The number one reason really is that we are just plain lazy.

[MrObsessive]

The number one reason really is that we are just plain lazy.

Sad but very true.........

I frequently refer to the three speed column shift in my Land Cruiser as an anti-theft device.

My first car with a stick was a '65 Dodge Dart Convertible with three on the tree. It was a little intimidating at first, but after a day or so------I could shift it with no problem. The only thing I didn't like about that car was first gear wasn't synchronized.

If you weren't at a complete stop when you wanted to shift into first............CRUNCH!!

[Harry P.]

You guys and your 5 speeds make me laugh!

I have a Trek mountain bike with 21 speeds!

(PS: My car is a 5-speed...sometimes I wish I had 6 or 7... like an "ultra overdrive" to cruise on the interstate at 1500 RPM... getting maybe 30 mpg!)

[Harry P.]

Harry, Mine already does that with 'only' 5 speeds (does reverse count?). last weekend round trip between Dublin, OH & kokomo IN; ~360 miles @ avg. 31.8 MPG.

My engine runs at 2600 RPM in 5th at about 70mph. I wish I had another gear or two to drop the revs down to 1500. I probably get about 24-25 MPG highway, but I'd like a little more!

And no, reverse doesn't count!

[Rob Hall]

My engine runs at 2600 RPM in 5th at about 70mph. I wish I had another gear or two to drop the revs down to 1500. I probably get about 24-25 MPG highway, but I'd like a little more!

And no, reverse doesn't count!

My '87 Mustang GT was always easy on gas...in 5th gear at about 65, I've consistently received about 25-27MPG highway in the past..not bad for a V8. Too bad it doesn't have a 6 speed.

[MikeMc]

My DAILY driver has a 6 speed....they don't even make an automatic!!!!!

No stinkin cage for me!!!!!

[Harry P.]

My DAILY driver has a 6 speed....they don't even make an automatic!!!!!

No stinkin cage for me!!!!!

I wouldn't want to be you if you had to go out on a cold rainy day in February...

Gimme the cage!!!

[Zoom Zoom]

I had a '90 SHO; bought it as a "program car" with 10K miles, sold it at 55K miles.

What a screaming pile it was. The Yamaha engine was fantastic. The rest of the car around it was utter garbage. I was better off selling it vs. keeping it, as it was due for about $3K worth of service by the time I dumped it.

The lack of a manual wasn't what killed the V8 SHO, it was the lack of HP. It barely had 240 HP, it was slower than the V6 SHO, and the competition was quickly coming up with far more HP than the old 3.0 liter Yamaha/Ford engines. In addition, the V8 SHO's were also overpriced (as were the V6's), and had that same horrific interior design as all '96 Taurii.

Ford wasn't very good at keeping SHO owners happy. Every time SHO owners griped about the lousy transmissions/clutches/shift linkages/brakes, all they could say was "you'll LOVE the new one". Yeah, but there were plenty of us who would never consider a new one, if they could care less about what our current one was like. Then the V8 came out and it was pretty lame, so no...the "new one" was not loved at all by the V6 SHO owners. Typical of Ford of that era; I vowed never to buy another Ford product based on how awful my SHO was to deal with. It always had a list of issues to be dealt with. I'm so glad I had a good warranty; clutches didn't last much more than 25K miles. Brake rotors maybe 10K miles. The stereo failed twice. The ignition switch almost set the car on fire. The motor mounts broke early. The AC/Heat blend door failed. The driver's window failed. The sunroof rails failed. The car had rust before it was 6 mos. old. The paint was terribly pitted by acid rain damage. The thermostat failed. The oil pressure sending unit failed (good thing I saw the puddle of oil under the car). A portion of my wiring harness failed/shorted. At 55k miles the struts were almost completely worn out.

The shifter was horrific. It was the most un-satisfying manual transmission/shifter that one could ever imagine. The car was purposely under-engineered by Fauxrd. Had some sort of Mazda transmission and Mazda clutch, neither intended for the purpose it was given in the SHO. My friends called it the SHI.

I'd buy a 4 cylinder manual Fusion long before another overpriced Ford "halo" car.

And to think I sold my beloved 88 Mustang 5.0 sedan for the SHI. Idiot.

[Nick F40]

The reason why they probably went with an automatic is so that they could get a better MPG rating. And also to help it get past the new smog regulations.

I was thinking it looked like a cross between a Toyota and a Subaru. It's not a bad looking car but they need to get rid of the grill. Also does this mean they're going to be phasing out the Ford Fusion? The Fusion was the replacement for the Taurus. I also think that they didn't get as many sales with the Fusion name as they did with the Taurus name.

The SHO's were hot ###### in it's day. Yeah it has the new STi look with the Camry type styling, I think it looks freaking awsome and the stats aren't that bad but yeah, that's all it really is, passing regualtions and getting bette MPG, in traffic, a manual can get annoying but ther than that, I'd prefer manual in something like this.

...................................And that's what's contributed in part to the woefully inadequate driving on today's roads IMO. Folks yacking on the phone, putting on makeup, texting, you name it.

Having to shift gears for yourself?....................Naaah!

Oh yes, I agree 100% I guess many people don't want to deal with shifting becasue of the things you listed. I saw this very good looking girl driving this 5 speed RSX, I asked her and she said she wouldn't drive anything but manual, that's my kind of woman!!!

[Don]

I am fairly new here, subscribed and everything.

Also run the SHO Club (SHOclub.com and just got back from the press preview at the Chicago auto show. This car, the Gen IV 2010 SHO looks pretty good in person. IT does have a touch of style from a lot of modern stuff, but at least it is modern, and not frumpy like the 500/Taurus it is based on. The car has better sight lines, and looks lower and longer.

No Manual? Yea, I am not real happy about that, but I am floored they brought back the SHO name at all, and made a hi-po sedan anyway. I have an '89 that is my "race/track day" car, with 160,000 miles it has been flogged and beat on and is still solid. I also have a '91 with 50,000 California miles that drives as good as most brand new cars. The original SHO and later versions were all great driving cars, but that original V6 was not only one of the 10 best looking engines of all time, but a great engine to boot. Wish they had kept developing it. The new twin Turbo will be easier to mod though. We have had several SHO specialist mechanics already looking at that and they say it won't be hard to get another 100 hp. getting 25 extra HP from the old SHO was a job, unless you went with a blower. This has two to start with!

It is what it is, but I can't wait to drive one. Also comes in some pretty neat colors, make mine Cinnamin.

The pic is of my '91 Mocha/Mocha.

Here is a pic or two of a model of that car that a friend of mine built for me for charity, he is pretty good.

Sorry about the pics not being that good.

I love brown cars, can you tell?

Anyway, the SHO WAS dead, long live the SHO!

Don

[Harry P.]

My son and a friend of his bought a late '90s SHO a couple of years ago, they paid $900 for it. They kept it for about 2 weeks, then sold it for $1200. That was our first Ford ever in this family!