It looks as if the guys over at fordbastards.org can take one bastard off their list… or can they?

Sadly enough the SHO is not what it’s cracked up to be, but that is NOT a bad thing, it’s just not the SHO we were expecting. What we got instead was one bad ass full sized sedan. Gone are the days when the Taurus was the boring beige sedan of the rental car stables. The 2010 Taurus is beige done right and if you opt for the SHO version you will be pleased.

The 2010 Taurus SHO makes one hell of a sleeper thanks to it’s austere exterior. Anyone that misses the small SHO badge on the trunk will be surprised when you uncork that twin turbo v6 monster hiding under the hood. And yes it is a monster, but a mild mannered one. Cruising at highway speeds, Ford’s EcoBoost v6 lopes along at 1200 rpms, but a slight blip of the throttle raises the engine to 1500 rpm where it makes peak torque all the way to 5200 rpm. That hefty torque curve sends the SHO screaming to 60 mph in just over 5 seconds and then it rockets on to the quarter mile in just 13.92 seconds at 100 mph! Hard to believe that from a 5.5ft tall 4,000 lbs 4 doors sedan, but the video below proves it.

It may have one bad ass motor and a good 6 speed electronic gear box, but the spongy suspension, and Good Year all season tires will left me wanting more in the handling department. In hard corners there’s just too much body roll, and the all wheel drive system is setup to bias the front wheels, so it suffers from massive under steer thanks to the all season tires and the SHO’s 2 ton bulk. It doesn’t end there, as soon as the under steer is under control, the all wheel drive system sends power to the rear wheels resulting in tail whipping over steer.

So, no the Taurus holds no love for the twisty bits of road, but to dwell on the lack luster handling would be to miss the point of this new Taurus SHO. Ford may have missed the mark on recreating the old SHO, but what they ended up with instead is one of the best highway cruisers I have ever driven.

The car looks the part too, it’s low slung appearance hides it’s 5.5 height and it’s massive bulk. Earl Lucas has done a wonderful job with the exterior styling. The huge 20 inch tall wheels and low profile tires give the Taurus SHO an aggressive stance. That combined with the raking shoulder line, narrow projector style headlights, and a touch of chrome in the grill, narrow windows, and faux finder vents all serve to give the 2010 Taurus SHO an attractive yet unassuming design… beige done right. Who better to tell us about the exterior design that Earl Lucas himself as he was nice enough to give us a wonderful interview about his role in designing the exterior of the 2010 Taurus, which we’ve included below.

The interior of the Taurus SHO is one of the best in it’s class. Every single person I have seen get in to a new Taurus has said exactly the same thing, “Wow! This is a Taurus?” The exterior may have a subdued attractiveness but the interior fit and finish is anything but subdued. There is no mistaking the comfort and luxury afforded the occupants of the 2010 Taurus.

The heated and ventilated front seats are equipped with both 5 way adjustable lumbar support, and massaging seat backs / bases. Making them comfortable even on the longest of trips. The back seats are more than comfortable and have ample space for three adults. They are even equipped with seat heaters and rear air-conditioning vents.

The high center console in it’s slick piano black finish and the wraparound dash, give the feeling of sitting in a very large cockpit although some of the head unit controls are a bit difficult to reach. All of the storage bins are hidden under flush mounted covers that open by merely touching them. Under one of those covers hides the buttons that control the rear window shade and the ambient lights located throughout the interior.

With a tech options list that reads like a Mercedes: blind spot detectors, active cruise control, a collision detection system that primes the breaks in preparation for an emergency stop, back up cameras, back up sensors, and cross traffic alert that keep you safe in those ever dangerous mall parking lots; the new Taurus SHO has everything you could imagine in a car but for me in the end it is Ford’s Sync system that really rises to the top as one option I can’t do with out. Sync’s voice activation makes using the system’s many features very intuitive such as asking for directions; simply say Italian food and Sync will show you a list of nearby Italian eateries.

Sync’s Bluetooth interface allows complete voice control over your cell phones contacts list by simply loading your contacts into the system. Add to that A2DP connectivity, which allows you to stream your music (or even the Burnout Radio podcasts) wirelessly to your cars speaks. No wires to plug in, and nothing to connect.

I could go on for days singing the praises of Ford’s Sync system but that is for another article, suffice to say, Sync is the icing on the cake that is the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO.

So, no the new SHO is not what we were expecting, it’s something completely different. What it turned out to be, is possibly the best luxury sedan under $45,000.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

123456►

It’s time for a bonus round! So after yesterday’s podcast I went back out to visit with Adam Barrera after a fun filled night at the final Scion Drag-n-Brag hosted at Texas MotorSpeedway where we exposed the scandal at Mayor’s Cup Challenge Media Race. Then we speculate on the “What is 230?” debate. (now we know it’s the proposed gas mileage for the Chevy Volt) and after all that we wrap up the cast with a round table discussion of the new 2010 Taurus SHO! Be on the look out for our video review which should be posted in the next few days. After we wrapped up the show we headed out to the Yellow Rose Classic which is an all Ford car show put on at the Amon Carter Museam over in Fort Worth by the North Texas Mustang Club. Its too bad Nick couldn’t make it for this cast. He had some excuse about having to work a real job or something like that.

Yup thats right, Ford doesn’t suck! At least they won’t in 2010 when they release the Taurus, the Fusion, and the new Mustang. While GM has increased their suckage 10 fold by canning their HPVO program (high performance vehicle operations), and Top Gear managed to crash land a helicopter in New Zeland. Just so you know, we screwed up the background music in the next couple of episodes, so it’s a bit to loud during the news.