In May of this year, I was contacted by a marketing company that represents Ford and asked if I wanted to test drive a vehicle for a few days. That vehicle was the Lincoln MKS and it was an absolute joy to drive as I stated in my review, “I’ve never driven a more comfortable ride that has enough power to take on most vehicles on the road.” You can read the rest of that review, here.
Well, a few months later, the same group contacted me again about a promotion they were running involving the brand new 2010 Ford Taurus. The new Taurus is completely redesigned with some of the most advanced features seen in a full-size sedan and the promotion involved a road trip a season opener NFL game. I applied and was picked as one of the winners! The full details of my road trip were outlined in this post.
The drive was just over 800 miles or 13 hours of non-stop driving through farm country, mountains, cities and flat highways. Being the adventurous person that I am, I accepted the offer and made my way up to Seattle for the Seahawks’ opening game against the St. Louis Rams.
The Ford Taurus exceeded all expectations of what Ford could deliver in a car that’s sticker price is under $50K. The all new Taurus starts at $25K but with every feature loaded on this vehicle, it soared to just over $40K. Regardless, every addition to this vehicle enhanced the experience and would be on my Taurus if I was in the market for a new car.
Before I begin, I’d like to note that this is not a professional car review. I’m just a blogger who absolutely loved test driving this fine work of craftsmanship on wheels. Let’s begin.
The exterior of this car was aggressive, stylish and a much needed redesign to the Taurus I grew up with. Accents on the front & hood added the look of speed with a hint of sport that I’d expect from a Camaro or Mustang. The back of the Taurus had a raised look which made the car look as if it was leaning forward. This is a similar look that the Lincoln MKS had too. The raised rear didn’t impair the my viewing angle when looking in the rear-view mirror but it did make for much more room in the trunk than I’m used to after driving import cars for so long. If there’s one takeaway from domestic cars, it’s that the trunk is huge and I love it! In fact, the trunk was so large that I slept in it! I’m not ashamed to admit it but maybe that’s all I should say about that!
I unlocked the vehicle and hopped in. The plus leather and stylish interior did not look like that of a Taurus. There were curves, accents & wood finish that looked like I was sitting in a Jaguar minus that classic analog clock that Jaguars have. Yes this was a modern sedan that I would be happy in even after 13 hours of driving it. In fact, every time I got out of the car to pump gas or use the restroom, my body ached to get back in because it was that comfortable!
Technology was not absent from this vehicle. The best part was that the Taurus contained technology that improved the safety of its occupants where most features act to distract the driver and passengers. Here are the features that completely wowed me!
- Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning
- Intelligent Access with Push Button Start
- MyKey parental programmability
- Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert
- Rain-Sensing Wipers
- EasyFuel capless refueling
- Ford SYNC and Voice-Activated Navigation with SIRIUS Travel Link
- In-Truck safety lever (you can get out of the trunk if locked in)
- Auto-lighting based on outdoor conditions
Here are some extra features that enhanced the comfort of the ride:
- Interior “mood” lighting
- Dual-Climate Controls
- Heated & Cooled Seats
- Sony Surround Sound Stereo system
- Bluetooth & USB Media support (music playback & hands-free calling)
- Sun / Moon roof
I’d like to elaborate more on each feature to review exactly what I loved about each one. I have very little to say negatively about any of these features.
Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning – This is one of my favorite features. I actually detailed my love of this features in a few YouTube videos (here & here). Basically, with cruise control enabled, the car will slow down based on a preference you set on the distance you want to keep between you and other vehicles in front of you. It will slow down and if an imminent collision is expected, the car will flash a red bar on your windshield, the music you’re listening too will mute and the car will begin braking as needed. This feature worked even when I was in complete control and ready to his the brakes. It wasn’t too sensitive and was perfect as I used it at all times while on the highway. ACC even resumed the speed you were going once the cars in front of you either move over or speed up themselves. You can set it to 72MPH and it will remain at 64 as the cars are in front of you and then resume shortly afterward. The system uses radar to judge the distance between you and other cars. One thing I found interesting was at 2AM on a rainy mountain road, I had cruise control enabled and the car would disable the cruise control. I don’t know if it was the winy roads, rain or darkness but when the car was unable to judge radar, cruise control would auto-disable.
Intelligent Access with Push Button Start – There were those shiny red lit numbers on the exterior of the car for easy keyless access. I didn’t use those since the key I had contained a lock / unlock button. Once inside the car, I started it with the push of a button but only if the key was in the car. It just knew and I honestly don’t know how that even works!
MyKey parental programmability – As soon as I turned on the ignition, the seat adjusted for me to the last position and I was ready to go! There were probably other features like mirror position and radio presets but I didn’t get into those since I was the only person driving the vehicle.
Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert – This was amazing! The car let me know when a vehicle or object were beside me and by the end of the trip, I stopped paying attention and looking over before changing lanes.
Rain-Sensing Wipers – These worked flawlessly! It rained on the drive home and the wipers worked perfectly to clear away water from the windshield. I have zero complaints here!
EasyFuel capless refueling – This totally just makes forgetting your gas cap a thing of the past. Open the lid and insert fuel pump. That’s it!
Ford SYNC and Voice-Activated Navigation with SIRIUS Travel Link – This was a feature partly available on the Lincoln MKS but the SIRIUS Travel Link wasn’t enabled. The travel link shows local prices of fuel w/ directions, a weather report and even local movie listings. The coolest thing is that Travel Link warns me when there is traffic delays ahead or construction so I can avoid it and re-route. Very smart!
In-Truck safety lever (you can get out of the trunk if locked in) – On Saturday night, I didn’t feel like getting a hotel for 4 hours since I had to be up so early so I parked near the Seahawks’ Stadium so I could also snag one of the free parking spots before the big game! Sadly, the area was full of questionable activity so instead of risking my safety of sleeping in the car for everyone to see, I decided to camp out in the trunk. It was roomy, comfortable and very quiet! I expected that I would need the trunk button on the included key set but when I got in, there was a level that I could pull to get out. This safety feature was pretty cool when my alarm went off at 6:30AM!
Auto-lighting based on outdoor conditions – The car’s dashboard & headlights would auto-enable once the outdoor lighting dropped at dusk or during a storm. very intelligent!
Interior “mood” lighting – The inside of the car had 5 customizable colors with different brightness intensities. It sounds tacky but made the ride a lot more comfortable as I could see my way around but was tame enough that it didn’t distract driving at all. You can see a video & picture of it.
Dual-Climate Control – I rode alone but I enjoy cars that have dual-climate control. I generally have a very warm body temperature and like it extra cold.
Heated & Cooled Seats – Due to my hot body temperature, I can’t stand heated seats but I used the cooled steas nearly the entire trip! It was pure bliss!
Sony Surround Sound Stereo system – Jay-Z’s new album dropped right before going on my trip and I listened to it time after time. The SONY system was exceptional!
Bluetooth & USB Media support (music playback & hands-free calling) – I had technical issues with this feature in the Lincoln MKS w/ iPhone 3G. My iPhone 3GS worked great in the Ford Taurus. I could stream music via Bluetooth or USB. The system was flawless and I used it for the entire trip! Music would pause when a call came in.
The Ford Taurus was a technical wonder with an exceptional exterior and interior! There was certainly power behind the wheel but I was less than impressed by handling, park-ability and the size of the car.
The Taurus was fast, very fast! I read reviews before picking up the vehicle that stated you usually are going faster than you think and this happened a few times. I’d be on the Interstate going 74 miles per hour and decide to pass a truck and suddenly was at 98 mph. I admit to breaking the law because I quickly slowed down but that speed difference happened in seconds after hitting the gas.
0-60 tests, I didn’t do but I was impressed with the overall speed of the car. Handling is another story. Overall safety handling like going down a mountain pass at 65 miles per hour in the rain was perfect. I never lost control of the car or heard tire noise going around curves. Overall, the vehicle was extremely well built from a safety standpoint but I never quite felt a sporty aspect to this car. The design suggestions aggressive sport handling but the reality is that this is a luxury sedan that’s perfect for businessmen (and women) and it’s strong points are design and interior comfort.
Gas mileage was okay. I got 24 miles per gallon on the interstate and 19 within Seattle and Portland city limits. It’s not 30MPG like most import auto-makers get but for a powerful and VERY HEAVY car, I was satisfied by the gas mileage.
Overall, I’m happy with the Ford Taurus. Now I need to justify to myself the fact that I need one RIGHT NOW. I had the most fun driving this car and yes I drove it for a total of 32 hours over the course of 3 days! However, I still loved every moment of it and never thought how tired I was of driving this amazing vehicle! Ford has made luxury affordable and I loved every moment of it!
I encourage you to check out the videos & photos I took on YOUTUBE & FLICKR.