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Detroit, 7:28 AM
Wed Nov 25
23 posts in the last 24 hours
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06/22/09
Just wanted to remind everyone how heavy it is. Thank you.
06/22/09
It doesn't wear the design language that made the Taurus so trend-setting way back when. Now, I know that the language must evolve, but there's nothing here to even hearken back to it. It's started as a clean slate, which considering how the Taurus got started, may actually be the hearkening all by itself.
This is the step up from Chevy's similarly class leading Malibu. Say what you will, the new Bu is one helluva good car and stacks up very nicely against segment neighbors from all other manufacturers. But the new Taurus, instead of competing against the Bu in its old segment, has be remissioned to go up against the luxo tourers. That's ballsy. Better yet, it looks like Ford brought its A game to play against different economic levels of builders. That's really ballsy.
I like ballsy. Go Ford!
06/22/09
Oh, huh, look, a G8...
06/22/09
Please, don't direct me to the Crossover aisle. That shit's for the birds.
06/22/09
06/22/09
ROTFLMAO.
06/22/09
Oddly enough, this car weighs about the same as one of those big LTDs.
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06/22/09
@IamZardoz: There's overlap, but it looks like the Taurus is technically a better car. On paper, it looks like it's got more interior room (although I doubt you can get the bench seat), and although the Mercury has more power, it's still slower, isn't it? I'm glad the Panther's still around (I'm easily charmed by it), but it's not really a great car, just a charming anachronism with a few specialties that come with being the last of its kind.
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06/22/09
But this has to be one of the best Mondays yet for the American car industry: they can finally make a car that people can afford, will buy, and makes them money. Good job, Ford, now don't let up, and what is the matter with the US Focus anyway? The Euro one is a real gem who does track and field and gymnastics, and the US one is its ugly, ugly, couch-potato cousin.
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06/22/09
If you discontinue the rear wheel drive program for Australia and kill our home-grown RWD sedan and replace it with the piece of shit that Jalopnik is reviewing on this page, you might as well fuck off and never return to Australia.
Not only will you alienate dyed-in-the-wool Ford fans in Oz, you'll lose market share, street cred and the respect of car fans world wide.
Remember Ford, not everyone wants RWD to be truck only option, or have you not been paying attention to the last 10 years?
OK Jalops, nothing to see here, go about your business like before, this fight is between me and Ford!
06/22/09
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06/22/09
'open the trunk please Taurus'
'i'm afraid we can't do that dave...'
by the way, "Corsair", "Elite", "Meteor", "Verona", "Zodiac" and "Orion" are all TERRIBLE names.
Taurus may mean beat up POS to you, but it makes me think of the stone-age Fox-based LTD it replaced.
06/22/09
Corsair sounds cool, dude.
To ditch brand snobs, it needs to lose the Taurus name. It seems like a markedly good car.
06/22/09
Agree. Fifty years out of date.
06/22/09
06/22/09
Anywho... Well done, Ford. It may not be everything I'm looking for in a car, but you're getting a lot closer. I could overlook the FWD if it had a proper manual. I could overlook the lack of a clutch pedal if it were RWD. But FWD and automatic is just too much suck to be outweighed by the awesome that is the rest of the car. See what you can do about it, 'kay?
For the record: No, AWD isn't "just as good" as RWD. At least not when the engine is transversely mounted in the front. And no, a manual mode on a slushbox, no matter how well executed, will ever be as desirable to an enthusiast as a real manual transmission.
/I think I just said the same thing(s) 3 times.
06/22/09
Your Message of the Day, proudly brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department!
Anyway, RWD or AWD is surely preferable, but do you think, really, in the hands of grannies, does handling really matter? I bet on Consumer Reports they are discussing value, space, and mpgs, unlike the FWD, AWD, manual and handling on Jalopnik.
Jalopnik isn't the the whole, entire, real world, as much as I hate to say that.
06/22/09
FWD is a better choice for the vast majority of Americans who really don't care about cars. And this car is targeted straight at them.
06/22/09
I want a stick that stirs the gears, and a pedal that makes tranny and engine stop talking to each other for a few moments. Any electronic fooferaw beyond that is dumb, dumb, dumb and liable to break or lobotomize itself in the EMP when the missiles start flying. And how will I outrun the zombies then? Manual please!
Dude I'm so with you on this. I've got wit enough to do the thinking for the transmission.
06/22/09
That sand's good for anything. Buy it in the fall when it's on sale, give it to a friend with a pool in the spring so you don't have to store it. If you get really stuck, crack one open for instant traction.
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06/22/09
My girlfriend summed it up perfectly. "When I hear 'Taurus', I think of some beat up piece of shit car."
Naming it Taurus was the worst thing Ford could have done to compete against Audi's A6 and the Honda Accord.
Fuck, call it the fucking Granada, just not Taurus.
For the record, there are awesome names like "Corsair", "Elite", "Meteor", "Verona", "Zodiac" and "Orion".
Why stick with a fuddy duddy name like Taurus that's associated with cars that are complete crap?
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06/22/09
Mind you, the first-gen Taurus I had was complete junk as soon as it ticked past 100k. My parents would be unlikely to buy another Taurus, but they'd probably buy a Flex. My mother's obsessed with getting a Subaru Forester to tow a small boat to the marina with. weird.
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