Ford Taurus Review

Cars.com experts walk you through the Ford Taurus and its important new features.

Cars.com Auto Review Hi, I’m Joe Wiesenfelder of Cars.com. I feel like a recruiter or a coach that saw potential in a car called the 500 which was then called the Taurus. Now, it’s called the Taurus again, the 2010 full sized sedan has been redone. They finally made the front end something that people can embrace and they scooped the side out. Kind of like the mid- size Taurus, you might remember the name for one as the mid-size car and not a full size car. And another thing is, it comes back in here and I think to me, that looks like someone backed into you and a lot of people that have looked at it thought the same thing. Now they’ve changed the rear too. It was again very plain. This is definitely more modern, I’m not sure how I feel about it. To my way of thinking, the 500/Taurus story has always been about the interior. It’s extremely roomy especially for the outside length. You sit up high which I think is good for people who are accustomed to SUVs. Generally speaking, I don’t think someone who owned an SUV is necessarily going to go into a large Sedan but if they want to for better fuel efficiency at least you’re sitting a little higher, there’s all wheel drive which people are used to and general versatility with the folding seats. Now, parts of the changes for this year are, they added about a half inch of legroom in this space. Actually, it took a little bit of headroom away which surprises me but with the seat down, I’ve got plenty, I mean really plenty. One disappointment though, the seats are still on my opinion kind of overstuffed and even though there is a lumbar control down here even when its all the way back, too much for me. In terms of the materials, soft, low glass stuff everywhere. I mean really soft to the touch which we tend to appreciate, maybe we over appreciate it. The gauges are brilliant. It’s just really nice and there’s no glare on them. And one thing I’ve noticed is they have the ambient lighting in discovery. You can choose the color. I came down really hard on the fusion mid-size sedan because that came on the form of a big glowing LED that you could see right on the inside and a couple shining at the passengers in the backseat. Here, they are hidden and tucked away so you get a nice glow. It’s hard to see during the day but it’s a nice touch. Also, the center control panel has a kind of an imitation metal look but it’s not the cheesy type, it’s darker. We’ve got heated and cooled seats in this model and lots of well covered stuff and not only do you change the color of some of the accent lighting, you can also change the level independently of the dashboard lights. That’s nice. Now, in terms of the driving, I would not say this is a driver’s car but at the same time, it does what it needs to do quite well. The right quality is really nice and soft without being too mushy. The engine is a 3.5 liter V6, even this loaded model of lots of features and all wheel drive. It’s quick enough, 6P transmission, shifts smoothly and you’re not going to wonder like thrown into corners and drive like a lunatic but if you do and you have to make evasive maneuvers, I think you’d be surprised at how well it holds on and how controllable it is. With the looks on the outside and equality on the inside, it seems like the Taurus finally is ready for the public to appreciate. Done like this, it might finally be a hit. For more car related news, go to Cars.com or our blog, KickingTires.net.