Goodbye Five Hundred, welcome back Taurus

Don’t be surprised if you are among the many whom, while familiar with the name Taurus, didn’t realize it was gone. Ford began to phase out the Taurus after they introduced the Five Hundred as a 2005 model. At Mercury dealerships, the sister vehicle to the Five Hundred, the Montego, is being replaced by the Sable.

The Taurus, first introduced in 1985, has a rich history. Two years after its introduction, it became Ford’s best selling vehicle. In 1992 it was best selling car in America, a distinction it held for five straight years.

After years of neglect from Ford and increased competition from vehicles like Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, Taurus lost its punch and ended up as a staple in rental car fleets. Ford ceased production on the Taurus in 2006 after a year of “fleet only” availability.

But Taurus’ replacement, the Five Hundred, never caught the imagination or attention of the automotive buying public. When Chrysler introduced the 300 with dramatic styling, hordes of customers bought them without factory incentives. Ford, on the other hand, played it too conservatively with the Five Hundred’s styling and relied on immediate rebates to garner interest. The fact was and is, the Five Hundred and its Mercury counterpart Montego are uninspiring, underpowered and fall far short of Ford’s self declared mission to redefine itself through “Bold Moves.”

Ford sold just a few more than 100,000 Five Hundreds in its inaugural year and fewer still in 2006. Sales for 2007 were down almost 50 percent year over year as seemingly everyone who was interested in a Five Hundred had already bought one. In addition to being boring, sales numbers indicate it was also quite forgettable.

Then, in January 2007, just as Ford introduced an upgraded Five Hundred at the Detroit Auto Show, Ford’s marketing department seemed to have had enough, literally pulling the Five Hundred badging off the show cars and slapping on the Taurus moniker.

Ford says that fewer than 30 percent of the public recognized the name Five Hundred and associated it with Ford, while more than 70 percent had strong name recognition for Taurus. They cite this as the reason for the change. Time will tell if the name change translates into sales.

What buyers will get in addition to the new name are more than 500 improvements that Ford says will make Taurus more distinctive, quieter, faster and safer. Most of those 500 changes aren’t all that exciting, in my view.

What does stand out with the new Taurus? First, gone is the underpowered 203-horsepower 3.0-liter Duratec V-6 engine and dreadful continuously variable transmission (CVT). They’ve been replaced with a 3.5-liter 263-horsepower V-6 — that’s an impressive 30 percent increase in power — and a smooth shifting six-speed automatic transmission.

We noticed an immediate difference in performance with the new combination. We’d still like to have a V-8 option, though, and the automatic doesn’t offer a manual-shift mode as do most rival vehicles.

Ford says they have also revised the suspension, modified the strut towers, and retuned the rear suspension and other engineering changes. Better? Perhaps. Noticeable? Nope. Ride like a luxury sedan? No way.

Ford also says they put a lot of time, energy and detail into delivering an interior quietness that will rival many luxury cars. The new Taurus, like the Five Hundred is built on Volvo S80 sedan underpinnings and incorporates much of that product. We thought it was acceptably quiet, nothing that would generate a spontaneous conversation about it, but quiet just the same.

We drove the Taurus on an extended drive to Pine and Strawberry over Labor Day weekend. I liked the acceleration, and found the ride to be comfortable. Interior room is excellent, save for the fact the wide center console eats up side legroom. That contributed to rear-end fatigue after a couple of hours behind the wheel. The back seat will accommodate three adults with comfort. Trunk space is huge and best in class.

Ford freshened the exterior design, adding a new front fascia and bold three-bar grille that’s an exact duplicate of what’s used on the Fusion sedan and Edge CUV. Nice improvement.

Out back, there are new clear lens taillamps — again, an improvement. Ford also added chrome vents on the front fenders; this seems to be the “in” thing to do (see Range Rover, Cadillac Escalade, Superduty Ford F250, etc).

Inside, the look is conservative yet pleasing. The wood trim on the dash, console and doors is attractive and convincing. We like the look. Seating position is high, what Ford calls Command Seating. It makes for excellent visibility.

Gauges have overly large numbers and graphics that are easy to read, obviously targeted to the boomer market. We wished the tilt steering wheel would also telescope, a feature that isn’t available, even as an option. Thankfully, the pedals will adjust if one chooses that option.

We were impressed with the fit, finish, build quality and materials. All seemed first-rate, even on our pre-production model. Paint finish was nothing short of excellent.

Taurus is available in two models: SEL and Limited. Both are four-door sedans with front-wheel drive, with optional all-wheel drive.

Ford has been heavily marketing the Taurus as the “safest full-sized car in America.” It has earned the highest five star rating from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in front and side impact crash tests and the highest rating of Good from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS also named the 2008 Taurus a Top Safety Pick (when equipped with electronic stability control).

Our tester was a fully loaded Limited with optional all-wheel drive. With all the options, the price came in at just over $34,000.

The new Taurus will please Ford loyalists but will likely generate little interest from fans of Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Time will tell whether the name change will improve sales.

We liked the changes, especially the more powerful engine and improved transmission. Both make for a much better car, especially given its attractive base price. It’s still a little disappointing in style and behind the wheel, but is, nonetheless, a much-improved vehicle.