Ford Taurus SHO
The Ford Taurus SHO is the high-performance variant of the Ford Taurus. It was originally produced by Ford from 1988 until 1999. It returned in 2009 for the 2010 model year.
The SHO was built by the same team that produced the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra. It was originally created as a limited production model for 1989. However, the car proved to be very popular and sold 15,519 units in its first model year, leading Ford to order more engines and begin series production. The SHO would go on to be produced for ten years in three generations, totaling 106,465 vehicles as of late 1999.
In 1984, executives of the Yamaha Motor Corporation signed a contract with the Ford Motor Company to develop, produce, and supply a compact 60° DOHC V6 engine based upon the existing Vulcan engine for transverse application.
There has been some confusion about the original intended use of the engine. It was thought this engine was first intended to power a mid-engine sports car, that project was canceled. Patents have been found and pictures of prototype SHO powerplants installed in the Taurus show that the original intent was for the larger FWD setup and the GN34 would have come later. There were a few GN34 prototypes produced, most with standard Vulcan engines and a few other factory swaps, a SHO Ranger being one.
Production of the SHO came to an end after the 1999 model year due to plummeting sales. In 1999, just over 3,000 SHOs were sold, which was only a sixth of the SHO's sales numbers from ten years prior. The SHO was revamped with the Sixth Generation Taurus for the 2010 model year.
First generation (1989–1991)
The SHO differed from the normal Taurus on the exterior by having a Mercury Sable hood, different bumpers, side cladding, and fog lamps. The interior also differed, with sports seats and an 8000 rpm tachometer. The SHO had a Yamaha Built V-6 engine that redlined at 7,000 RPM and became the only Taurus to feature a manual transmission since the 4-cylinder MT-5 was discontinued in that year. The transmission was designed and manufactured by Mazda and had the following gear ratios with a final drive ratio of 3.74:| Gear | Ratio | mph per 1,000 rpm | Max Speed @ 7000 rpm |
| 1st | 3.21 | 6.2 | 44 |
| 2nd | 2.09 | 9.5 | 67 |
| 3rd | 1.38 | 14.5 | 101 |
| 4th | 1.02 | 19.6 | 137 |
| 5th | 0.74 | 26.8 | 143 @ 5350 |
The first generation Taurus SHO can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds
with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds. Car and Driver reported in their December 1989 issue a top speed of.
A special edition of the SHO called the Plus package became available in late 1990. It came as part of option package #212A and contained different styling cues from the standard SHO, including a plastic 'Power Bulge' hood, chrome window trim, a plastic spoiler without the 3rd brake light, body colored stripe in the lower cladding, black mirrors, black B and C pillars, rod shifter upgrade, and a body color TAURUS badge. There were also some SHO's that came with only part of the package options known in the community as a 'partial plus'. White painted pluses had the option of white painted "slicer" wheels. 1991 was the only year that a "Mocha Frost" color option was offered. Also in 91 a green called "Deep Jewel Green Clearcoat Metallic" was available, but only with the plus option.
Second generation (1992–1995)
The SHO was redesigned for 1992, although it continued with the same powertrain as before: The Yamaha Built V-6 engine and 5-speed manual transmission. The second generation SHO borrowed from the Mercury Sable's front fenders, hood, and headlights, but used a different bumper, fog lamps, and no middle lightbar. The SHO also got unique seats, side cladding, dual exhaust, as well as a unique rear bumper. 1992 models can be visually identified by not containing a rear trunklid spoiler, having downturned exhaust tips, and only a driver's side airbag. For the 1993 model year, the rear brakes on the SHO were converted to solid discs, replacing the vented discs of almost identical dimensions that were used in the 1989–1992 model years.The lack of an automatic transmission had hurt sales, which was a situation that Ford rectified for MY 1993. A 3.2 L version of the Ford SHO V6 engine was introduced for the automatic-equipped SHO, which still had, but now boasted, a increase over the 3.0 L version. It was later discovered by enthusiasts that Ford had put less aggressive intake camshafts in the 3.2L motor to maintain the same horsepower rating as the 3.0L, while still having more torque. The 1993 to 1995 automatics use the AX4S transmission with these ratios:
| Gear | Ratio |
| 1st | 2.771 |
| 2nd | 1.543 |
| 3rd | 1.000 |
| 4th | 0.694 |
| Reverse | 2.263 |
For MY 1993, Ford did a minor redesign of the SHO interior, updating the center console. Other changes for 1993 included a trunklid spoiler, with integrated center high mount stop lamp, and "Italian" or directional Slicer wheels. With the addition of Italian slicers the SHO now had right and left specific wheels.
The 94-95 model years featured very subtle changes. They no longer came with chrome trim around the windows, the door handles were now painted body color, and black was no longer offered as an interior or exterior color.
By request of Car and Driver magazine, a SHO station wagon was created by the Car and Driver staff with the help of Ford engineers. They started with a production Taurus wagon, and from there installed SHO bodywork, including its unique front end. They then replaced the stock engine and drivetrain with SHO drivetrain. Inside, the interior was replicated of that of a high spec SHO sedan, including its sport seats, steering wheel, and included most of the SHO's equipment. The staff then tested it, and took it on a cross country trip. The model became nothing more than a one off special, and the Car and Driver staff as well as Ford admitted that the SHO wagon was created "just for fun", and was never meant to be a serious production vehicle.
This generation of SHO has become prominent in American pop culture due to comedian Conan O'Brien using a green 1992 model that he personally owns in a number of comedy sketches. He would later facetiously claim to be the main influence behind Ford's decision to revive the model in a 2009 sketch when he "reviewed" the 2010 SHO with a Ford employee.
Third generation (1996–1999)
For 1996, the SHO was redesigned, following the Ford Taurus design. Unlike its predecessors, this SHO was more refined and used less radical bodywork. It differed from the normal Taurus with different seats, Alloy wheels, bumpers, V8 drivetrain, as well as a fin being put on the driver's side windshield wiper, to keep it on the windshield at high speeds. This SHO model sold in lower numbers than the previous SHO generations, with sales peaking at 9,000 units in 1997. As a result, Ford cut the SHO when redesigning the Taurus for its fourth generation. It was also the only Ford Taurus generation with a V8 Engine.The last one rolled off the assembly line on June 18, 1999.
Engine
A 235 hp aluminum 3.4 L V8 engine with heads from Yamaha and block from Cosworth was specified for the SHO model, but it was given the same four speed transmission as the LX: the manual gearbox option was no longer offered on the SHO. Separation of the camshaft from its sprocket has been implicated in a growing number of engine failures, at around 50,000 miles. This problem can be rectified by having the camshafts welded. The number of engines with failure has been documented at about 1,200 out of about 20,000 engines. Other undocumented cases very likely exist. There was no SHO for the 2000 model year, some believed that the then President of Ford Motor Company Jac Nasser influenced the designers not to design a SHO model for he was focusing on the Premier Automotive Group that consisted of Lincoln, Jaguar, Volvo, Aston-Martin and Land Rover built under that umbrella and the SHO would detract sales to that division of Ford Motor Company.Transmission
The 1996 and later models got the AX4N transmission, which has the same gearsets as the AX4S used in the 1993 to 1995 SHO, except for the final gear at 1:3.77, but had improved torque capacity and shift quality, such as 3-2 downshifts.SARC system
As of 1996, The SHO V8 came with a Semi-Active Ride Controller, which modified the hardness and stiffness of driving at different speeds. When energized it is full soft, when no power, full hard. This included modified suspensions strut and Adaptable Assisted Steering. Each corner of the car can be in either mode and acts independently. This eliminates dive on heavy braking and drastically reduces squat on acceleration. The shock solenoids on all 4 struts and the solenoid on the ZF rack and pinion steering changes their behaviour based on suspension sensors and ABS sensor based speed detection.The 1996 and 1997 models had sensors on all 4 wheels. The 1998 models only had sensors on the 2 front wheels. The SARC suspension option was deleted on the 1999 models using the same struts of the 1996-2007 Taurus, but keeping the adjustable power steering option.
Fourth generation (2010–2019)
A month after the introduction of the sixth generation Taurus, Ford unveiled the much-awaited return of the SHO at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show.After skipping two Ford Taurus generations, the resurrected sport sedan has all-wheel drive and is largely derived from the Ford D3 platform. It features a 3.5 liter direct-injected Twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 producing at 5500 rpm and of torque at 1500-5250 rpm, mated to Ford's 6F55 six-speed SelectShift automatic transmission with a paddle- or console-activated Manual mode.
The new SHO comes with Ford's new SR1 suspension setup with MacPherson front struts and a multi-link design in the rear. This includes SHO-specific shock absorbers, springs, stabilizer bars and strut mount bushings. An optional Performance Package offers better brake pads, recalibrated steering, a "Sport Mode" for the stability control, additional cooling capacity, engine oil cooler, transmission cooler, PTU cooler, a shorter 3.16 to 1 final drive ratio, summer tires, spare tire delete, mobility kit, an Alcantara wrapped steering wheel, and will not offer adaptive cruise control.
A 2012 SHO was featured in the film Men in Black 3 as the MIB's official car.
Visually, the differences from the regular Taurus are subtle. The 2010-2012 models were even more subtle, sporting a chrome wide-toothed grill, SHO C-Pillar logo and 5-spoked wheels. The 2013-current model employs a black grille with small honeycomb-shaped/mesh-like look, 19" or optional 20" "flower" design wheels with other 20" designs in later years, and SHO fender badges replaced the C-pillar logo. They all have a decklid spoiler, dual polished stainless steel exhaust tips, new parking lamp bezels, a SHO EcoBoost rear logo.
| Gear | Ratio |
| 1st | 4.484 |
| 2nd | 2.872 |
| 3rd | 1.842 |
| 4th | 1.414 |
| 5th | 1.000 |
| 6th | 0.742 |
| Reverse | 2.88 |
| Final | 2.77, 3.16 |