2010 Ford Taurus *

Photo: Brian Finke * Heading south on the New Jersey Turnpike, Ford Motor Company engineer Jerry Engelman swings his 2010 Taurus into the left lane to pass a semi. The Taurus hesitates, slowing down, and then Engelman adjusts his heading. The car takes off. "Larry," he calls to his colleague in the back seat, "write that down!"

Engelman is driving, but just barely. The Taurus has a radar-based adaptive cruise-control system that lets him set a top speed and then simply steer while the car adjusts its velocity according to traffic. He's been weaving and changing lanes, doing between 45 and 70 mph—and hasn't touched a pedal in an hour. Over the past few years, Ford engineers have driven 60,000 miles to test, tweak, and optimize this system, which also provides collision warning alerts. They've been focused on the future in a financially dismal present—analysts actually praised Ford for losing only $1.4 billion in the first quarter. "It's a tough market," says Derrick Kuzak, VP of global product development, noting that the Taurus is important for "reestablishing us in the large-sedan market." That's executive-speak for "This car really needs to sell."

This particular tech isn't new. Jaguar and Mercedes have sold luxury cars with similar features for years, but now they're affordable. By adding them to the $26,000 Taurus, Ford is channeling Henry I, who democratized the automobile Gottlieb Daimler invented. Of course, if the technology is going to revitalize the storied automaker, it has to be fairly kick-ass. Hence the road trip.

Photo: Brian FinkeAs Engelman travels the turnpike, a radar emitter pings for potential hazards ahead and sends the data to a computer that weighs the information against velocity and other factors to determine whether you're about to crash your democratized technology. If a collision is imminent, the car warns you, primes the brakes, and tightens the seat belts. In cruise control, the radar makes sure you're a safe distance from the traffic you're following.

Engelman says the system is now pretty close to flawless. His test car and others have been recording the particulars of their trips and feeding the information into a simulator back in Michigan. He logged that hesitation on the turnpike so he could examine it later. When he did, he found a glitch: The radar saw the two sides of the semi as distinct vehicles. "If the truck were hugging the left side of the right lane, the system would think that edge was a car in the left lane," he explains. He used the data accumulated on his trip to test a few patches and fixed the problem.

The radar-equipped Taurus goes on sale this summer, but the company plans to incorporate the system into all of its vehicles. Ford has survived the market slump largely because of its financial reserves, but it will have to sell some cars to thrive again. And innovation isn't cheap. "Ford is burning through cash," says UBS automotive analyst Colin Langan. "If they don't improve—and I think they will—they'll be facing the fate of GM and Chrysler."

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