From the December 1988 Issue of Car and Driver

Breakthrough cars—cars that completely rewrite the rules by which other automobiles are judged—appear but a few times a decade. The 1964 Ford Mustang was a breakthrough car, providing a combination of sexy styling and low price that no competitor could match. The 1970 Datsun 240Z was another breakthrough car, bringing a six-cylinder engine, a fully independent suspension, and exotic lines to a class previously dominated by dated British roadsters. Honda's 1976 Accord represented yet another breakthrough, forever altering compact-car standards by proving that a readily affordable, small sedan could have just as much refinement and attention to detail as a large, expensive model.

Welcome the latest automotive breakthrough: the 1989 Ford Taurus SHO. The Taurus SHO earns its spot in the breakthrough brigade for one reason: it turns the high-performance four-door-sedan class on its head. If that sounds like an overstatement, consider the SHO's qualifications. It has a 24-valve V-6 engine that produces 220 hp. From a standing start, it can reach 60 mph in 6.7 seconds. Its top speed is a hair-straightening 143 mph. It has room for five adults and a healthy allotment of luggage. And it can be purchased for less than $20,000.

View Photos TOM DREW

Still not impressed? Then you should know that no sedan in the under-$20,000 price range can touch the SHO's sizzling performance. In fact, the only production four-door sedans faster or quicker than the SHO are BMW's $71,000 750iL and $51,000 M5. The SHO outperforms such premium-priced performance sedans as Mercedes' 300E and 560SEL, the Audi 200 Turbo, and the Saab 9000 Turbo. And it completely outclasses all other sedans in the $20,000—$30,000 range.

The only cars of any kind that can approach the SHO's combination of low price and high performance are the Mustang GT, the Camaro IROC-Z, and the new Diamond-Star twins. In their highest-performance forms, all four cars are slightly quicker and less expensive than the SHO. But none can match the SHO's utility. Quite simply, the Taurus SHO offers enthusiasts more car for their dollar than anything else on the market.

SHO stands for "Super High Output"—an apt description of this Taurus's remarkable new V-6 engine. Designed and built by Yamaha, the powerplant—called "the Shogun" by insiders—is a sophisticated, 24-valve, high-performance version of the standard Taurus's 3.0-liter six-cylinder. The two engines share a few key dimensions—including the same 60-degree cylinder-bank angle, 89.0mm bore, and 80.0mm stroke—but they are completely different physically. Indeed, the Shogun engine has only a few minor parts in common with its twelve-valve sibling.

The Shogun engine is loaded with premium performance hardware. Two double-overhead-cam, four-valve-per‑cylinder heads crown the V-6. The aluminum head castings each contain three pent-roof combustion chambers; each combustion chamber is equipped with two 35mm intake valves, two 30mm exhaust valves, and a centrally located, 60,000-mile platinum-tipped spark plug. Twin camshafts lie above each row of combustion chambers; they actuate the valves via bucket tappets. A single belt, driven by the front of the crankshaft, rotates the intake cams in both heads. A chain at the back of each head links each driven intake cam with its adjacent exhaust cam.

View Photos TOM DREW

An elaborate intake manifold, nearly large enough to hide the engine that lies beneath it, makes the most of the heads' high-rpm breathing abilities without compromising low-rpm performance. The manifold incorporates two interconnected plenum chambers and twelve intake runners. Each plenum feeds three short and three long runners; the short runners are connected to the cylinders directly below each plenum, and the long runners are connected to the cylinders in the opposite cylinder bank. Below 4000 rpm, a butterfly throttle in each short runner remains closed—forcing the engine to breathe through the long runners, which are optimized for low-rpm breathing. Above 4000 rpm—where the engine's demand for air exceeds what the long runners can provide—the butterfly valves open, activating the short runners and allowing the engine to breathe freely through all twelve runners.

The Shogun engine is rev-limited to 7300 rpm—not to protect the internal components, but to keep the accessory drive system from flying apart. (The engine itself is safely able to turn more than 8500 rpm.) The engine's durability comes from its forged-steel crankshaft and connecting rods; a high-strength cast-iron cylinder block with reinforced main-bearing supports and deck faces; and a cooling system that offers full, 360-degree water jackets around the cylinders, extra-large cooling passages, and an oil-water heat exchanger. Yamaha didn't skimp when it designed this engine.

A Ford EEC-IV engine-control system regulates the Shogun engine's operation. The system is fed by a network of sensors that monitor mass airflow, barometric pressure, throttle position, engine rpm, air temperature, coolant temperature, detonation, and the oxygen content in each exhaust manifold. The EEC-IV's outputs then sequentially fire the engine's six dual-port injectors and the three coils in its distributorless ignition system. The arrangement controls combustion so efficiently that no exhaust-system air injection is required, and an EGR system is needed only in emissions-strict California.

The Shogun engine is as powerful as it is efficient, producing 220 hp at 6000 rpm and 200 pound-feet of torque at 4800. The power is transmitted to the front wheels by a Mazda-manufactured five-speed manual transaxle. No automatic is offered.

This powertrain makes the Taurus SHO the world's most powerful front-drive car. That's a potential prescription for disaster, because the dynamics of motion are not kind to muscular front-drivers. It's a daunting task for a pair of tires to simultaneously support the majority of an automobile's weight, provide directional stability, and try to transmit 220 hp to the pavement. The problem is exacerbated by hard acceleration, which unloads the front tires—as it does on all cars—and reduces the traction where a front-drive car needs it most.

Specifications VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED (EST.): $20,500

ENGINE TYPE: V-6, iron block and aluminum heads

Displacement: 182 cu in, 2986 cc

Power: 220 hp @ 6000 rpm

Torque: 200 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 106.0 in

Length: 188.4 in

Width: 70.8 in Height: 54.3 in

Curb weight: 3348 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 6.7 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 16.9 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.1 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 12.2 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 15.1 sec

Top speed: 143 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 198 ft

Roadholding, 400-ft-dia skidpad: 0.82 g FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway (projected): 21/34 mpg



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