Dude, this car ended up being a turd. I owned one and it was fun but my 91 was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. It should have had a manual trans and all wheel drive like it was supposed to have. Instead we got a duratec with Yamaha heads with cams that had PRESSED on cam gears which tended to slip and promptly destroy the valves. Had so much potential and delivered short. No aftermarket and wrong wheel drive. So sad. Good video man.
man u broke my heart bro. i have a taurus and when I learned about this car i wanted it. are there any more american sleepers from 80's or 90's out there besides the foxbody and the contour svt? btw i'm a noob to the car scene and i've looked but thats all i could find. thanx.
@@mattjohnston7686 works out to about 207ci. Made good power for it's size at the time but like he said the cam and sprocket was a problem. It was no mustang killer unless it was a completely stock auto since they were slow as shit. Back then we got 5.0's with stock motor, pulleys, short belt, tune, gears and slicks/drag radials in the mid to low 12s easy back then if you could drive stick.
Even for late 90's 235 HP from a v8 was just adequate though being only 3.4 liters makes it acceptable. Now imagine if it had the previous gen's V6 manual combo.
Just adequate? And what was the 4.6 modular putting out in the Crown Vic and Marquis? There were no engines NORMALLY ASPIERATED that small making much over 200hp. ! That little SHO v8 was a stand out !!
“In a world where fewer and fewer sleepers are being made” completely agree with that line. Far too many generic transportation appliances on the road today.
This joke of a channel is hopefully a big immitation of RCR and if you can't accept that you're more blindly devoted than all of the christian religion is to Donald Trump. too soon? Besides the point it's a tryhard attempt to make it sound like Mr RcR and the tryhard efforts probably debuted way before I got here, so give me a BALL TOUCH and kindly leave this comment section before I give that wheezing trans-am a cleveland steamer and huck it out the window. :-)
If memory serves me correctly, Yamaha sent the 3.0 V6 motor to Ford with around 320 horsepower. Ford then detuned it so it wouldn't beat the Mustang at the time.
@Deez Nuts i agree...the gt should have had an engine similar to what the cobra had in 93 and the cobra should have got a 351 similar to what was in the 95 r. That would have more than been enough to dispatch of the lt1s of the day. Same with the mod motors the gt should have had the 4.6 4v and the 5.4 4v from the r should have found its way into regular cobras (pre terminator) the terminator could have been the same concept except with a 5.4 not 4.6 and supercharged...similar to the gt500 but with less weight and stronger manly h beams that the cobra came with over the weaker rods from the gt500s. I been saying this for years it wouldnt have been gm first like it was in the 90s and early 2000s ford would have em then if theyd just done that.
A 320HP FWD car from the 90s would have torn itself apart. Even the latest 250HP Focus STs struggle with wheel hop, torque steer and horrendous understeer WOT. Once the Focus ST gets up to 300HP quite a bit of it is wasted without making some significant improvements to the car.
@@GigoloSoldier definitely would have needed work from the factory. Limited slip diffs worked wonders in those. As well as upgraded half shafts. But the week point was the 3rd gear in the 5 speed manual trans. There were tons of 350-500hp SHO's back in the day. Rode in one supercharged one.
You think thats impressive you should check out the 1989 ford taurus sho 5 speed manual with a yamaha v6 and that came from the factory with 220 horsepower
There's a tunning company called livernois which I think is located in Dearborn Michigan that claims to give you 50 more horses, they offer delivery services too I think
@@CSM.HBJ-Dogg you mean aisin transmission. They're very good for these fwd applications just like the V6 Camrys. I'm sure it would do wonders for the V8 Taurus. Atleast be able to handle the power and torque of this one.
Lee Powers like my GTO it’s pretty obvious The big manufactures in aus have a better idea of fun. 1st.. RWD. 2nd simplicity. I’m so thankful that bob lutz being a horsepower nut decided to start importing from AUS. Sad ford didn’t do that same
Even so, the Third Generation Ford Taurus SHO still has LOTS of potential. Moreover, in the right hands, it could rival, if not surpass, the FPV Falcon of the 2008-2016 era from Australia, and, with even more modifications, could theoretically rival even the 2012-2014 Shelby 1000 in the terms of sheer horsepower and torque. Moreover, things like better shocks, suspension, and a conversion from Front Wheel Drive to Rear Wheel Drive, as well as a dual clutch, six to eight speed manual transmission, could make it a much better vehicle, as well as a more trapezoidal rear window, Lee Powers.
I had one and fixed the cam issues and sold after I put 180k on it. The original transmission needed some work (cleaned valve body if I remember correctly) but NOT replaced and held up. It was not as fast as my gen 1 or gen 2 sho (IMO) it was a great car and super comfortable to drive . They also sounded very cool! Very small V8 @3.4 liters too .
I saw one at the junkyard. It was a work of art. Engine presentation was gorgeous. Interior felt special. Too had about the motor issues. That motor in an RWD S2000 would have been a world beater.
Well the problem is, the engine was transverse for FWD vs longitudinal for RWD. So there would be the need for some serious fab work. Not impossible though!
The only issue the Yamaha v8 in the Taurus had was the cam gears would separate from the shaft. They recalled them and welded the cam gears on for the recall fix.
@@TheShadow2056 I NEVER heard of this 'recall'. I have owned my GEN 3 BEFORE any cam issues appeared. The BIG issue was getting FORD to cover this! We were ALL ON OUR OWN with this one. Many experimented with EPOXY and 'pinning' the sprockets. HOWEVER, owners with welding knowledge figured it out on their own and thus began the CAM WELD PARTYS. This all started around 2002. Please check your facts, thanks.
The sho was faster than gtp stock. I know because mine was 100% bone stock. I'm not talking about modded because there is little to no modifications you can do to the v8 sho.
GTP would take the SHO all day long. Two of my buddies that were cousins had both. They had rich daddy's. They used to race all the time. The GTP would pull harder down low and mid-range. The SHO up top. When the SHO would shift it would lose ground everytime. Always at the rear bumper of the GTP
A friend had I believe a gen-2 with a five speed. I drove it one time...The thing was absolutely insane. Even with a motor mount going bad I'd have put it up against a 5.0.
My cousin had one and that thing hauled so much tail. He passed away several years ago from a life long illness of cystic fibrosis. A terrible disease. God rest his soul. 👏🏻
My dad owned a 1991 Taurus SHO MTX, its frame went out in 2004 at 450,225 miles... Great car. Before it went out, he bought his 1998 SHO and my mom a Taurus LX with the 24valve at the same time. Both got over 300,000 miles before the frames went out on those and split on half. I grew up in these, and I remember my dad occasionally challenging guys with much more performance oriented cars. We still have the manuals for these old Yamaha engines that include the tollerances for rebuilds.. they are great cars!
Just now seeing this 4 years later for some reason. Very well done! Great piece. That car needed another 60 HP and a quality manual. Hard to believe they designed that to be a valve interference engine.
@@Johnnytahoe19 would be too much work and Money for a fwd beater. These are cool and if you can only afford a cheap car it's a cool fun cheap car but to start throwing Money at it... I wouldn't
When I was a kid my parents had an XC90 V8. The 4.4 liter Yamaha V8 in that was essentially the SHO V8 with a larger bore and die cast heads and block as opposed to sand cast. It shares its V angle, bore spacing, stroke, and journal diameter with the SHO.
Cams were welded before anything catastrophic happened it’s been a great car for the 5 years I’ve owned it not to mention great sounding and it feels a lot faster than it is love the way this car pulls to 7000 rpm i also have a 95 camaro z28 and a Lexus gs430 and i will still always love my sho and the way it drives it’s like nothing else
Lincoln continental - very similar, shares front suspension, but DOHC 4.6L. I have a Lexus GS 350 and I think the Lincoln is a MUCH BETTER CAR. They are both great though.
@@alexmills1329 All of them do have that issue. There was not merely a bad batch of cams. It’s not a matter of if they will fail, but when. If you don’t drive the car hard, then it may never happen, but that’s the whole point of having an SHO.
@Chris Jacobs no they didn't. The Impala weighed at least 300 pounds more and had the same horsepower. It only beat the SHO in torque 300 ft lbs to 240 ft lbs.....pretty pathetic considering it had 2.2 liters on it.
I drove one with 38 thousand kms on it when i worked at a ford dealership. i was returning it to the customers house and the drive back fella was flying in the courtesy van to get there. So i gave the thing a punch and the sound was amazing. i must say that the engine was one of the coolest sounding engines i had ever heard in a North american made car. The performance was ok, yet that sound was the icing on the cake.
Scott Hawks i said low key. As in it’s the car drug dealers use to hide in because it’s such a common car. Like driving long distances. 300 is an obvious car for drug dealers that want to look like fake ballers.
It was. They didn't call it the turd gen SHO for no good reason. Don't listen to the majority of these comments which come from benighted gen Z'er recalcitrants who have zero knowledge of this vehicle, much less experience. The second gen SHO was the greatest SHO, until the ecoboost variant that is. The third gen was a major let down, and that is also arguably the worst Taurus platform in general. That V8 was horrendous. It was under powered, thirsty, a major inconvenience to work on, and bolted to one of the worst transmissions of all time. There is also the detail that the AJ Duratec V6 variant was just as powerful, and not as unreliable or inconvenient to work on. This was the same powerplant found in some Jaguars of the time. Finally, Ford had another V8 fwd they could have put in here which would have been a much better choice imo. The 4v 4.6 found in the Continental at the time marketed as InTech. This was a fwd layout putting out almost 280 hp.
I have had two 1995 manual SHOs. Loved them. Can handle a lot of upgrades but nothing can help the cornering or the light front end and being fwd this makes for a burn out car.
I use to love racing these w/my 92 MTX! Absolutely SMOKED these turds! Mine had a little bit of work on it (3.2 ported/polished heads, ported/polished intake, double bee hive springs, stage 2 cams from SHO shop, CAI, LPM programmed for said cams & 8300 rpm redline, Quaife LSD, 12lb lightened flywheel from SHO Shop, 3 puck carbon/ceramic clutch kit, chrio-hardened trans gears, KW fully adjustable coil overs, slotted front strut towers w/adjustable plates from SHO Shop, Baer brakes front & rear, 18” Enkie wheels, 7/8” front and 1”rear sway bars, Energy Suspension bushings everywhere I could, solid aluminum engine cradle bushings, SHO Shop subframe connectors, SHO Shop front & rear strut tower bars, SHO Shop short throw shifter, SHO Shop solid engine & trans mounts, carbon fiber hood and trunk lid, Borla cat back w/gutted cats, AEM 385LPH fuel pump, 78lb injectors to match the dry NItrous Express system)! Made just under 330 hp to the ground before the nitrous. Biggest jets I ran were rated for 100hp. Even w/the LSD this thing was a handful!!! Actually mine could walk away from many different cars that it shouldn’t have been able too! However, granted I did have a few dollars into it! Had 20 good years with it but finally had to let go die to the fact my driveway was starting to look like a used car lot!
I owned a '98 and a '99 and am ashamed to say I thought they were great cars, even though I went through 3 transmissions and 1 $7000 engine rebuild. Then I drove an '02 Maxima SE with the 6-speed manual and my bubble shattered. I couldn't beleive the two were in the same class, let alone both called cars. There should've been a different name for it, the Nissan was so far ahead of the Ford in every way. Fit and finish, interior design and quality, and the performance. Oh the performance. I bought the Mad Max and never looked back. Moved to the G35 after that, while Ford was still wallowing in the mud and wondering why they were going bankrupt. Ford has woken up and come a long way since then. I'd consider Ford against any car maker now. But as a previous crazed and uninformed Ford fan boi, I now say that the late '90s and early '00s was a pathetic period for Ford.
i never owned a sho ( a friend had both versions, so ive ridden in and driven the cars), but i did have a 02 maxima. like you said, so much difference between them it was crazy. that maxima was a damn rocket!
Yes! I have a 97 Ford Taurus 232k miles rebuilt heads, and it's on its 3rd tranny. But in my possession it's only had one transmission rebuilt. I paid $500 for it and less than 1 year later transmission went out $2100 later it's still fine to this day.
@thedog556 Ford got 5.9 billion dollars from the government in bailout money, which they said they needed or they'd go bankrupt. I never said they went bankrupt. I said they were going bankrupt. And I agree with you about Nissan. I wasn't comparing today's vehicles. This video and thread is about the companies and cars 15 to 20 years ago - not nowadays. Like i said in my comment, Ford makes good vehicles today.
zoran stefanovic no, the cam sprocket was pressed on, and with time would loosen and free-spin causing the valves and pistons to contact. Welding the sprocket to the camshaft ensured this would never happen. Also meant you could never replace the camshaft seal either, but you picked and choose your battles.
@@LynxStarAuto ....ohhhh I see.. fuck I hate press on cam sprockets... its idiotic... I wonder if you could braze it for future removal of cams to get to the seals
I saw someone driving one of these when I was in Florida. He had a leather vest, fingerless gloves, and a daughter (I hope) with cornrows in the passenger seat. Very interesting family
Wow this brings back memories I had one of these with a STS rear mounted turbo when that was a thing.I blew it up in about a month after boost but man that was a fun month of tire smoke and torque steer lol
I’ve owned this car for 3 and half years. Besides the basic maintenance, it’s been awesome. Glad more light is being shed on it. Throw in different sway bars, and couple of other mods, this car oversteers already, put those in, the car handles fantastic. You would think it handles like a dog, it doesn’t- However, the stock AX4N transmission is garbage, it holds back the car- if this car came in manual- it would’ve great.
I’ve had a ‘96 Cobra, an ‘03 Mach 1, & two focus SVTs right now(one super clean & one donor). I like these lil niche cars. I was thinking about a SHO or a Contour SVT next. I’m not rich, these cars are great deals. (PS, the Mach 1 was wrecked when I bought it and total to fix was just over $6500. Total including what I paid for it) it taught me a lot about body work and welding.
Why. Do you say. That? Is it because. His cadence seems to cut sentences. In the middle instead of at the. End? It seems like he's being fed the lines by a glitchy teleprompter. Or he just doesn't read very well and gets tripped up by some words and never did a dry run of the script.
And just so everyone knows the sho motor in both forms v6&v8 were both Yamaha in board boat motors the induction system I the exact same as the vmax boat motor if you don't believe me look it up
I don't believe you.Yamaha wasn't making 4 stroke outboard motors when Yamaha helped Ford with those SHO engines. This is how I remember reading about the assembly. The bottom part of the engine,block,crank,etc. was done in Detroit or Canada.Then it was shipped by plane to Japan.Yamaha did the top end and final assembly. Then it was shipped to Detroit where it was coupled with the tranny. This process was expensive plus the cars were not selling as a result the project was killed.
Well.... It's mostly right. I was a technician at Ford performance specialists/FPS automotive and went through the Ford asset program. We specialized in SHO's. The V6 cars were way nastier and performance oriented than the V8 3rd gen. As a matter of fact Ford touted it as their BMW 745 luxury sedan. So real performance wasn't their concern. Three major downfalls 1.Auto only (where as the V6 had a manual option 2. Lack of real performance from a V8, only 15 more HP than the fire breathing V6 3. Camshafts The camshaft sprocket/love issue came about because of the new manufacturing process. Hollow tube and where the lobes and sprockets were to be placed they had tiny ridges to hold them in place. Then they pulled a ball through the tube expanding it and"wedging" the lobes/sprockets onto the tube. Didn't work out so well - Ford did not use locktite on the lobes and sprockets. The TSB called for them to PIN the lobes/sprockets to the shaft using a roll pin and drilling through. welding also was an option performed by outside shops but was prone to warping because of the heat given off by the weld. The engine for the V6 was 100% made and designed by Yamaha and shipped here. The V8 used a modified duratec 2.5 v6 block with two cylinders added. Yamaha designed the heads ( and unfortunately the exhaust ports are way too big for the engines N/A set up. The V6 was way more of an exotic engine and those cars are simply bad ass with a few tweaks and mods. The year it debuted it had the highest HP per liter and any engine ever made OEM
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the V8 SHO could never beat a Mustang GT especially that 2002 GT in the video. I love my 97 SHO, but from the factory it would struggle to run a 15.8 in the 1/4 mile. And the SHO only had 235 hp and 230 Tq. Nevertheless, I love my SHO, but my Mustang ran circles around it!
I remember driving a 93 SHO with a 5 speed and it was something. I drove a 98 V8 and felt like something was missing. They were great, but lacked the driver experience of a manual gear box. For people who argue about the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP vs SHO... 97 changed things a bit. The 4t65HD was far superior to the 4t60E and the L67 was better on paper than the LQ1. Truth... the LQ1 had better numbers, but was detuned because the transaxle couldn't handle the power which was around 300. Loved all those cars, but would instead chose a 89-90 Grand Prix Turbo Coupe and upgrade the transmission and turbo. That would have been the car worth the extra money spent back then...
Had a 98 SHO in High School. It was the ultimate sleeper... and nobody kept up on a 3 mile run trip to school. lol. Id crush Cameros, Stangs, BMWs, GTIs and so on. Best gift my lovely mom purchased from Ford in Sterling, Va... And Yes, its still in the family running strong with 288k!!!! Now I have a new SHO. joined forces with my Raptor :)--- Have a nice day people!
Dude, I owned a open exhaust welded cam CAI 97 SHO and a stock 93 Trans Am at the same time. The TA raped that SHO every. single. race. By the time both hit 60 the TA had 10 to 12 car lengths on the SHO and continually pulled on it. Get real dude.
2 years ago I sold a one owner 97 SHO that had 227,000 miles on the odometer. Same engine same transmission car ran excellent. Bought for $425 and sold it for 1300.The Car is still running at 252,000mi. Now (even after i gave it about 20 real good rips before i sold it)
Wow, you really fanboyed hard on this heavy sedan. My wife had a Supercharged Buick Regal GS that made the same power. You aren't "slaying" mustangs with 240hp. Modified maybe you'll slowly walk them but that's it. And at the end of the day you are still driving a giant used piece of soap.
Your wifes car wasnt an sho. You cant compare the two. Jeez. Btw, stock mustang gt vs stock sho, goes to the sho. All you need to do is google "is a taurus sho faster than a mustang gt". Surprise Surprise, it's faster than the mustang gt of the same era. Its faster than c4 and c5 corvette. Do some research. I already gave you the search term to look for.
They have even more problems than the V8 ones. Those engines had turbocharger pipes leaking, coolant entering into the crankcase because of poorly engineered timing chain driven water pump, PTU unit failures, and electric power steering failure. They were not very reliable.
Kurt Cobain that’s nothing special bro gm would just slap 5.3 from there’s trucks into the cars and call it performance . This is nothing related sho had its own engine.
Smurfeco 2.3 at the end of the day it still had 70 more horsepower and almost 100 ft-ibs more torque from the factory and I’m sure triple the amount of aftermarket part available and you don’t have to worry about the cam gear coming loose and destroying the engine 🤷🏻♂️ might’ve just been a truck engine but you can’t beat a LS
Put red lock tight on a Honda crank bolt,tell me if it stays on there.Nevermind,you would have to forcibly break the head off and drill it out to get it out of there.So Fords idea fix,although cheap,worked.
as a honda guy i agree. but the cam does more. id trust a weld all day. but if i were to deicde to put money into a ford itd be this and id start with some proper pistons and valvetrain/cams to try and avoid this issue
Because sadly, the uploader was very vague. Firstly, the chain setup on these engines is nothing like a Honda where you have one gear bolted to a camshaft. Ford used the internal dual drive system to save room. Similar to the Toyota 5SFE. There is one sprocket on the outside, driven by a chain, connected to the crankshaft. This is your main drive. Then there are two smaller gears on the inside (behind the main sprocket) driven by an auxiliary chain which drives both camshafts in unison. The design flaw was that the auxiliary gear behind the main drive had a press fit to the camshaft itself, and there was one big bolt that ran from the main sprocket, all the way to the inside aux gear. Through the years, the bolt would loosen, and also the gears would loosen on the cams themselves.
That era SHO has a really neat engine, it being a small displacement very high revving V8, but little else. Front wheel drive with only an auto trans, and the cool motor can't easily make much more power than it already does (yeah I know somebody's cousin had a twin-charged sleeved manual swapped SHO with NOS, but they're not like an LS or any of the Japanese V6s). Most of SHOs that survived already have their cams welded so I would love to take that thing and drop it in a deserving chassis like an e36 or Miata. Love the engine. Rest of the car is just dead weight.
your style and personality on these "before you buy" videos is getting better and better with each new one you release. I always learn a bunch of different things about the cars shown.
These were interesting cars for sure when they came out, but not faster than mustang gts. And really the supercharged v6 GM W-body cars were the kings of fwd performance at that time.
I had a 97 gtp, I'd smoke these SHOs stock from stoplight to stoplight. I ran into one on the freeway one day, I got my ass handed to me hard, he was definitely modded, he took off like he was going lightspeed. Was a pretty sick car, all murdered out before murdered out was a thing.
During the same years, the Mustang wasn't great in factory form. Ridiculously low rear end ratios and until the the 4.6 2v got it's much needed revision, it was crap too. So no doubt the SHO was faster. But Ford during the 90s built many performance variants of there other non performance cars, and most were faster than the Mustang.
AkLG55 and @Martin Hensley By what measure are you saying the SHO was faster? 0-60? Quarter mile? Even the pre PI 96-98 Mustang GT was faster than the SHO on both counts. SHO was a mid 15s car, and those lo po early 4.6 GTs were around 15 flat. Same with 0-60 7.5 vs 6.9. You have to remember that SHO was mated to a lousy 4 spd auto and didn’t have much torque. And when the 99 GT came out, it wasn’t even close.
Had 1 and it ran side by side with a 300c hemi, and then pulled away from it at 120. cam gears were already welded and it was a super fun car in stock trim. Black with grey leather and moon roof and I even put a set of polo strategies on it. I've also owned a 88 turbo coupe, 98 cobra, and built lx 5.0 fox. All these cars are awesome.
With the junk transmission in those cars you weren’t pulling away from anyone at 120. Yeah, you outrun a car with over 100 or so more horsepower when the Taurus did 70-100 in what, over 10 seconds? Sure. Sounds legit.
@@GMbowtie350 your sleep, the 300c is way heavier than the 98 sho, also that car did 145 easily. It's funny how little you know. What do you build Power Wheels? Oh and btw it would smoke your slow 96 non pi mustang GT 🤣
There are some inescapable problems with this thing alright... 1...its a grandpa car with a coolness factor of zero 2...its front wheel drive 3...you need more?
I need one of those. I also need a 98 Contour SVT with sodium filled valves. Oh hey how do you like your P71 isn't it nice to not hear passengers anymore!
@@thedementedmussolinifjb3218 Wtf no matter how good it looked 20k is wayyy off the mark. I've seen good condition ones go for 5k and avg 3-4k. Let's not forget that the V8 is still making less Horse power than most V4 now.
@@Noadvantage246 IKR, it was overpriced but it had a "Make Offer" option. I will say that the 1999 SHO with a 5 speed option is a rare car especially w/ the low miles and it was in very good condition but $19,000 is still too much to pay. After I typed my reply to your comment I went to Ebay to see if it was still available, and its long gone.
@@thedementedmussolinifjb3218 Yeah it probably went to some TH-camr or collector who has money to blow and just wanted something cool, rare, and in good condition but for the avg person that's a horrible deal.
Absolutely love those cars! My first was a 01 Gt! Currently have a 05 GTO now, but I think when I'm ready to build the top end and send it with a blower or spooly bois, I'll definitely pick up a GTP for a daily!
lucian kristov The earlier V6 5 speed SHO’s were faster. I had a ‘90 that easily ate the V8’s. Ran high 14’s with catless y-pipe, K&N drop in filter, and Flowmaster muffler.
@@luciankristov6436 Cobra R, any 5.7 liter Firebird/Camaro, Corvette...all much quicker. Mid 15s was slow then, before 1997, and after 1997. Even the original V6 SHO was a couple tenths quicker.
take the 3.4 liter V8 and swap it in a second gen RX-7 drift car or build the ultimate Mazda MX3, four-wheel drive system from the Mazda Protege of the early 90s combined with a V8 and a 2400 pound body. Pretty much all of it is bolt up, very little fabrication needing to be done, do the math.
@butt I agree. 2 seconds in I thought the same thing. It’s like trying to eat chocolate sandwich cookies and instantly being reminded they are not as good as the real Oreo
Got a 2002 Ford Taurus Station Wagon, I'm half tempted to look into swapping the V6 with the V8 SHO engine, is it worth it? Edit: I feel like it would make an ultimate sleeper, but I'm not sure if it's worth the time and trouble
Wish u could make a episode of the 91 spirit RT it was the quickest sedan of the 90s would whoop this tarus no problem with a 0 60 n under 6 seconds stock
Oh yeah between the Turbo R/T and the more mundane styled Mitsu V6 powered sedans the Spirit is a hell of a sleeper a lot of car guys don't even suspect.
I owned a 1989 sho that was a five speed. It was an absolute beast for what it was. When I fist bought it I was unaware of what it was no true story I needed a car so I went to a Ford dealership in west palm beach asked for a used four door car. Tje dealer said he had one that a doctor just traded in and it wasn't even detailed or anything it was like only on the lot for a few hours. I bought it and the rest is history. My kid brother had a 93 mustang gt who would brag on the car all the time and so one night on the way to a ball game we ran them side by side and I flat out ran him from about 30mph on. Then he wanted to run from a stop and it was so close but he did get.me by about a car.lenth. i miss that car but i moved on to an m3 and now a hellcat yes i got the bug all because of that dang sho.
Notoriously slow, no bottom end. Made 100 pnds, less torque, than 5.0, 0-60, 8 second's, 16 second quarter mile. Cannot think of one year the 5.0 was slower. Not a bad idea, just poorly executed.
My parents had one back in the late 90s while I was in high school. I LOVED the car, but it was slow. Definitely not a "mustang killer". I'm at about a mile high altitude, and when I used to take the 96 SHO to the track back then, it was capable of a low 17 second pass at low 80s trap bone stock (probably around low 16s at mid-high 80s at SEA LEVEL). It was strongest at kickdown from a ~25mph roll if I remember right, but even that wasn't close to my 1995 Mustang GT 5-speed (My mom and I lined them up). Revving that little v8 out to 7k was awesome though. I always dreamed back then about what it would sound like with an exhaust. Now, thanks to youtube, I know. Performance cars have come a long way since then.
make sure you guys follow me on instagram @Mr Random Reviews..LONG LIVE THE SLEEPERS!
What C.I.D. was the 3.4 litre v8?
Dude, this car ended up being a turd. I owned one and it was fun but my 91 was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. It should have had a manual trans and all wheel drive like it was supposed to have. Instead we got a duratec with Yamaha heads with cams that had PRESSED on cam gears which tended to slip and promptly destroy the valves. Had so much potential and delivered short. No aftermarket and wrong wheel drive. So sad. Good video man.
man u broke my heart bro. i have a taurus and when I learned about this car i wanted it. are there any more american sleepers from 80's or 90's out there besides the foxbody and the contour svt? btw i'm a noob to the car scene and i've looked but thats all i could find. thanx.
@@mattjohnston7686 works out to about 207ci. Made good power for it's size at the time but like he said the cam and sprocket was a problem.
It was no mustang killer unless it was a completely stock auto since they were slow as shit. Back then we got 5.0's with stock motor, pulleys, short belt, tune, gears and slicks/drag radials in the mid to low 12s easy back then if you could drive stick.
What year is it
1.25X playback speed. Thank me later.
Much better. TY
Thank you!! It actually sounds like it was recorded this way! And then they slowed the video down to upload it.
Massive improvement lmao
Even at 2.25 sounds slow lmao
Thanks sent your way.
Even for late 90's 235 HP from a v8 was just adequate though being only 3.4 liters makes it acceptable. Now imagine if it had the previous gen's V6 manual combo.
Just adequate? And what was the 4.6 modular putting out in the Crown Vic and Marquis? There were no engines NORMALLY ASPIERATED that small making much over 200hp. ! That little SHO v8 was a stand out !!
@garysmith8455 a certain 3.3 liter 6 cylinder made from 92 to 97 made about the same power
“In a world where fewer and fewer sleepers are being made” completely agree with that line. Far too many generic transportation appliances on the road today.
Go to the Dodge dealership
To be honest the Ford Taurus was one of the most generic cars ever conceived lol.
isn't the point of a sleeper to be generic looking?
@@foff3554 it was but ford gave it a different look that you knew something was up
@@rubberwoody to an extent. A sleeper is something that blends in with only subtle hints.
If you speak any slower you will qualify for disability benefits
😂😂
😂 he was high af probably
Holy shit 😭
It's like when you do too many whip-its except your voice doesn't get lower.......
Now you ruined the rest of the video for me 😂😂
What is this a counterfeit Regular car reviews ? 😂😂
I was ready to make this comment if you didn't...
No my friend it's Mr.Random, so kindly I ask you to please fuck off😂
^ Weird way to spell Great Value Reviews.
Oh Its Vinni somebody’s a fanboy of Great Value Mr. Regular
This joke of a channel is hopefully a big immitation of RCR and if you can't accept that you're more blindly devoted than all of the christian religion is to Donald Trump.
too soon?
Besides the point it's a tryhard attempt to make it sound like Mr RcR and the tryhard efforts probably debuted way before I got here, so give me a BALL TOUCH and kindly leave this comment section before I give that wheezing trans-am a cleveland steamer and huck it out the window.
:-)
If memory serves me correctly, Yamaha sent the 3.0 V6 motor to Ford with around 320 horsepower. Ford then detuned it so it wouldn't beat the Mustang at the time.
@Deez Nuts 25 yrs later, they are better. Ha. I love my 93 Cobra though. 500hp is great for the street at 3100lbs.
I also had a 92, 250hp 3.0 MTX SHO. great car too. Most comfortable seats in any car I have owned.
@Deez Nuts i agree...the gt should have had an engine similar to what the cobra had in 93 and the cobra should have got a 351 similar to what was in the 95 r. That would have more than been enough to dispatch of the lt1s of the day. Same with the mod motors the gt should have had the 4.6 4v and the 5.4 4v from the r should have found its way into regular cobras (pre terminator) the terminator could have been the same concept except with a 5.4 not 4.6 and supercharged...similar to the gt500 but with less weight and stronger manly h beams that the cobra came with over the weaker rods from the gt500s. I been saying this for years it wouldnt have been gm first like it was in the 90s and early 2000s ford would have em then if theyd just done that.
A 320HP FWD car from the 90s would have torn itself apart. Even the latest 250HP Focus STs struggle with wheel hop, torque steer and horrendous understeer WOT. Once the Focus ST gets up to 300HP quite a bit of it is wasted without making some significant improvements to the car.
@@GigoloSoldier definitely would have needed work from the factory. Limited slip diffs worked wonders in those. As well as upgraded half shafts. But the week point was the 3rd gear in the 5 speed manual trans. There were tons of 350-500hp SHO's back in the day. Rode in one supercharged one.
I heard that thing take off after you said it has an Achilles heel.....
I immediately thought "transmission"
Oh don’t worry The transmissions they put in those weren’t meant to handle what the motor was putting out, typical ford stuff tho
@@31jeffburton Ford and transmissions dont mix well
So did I.
@@31jeffburton ford put a 2.7 L ecoboost v6 truck engine paired it with a suv transmission and dropped it into a 2017 fusion.
Ford Taurus transmission !🤣 Famous !
I had no idea there was such thing as a V8 Taurus lol, you learn something new everyday
Hell yeah, I sold a few but never had the sho model
Sister platform to the Continental of this era
You think thats impressive you should check out the 1989 ford taurus sho 5 speed manual with a yamaha v6 and that came from the factory with 220 horsepower
I never herd of a V8 front wheel drive.......
@@marcusbrown849 either you're lying or you've been living under a literal Rock.
I remember this car, was impressed with it. Speaking of sleepers, I feel asleep 4 times during this video, and I'm not even tired.
🤣😅😂🤡🤣😂😅
😁😂🤣
I've had my 99 SHO for 20yrs. I love it. Great road car. Definitely not a slug....
How good of you to still have your '99 ! 23 years with my beloved SF 97! Only 56k on the OD. She turns antique next year!
@@garysmith8455 nice 👍
I straight up didn’t know there was a beast version of my grandmother’s car
If only todays new SHO's were V8's. Itd be LEGENDARY
Or just have had the engine fwd mounted and came from the factory with 465hp instead of 365hp.
I own the 2012 sho 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻fast
The Ecoboost
There's a tunning company called livernois which I think is located in Dearborn Michigan that claims to give you 50 more horses, they offer delivery services too I think
Ls swap
Mom I got a good car for high school
I had a friend who had one of these in high school and it absolutely flew.
This brings back memories of getting my first vehicle lol congrats 😂
Fwd and v8 take my money please
Lol I knew a few guys who pulled that off on there parents they wouldn’t let them get a mustang so they fooled them with this
@@johnnymichael1804 the yamaha v6 powered ones were better in my opinion.
You forgot about the rampant transmission failures 😥 R.I.P. V8 SHOs you will be missed when you're gone
What else is new with Ford? 😒
They should have used a Toyota transmission with the Yamaha engine
@@CSM.HBJ-Dogg no just no
Can't you just replace the transmission with a better one?
@@CSM.HBJ-Dogg you mean aisin transmission. They're very good for these fwd applications just like the V6 Camrys.
I'm sure it would do wonders for the V8 Taurus. Atleast be able to handle the power and torque of this one.
One of the most underrated Ford Taurus ever built.
If you ever drove one you'd know it wasn't underated.....just underpowered.
And Ford being Ford,this is what they gave us instead of the (Australian) Ford Falcon GT of similar vintage.
But,whatever.
Lee Powers like my GTO it’s pretty obvious The big manufactures in aus have a better idea of fun. 1st.. RWD. 2nd simplicity. I’m so thankful that bob lutz being a horsepower nut decided to start importing from AUS. Sad ford didn’t do that same
Even so, the Third Generation Ford Taurus SHO still has LOTS of potential. Moreover, in the right hands, it could rival, if not surpass, the FPV Falcon of the 2008-2016 era from Australia, and, with even more modifications, could theoretically rival even the 2012-2014 Shelby 1000 in the terms of sheer horsepower and torque. Moreover, things like better shocks, suspension, and a conversion from Front Wheel Drive to Rear Wheel Drive, as well as a dual clutch, six to eight speed manual transmission, could make it a much better vehicle, as well as a more trapezoidal rear window, Lee Powers.
Lee Powers right... Or the Barra... What a joke ford... Give us those engines
Taurus is a "American Falcon"... joke of the year the falcons would rip this thing a new one
2:05 when you stutter and need to cough at the same time
DJ Wakademiks LMFAOOOoOo...
sounded like he was trying to contain vomit and talk at the same time lmao
I had one and fixed the cam issues and sold after I put 180k on it. The original transmission needed some work (cleaned valve body if I remember correctly) but NOT replaced and held up. It was not as fast as my gen 1 or gen 2 sho (IMO) it was a great car and super comfortable to drive . They also sounded very cool! Very small V8 @3.4 liters too .
I saw one at the junkyard. It was a work of art. Engine presentation was gorgeous. Interior felt special. Too had about the motor issues. That motor in an RWD S2000 would have been a world beater.
Well the problem is, the engine was transverse for FWD vs longitudinal for RWD. So there would be the need for some serious fab work. Not impossible though!
The only issue the Yamaha v8 in the Taurus had was the cam gears would separate from the shaft. They recalled them and welded the cam gears on for the recall fix.
@@TheShadow2056 I NEVER heard of this 'recall'. I have owned my GEN 3 BEFORE any cam issues appeared. The BIG issue was getting FORD to cover this! We were ALL ON OUR OWN with this one. Many experimented with EPOXY and 'pinning' the sprockets. HOWEVER, owners with welding knowledge figured it out on their own and thus began the CAM WELD PARTYS. This all started around 2002. Please check your facts, thanks.
@@TheShadow2056yeah that’s not true lol ford offered Loctite as a solution
My brother had a ‘97 SHO. It was a beast.
It was the king of sleepers until GTP's or GXP's showed up.
The sho was faster than gtp stock. I know because mine was 100% bone stock. I'm not talking about modded because there is little to no modifications you can do to the v8 sho.
GTP would take the SHO all day long. Two of my buddies that were cousins had both. They had rich daddy's. They used to race all the time. The GTP would pull harder down low and mid-range. The SHO up top. When the SHO would shift it would lose ground everytime. Always at the rear bumper of the GTP
Facts💯💯
Those cars aren't shit compared to a sho
I own a gxp 😁
A friend had I believe a gen-2 with a five speed. I drove it one time...The thing was absolutely insane. Even with a motor mount going bad I'd have put it up against a 5.0.
I got a crashed junked one my old man fixed up and gave me as my ride to get to school. Good memories
My cousin had one and that thing hauled so much tail. He passed away several years ago from a life long illness of cystic fibrosis. A terrible disease. God rest his soul. 👏🏻
My dad owned a 1991 Taurus SHO MTX, its frame went out in 2004 at 450,225 miles... Great car. Before it went out, he bought his 1998 SHO and my mom a Taurus LX with the 24valve at the same time. Both got over 300,000 miles before the frames went out on those and split on half. I grew up in these, and I remember my dad occasionally challenging guys with much more performance oriented cars. We still have the manuals for these old Yamaha engines that include the tollerances for rebuilds.. they are great cars!
Just now seeing this 4 years later for some reason. Very well done! Great piece. That car needed another 60 HP and a quality manual. Hard to believe they designed that to be a valve interference engine.
I completely forgot these things existed.
The transmissions were unreliable and limited the motor
Still to this day can not figure out why this wasn't released in manual. Would have made it a blast.
You could probably manual swap it if you wanted to
Agreed transmission is not good
@@Johnnytahoe19 would be too much work and Money for a fwd beater. These are cool and if you can only afford a cheap car it's a cool fun cheap car but to start throwing Money at it... I wouldn't
@Chris Jacobs it wasn't junk. It had one issue thanks to Toyota interfering with Yamaha build teams.
When I was a kid my parents had an XC90 V8. The 4.4 liter Yamaha V8 in that was essentially the SHO V8 with a larger bore and die cast heads and block as opposed to sand cast. It shares its V angle, bore spacing, stroke, and journal diameter with the SHO.
2:05 sounded like someone took a dump
Cams were welded before anything catastrophic happened it’s been a great car for the 5 years I’ve owned it not to mention great sounding and it feels a lot faster than it is love the way this car pulls to 7000 rpm i also have a 95 camaro z28 and a Lexus gs430 and i will still always love my sho and the way it drives it’s like nothing else
Lincoln continental - very similar, shares front suspension, but DOHC 4.6L. I have a Lexus GS 350 and I think the Lincoln is a MUCH BETTER CAR. They are both great though.
Miss my white 99 traded for a new 2011 mustang kick my ass to this day
You sir have great taste in cars.
Never go to red line or 2,000 rpm before red line, you will kill you engine and transmission
legendary nikoproyou I’m sorry but that is false
Weld the cams, swap in the MTX 5 speed from an earlier V6 SHO, and you’re good to go.
Cams don’t have to be welded, not all of the 3.4s have that issue, it’s overhyped. My SHO is fine without welded cams, it was a 1 in 20 engine issue.
@@alexmills1329 All of them do have that issue. There was not merely a bad batch of cams. It’s not a matter of if they will fail, but when. If you don’t drive the car hard, then it may never happen, but that’s the whole point of having an SHO.
I had 2 of these Taurus SHOs it was slower than my 96 Impala and slower than my 98 Volvo V70 T5 but they sounded awesome with that tiny V8
Thats some BS the Impala makes less power and is heavier. My Grand marquies made more power than a stock l9c impala
yeah, no. those fatass impalas are turds stock. and volvos werent fast whatsoever unless you CRANKED the boost up
I had a 96 & 97 and loved them but I got my ass busted by everything in town.
@Chris Jacobs no they didn't. The Impala weighed at least 300 pounds more and had the same horsepower. It only beat the SHO in torque 300 ft lbs to 240 ft lbs.....pretty pathetic considering it had 2.2 liters on it.
The Volvo 2.3 (B5234T3 High-Pressure Turbo) 236-247hp 3,259-3,307lb easily walks the 235hp (Ford/yamaha 3.4 v8) 3,326lb
I drove one with 38 thousand kms on it when i worked at a ford dealership. i was returning it to the customers house and the drive back fella was flying in the courtesy van to get there. So i gave the thing a punch and the sound was amazing. i must say that the engine was one of the coolest sounding engines i had ever heard in a North american made car. The performance was ok, yet that sound was the icing on the cake.
Taurus is top lowkey drug dealer car of all time
S. Jones idk, what about the Chrysler 300
Scott Hawks i said low key. As in it’s the car drug dealers use to hide in because it’s such a common car. Like driving long distances. 300 is an obvious car for drug dealers that want to look like fake ballers.
S. Jones oh I see what ur saying, then yeah ur right
As well as the Pontiac Grand Prix now it is the Dodge Charger
I had a friend that had one, he sold drugs. Good call
Looking at the old car magazine road tests I have from that era, it looks like the V8 SHO was slower than a Gen 1 or 2 stick V6 SHO.
It is .
It was. They didn't call it the turd gen SHO for no good reason. Don't listen to the majority of these comments which come from benighted gen Z'er recalcitrants who have zero knowledge of this vehicle, much less experience. The second gen SHO was the greatest SHO, until the ecoboost variant that is. The third gen was a major let down, and that is also arguably the worst Taurus platform in general. That V8 was horrendous. It was under powered, thirsty, a major inconvenience to work on, and bolted to one of the worst transmissions of all time.
There is also the detail that the AJ Duratec V6 variant was just as powerful, and not as unreliable or inconvenient to work on. This was the same powerplant found in some Jaguars of the time.
Finally, Ford had another V8 fwd they could have put in here which would have been a much better choice imo. The 4v 4.6 found in the Continental at the time marketed as InTech. This was a fwd layout putting out almost 280 hp.
I have had two 1995 manual SHOs. Loved them. Can handle a lot of upgrades but nothing can help the cornering or the light front end and being fwd this makes for a burn out car.
89-91 Ford Taurus SHO MTX IV
with 3.0 L
@@LynxStarAuto exactly those transmissions were bs.i cant see how he did entire video & didnt mention the 3rd gens transmission issue's.
A iroc r/t or a spirit r/t from the 90s was a sleeper. A 4 cylinder car that ran. And kept running.
"it differed a bit" - Because it was a completely different engine. JFC
Ur a homesexual
These cars have always been overlooked (except by those who know) It will someday become a legend.
Correct!
I use to love racing these w/my 92 MTX! Absolutely SMOKED these turds! Mine had a little bit of work on it (3.2 ported/polished heads, ported/polished intake, double bee hive springs, stage 2 cams from SHO shop, CAI, LPM programmed for said cams & 8300 rpm redline, Quaife LSD, 12lb lightened flywheel from SHO Shop, 3 puck carbon/ceramic clutch kit, chrio-hardened trans gears, KW fully adjustable coil overs, slotted front strut towers w/adjustable plates from SHO Shop, Baer brakes front & rear, 18” Enkie wheels, 7/8” front and 1”rear sway bars, Energy Suspension bushings everywhere I could, solid aluminum engine cradle bushings, SHO Shop subframe connectors, SHO Shop front & rear strut tower bars, SHO Shop short throw shifter, SHO Shop solid engine & trans mounts, carbon fiber hood and trunk lid, Borla cat back w/gutted cats, AEM 385LPH fuel pump, 78lb injectors to match the dry NItrous Express system)! Made just under 330 hp to the ground before the nitrous. Biggest jets I ran were rated for 100hp. Even w/the LSD this thing was a handful!!!
Actually mine could walk away from many different cars that it shouldn’t have been able too! However, granted I did have a few dollars into it! Had 20 good years with it but finally had to let go die to the fact my driveway was starting to look like a used car lot!
I owned a '98 and a '99 and am ashamed to say I thought they were great cars, even though I went through 3 transmissions and 1 $7000 engine rebuild.
Then I drove an '02 Maxima SE with the 6-speed manual and my bubble shattered. I couldn't beleive the two were in the same class, let alone both called cars. There should've been a different name for it, the Nissan was so far ahead of the Ford in every way. Fit and finish, interior design and quality, and the performance. Oh the performance. I bought the Mad Max and never looked back. Moved to the G35 after that, while Ford was still wallowing in the mud and wondering why they were going bankrupt.
Ford has woken up and come a long way since then. I'd consider Ford against any car maker now. But as a previous crazed and uninformed Ford fan boi, I now say that the late '90s and early '00s was a pathetic period for Ford.
i never owned a sho ( a friend had both versions, so ive ridden in and driven the cars), but i did have a 02 maxima. like you said, so much difference between them it was crazy. that maxima was a damn rocket!
Yes! I have a 97 Ford Taurus 232k miles rebuilt heads, and it's on its 3rd tranny. But in my possession it's only had one transmission rebuilt. I paid $500 for it and less than 1 year later transmission went out $2100 later it's still fine to this day.
@Cool as Ice it was barely out of warranty, still worth about 20 grand. I couldn't think of any other option.
@thedog556 Ford got 5.9 billion dollars from the government in bailout money, which they said they needed or they'd go bankrupt. I never said they went bankrupt. I said they were going bankrupt.
And I agree with you about Nissan. I wasn't comparing today's vehicles. This video and thread is about the companies and cars 15 to 20 years ago - not nowadays. Like i said in my comment, Ford makes good vehicles today.
First year Sho's were the fastest and faster than GT's, than any GM fwd car while being NA
Weld the cam sprockets...I did..Yea it was fast..shifted at 7200 rpm
Welding the cams was a must
Ate my first motor because they weren't welded properly
What? That's stupid.. you destroy the engine!
zoran stefanovic no, the cam sprocket was pressed on, and with time would loosen and free-spin causing the valves and pistons to contact. Welding the sprocket to the camshaft ensured this would never happen. Also meant you could never replace the camshaft seal either, but you picked and choose your battles.
@@LynxStarAuto ....ohhhh I see.. fuck I hate press on cam sprockets... its idiotic... I wonder if you could braze it for future removal of cams to get to the seals
I saw someone driving one of these when I was in Florida. He had a leather vest, fingerless gloves, and a daughter (I hope) with cornrows in the passenger seat. Very interesting family
00:28
That my good sir, is a long dodge neon.
A WIENER DOG DODGE NEON. 😶
Lmaooooo! Its the catdog of neons😂😂
Those old Taurus were bubble cars if you notice everything on the car is round.
Would've been an amazing rear wheel drive . Especially if SVT Cobra engine in it
Kevin Cypert well that’s why the mustang platform existed...
Bryan But the mustang isnt 4 doors. 🤷🏾♂️🤦🏽♂️ Op position is valid.
Kevin Cypert So a Lincoln Mark 8 then?
Wow this brings back memories I had one of these with a STS rear mounted turbo when that was a thing.I blew it up in about a month after boost but man that was a fun month of tire smoke and torque steer lol
I’ve owned this car for 3 and half years. Besides the basic maintenance, it’s been awesome. Glad more light is being shed on it.
Throw in different sway bars, and couple of other mods, this car oversteers already, put those in, the car handles fantastic. You would think it handles like a dog, it doesn’t-
However, the stock AX4N transmission is garbage, it holds back the car- if this car came in manual- it would’ve great.
The V8 sounds sooooo good. Damn I want a car with a V8
I’ve had a ‘96 Cobra, an ‘03 Mach 1, & two focus SVTs right now(one super clean & one donor). I like these lil niche cars. I was thinking about a SHO or a Contour SVT next. I’m not rich, these cars are great deals. (PS, the Mach 1 was wrecked when I bought it and total to fix was just over $6500. Total including what I paid for it) it taught me a lot about body work and welding.
FYI, ALL SHOs were Yamaha top ends.
Also, Gen 3s have a weak transmission
Gen 1 and 2 were reworked Vulcans.
@@halohunter5217 absolutely incorrect
@@halohunter5217 no,not true
@Connor everyone knows that
Yes, all SHOs...unless you count the last 10 years of SHOs, that is
You sound drunk
I was about to comment that he sounds on the verge of stroke or drunk lol
Why. Do you say. That? Is it because. His cadence seems to cut sentences. In the middle instead of at the. End?
It seems like he's being fed the lines by a glitchy teleprompter. Or he just doesn't read very well and gets tripped up by some words and never did a dry run of the script.
boxed fenders haha. Sounds like he has to focus on pronouncing each word during a traffic stop.
Hes sniffing glue
Rhino tranquilizer dart straight to the jugular
And just so everyone knows the sho motor in both forms v6&v8 were both Yamaha in board boat motors the induction system I the exact same as the vmax boat motor if you don't believe me look it up
And volvo's v8 is also made by yamaha
V8 was just partially Yamaha v6 was the only true
The V8 was a cosworth tuned engine based on the Duratec. The intake and runner control as well some other stuff on the engine were Yamaha.
I don't believe you.Yamaha wasn't making 4 stroke outboard motors when Yamaha helped Ford with those SHO engines.
This is how I remember reading about the assembly. The bottom part of the engine,block,crank,etc. was done in Detroit or Canada.Then it was shipped by plane to Japan.Yamaha did the top end and final assembly. Then it was shipped to Detroit where it was coupled with the tranny.
This process was expensive plus the cars were not selling as a result the project was killed.
V8 was a 60degree engine as well
Well.... It's mostly right. I was a technician at Ford performance specialists/FPS automotive and went through the Ford asset program. We specialized in SHO's.
The V6 cars were way nastier and performance oriented than the V8 3rd gen. As a matter of fact Ford touted it as their BMW 745 luxury sedan. So real performance wasn't their concern.
Three major downfalls
1.Auto only (where as the V6 had a manual option
2. Lack of real performance from a V8, only 15 more HP than the fire breathing V6
3. Camshafts
The camshaft sprocket/love issue came about because of the new manufacturing process. Hollow tube and where the lobes and sprockets were to be placed they had tiny ridges to hold them in place. Then they pulled a ball through the tube expanding it and"wedging" the lobes/sprockets onto the tube. Didn't work out so well
- Ford did not use locktite on the lobes and sprockets. The TSB called for them to PIN the lobes/sprockets to the shaft using a roll pin and drilling through. welding also was an option performed by outside shops but was prone to warping because of the heat given off by the weld.
The engine for the V6 was 100% made and designed by Yamaha and shipped here. The V8 used a modified duratec 2.5 v6 block with two cylinders added. Yamaha designed the heads ( and unfortunately the exhaust ports are way too big for the engines N/A set up.
The V6 was way more of an exotic engine and those cars are simply bad ass with a few tweaks and mods. The year it debuted it had the highest HP per liter and any engine ever made OEM
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the V8 SHO could never beat a Mustang GT especially that 2002 GT in the video. I love my 97 SHO, but from the factory it would struggle to run a 15.8 in the 1/4 mile. And the SHO only had 235 hp and 230 Tq. Nevertheless, I love my SHO, but my Mustang ran circles around it!
I remember driving a 93 SHO with a 5 speed and it was something. I drove a 98 V8 and felt like something was missing. They were great, but lacked the driver experience of a manual gear box. For people who argue about the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP vs SHO... 97 changed things a bit. The 4t65HD was far superior to the 4t60E and the L67 was better on paper than the LQ1. Truth... the LQ1 had better numbers, but was detuned because the transaxle couldn't handle the power which was around 300. Loved all those cars, but would instead chose a 89-90 Grand Prix Turbo Coupe and upgrade the transmission and turbo. That would have been the car worth the extra money spent back then...
It's not "show". It is S H O.
F'sho
It's not " veeteck". It is V T E C.
Had a 98 SHO in High School. It was the ultimate sleeper... and nobody kept up on a 3 mile run trip to school. lol. Id crush Cameros, Stangs, BMWs, GTIs and so on. Best gift my lovely mom purchased from Ford in Sterling, Va... And Yes, its still in the family running strong with 288k!!!! Now I have a new SHO. joined forces with my Raptor :)--- Have a nice day people!
Dude, I owned a open exhaust welded cam CAI 97 SHO and a stock 93 Trans Am at the same time. The TA raped that SHO every. single. race. By the time both hit 60 the TA had 10 to 12 car lengths on the SHO and continually pulled on it. Get real dude.
I still want one for that badass exhaust note!❤ 32v V8 best sound ever!
2 years ago I sold a one owner 97 SHO that had 227,000 miles on the odometer. Same engine same transmission car ran excellent. Bought for $425 and sold it for 1300.The Car is still running at 252,000mi. Now (even after i gave it about 20 real good rips before i sold it)
Im thinking
..okay give this car a chance ..."sees interior and vomits"
exactly. Ford had terrible interiors back in the day
@@chrisharmon1985 every car did besides legit race cars like supras back in the 90s
@@jmoz9305 and rx7...nsx...300zx..
@@TheSupradvr yes that's what I said with one example
Wow, you really fanboyed hard on this heavy sedan. My wife had a Supercharged Buick Regal GS that made the same power. You aren't "slaying" mustangs with 240hp. Modified maybe you'll slowly walk them but that's it. And at the end of the day you are still driving a giant used piece of soap.
Your wifes car wasnt an sho. You cant compare the two. Jeez. Btw, stock mustang gt vs stock sho, goes to the sho. All you need to do is google "is a taurus sho faster than a mustang gt". Surprise Surprise, it's faster than the mustang gt of the same era. Its faster than c4 and c5 corvette. Do some research. I already gave you the search term to look for.
Plus Yamaha sent the motor to ford with 320hp and ford detuned it to 240 so it won’t beat the mustang
The EcoBoost SHO's aren't bad with just a tune
They have even more problems than the V8 ones. Those engines had turbocharger pipes leaking, coolant entering into the crankcase because of poorly engineered timing chain driven water pump, PTU unit failures, and electric power steering failure. They were not very reliable.
This was amazing and enlightening. This video is a God Send. I used to drive this car in Gran Turismo.
Are we forgetting about the 06-07 Monte Carlo ss that had a 5.3 LS available in it?
Kurt Cobain that’s nothing special bro gm would just slap 5.3 from there’s trucks into the cars and call it performance . This is nothing related sho had its own engine.
Smurfeco 2.3 at the end of the day it still had 70 more horsepower and almost 100 ft-ibs more torque from the factory and I’m sure triple the amount of aftermarket part available and you don’t have to worry about the cam gear coming loose and destroying the engine 🤷🏻♂️ might’ve just been a truck engine but you can’t beat a LS
But why pronounce it Show? Wasn't it pronounced S H O
Yep, that's how I've always pronounced it. S.H.O.
The 90s ones were s.h.o. but the new ones with the ecoboost are SHOs
No
Watch the original commercial. Its show. Always has. Always been
th-cam.com/video/4ccLs-TlqFg/w-d-xo.html
The super high output taurus. We call it the SHOW
Put red lock tight on a Honda crank bolt,tell me if it stays on there.Nevermind,you would have to forcibly break the head off and drill it out to get it out of there.So Fords idea fix,although cheap,worked.
The cam sprockets were swaged, so they used green loctite for press fits. Wouldn't trust it still.
as a honda guy i agree. but the cam does more. id trust a weld all day. but if i were to deicde to put money into a ford itd be this and id start with some proper pistons and valvetrain/cams to try and avoid this issue
Because sadly, the uploader was very vague. Firstly, the chain setup on these engines is nothing like a Honda where you have one gear bolted to a camshaft. Ford used the internal dual drive system to save room. Similar to the Toyota 5SFE. There is one sprocket on the outside, driven by a chain, connected to the crankshaft. This is your main drive. Then there are two smaller gears on the inside (behind the main sprocket) driven by an auxiliary chain which drives both camshafts in unison.
The design flaw was that the auxiliary gear behind the main drive had a press fit to the camshaft itself, and there was one big bolt that ran from the main sprocket, all the way to the inside aux gear. Through the years, the bolt would loosen, and also the gears would loosen on the cams themselves.
All you needed was a buddy to make a parody song with lyrical content about the video....oh wait
That era SHO has a really neat engine, it being a small displacement very high revving V8, but little else. Front wheel drive with only an auto trans, and the cool motor can't easily make much more power than it already does (yeah I know somebody's cousin had a twin-charged sleeved manual swapped SHO with NOS, but they're not like an LS or any of the Japanese V6s). Most of SHOs that survived already have their cams welded so I would love to take that thing and drop it in a deserving chassis like an e36 or Miata. Love the engine. Rest of the car is just dead weight.
Damn son, you eat some Xanax? 😂
These are the hardest car to find for sale. I have been looking for a while now
Yup, pretty much all but gone now. Ford only produced 19,000 of these in the 4 year run.
your style and personality on these "before you buy" videos is getting better and better with each new one you release. I always learn a bunch of different things about the cars shown.
thank you brother...it all depends on my mood and how the day has gone...today was a good day lol
You think these are good, you should watch Regular Car Reviews channel. It's what random reviews is trying too hard to be 😂
This is a shameless rip off of regular car guy reviews. This guy should be ashamed of himself.
These were interesting cars for sure when they came out, but not faster than mustang gts. And really the supercharged v6 GM W-body cars were the kings of fwd performance at that time.
GM did FWD very well. And like you said no one could beat the supercharged 3800 series V6's. On top of performance they were very reliable as well.
I had a 97 gtp, I'd smoke these SHOs stock from stoplight to stoplight. I ran into one on the freeway one day, I got my ass handed to me hard, he was definitely modded, he took off like he was going lightspeed. Was a pretty sick car, all murdered out before murdered out was a thing.
They were absolutely faster than a mustang GT !
During the same years, the Mustang wasn't great in factory form. Ridiculously low rear end ratios and until the the 4.6 2v got it's much needed revision, it was crap too. So no doubt the SHO was faster. But Ford during the 90s built many performance variants of there other non performance cars, and most were faster than the Mustang.
AkLG55 and @Martin Hensley
By what measure are you saying the SHO was faster? 0-60? Quarter mile? Even the pre PI 96-98 Mustang GT was faster than the SHO on both counts. SHO was a mid 15s car, and those lo po early 4.6 GTs were around 15 flat. Same with 0-60 7.5 vs 6.9. You have to remember that SHO was mated to a lousy 4 spd auto and didn’t have much torque. And when the 99 GT came out, it wasn’t even close.
I wonder if it was front end heavy like the impala SS with the 5.3l V8
Had 1 and it ran side by side with a 300c hemi, and then pulled away from it at 120. cam gears were already welded and it was a super fun car in stock trim. Black with grey leather and moon roof and I even put a set of polo strategies on it. I've also owned a 88 turbo coupe, 98 cobra, and built lx 5.0 fox. All these cars are awesome.
With the junk transmission in those cars you weren’t pulling away from anyone at 120. Yeah, you outrun a car with over 100 or so more horsepower when the Taurus did 70-100 in what, over 10 seconds? Sure. Sounds legit.
@@GMbowtie350 your sleep, the 300c is way heavier than the 98 sho, also that car did 145 easily. It's funny how little you know. What do you build Power Wheels? Oh and btw it would smoke your slow 96 non pi mustang GT 🤣
Do a 350z/g35 before you buy
Do it!
350z/G35 before you buy. DON’T.
Done
I had a G35 6 speed and out of all the cars, trucks, anything with wheels, I've ever owned. That G was my absolute favorite!!!!
Ed 😂😂😂
Josh Browning coupe or sedan ? Mine was a 06 5AT coupe FBO before my IPL G37
There are some inescapable problems with this thing alright...
1...its a grandpa car with a coolness factor of zero
2...its front wheel drive
3...you need more?
A pretty rad car!
That is a surprising solution on Ford's end. Never knew about that!
Pretty damn ugly too .
I need one of those. I also need a 98 Contour SVT with sodium filled valves. Oh hey how do you like your P71 isn't it nice to not hear passengers anymore!
"Key word"
*Could* *Have*
Uh sir that's 2 words.
My thoughts
Could’ve, still a contraction 🧐
CG Tommy, I perceive that you are one of the brighter bulbs. 💡
@@scooterp7009 I perceive that y'all can't take a fucking joke. You snowflakes.
key word - could of
There was a 1999 SHO with a 5 speed on Ebay last year. It was badass. I almost thought about getting but the price was too much for me at the time.
How much?
@@Noadvantage246It was $20,000. Gorgeous car.
@@thedementedmussolinifjb3218 Wtf no matter how good it looked 20k is wayyy off the mark. I've seen good condition ones go for 5k and avg 3-4k. Let's not forget that the V8 is still making less Horse power than most V4 now.
@@Noadvantage246 IKR, it was overpriced but it had a "Make Offer" option. I will say that the 1999 SHO with a 5 speed option is a rare car especially w/ the low miles and it was in very good condition but $19,000 is still too much to pay. After I typed my reply to your comment I went to Ebay to see if it was still available, and its long gone.
@@thedementedmussolinifjb3218 Yeah it probably went to some TH-camr or collector who has money to blow and just wanted something cool, rare, and in good condition but for the avg person that's a horrible deal.
Before you buy a pontiac gtp
Love my GTP
Looking for a coupe gtp with low miles, I can’t begin to explain how difficult it is to find and when I do they get swept up QUICK..
@@2URLex I'v been looking for a 2003 coupe GTP but where I am on the west side of Canada they have alot of KM and are rusty from our salty roads :/
Absolutely love those cars! My first was a 01 Gt! Currently have a 05 GTO now, but I think when I'm ready to build the top end and send it with a blower or spooly bois, I'll definitely pick up a GTP for a daily!
@@rileydenis7724 you'll never find a 2003 coupe gtp because july 2002 was the last they were made.
Be clear a 3.4 v8 ?
Kick ass. I had no idea the bubble style SHO was that hard core!
You know those things only ran mid-15s, right?
JarOfRats you also realize late 90s early 2000s that was considered fast right?
lucian kristov The earlier V6 5 speed SHO’s were faster. I had a ‘90 that easily ate the V8’s. Ran high 14’s with catless y-pipe, K&N drop in filter, and Flowmaster muffler.
@@luciankristov6436 Cobra R, any 5.7 liter Firebird/Camaro, Corvette...all much quicker. Mid 15s was slow then, before 1997, and after 1997. Even the original V6 SHO was a couple tenths quicker.
@Cool as Ice They'd probably pee themselves if they drove an, at the time, 10 year old Buick GNX that was 2 seconds quicker than the '97 SHO.
take the 3.4 liter V8 and swap it in a second gen RX-7 drift car or build the ultimate Mazda MX3, four-wheel drive system from the Mazda Protege of the early 90s combined with a V8 and a 2400 pound body. Pretty much all of it is bolt up, very little fabrication needing to be done, do the math.
Eric Beltrami go sell some crack and go build it 😂😂 cause you will need a lot of money
Eric Beltrami or put an LS in it and make double the power 😉
That haynes Boy lmaooo
@@DickVanNiggz that would be a MCss FWD LS 5.3 those guys are fast too
Richard Skipper ikr!! and they talkin about being better than the mustang lmaoo
A regular car review vibe lol. I like the vids
i dont like the copycat style
@@butt5810
Not really copycat.
Yeahhhhh basically a ripoff copy
@@Juice-tr8xi not not really *
@butt I agree. 2 seconds in I thought the same thing. It’s like trying to eat chocolate sandwich cookies and instantly being reminded they are not as good as the real Oreo
Got a 2002 Ford Taurus Station Wagon, I'm half tempted to look into swapping the V6 with the V8 SHO engine, is it worth it?
Edit: I feel like it would make an ultimate sleeper, but I'm not sure if it's worth the time and trouble
Do It :)
I have always wondered how this thing respond to boost preferably supercharging
It's not a "show". Its an S-H-O. Super High Output. Like, you dont call a GTO a "gittow". Young goofus.
Must be Canadian
@@rickbangkok yeah it's commonly called show up here. Idk why
Jill Valentine 😂😂
Wish u could make a episode of the 91 spirit RT it was the quickest sedan of the 90s would whoop this tarus no problem with a 0 60 n under 6 seconds stock
My grandma had a spirit. "A regular one" and it wooped my dads 305 Monte Carlo like shit on a stick.
Oh yeah between the Turbo R/T and the more mundane styled Mitsu V6 powered sedans the Spirit is a hell of a sleeper a lot of car guys don't even suspect.
I lost to a Spirit R many years ago...
I currently own one on a he351cw turbo from a 2004.5 Cummins on 15 pounds with a few other mods
It should be his next sleeper vdieo car deserves more attention then it gets
This makes me miss my gen4 Taurus. I took a few ricers in my day with that flex fuel v6.
Bragging about a Taurus = Epitome of ricer.
I owned a 1989 sho that was a five speed. It was an absolute beast for what it was. When I fist bought it I was unaware of what it was no true story I needed a car so I went to a Ford dealership in west palm beach asked for a used four door car. Tje dealer said he had one that a doctor just traded in and it wasn't even detailed or anything it was like only on the lot for a few hours. I bought it and the rest is history. My kid brother had a 93 mustang gt who would brag on the car all the time and so one night on the way to a ball game we ran them side by side and I flat out ran him from about 30mph on. Then he wanted to run from a stop and it was so close but he did get.me by about a car.lenth. i miss that car but i moved on to an m3 and now a hellcat yes i got the bug all because of that dang sho.
Why didnt they just use the 4.6 32v DOHC from the Lincoln?
Notoriously slow, no bottom end. Made 100 pnds, less torque, than 5.0, 0-60, 8 second's, 16 second quarter mile. Cannot think of one year the 5.0 was slower. Not a bad idea, just poorly executed.
Maybe hes thinking of the NPI SN95s... this video is infuriating.
Yea, the 3.4 was a top end engine, and the 4 speed auto with tall gearing really held that engine back.
Did it annoy anyone else when he kept calling it "show" It is an S H O.
jeninjeans th-cam.com/video/4ccLs-TlqFg/w-d-xo.html not according to ford
@@TheMoreCylindersTheBetter Do you pronounce S V T as a word? Lolz
@@TheMoreCylindersTheBetter I have a Z X 3. That a word too?
jeninjeans true true it’s an sho
Fa Sho'! U right!
Yeah 5.3 Monte Carlo SS would burn this clunker.FWD too
For sure
Were the motor mounts toasted on the one in the video?
My parents had one back in the late 90s while I was in high school. I LOVED the car, but it was slow. Definitely not a "mustang killer". I'm at about a mile high altitude, and when I used to take the 96 SHO to the track back then, it was capable of a low 17 second pass at low 80s trap bone stock (probably around low 16s at mid-high 80s at SEA LEVEL). It was strongest at kickdown from a ~25mph roll if I remember right, but even that wasn't close to my 1995 Mustang GT 5-speed (My mom and I lined them up). Revving that little v8 out to 7k was awesome though. I always dreamed back then about what it would sound like with an exhaust. Now, thanks to youtube, I know. Performance cars have come a long way since then.