1994 Ford Taurus SHO: Regular Car Reviews
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2017
- We drive one of the original factory sleepers: Ford Taurus SHO. With a manual transmission.
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When the SHO dies, you repair the SHO. Because the SHO must go on.
Jovica Janjic I want to buy anything with an SHO emblem now just so I can say that
Classic!!
Clap clap clap.
Let's get on with the SHO!
Do I get popcorn?
I have had 4 of these. The look on a late 80's Corvette owners face when you drop it to 3rd from 5th and leave them looking at Taurus tail lights is priceless!!
Idk what it is with corvette but the creators and the owners alike are often on a big ego trip
It's because the Corvette was supposed to be American's number 1 sports car. It wasn't from the mid 70's to late 80's. Then the ZR-1 showed up, but then the Viper showed up too. I like the Viper and Vette, but this Taurus is something I can actually afford, and it will take along three friends and a cooler full of beer.
I've had 3. A 90, 91, and 95 manual. My favorite hobby was popping the hood at gas stations
@@jamessawchuk5682 Your statement really isn't true... Corvette production and sales were higher from the mid to late 70's than at any other time in the marque's history. They built almost 54k of them in 1979... During the mid 80's the Corvette was so dominant in SCCA showroom stock GT racing it was BANNED and they had to create their own racing series. And the ZR1 (along with the L98) set multiple World Land Speed Endurance records that still stand TO THIS DAY for a production car, something no one else could ever do (not Viper, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, no one...) then or even now. A mid to late 80's Corvette has to be the ultimate performance bargain and best cheap base for a performance project car that money can buy. Anyone can afford one. Loved my Taurus and my Vette by the way...
G brown, is that a Shelby Charger in your profile pic? I loved the look of those back in the 80s.
It was Ford's regular 3.0 v6 Yamaha helped design dohc heads and that super high flow intake.
The 90s were a strange time for Ford. When the Taurus was faster than their flagship sports car.
@jayjaylen75 *cough cough* Grand National *cough cough* rumors they wanted to put a turbo/supercharged 3.8 in the feiro
The blocks were built by cosworth sent to yamaha in Japan they designed everything except the block itself including block internals
Like from 96-99, the Taurus SHO had a Yamaha tuned, SVT built 3.4 V8
@@the_platapus3522 unfortunately that block was a waste of a v8. Those 3.4 v8s were garbage they were notorious for having the phasers on the cam break and cook the entire engine..and they were interference designs so yea
The first time I saw the SHO was the 1998 version in Gran Turismo 4
I was about to ask "why the fuck is a car as regular as a Taurus in Gran Turismo", but then remembered that 25% of the game's car roster is Kei cars.
Ford forced Yamaha to choke this engine from it's original 300 Hp. So Yamaha out of spite made it so this car out accelerated the Mustang GT over 100 MPH. It's 1 cam swap away from this HP BTW.
TheTardis157 got more info?
i don’t know about over 100mph but when Motortrend tested both cars the Mustang was almost a full second faster 0-60mph.
The Tardisi s right. My friend cam swapped and welded cam gears to shafts of his with a aftermarket exhaust for the fastest Ford in texas! NOTHING beat it!
Colston Martin the engine was tested for days straight at 12,000 RPM, but the powerband was moved for usability and accessories.
What cam swap gets it to 300?
First car for me in high school. Parents had no idea haha. 137mph top speed
Same here. With a Superchip mine would hit 156.
@@Vazcular How many miles did it take to get there?
Same boat. Mom thought it was a grandma car. I told her it was to be responsible lol
Way higher than 137. I was doing 150 messing with GTIs.
I loved my 1990 SHO. It was easily one of the best cars I've owned and driven. Not much in the corners, but it did pull like a banshee down the on ramp. Ran mine to 255,000 miles and was still able to sell it for $1300.
Upgraded to a 2008 Impala SS. Surprised RC doesn't have a review on that murderous car yet. A 5.3L 327 small block that made 323 ft-lbs of torque + FWD + 4 speed transmission from a Lumina... WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Of course GM went bankrupt thereafter... so everything went wrong.
The first car I bought out of college (1995) was a 1994 Taurus SHO that had 15K miles for $15K. Loved that car but sold it for a WRX. Loved that car, too!
Something something vape something bro
Those old SHO’s were quick as hell. I love sleepers like those things. My buddy had a Thunderbird that was similar to the SHO. Did those have the same engine??
I had a 95 SHO throughout college, and then for a year had a hand me down Explorer, then went to Legacy GT
@@yankees29 No. The T-Bird had a Ford v-8.
@@digdoug9678 cool thanks man
If I had to do the "it's not fast" sell to a parent, I'd say the "SHO" meant it was the fanciest interior which made it worth showing off.
Cars Simplified - Hey mom and dad, it SHO is good on gas!
My parents already knew....
But who cares, it was my cash.
If I had to do the "it's not dangerous" sell, I'd say that the "SHO" meant that it was just a bit higher output than the base version and had the same safety features as the base.
The thing is, it is from the "parents'" generation. We know the car. We also know that with the age of the car, it probably doesn't put out the HP that it did brand new. I never got one because it was insanely priced.
SEUWWW FANCEHHHH
Oh and I have to add, the new SHO doesn't have a V8, it's that Ford 3.5 twin turbo. However the generation AFTER this SHO has a V8
AfterDark3 the new SHO actually hauls ass
V8 Guy never said it didn't. Just saying it isn't the V8 he's thinking.
It awd too. dam i kind of want a more modern equivalent of the 8th gen Galant VR4.
V8 Guy had a stage 3 tuned 2015 sho, monster of a family sedan
Today the best sleeper is imo the smaller Lincoln MKZ with the 400 hp engine. Would llove to see a review of one.
My friend’s dad had one of those. It was fun when he got to drive it.
Robocop drove one!
I have one
SOUPRA you don’t drive a soupra?
Mine too , these are awsome
Mike Harney we’d take it behind the shopping center the arcade was and do front wheel peels and dog it
I always loved the subtlety of the SHO. You had to know what you were looking at. The bumpers were slightly different and sportier, the badging blended into the moulding, the tiny wing, dual exhausts etc. And the notoriety of a special Yamaha engine....pure 90s lore! I lump this thing in with the Impala SS, T-bird turbocoup and Mercury Murader...all gorgeous atainable dream cars from yesteryear!
I'm gonna get one of these and every time I have to repair it I will loudly proclaim "THE SHO MUST GO ON"
I'm amazed the shape it's in, being from the Maritimes....
Well done owner... Well done.
Taylor Gaston I was thinking the same thing
ha hahahahah oh sweet southern children. you dont know the cars here. it looks decent up top, where theres paint. but by that thing is rotting from the bottom up. i garuntee if he tried to do any real work underneath every bolt will either strip break off or take half the frame with it from rust.
look at that exhaust. notice all the clamps. that exhaust is a year or two from turning to dust. everything else under there aint looking to pretty either.
Really????? Dude that show is not clean at all!!
@@benfiander40 im from the pnw, we don't salt our roads. And i thought the paint was meh.
Great interior though.
There's a reason every auto shop in N.S does undercoating
10:50 they dont make these with a v8 now, they're a twin turbo V6
I was waiting for someone to say it.
Yet have more hp now AND better fuel economy!
The one after this had a V8
The new ones come with an ecoboost v6 meaning its turbocharged
Ike Nat Turnner The newest ones yea, they have the twin turbo V6 those are quite nice!
"While the Falcon sprint never outran the mustang..."
I understand you're talking about the American Falcon sprint but, the Australian Falcon sprint from 2016 outruns the 2016 Mustang GT.
+1 this
Also, the GTHO Falcon was the fastest four door car in the world at one point.
A ford with a japanese engine?
YOOOO FORD LASER AND FORD TELSTAR, AUSTRALIAS HORRIFIC GIFTS TO THE WORLD
Ford courier master race boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
I have a 74 courier. Mazda truck in a Ford get up- still runs strong* though
*strong meaning weak as ever.
Ford KQ laser here, worst piece of rubbish I have had the misfortune of owning.
they were really just mazdas
Ford Festiva had a Mazda 1.3l
From Nova Scotia, and it isn't completely rusted out!? Well done!
Jim Sneakers it's originally from PA, but it lives here now ;)
There are the occasional garage queens in rust centrals.
Austin Lucas Sometimes people take care of their cars. This isn't a trailer queen, it's daily driven with 180,000 miles.
Keep in mind, as this is a Canadian S.H O., the mileage is in kilometres, not miles.
TheManInDboX 12k is average mileage. Which means a lot of people only put 8k a year on the daily drivers. That's about what I do.
These vids are so good, especially the c4 corvette one. I think the rev limiter was due to the torque curve/powerband peaking at 7300 not due to the accessories as they could have just underdriven them.
Got one with an automatic in June 1994. Pals called it a "babe magnet". Great car. Kept auto trans properly maintained, never had a problem. Ran like a wet dream.
Conan O'Brien had/has one of these, in manual. It used to be a running gag especially on Late Night. Conan would always make fun of it being so crappy and dull. I don't think that's the whole story. I think he might be a secretive enthusiast. Kind of an opposite to Jay Leno. He might even still have the Taurus. I mean, why wouldn't he? He kept it for at least twenty years while having plenty of money for flashier vehicles. This doesn't really matter but I find this interesting.
Amplifier800 About 7 years ago when the SHO came back out again they did a segment on his show where he went and checked out the newest SHO and compared it to his old one.
Yeah, but Conan is a douche, so...
Best part- it was a wagon SHO!
It wasn't though.
@@gophop May God strike you down for speaking I'll of Conan. He is a broadcast legend at this point.
I would paint it black & dress as Robocop
Anas Takiyudin keep it in an underground car park and bounce the bottom of the car off the ramp on leaving.
Alastair Ward because Robo is damn heavy. Haha
Anas Takiyudin hire someone to toss the keys to you every time you go to leave and say "thank you..."
There's one SHO that's been for sale for years that's dressed up like that. Nobody wants it
reidft like other Robocop purist it would have have a first generation Taurus or nothing.
I love em, I have 2 of them. Swapped the 3.2 in my first gen and put the 32 valve 4.6 in my 2nd gen. Glad to see you finally made a video on one :)
The first Vtec concept I ever driven and what a car it was.
I am a simple man. I see a Nova Scotia plate, I hit like.
Greetings from Nova Scotia.
Peter Oldreive Same!
Fuck Nova Scotia
@@Windrammer fuck you, shit stain.
I don't understand how it survived the salt.
Peter Oldreive hey man, Liverpool
Learned to drive on a 1993 example just like this, same color (but black leather interior). That V6 had a wicked exhaust note.
Loved my 95 SHO. Definite conversation starter at the car meet when you outpace Corvettes. The engine was made for a different car that would have been a rear mounted engine configuration. Supposedly was going to be the ditomasso Pantera
I nearly bought one of these a few years ago. It needed a full suspension rebuild, and the intake manifold had a crack in it, and I didn't want to faff with that. I still kick myself a tiny bit for not getting it.
My favorite part of this car? POWERED SEAT HUGGERS! Want a hug? IT WILL HUG YOU!
SHOUT OUT TO NOVA SCOTIA!
Rockin the Mac Pass. And that nice lightly salted undercarriage.
Antigonish checking in.
Wanna know something spooky? I worked back shift sunday night into monday morning. As I mopped the floor i thought ''man! Mr.Regular should get behind the wheel of a SHO'' Im not even kidding. What a treat to come home and find a SHO from Scotia none the less! Now i want to make the drive!
cameronlovesevolve NS represent! The drive down there is killer, but worth it. Mr R and crew are great folks.
I will always love these cars. though i have moved on to other platforms, this was an amazing first project car for me, i had an 89, 92, 93, and 97. Nothing i have owned since has ever had quite the same feel. Deff. worth owning one.
I had a 94 Taurus GL, and it rode and handled remarkably well for a base V6. Such good cars.
All this time I have been spelling out "SHO" when referring to this car.
same here!!!
technically that's what its supposed to be called, but everyone says "SHOW" because it's more fun/interesting i suppose. like how everyone still says Miata even though Mazda now markets it as MX-5
gmjunky87 o.k. good, I'm not the only one.
Radical AM I miss the 80s.
Everybody but ford themselves call it the show. I refuse to call it that it will always be S-H-O
We are all going to be keeping an eye out for Dan and his SHO here in Nova Scotia, certainly not a lot around :)
Steamin Steven It's daily driven between Halifax and Dartmouth ;) see you on the road, friend!
@@Pifferfish still driving it?
@@crigger it's been in need of an overhaul, it's getting it this year. Brakes, rockers, and more :)
@@Pifferfish Right on! There’s a Taurus wagon of this generation for sale someplace in Halifax on Kijiji right now. Throw a lil SHO wagon together!
I had a 1995-loved it more that my 1989 t-bird super coupe!!!
had a 91 sho, and was tearing everything on the road up!, including these 94 shos!, had 4 twelves in the trunk, beating crazy!, the front toe links are real brittle thou!, bad ass cars thou!!!
The exhaust note at the beginning is labeled as [music] in the subtitles... Perfect
Taurus: Now there's an American car that has exactly what we've been looking for.
Jake Akhtar Ford had the cheesiest jingles back in the 80's and early 90's. The best one by far was "pick up the tempo of your life!" One for the Tempo.
Jake Akhtar no american car iv ever been lookin for has been fwd.......ever
TAURUS! Tauuuuuurus TAURUS!
Have you driven a foooooooord late-ly?
Wasn't it "Tauuuuuurus... FOR US!"
Holy crap I remember that!
This car was definitely a 90’s fwd tire killer.
I love these cars mine is green with 106000 miles and I very much enjoy driving it every day.
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me"
I learned to drive on one of these
wait
was I poor?
HagbardCeline Depends on how old you are. You might have been middle class.
neokami didn't expect to hear you here.
Eye didint except two bee hear.
HagbardCeline my mom learned how to drive in a late 80s Mercury Sable
Too poor to buy a manual to learn how. Too poor for some of my family not to own cars. Too poor for a lot lol.
At least you had that experience!
I loved my SHO. 5 speed in a 4 door helped me navigate around that new father minivan curse. That engine is awesome. One of my favorite things about it is that the intake manifold can be reversed 180 degrees to make it a rear wheel drive compatible engine. I’ve seen them swapped into all kinds of stuff.
I had one just like this one back in 94. It was a very fun car when you pulled up to a Mustang or even a Vet. The look on their face was priceless. The gearing was just right to take off a little more than normal at when you put it in third and floor it it was like afterburners came on.. Love the DOHC engine.
Ford Taurus with a Yamaha engine and a Mazda transmission. I got a second-hand 91 in 95. Loved it!
this Taurus SHO is a gen 2. the gen 1 had a waaaayyy more flashy body kit. i think ford wanted to tone it down some because it was a tad bit too 80's gaudy.
Now you need to find a good shape SVT Contour to test drive! Loved mine, I was a fun car to throw around a corner and rev
Great cars! I had a black 1991 back in 1994 and my dad had a 1994 in the early 2000s! One of the most beautiful engines ever in my opinion! Both of ours were manual transmissions!
I love the automation reference, I love this car its a factory made sleeper which is pretty damn uncommon.
he keeps subtly referencing them, but never outright stating his mutual support with them
CaligoD Hey can you list all videos referencing Automation?
There are actually more Fords with japanese engines because of the ties to Mazda between around 1975 to 2015.
And yes, the Focus RS having a very similar engine to the Mazdaspeed 6 is likely one of the products of these collaborations.
I'll never forget taking a road trip from Michigan to Cedar Point in my buddies 88 SHO, this was back in 97. I'll always appreciate that car!
I had a '93 automatic. Bought it in '96 for $13K. Loved it. Great power - could spin the front tires off the line. Amazing handling for a family-sized sedan. Drove it across the US & got 30 MPG. The only problem I had with the engine was I needed to replace the crankshaft position sensor. That was well over 100K miles.. Eventually the rack & pinion wore out, and I needed an SUV, so I sold it.
Oh boy it's 4:00. Time for some RCR.
this....THIS is the RCR video weve all been waiting for! all hail the solar eclipse!
My dad always drove sleepers and never traded them in. Just kept them all. The sho replaced an Omni glh turbo. Dad replaced the sho with a Saab 9000 turbo spg. Always manuals. The Saab was the ultimate pony car assassin. I worked for him for two summers and he gave me the sho for my first car. I loved that car.
Got a lot of tickets… when I tried to play dumb with one cop he said “sure kid I know what this is” lol. Then proceeded to write me a $450 ticket.
I'd love to see a Ford contour svt on here great video as always man
i can't believe u reviewed a Taurus without mentioning Robocop
Anas Takiyudin my first thought until he said it was a 90s model.
Alastair Ward it's basically still hv the same look
I reckon your gonna like the falcon xr6 turbo when ya come to aus/nz. 4ltr straight 6 turbo
Boyd Gray
I want to import one of those engines. even if I never actually put it in anything... though, the hot version would be an interesting swap into my crown vic
#Barratheworld mate! hahahaha
Crown vic is gonna be way too heavy.
A falcon is a 1500KG car.
dchil15
The final Falcon is, according to specs I can find, a 1700kg car. My Vic is 1790kg, at the curb.
The difference is marginal when talking large cars and I wouldn't be going through the hassle for a weak power plant; obviously, I'd go after the most powerful version I could get my hands on, any of which is an improvement over the 260hp it probably isn't chugging out now...
Compared to most sedans accommodating for tall people on the market today, the old panther cars are freaking lightweights.
Isn't it a Ford Barra engine? I saw one the other day on Craiglist on New Jersey just today I was thinking that it would be great for a car project and apparently was sold..
Had a 92 max and a 94 auto, the 92 was a dream, drove from nyc to Denver..Best drive ever. Loved it.
My parents' neighbor have one of these. He bought it new and still uses it as his daily driver.
I have a 2011 sho with 40k miles here in California and there are the ecoboost 3.5 twin turbo v6 365hp and 350ft torque @1500. Yeah lives up to the sleeper name
Scott Welch get a tune and they will make a lot of other cars look like crap.
Except that it doesn't look like a sleeper when it's got 20" rims on it and sho badging all over the place. Also the new Taurus's are much heavier cars compared to the first and second generation ones.
Scott Welch You have a great car!
@@Someguy6571 90% of people still don't know what an SHO is. De-badge it. Do down pipes with a livernois tune. Car will make 430+
@@kurtlamprecht93 did he say it was? Why does everyone have to start being disrespectful over nothing? Take a breath prick.
Review a modern SHO! I have a 2013 SHO and I'm near you!
had one of these and loved it
4:05 i remember configuring a 2017 SHO and they started off around $42,000, but now that got you a twin turboed V6, AWD, and many luxurious goodies like a rear winshield shade, and optional multi point contour seats. There was also massgse seats availible too i think
But... But no. You made an error here in describing the Taurus at its time. It was anything but plain Jane. It was revolutionary. That sweeping dash and smooth interior were design queues lifted directly from the most sci-fi show on TV at the time, Star Trek the Next Generation. I mean, sure we see that show today and it looks like an old doctors office full of various shades of mauve but everything before that was hyper boxy, utilizing parts that existed out of the bin. This car... this car... look at how the headlights are integrated and not the same old square off the shelf sealed beams, and the gentle curves of the A and B pillars. It was a very sleek design among its peers. And the trim was intentionally color matched. It was a time when the automotive industry was very intentionally shunning chrome trim that lived on cars before this. It was a movement referred to as the 'sano' look. As a 17ish year old kid I thought this was a pretty awesome looking car, and it was a sedan. That's quite a feat.
Danger Pudge damn straight!
Yup the only car that was even close to being as revolutionary as this thing was the Nissan Maxima SE of the same vintage...when equipped with the DOHC V6.
In fact I believe Car and Driver compared them (the taurus barely squeaked out a win).
Unfortunately, in 1995 Nissan got it right just as Ford was moving away from the original winning formula.
All of that WAS revolutionary.......in 1986 when the Taurus came out. This car is from 1994. It was pretty ordinary by then.
It was one of the "aero cars" of the 80's along with the Opel Omega A and Audi 100 a.k.a. "cigar".
The Vulcan V6 may be bad... but it's no IRON DUKE
this is not a vulcan v6, it has a yamaha v6
Well this is not a Vulcan. But 3.0 Vulcans are bulletproof. It's the automatic transmissions they came with that were crap.
You mean Iron Puke. I had one in a 88 fiero.
Iron dukes were gutless little bastards, but they were a pretty indestructible engine. I've seen an imperial fuckpile of them abused for hundreds of thousands of miles in S-10s, their only 'maintenance' topping off fluids (including oil) as they ultimately begin to leak. I think they're pretty good if you don't expect them to be powerhouses or rev to the moon.
The SHO V6 is a heavily (and I mean heavily) modified Vulcan.
i got a 92 SHO and being that its front wheel drive this car is my winter car, love the car.
My dad had one and he absoutely loved it he talks about it quite often
This car was definitely legendary status back in the day. But I think we need to remember that while the V6 Taurus SHO was something quite special in 1989 when it was introduced, by 1994 it was already 5 years old and only around for one more year. The car was updated in the early 90s but that was more of a slight face-lift than anything. It was still the same chassis and engine from 1989. The video mentions that the interior and exterior appearance where outdated and bland but I don't think that was the case in 1989. He really should have emphasized the fact this was a car close to the end of its generation. This may be a 1994 and so we are comparing it to the competition in the mid 90's, not the late 80's to early 90's. You couldn't even get a V6 in the Honda Accord until 1995! The Acura Legend had a V6 in 1989 but it only made 160 HP until the 1991 model when it was bumped up to 200 HP. Point is a few years can make a big difference here. The SHO was indeed Super High Output for the time.
The Nissan maxima SE of 1992 with its VE30DE was a direct response to the SHO. It didnt even match the 225hp output until 1995 though. The SHO was truly special for its time.
If it were a Camry or Accord I guarantee it would be very well known, but current mindset of anyone under 35 is that American cars are all dated junk :(
Everyone talks about the the Taurus SHO and no one talks about the Contour SVT :(
Jordan Little my 2 dream cars as a kid!
Speaking of obscure performance Fords, there's an Escort ZX2 SR on my local Facebook marketplace... Not running and covered in dirt for $450 lmao.
If I had somewhere to store it and work on it I'd consider buying it. :c
Go check Doug DeMuro's latest Fiesta ST video :)
My current DD is a stage 4 FIST and I had a Focus built with nitrous in the past. My best friend had Contour SVT and we were always pushing shit way to far against my focus. I always loved how a Contour SVT without the rear spoiler looked. His was silver and it no joke turned heads. It is def one of those offbeat cars.
Jordan Little problem with the CSVT is the 220hp maximum. I love the CSVT but I would spend my 6-10k on something else these days.
SHO Super High Output. I went to ford school for this motor back when it first came out. Ripping apart the CV joints out the front end. They tested this motor at 7/8 grand RPM for hours and it don’t blow up. These motors were blowing up the transmissions also. Great motor. The front end would skate all over the place when you dumped the clutch. Autos were ok .. but when with a stick.. you had a lot of fun. The insides were nice .. nice leather gut .. all power ..electronic heating and air .. and it was sharp looking with the rims also. My buddy had one and we would rip over vets .. Irocs..and a lot of “Muscle cars” back then.
My dad had a ‘91 5-speed in green. Loved riding in that car.
I test drove an 89 in 1997 and was blown away (considering my daily at the time, and being a sophomore in college, was a 1990 Cavalier). If I had the cash, I would have gotten rid of the Cavalier in an instant. For those knocking the 225 hp, I had a Dodge Shadow ES with the 3.0 V6 and manual a couple years later. It made only 160 hp but was light. It was a Camaro and Mustang killer (which says more to the Camaros and Mustangs at the time than the Shadow). I always wondered why they replaced the Shadow with the crappy Neon.
yea but the shadows had the Mitsubishi engines in them though. I had the standard transmission variant in mine and the car was a no holds acceleration beast only thing I hated about mine was where on the gear shift they put the damn reverse gear.
Bluenosers ahoy! Any other car fans from Nova Scotia awake yet?
drivenovascotia There's a few of us in here. The drive down to PA was totally worth it. Mr Regular, Roman, and Intern Ben were all really nice folks to meet ;)
Cape Breton reporting in
South Shore reporting
From the valley here
Im just outside of Downtown Halifax. Glad to see theres one of these kicking aroung Nova Scotia
We Use To Rent Taurus SHO's From Budget Rental Car When We Took Out Of Town Trips Back In The Day In 1989 They Were Automatic Transmissions & If We Lucky We Got One With A Sunroof & It Was White Or Silver In Color A Beautiful Car To Take Long Trips In Love The Automatic Transmission Rides Better& Quieter
I had one of these. A 94 with the auto. Your review was very accurate......I was surprised, really. Absolutely right about the water pump. Mine leaked, killed the crankshaft position sensor, and left me stranded. Only once though. But you were wrong about the automatic in one sense......it was weak. I went through 3 transmissions in the 6.5 years I owned my SHO. Very expensive when they died. But even with those issues, and the expensive valve adjustment process with the shims and all that every 60,000 miles, I really loved that car. Revved for days, great on the highway, handled great for what it was. And with the proper modification from Mr. SHO Doug Lewis, she was a great car to go hunting other cars with. Finally sold her and bought my current 2000 Saleen. Still wish I had that big green beastie.
Gkad I wasn't the only one w the leaking water pump on the crank sensor.
I'm super excited that you finally had the chance to review one of these since I was one of those people occasionally pestering you to do one haha. Kind of bummed you did your thing of conveying some unverified information as fact, but overall you didn't really shit on it like some other cars haha.
The Taurus SHO summed up in one sentiment: A diamond wrapped in a turd. The engine is a fucking marvel of engineering for the time, and Yamaha did _not_ disappoint with how they tuned the sound of induction. This was my first car, and I had five more before moving on. They were garbage in 2004 when I first started driving, but the engines always made up for it :')
P.S. - Quick reference:
1989-1995 - 3.0L Yamaha v6 w/ 5 speed manual (only factory manual transmission)
1993-1995 - 3.2L Yamaha v6 w/ 4 speed automatic
1996-1999 - 3.4L Yamaha/Cosworth v8 w/4 speed automatic
2000-2009 - NOOOTTHHHIIINNNNGGGGG
2010-Present - 3.6L Ford EcoBoost v6 w/6 speed automatic
Rewatching this and I found a few more details worth noting:
-The wheels weren't always directional; I believe the 89-93 models had a single cut, but I could easily be wrong.
-What's a timing belt sensor? lolol, but seriously, folks: crank sensors are on the crank, which is always below the water pump because that's how engines work. YES, Ford could have done more to insulate the crank sensor from outside interference, but they didn't. It's kind of a hassle to do the work, but when is replacing a leaky waterpump an easy job?
-Condensation sucks for external stuff, but only an issue if the seals on the plug wire jackets are bad; and if they're bad, they need replaced, and that's on the owner. Bigger issue is any sort of oil leaks at the plug wells that would do more to cause arching than condensation that would evaporate before it was a problem.
-OBD1 flash codes are better than no codes. Look up a guide how to read them and it isn't difficult.
-They only made the Yamaha v6 SHO with an automatic for two years; you're probably more likely to come accross equal numbers of manuals, if not more. Especially since a common modification is yanking the 3.2, swapping the heads from the 3.0, and then dropping it in a manual.
-Finally: as listed above, current SHO are v6, dude. But yeah, get a hold of one of those.
Did anyone catch that it's a manual?
chelsea falgout It is?
chelsea falgout manual with ROD shifter too!
chelsea falgout wow, I can't believe someone bought this in manual. I myself love shifting gears, and during my hunt for old cars from the 80s and 90s I find them to be equipped with the auto trans 95% of the time.
Pifferfish I had the 90s VW golf and after replacing the bushing for the shifter I can tell u I love a rod linkage over cable.
Originally these only came in manual. It wasn't till '93 or '94 that an automatic was offered, and those came with a larger version of this motor, a 3.2L. My buddy in high school had one of these when they were still fairly new, it was a manual and surprisingly quick.
Thank you so much for making this
I always liked these. I drove a Solara coupe for a few years, and with its 200-hp V-6 and five speed manual (and ho-hum looks, and disinterest in hard cornering) I considered it a Toyota equivalent. It even had a dual-length intake runner! Could have used those extra thousand revs and 25 horsepower though.
I swear to god his commentary scares me more than it makes me laugh. Mr Regular you sir need help 😂.
Just listen past 5.20
I'm not sure if I liked it or it disturbed me.
Why is he like this?
Its absolute genius IMHO
Sad but true. He amuses himself, perhaps...
Welcome to RCR.
If you want a V8, you're going to have to get a Chevrolet SS to test with the 6.2L. At least before the Commodore ends production.
Zzyzx Wolfe Production already ended. Last one was built in June.
Dude. Couldn't you just wait a little longer before fucking up my week?
Jonny SRT Not in a sedan.
Put that shit in a Mustang.
Chill, dude.
I absolutely fucking love your side comments!!! Well done!
I got a 99 Taurus SHO and while it does have questionable styling it is a 3.4 litre V8, that revs to 7000 rpm. I love that car, it really screws with people and is surprisingly well made
Man spot on for stickyness in every thing.
I'm a poter at Ford and every old Ford I touch feels gross and weirdly sticky. That's a astrovan to a powerstroke f250 from the 90s
Jason Leung thankfully Ford doesn't use that kind of plastic anymore, so hopefully their newer models age more gracefully...
My Hyundai from 2007 has the same sort of plastic and it’s just starting to go. I like to call it “Thinkpad plastic”, since all IBM Thinkpad laptops have the same sort of sticky plastic
Faster than a same generation Mustang GT, and if you tell any non car-enthusiast this, they'll laugh at you. Until you blow their doors off.
Funny thing is the MTX is a Mazda unit. So it's a Ford body with Yamaha engine, Mazda transmission.
Also, 2:25 bored not stroked. The 3.2 had a different cam profile than the 3.0. Cheap mod with the 3.2 is to swap in the more aggressive 3.0 cams.
Best car. Had a 92 mtx. Had to donate it because it was rusted thru. Drove it from NYC to Denver, felt like a true grand tourer. Man I loved that car.
The SHO was a great American car (with a little Japanese help). It was also considered a pretty good handler for the time. Automobile Magazine did a comparison of a SHO and a BMW 535is around the late 80s/early 90s. While more crude, the SHO made a great showing, even with its balky shifter and front drive. $25k may have seemed like a lot then, but keep in mind the 535is was probably $35-40k...and slower.
The accessory exploding isn’t true the peak power is at redline
Milestone car in the Taurus history, thanks for recognizing.
Man my kid dream car.. turned nightmare with all the gremlins it had. Something with it not being able to shift out of Park, I think the tac and gas gauge quit working.. but man was it fun the 2 months it worked.
I kinda love your perspective voices, I kinda sharted by laughing so hard.
Adjusted for inflation it was $41k sure, but then the 2017 SHO is $42k, and options for the era are about right
I must be there luckiest subscriber. I have a 94 SHO with the linkage style manual AND a 94 Accord wagon EX manual, both extremely rare, the wagon being a one year only production for a manual in the EX package. Sweet, also have a rare 90 Civic EX Sedan, pretty cool.
I had a 93 TT RX7 with an aftermarket intake and exhaust and got into it with one of these on a long bridge once. I had some difficulty pulling on him. It was fast. He thought he was gonna sleep on me but I knew I had to be ready for this one. I got him but it was not easy.
I see he's from the city... he's got himself a macpass.
You're wrong about the SHO on many levels. Great handling car (with minor adjustments). I drove a SHO on a racetrack for about 6yrs and it was one of the most predictable, fun and quick cars I've ever had the pleasure of driving.
I love your reveiws they are so friggen honest
Rode to high School a lot in my friends sho and it was a Manual transmission. Lots of fun