The oval theme is picked up on the inside on the instrument panel, vents,
door handle recesses and elsewhere. At first glance you may not like the
large oval in the center of the dash which contains the climate and sound
system controls. Give it some time. In an era when instrument panels all
seem to look alike, the one in the Taurus is a refreshingly distinctive
change.
It is also well organized. The buttons and switches run from lower left
to upper right within the oval, but the arrangement is quite logical and
it doesn't take long for a driver to make adjustments by touch alone, without
taking attention away from the road. We also liked the high-quality, high-tech
feel of the pushbuttons and switches.
The basic G model comes with a bench front seat for six-passenger capacity.
The GL and LX are available with a front bench or front buckets.
If you go with seating for six, you will get a patented three-way flip-fold
40/20/40 console seat. Yes, seat. The center portion can be used as a seating
position, with its own safety belt, or it can be flipped forward to become
an armrest, or it can be folded open once more to reveal storage compartments
for cups, tapes, coins and other small stuff. For organizing the small
items that get scattered around in a family car, this is an exceptionally
inventive piece of design work.
Manual air conditioning is standard across the board, electronic optional.
Electronically-controlled sound systems are also standard, with the LX
getting a cassette player and six speakers.
Typical of American manufacturers, the mix of standard and optional
features on three sedans and two wagons requires the assistance of a Cray
supercomputer (or a 12-year-old with a laptop) to determine what goes with
what. The base Taurus is adequately equipped, the LX very well equipped.
The price-leading G starts at $18,545, the GL at $19,535, the LX at $21,610.
Our LX sedan tester was fully loaded, lacking only leather and a moon
roof, and topped out at $24,085. At the end of 1996, 80% of Taurus sales
were GL models, which means most owners began to balk at spending more
than $22,000.
Reactions to the original Taurus were that Ford had made a giant gain
in ride, handling, steering feel and overall mechanical quality. Megadittos
for the new Taurus. As good as the old Taurus had become, the new Taurus
is a leap ahead, a leap that starts with one of the best chassis in the
midsize class.
The basic Vulcan V6 provides adequate performance, but we prefer the
Duratec V6, which makes for easier merging and passing. It is smooth, quiet
and responsive, with good stoplight getaway.
The automatic is a very good match. Thanks to improved control programming,
the shifts are clean and precise.
Thanks to the new car's improved chassis, the suspension performs as
advertised, keeping the car flat in corners and sopping up bumps and bangs.
Visibility is excellent all around, with the sloping hood lending an
Imax vista up front. Seat comfort is good, but we found the bench seat
limited in lateral support. It doesn't take much sideloading to scoot your
bottom left or right. The bucket seats are definitely more comfortable
and securing.