Possibly you know the story behind the second coming of the Ford Taurus: Ford’s management figured that after 20 years, the Taurus name had been degraded to the point where consumers associated “Taurus” with “rental car,” which it pretty much was at the end of its life. So they killed the name and decided to call the new big sedan the Five Hundred, and the SUV that was built on the same platform, the Freestyle. This was during the alliteration phase at Ford, where all new products had to begin with “F,” like Fusion and Free- star — some of us were waiting for the Fustang.
Then Ford hires Boeing executive Alan Mulally to run the company, and he openly wonders why the company would throw away a brand name that had served honorably since 1986, and almost overnight, the 2007 Five Hundred became the 2008 Taurus, and the 2007 Freestyle became the 2008 Taurus X.
Fortunately, Ford had some updates ready for the 2008 models, so it’s more than a name change. The front and rear have been restyled, but the biggest news is under the hood: The 3.0-liter V-6, proclaimed by most everybody as not powerful enough for a moderately large vehicle, has been replaced by a 3.5-liter V-6 with 263 horsepower, the same engine used in the Edge. I wasn’t that upset with the old 203-horse 3.0-liter V-6, but this new engine is a marked improvement.
When the Freestyle was introduced for 2006, there was a choice between a six-speed automatic transmission and a CVT, or continuously variable transmission, which works like an automatic but has no set number of gears. For 2007, you could get only the CVT, and now for 2008, you can get only the six-speed automatic. That’s OK: Both transmissions are above average.
Otherwise, the Taurus X feels like a Freestyle, which is fine; it’s a very capable station wagon with plenty of room in the front and middle rows of seats, but the third-row flip-down seats are kid-sized. The test Taurus X Limited was all-wheel-drive (front-wheel-drive is standard), and being a top-of-the-line Limited, it was loaded. The base model is the SEL, with the Eddie Bauer in the middle.
Safety-wise, even the base X is well-equipped, with standard stability control, antilock brakes and side and side-curtain airbags. The test model added several options to the $31,800 Limited base price, including a navigation system, a rear-seat DVD player, a power moonroof and a power rear liftgate. With shipping, the price was $39,120.
Smooth and quiet, the Taurus X, by any other name, remains one of the better people-movers available.
Sentinel Automotive Editor Steven Cole Smithcan be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com.
