Tag Archives: Taurus

Motorsport

Conan O’Brien Bought His Taurus SHO Without Knowing How to Drive Stick

Conan O’Brien has loads of followers at Motor1, and some of us additionally fancy the Ford Taurus SHO. Conan has lengthy poked enjoyable at himself for driving an previous Taurus, however we all know the SHO is one thing particular. He spoke about it lately on his Team Coco podcast, revealing he truly purchased it with out understanding drive a guide after which promptly hit the streets of LA. Yikes.

Speaking as somebody whose first guide automobile was additionally a Ford Taurus SHO, enable me to say I’m impressed Conan survived these preliminary trials. The previous SHO used Ford’s MTX-IV transmission, a gearbox sourced from Mazda and beefed up a bit for SHO responsibility. It wasn’t a horrible design, but it surely was notchy and oftentimes fussy getting again into first—precisely what you need when the prolonged pink mild turns inexperienced and you’ll’t get it into gear. And whereas the high-revving V-6 had a good 220 horsepower, its 200 pound-feet of peak torque at 4,500 RPM made it a bit difficult to get shifting till you bought used to it.

At least I had a little bit of three-pedal expertise from BMWs earlier than buying my SHO, so I acclimated fairly rapidly. In the podcast, O’Brien says he “bought it on faith” in Massachusetts then went to a grocery store car parking zone along with his brother, who confirmed him the fundamentals. That’s fairly typical for many three-pedal newbies, however then he took it to Los Angeles the place he was “grinding gears like crazy” till he finally acquired the hold of it. And for these questioning, sure, he nonetheless owns it. He confirmed as a lot within the podcast.

The previous SHO made a number of appearances by means of O’Brien’s profession in tv. Brad Pitt famously dropped the clutch for a smoky burnout in New York, and on TBS he tried to convince an insurance agent it was price thousands and thousands. Arguably the very best SHO bit got here throughout his Late Night tenure the place, amongst different issues, he hilariously referred to the guide shifter because the “Cone Bone.”

Stay stylish, Conan, and do not promote the SHO simply but. These are going up in worth, and along with your celeb possession within the combine, it may fetch a minimum of $2,500 at public sale.

Cars

5 Of The Highest Horsepower Muscle Cars Of The Nineteen Nineties

Another four-door muscle automotive instance is the Ford Taurus SHO. This mannequin was launched in 1989 and featured a Yamaha-designed Ford SHO V6 engine — with SHO that means Super High Output. Although essentially the most iconic fashions had been from 1992 to 1995, they weren’t precisely essentially the most highly effective fashions made within the ’90s.

This award goes to the third-generation Ford Taurus SHO, which was produced from 1996 to 1999. Although it did not have a pointy look, it was essentially the most highly effective mannequin but. It was additionally the one one to function a V8 engine however misplaced the guide transmission possibility. So, when you wished one, you needed to stick with the four-speed AX4N automated transmission.

Nevertheless, the 1999 Ford Taurus SHO’s 3.4-liter SHO V8 engine may output 235 hp at 6,100 rpm and 230 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. Automobile Catalog recorded its zero to 60 mph efficiency in 7.3 seconds and accomplished a quarter-mile in 15.4 seconds at 91 mph.

Although the muscle automotive not existed in its purest type within the Nineteen Nineties, a number of American automobiles from that period may ship the exhilarating straight-line efficiency muscle automobiles are recognized for, however this time, with extra consolation, security, practicality, and value.

Motorsport

Watch an Old Ford Taurus Outperform Porsche, BMW, and McLaren on the Race Track

The classic Ford Taurus SHO continues to impress even after being on the road for over 30 years. Imagine attending an open track event in 2023 with your McLaren 720S, only to find a first-generation white Taurus right behind you in the rearview mirror. While the Taurus didn’t overtake the McLaren, it did pass other drivers, as shown in the video above.

The video is courtesy of Adam Hartlmeier, who is a well-known enthusiast of the SHO. Adam and his wife Michelle own several first-generation models, including two of the four Ninja Turtle SHO race cars that participated in the IMSA Firestone Firehawk series in the early 1990s. However, the car featured in this video is a different white 1990 SHO that has been modified for track fun.

By “comfortably modified,” we mean that there are no extravagant modifications such as turbochargers, superchargers, or nitrous oxide. The car features a mostly stock 3.2-liter SHO V6 engine, producing around 250 horsepower at the front wheels. It has coilovers, upgraded 13-inch brakes, and has been stripped down to weigh approximately 2,600 pounds.

The video was filmed at the Blackhawk Farms track in Illinois. It captures the McLaren 720S and the Taurus SHO racing together, with the Taurus keeping up with the McLaren in the corners but falling behind on the straights. However, the Taurus manages to overtake several other cars, including Miatas, a Chevrolet Camaro, a Ford Mustang, and even a BMW E30 and a Porsche Cayman.

Adam Hartlmeier highlights the fact that the SHO is a dedicated racer, while most other cars at the event were street cars designed for both track and street use. It’s impressive that a car originally designed for comfortable transportation can outperform cars with significantly more power on the track. Many people are surprised by the SHO’s speed, making it one of the most unexpected performance cars.

Special thanks to the Hartlmeiers for sharing their photos and stories. For more Taurus SHO action, you can listen to Motor1.com’s Rambling About Cars podcast featuring Zach Wright, the owner of an eight-second 1995 Taurus SHO drag car affectionately known as the Blue Turd.