Ford slaps a once-successful nameplate on its refreshed and reinvigorated Five Hundred.BY STEVE SILER AND MIKE DUSHANE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARY SEELHORST
If you follow such minutia (or read all 80 pages of our Detroit auto show coverage), you probably already know that the Ford Five Hundred is slated to get a Fusion-style, three-chrome-slat grille and a 260-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 for 2008.It also shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that the Five Hundred name has garnered precisely zero brand equity in its three years on the market.
Blame it on the car’s inadequate power, its lack of competitive safety features, or its utterly forgettable styling.
You might also know that the Taurus, which was once America’s best-selling car, is now out of production after years of neglect and sales that dropped in direct proportion to the number of times Ford cost-cutters said “Put off those Taurus updates for another year.”The obvious solution (even to people with a marketing degree, apparently) is to ditch the Five Hundred nameplate and revive the Taurus designation for Ford’s big sedan. Why didn’t we think of that? We’re not going to be too hard on ourselves, as Ford itself apparently got this bright idea after it had already introduced the vehicle as the 2008 Five Hundred at the Detroit auto show in January of 2007.
The only problem with this name shuffling is that long-time Taurus buyers may be confused by the re-badged Five Hundred, as it’s a much bigger and more expensive car. But what do we know, Ford has confirmed that it won't de-content the Taurus and chop its $24k price to be competitive with the smaller Toyota Camry and Honda Accord which start around $20,000 for four-cylinder models.
When we pitted the Five Hundred against its peers in a $30k family sedan comparison test, it placed mid-pack. We liked the vast interior and supple ride, but the bland exterior and meager 203-hp V-6 left us yawning. We’re happy that Ford has addressed these specific issues.
The 2008 Taurus’s 3.5-liter V-6 is shared with the Edge crossover and produces a competitive 260 horsepower, up more than 25 percent from the 2007 Five Hundred. Final torque figures weren’t announced, but Ford did disclose that the new 3.5-liter would offer the first PZEV application for a V-6 engine. The six-speed automatic is also new for this car, as is the power-steering pump. Front shock towers supposedly impart smoother ride quality. All-wheel drive continues as an option.The new, more powerful Taurus can be identified most easily from the front, which is much more interesting this year thanks to the fitment of Ford’s three-bar chrome grille and sexier rectangular headlamps. Like more and more Fords, the Taurus also gets available chrome side vents on the front fenders. They’re the tailfins of this decade. Taillamps feature horizontal graphics to relate them visually to the front end.
Minor interior revisions round out the changes for 2008. Ford’s stance is that major changes are in store for the Taurus’s driving character. Will it be enough to make it a true competitor to the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300? We’ll tell you once we drive it.
