High-class finish
Yes, I can hear the sceptics say that I’ve taken a nasty blow to the head, describing as I have Ford’s finish as high-class. It is, however, the case. The cabin was carefully crafted, featuring ergonomic controls and a modern, user-friendly dash board.
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| As for the seats, they’re comfortable and supportive enough. |
For instance, the assembly procedure for the centre console has changed. It used to be a separately assembled part that was later inserted into the cabin. Now it’s assembled directly in place, eliminating the obvious joint at the base of the console. This results in a more luxurious finished product, and especially reduces the chances of hearing any undesirable crackles.
Obviously, even though the materials are high quality they remain affordable, i.e., the wood trim is in fact a patterned opaque film and the leather is simply well made plastic (the genuine materials are reserved for the Lincoln). Ford receives a gold star for the inside of the doors, assembled with injected polyurethane. In concrete terms, a mould is prepared with a piece of genuine leather and injected with liquid urethane. The moulding produced is beyond reproach and easily mistaken for the real thing.
As you would expect, the Taurus offers a lot of interior space, and the engineers even took care to slightly raise the roof panel to allow for greater head room in back.
As for the seats, they’re comfortable and supportive enough, but not overly so, especially during more aggressive driving manoeuvres, but an optional massage system is available for the back and bottom and in itself is worth its weight in gold. After a long day behind the wheel, even if I’m not a fan of massages, I welcomed the small, well placed movement.
A sedan that gets up and goes
Once behind the wheel you want to feel the Taurus on the open road, and even the SEL version (and not the SHO) moves with confidence. True, the 3.5-litre, 263-hp V6 is not exactly new to the game, and it has already proven its worth.
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| The 3.5-litre, 263-hp V6 is not exactly new to the game. |