Traded in A Taurus SHO today

[Dynobrat]

Hey Gang:

I have a 10 Shelby and had a 11 Taurus SHO as a daily. I was tired of the rough ride and wasn't getting good vibes from the car (PTU, turbo, and timing chain ticking time bombs) so I traded it in and picked up a deep impact blue 13 GT auto with glass roof. It's stock with the exception of a magnashit axleback. (I'm not a fan of anything magnablow, sorry).

I can't wait to load a tune on the car to wake it up, considering it's a slug on the factory tune. So now I have two mustangs sitting in the driveway. I enjoyed the Taurus but got tired of it pretty fast. That and the fuel mileage was crap. They advertise v8 power on a v6 budget but seriously you get better mpg on a Coyote motor than the ecoboost. The Taurus was running fine but loved to drink fuel. I'm pretty happy with the 13 so far. I've only driven it a bit but feel so much better now that the Ticking Time Bomb is out of my hands. I need a grille replacement because I can't stand the look of the v6 grille. I'll probably plasti-dip the pony for now so it looks less conflicting. I haven't had time to do anything else to it so far but I'm pretty happy. This will be my second Coyote Auto. Love the cars overall, they are tough and almost impossible to kill.

 

[KingBlack]

glass roof..nice

 

[black92]

Congrats! The glass roof is the only reason I would get an older Mustang vs the S550. I bought an LMS MyCal tuner yesterday and supporting mods (3 bar, plugs and thermostat) for my MKS and look forward to waking this pig up!

 

[Dynobrat]

It's about the only thing it has above a base GT. I think track apps is standard on all 13+ GT's? I'll get some pictures tomorrow. I noticed it doesn't have the strut tower brace, don't they all (gt's) come with the STB? I've found one online already and emailed to see if it's still for sale. Other then that, it's nothing fancy. Base seats and brakes, ugly wheels, shaker500. But I will love having it for a summer daily. A lowered gt500 is just not good in city driving and the Taurus was a cramped buckboard ford. haha - even though it was nice off the line.

The funny thing was, I was driving to X dealership, and as I was literally almost there, I saw this car sitting at a dealership beside where I was going. Pulled in, walked in and did the deal...never even made it to my destination haha, the guys were cool shit.


I had a 12 5.0 auto, stock it ran 13.0 @ 108 consistently - I had it tuned after but never got to take it to the track after that. (12.7-12.8 would've been my best guess) I'm going to tune it for firm shifts and leave the rest alone for now. Not spending money on an intake, I'll figure out what to do with the engine later. But it's with me for the long haul for now.

The ecoboost is a good working engine but I wasn't interested in forking out dough for pending failures. And it isn't a matter of if - it's "when." I didn't really abuse mine or tune it. I know they work great tuned from all I've read and seen. I've also read horror stories and saw many videos of blown PTU's, timing chain issues, that and they mounted the water pump interally to work off the chain also. Good luck if you ever develop a leak or failing water pump. I think a Taurus SHO with NON 20" wheels would ride alot better. I felt every bump and it's a harsh ride for what it is. I get it's performance oriented but it didn't ride great and I didn't trust it to be a flat out stomper.

 

[nxhappy]

The old EBs were a nightmare. After 13 they pretty much got straightened out.

 

[scott9050]

I think track apps is standard on all 13+ GT's?

No.

I noticed it doesn't have the strut tower brace, don't they all (gt's) come with the STB?

No.

 

[VenomGTX]

A 13/14 Shelby-style open grille might make you happy

 

[2KBlackGT]

Congrats on the upgrade!

I imagine that the ride in the Mustang has to be harsher than the SHO tho?

 

[SonicDTR]

I love my SHO, but I can share some of your concerns. I'm at 117k and just gonna run it till it dies. I'd get screwed on a trade in right now.

The SHO does get about the same mpg as a 5.0, but it also weighs 1000lbs more, is AWD, and has 4 doors, so theres that...

 

[Riddick]

I have no experience with the SHO but I did recently get a 13 A6 GT. Like you said in stock trim it was a dog but I was surprised how much a tune woke it up. Congrats on the car and post up some pics when you can.

 

[7998]

I went from a 12 6spd to a 14 auto and man is it a pig. It is kind of boring actually. I mean it rides nice and is a great cruiser but it is a turd. Does a tune really wake the auto up that much? I can't even spin the tires without loading the convertor and when you do that it blows the tires off.
I'm on the fence between Paxton, TVS or wait for the 18's to come out.

 

[SonicDTR]

I went from a 12 6spd to a 14 auto and man is it a pig. It is kind of boring actually. I mean it rides nice and is a great cruiser but it is a turd. Does a tune really wake the auto up that much? I can't even spin the tires without loading the convertor and when you do that it blows the tires off.
I'm on the fence between Paxton, TVS or wait for the 18's to come out.

Absolutely. Hit up Lund and get that thing tuned!

 

[Dynobrat]

A tune will remap shift points and shift pattern and also you can increase shift firmness. Yes a night and day difference with the right tune. It is a slug on the factory tune. (Gotta please the masses)


i drove the 13 auto around this morning to work, drove around all afternoon and right now the average is 10.3L/100km. That's a substantial improvement. This is also running 87 octane. The dealers never put in supreme in anything. I disagree that they are avg fuel economy wise. When I looked at the Taurus once it said 16L/100km in town and I wasn't idling or pushing the car, all in town driving. I couldn't believe it.

 

[DHG1078]

My oh my what a time to be alive where a 420 hp pony car can be described as a "turd" performance wise. lol

 

[black99lightnin]

I love my SHO, but I can share some of your concerns. I'm at 117k and just gonna run it till it dies. I'd get screwed on a trade in right now.

The SHO does get about the same mpg as a 5.0, but it also weighs 1000lbs more, is AWD, and has 4 doors, so theres that...

I was going to say that. The cars are very heavy and awd, not the best for Fuel Economy. Mine averaged almost 23, and the wife's Xsport averages 19.9 through 90K miles. My 16 GT A6 is showing 21.6 average.

 

[Dynobrat]

It's true. I remember getting in a 2006 GT with the factory 300hp and thinking it was fast. Got used to that power level pretty quick. Then moved into a 2012 GT with the 412hp rating and thought wow this is fast! Then traded that for a 2010 GT500 with a factory 540hp and thought holy shit this is really fast. Then slapped on a TVS with all the supporting mods and bumped it up to 750hp+ and thought that was fast (and it is pretty decent) haha so yes, in stock form a coyote on 87 it is a turd, compared to tuned.

I remember when I picked up my 12 after trading the 06...I had 4.10 gears installed and some other odds and ends that I just left on the car as I was too lazy to GAF taking them off (on the 06) When we left with the 12 and got onto the on ramp and I hit it we were both thinking "is that really all she's got" we were not impressed at all, the 06 with 4.10s and simple bolt ons felt stronger. - then added 93 octane and tune on the 12 and it behaved how it should have right from the beginning.

The factory tune just shifts through the gears even at low speed. Boom, boom, boom, boom, you're in 4th gear but you're only driving 25mph. A tune will hold the gears longer and it's so much better. I am looking already for another sct haha

 

[black92]

My MKS avg is 21.6 mpg over 13,000 miles so far. I've gotten a best of 28 mpg the last two times I drove to Iowa. They do great on the open road because of the gearing (2000rpm at 85mph). I'll be headed to Iowa again next weekend, but sadly I won't be tuned yet. FYI to anyone thinking their SHO/MKS rides rough, switch to 255/45/20's if you have factory 20 inch rims. Night and day difference on my MKS.

 

[Dynobrat]

an "ecoboost is like a bmw - only good under warranty. I'd drop it like a hot potato once it's up. It seems there are just as many claiming good fuel economy vs not.

 

[HEMI LOL]

my SHO is lowered on HRs and my ride is very smooth. odd.

 

[Dynobrat]

I had stock everything with Michelin Pilot AS/3's that were brand new. That's like saying your lowered mustang is very smooth too. Sure it is. LOL Check your math, bro. haha.