Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragoneye
And you're right of course. I didn't mean to discount the EcoBoost lineup at all. There are different ways to approach a goal -- and EcoBoost is lookin' good. Hell -- Ford wants a version in 90% of it vehicles within years, if I remember correctly. That's mighty aggressive -- and I like it! 
It's just when people start fawning over it because it gets a 13.9 quarter-mile and 26mpg, or whatever it will get...I, again, can't help but point out things like the SS getting a 12.9 1/4 and 25mpg...without turbos or fancy names. It's just interesting to me... |
SS is a poor comparison. The SHO will most likely put down performance numbers in close proximity to the G8 GT...which is a good comparison because size, weight, layout, and mission are reasonably similar..... and will, if Ford's expectations prove correct, manage at least one mpg better highway than the Pontiac does while carrying the added benefit of all wheel drive. Throw all wheel drive onto a G8 GT and fuel economy will go down by at least one mpg, likely more.
In the real world the Ecoboost is buying at least 2-3 mpg over comparable designs, and that is assuming Ford's estimates for the Taurus SHO aren't conservative at all and that awd would only knock 1 mpg off the G8's mpg figures, which is a very generous estimate. It isn't a stretch at all to think that the real world mpg improvement could prove to be closer to 4mpg and possibly even a bit more when hard numbers come in. And even if it is a gain of 2-3 mpg....with looming, tighter CAFE regs coming you better believe that GM would kill for a 2-3 mpg improvement in fuel economy with no sacrifice in performance.
The Taurus SHO is, IMHO, too expensive and the decision to use the Taurus name in spite of arguably better names collecting dust on the shelf, like Galaxie, is a huge mistake. That said, the engine itself is a major step forward for Ford and if they can get the marketing hashed out stands to really shift the status quo in the marketplace once the four cylinder rmodels start to trickle in.