Comments: 1-15, 16-18
Transmission failure. Before Purchase Rebuilt $750.00.
An incredible "secret" pocket rocket.
I just started work at a dealership last month. I had never heard of the SHO other than a distant memory of a friend trying to convince me it was the fastest thing at our local drag strip. I laughed at him. I picked the SHO as my demo one night due to the ease of its position to get out of the lot with minimal effort. Needless to say I bought two (his and hers).
I have owned near 30 cars in my 34 years on this planet. I have fixed cars professionally, drove them professionally, and now sell them professionally. I know cars.
Well the story I am going tell you is still unbelievable to me a month later, but none the less 100% true.
I left the lot and within the first 2 miles I was looking around the dash, shaking my head and saying "What the hell is up with this Taurus" I like to say cars talk to me. Well this baby was begging to get my attention. I instantly knew she had some power. After a long day I did not give it much more attention. I did not explore her. I just drove home and went out for a cruise with the wife. She drove for 2 hours and the car insisted on trying to get my attention. I could not ignore her anymore. My wife liked the bells and whistles and I did to, but there was more than met the eye here and I was eager to see what it was "OK babe my turn" I said. She had seen enough and stated she was buying it. Now the fun starts. I explain to my wife that this car is now screaming at me to drive it. To really drive it. After 14 years with me my wife was already putting on her seat belt. She was ready and curious. I do not often really drive a car to the edge. That is why I married her. In truth, I do not know anyone else who could sit next to me on a performance test drive without screaming to get out. I get all nestled in and head for the ramp. Bang!!! I nail her. Whoa. Gone. Just gone. No fuss, No muss. A low primal growl that erupts into a confident roar as the intake runners open at 4000 rpm. 0-60 in about 6 seconds. OK then, we have the road now. Bang!!! I nail her again AT 70 mph. Gone. Just gone again!! OK then 110mph and arriving there really fast as the runners open the intakes and my eyes. She has really got my full attention now as she moves as though we were still at 60 mph. No shaking. No wind disturbance. I am impressed. Really tight legs.
What happened next was the most significant event in my driving life. Bang!!! I hit her again and this time I am taking her there. Gone. Just gone again!!! What!!! The runners howl 120, 130, 140,.Speedometer pinned only at 4800 rpm. Red line 3000 away!! What!!! 5200 rpm must be 150-160 mph still got room!! What!!! She is still smooth getting a little light and loose, but man 160!! She has room for more. Taurus??? That's it for me. Any faster and I want a NASCAR paycheck. I am laughing now. I thought I would hit her limit. She hit mine. For the first time in 14 years there is fear on my wife's face. She marvels at the crazed look in my eye and the uncontrolled laughter. For the first time a car has defeated me. I am fully intoxicated. High on the car. Now here come the turns. Swish 120mph. Swish 110mph. No noise. No screech. Lots room for more. The car handles like every other aspect of itself. Flawless. Effortless. A thing of true grace. I come off one highway and on to the one that completes a normal 45min nonstop circle of Philadelphia to bring us home. Its been 12 min. I am talking to myself and still laughing. I am at a nice slow 90mph. This seems normal for this car. "My god what is this thing. Does my boss know about it? I don't think he does. I can get it cheap. We have three on the lot. Wait, I can get two". I hear my wife distantly "Honey are you OK. Who are you talking to" I am playing checkers on the road now and I am kinged. I am not even thinking about it. The car makes hard, if not impossible things, a norm. Traffic appears to me in slow motion.
We arrive at the home station. I want to know what is under the hood. I look and yell to my wife "It's a modified engine". No way it came with this. The intakes are 1 inch pipes for each of the 6, yes 6 cylinders. Questions abound. I must know. What is this car. My neighbor approaches me. He has been waiting since we left. He knows the "Shogun". Like an answer to my prayers he explains the car in full. If I had not done the very things he now spoke of I would have called him a nut. Stock. It's full stock. Yamaha engine. Beats Vettes, Firebirds, Camaro. Bill warns me " I know you Mark. Be careful. She will kill you before you kill her." Yes she would indeed.
I have found the car of my dreams. I am lord of the roads. I have owned 6 police interceptors. They cannot compare. Some states actually use this car stock as police interceptors!! I am lord of the road in my Shogun. Some day I will try to beat her. I will rise to conquer this machine. Until then she owns me. Heart and soul. I honestly don't know if I will win.
She can be modified cheaply, but stock is good enough. If not than you need to have a few sessions on the couch. Minor mods give impressive horses on this fine tuned mechanics only machine. She will eat tranny's, but is she worth it? Yes. The engine has been noted to get 250000 miles easy. Valve lashes and timing belts need help at times. Nothing is cheap to fix on this car. Even the fluids demand knowledge. She is no cheap date. She is a driving machine that can impersonate a family car on demand. The all leather seats and many options make it a joy to sit in. Smooth ride for a sport tuned suspension. She is a little soft on the ride and some true sports handling is lost, but a strut bracer replacement and tire upgrade and look out Vette. Great JBL sound with woofer and booster standard. She does it all. At long last I am in love with a car. She was always there waiting for me. Fate has brought car and driver together. I am king of the road. She is my queen. We battle to this day for rule of the road and she is winning. Am I crazy? Drive A Shogun and see. I have a black 93 ATX and red 94 ATX.
It's true. This guy is not a nut. I recently had a sixty four and a half mustang, it was my first car, anyways I pretty much drove it to the ground, had way to much fun in it. My dad looks around for a new car for me and one day when I was returning home I saw this green Taurus in my driveway. I was angered to think my next car was to be a Taurus, a family car. So anyways I decided to test it before I gave the complete thumbs down. I had a similar experience as the writer of the review did. I was on the road driving my nineteen ninty three Taurus Show and gave it all I got. I too could not best this demon of a car, I only got to 125 though. Anyways this is getting way to long, to sum it up I am glad I have this fast, luxurious, and nice quality car.
I'm not a gear head, but was floored by the acceleration of my SHO. Bought it used w/7K miles on it. It was so fast I nicknamed it the Time Machine as all other cars on the road seemed to stop when I punched the pedal. I'm not sure if the fuel flow is lacking, but it doesn't deserve the nickname now. Still fairly quick and an awesome highway car. Cruises at 80 at 2600 RPM.
I also own a 93 ATX, after my accident I was searching for the right car. I kidd you not I was shopping for well over a year, the sales man I was in contact with pretty much gave up on me. After test driving sveral sports cars and S.U.V's I stubbled on to a green SHO that had just been traded in, not sure what I was looking at , I decided to test drive. I slammed it straight out of the lot and burned tires for about 200 feet no lie. After that I decided to purchase her on the spot. A few days later the previous owner recognized the car because of a slight scratch on the door and told me he slightly modified the car and wished he never traded her. My SHO has been faithful to me ever since beating everything from rice rockets to mustangs and pontiac everything (firebirds, bonevilles,camaro,sunfire,and grand am gt's ,ect...) even a mustang cobra convertible (should of seen the look on his and his buddies faces). She is easy to break if you're not careful, but once she's running again you get this warm feeling inside that tells you to push her again and again. Take my word for it, one test drive and you'll be buying one yourself or if you own one you'll be begging FORD to bring her back!
Victor 93ATX 267HP.
Corvette, lexus, and bmw mixed together? it's a taurus... no.
I bought my 92 MTX SHO in Germany while I was in the army from another soldier. One word for you - AUTOBAHN!! This car can hang with the BMW's, Mercedes Benz's, and Audi V8 Quatros at top speed, and do it all day! Believe me, an American Taurus doing over 130 on the bahn gets noticed by other drivers! Mine is pushing nearly 170K on the odometer. It's starting to show it's age, which breaks my heart. The front bearings wore out, the water pump went bad, the radiator leaked, the air conditioning hasn't worked for over four years, and the tires were bad. I was thinking about getting rid of it, but decided to fix a few things before I sold it. Put in a new radiator, water pump, wheel bearings, new tires, and gave it an alignment. Then took it out for a final drive. It was like falling in love again! That V6 still pulled like a Saturn V! It handled well again! It shifted as good as it ever did! Get rid of it? You gotta be kidding! It still will need work on the AC and the paint is faded on the C pillar and the interior is showing it's age and it needs new mufflers and the list goes on. Some cars just get under your skin like that.
I own a 93 ATX SHO. When I first bought it in february I knew as soon as I looked at the purple flames on the hood that it was something. I test drove it off the lot and immediately I was in love I hit 80 in a matter of seconds... my friends still don't believe me about it, but there is a guy in a Z28 camaro who will soon find out. It's stock and there's plenty of horsepower, but I plan to put a cool air intake on and a k&n air filter soon and maybe a new exhaust. If you're looking to buy one do it...you'll love it.
I would have to agree completely. I was introduced to SHO's about 6 years ago and I got hooked. My best friend had just got a new car that he just had "to SHO me". I had no clue about SHO's and neither did any of my friends, probably due to the lack of advertising on Ford's behalf. In my opinion that makes it one of the biggest "sleepers" out there, which is a good thing for me.
I now own a 93 SHO and a 97 SHO. It took me about two years tho find the SHO I was looking for, the wait was well worth it. My 93 SHO is a MTX and will run with just about any front wheel drive cars out there. The performance of my SHO's surprise just about everyone who rides in my cars. The seats are very nice and the options are plentiful. Any options that you could have wanted were stock options on SHO, in-fact there were not very may options available over the base line SHO's. What you got was unheard of power from an American family sedan that was designed to compete with BMW's 5 series for $20,000 less. SHO's were about $10,000 more that the top of the line Taurus, but well worth the money.
I will be the first to admit that parts for these cars are extremely expensive. You can dump over $15,000 into the engines alone and have a 700HP car if that's what you would like to do, however the stock 220HP is enough for just about everyone. I look forward to long road trips when I am behind the wheel, knowing that at anytime I can awaken the sleeping beast.
I have no complaints about my 97 SHO either. With a V-8 in a Taurus you can't go wrong. I can't see myself ever getting rid of my SHO's I would like my children to see the awesome example of what automotive ingenuinty can produce. Ensuring that my SHO's are well taken care of with proper oil and gas I have no doubts that they will surpass the 300K mark with ease and performance to spare.
I just about purchased a new SHO in the late 80's just out of high school for my new family. Between payments and insurance it was just to much, my heart was broken. I just recently purchased a '93 mtx SHO and It is a double edged sword. Although the adrenalin rush of 225+ ponies in a four wheel drift out weights it, I kick myself for not finding a way to purchase the one over twenty years ago.
Enjoy the ride.
To the guy who wrote this review:
Believe it or not, but a "Shogun" is another car. The Shogun is a Ford Festiva with the SHO drivetrain installed in the back!!! Yes IT DOES EXIST!!!
Anyways, I DID like your review. It's right on the money. Dealers couldn't sell them because most of them didn't know what it was!! Actually it's only the top end of the motor built by Yamaha. They've also ALWAYS had a reputation for eating clutches and losing 2nd gear. The clutch at least can be solved by installing an aftermarket one like Centerforce and others.
The original test in Dec. 1989 in Car & Driver listed the top end at 140 MPH. (I think they actually said 139, but this is off the top of my head).
I had a dealer tell me that you should loosen and retighten the plugs about once a year as platinum lasts longer, but apparently in the SHO at least, can be almost impossible to get out after a while. Sort of like lugnuts on aluminum rims!
These cars are true SLEEPERS. There is also a full aftermarket for them; Bushings, suspension, exhaust, superchargers, etc, Enjoy! Den.
I have had my 95 SHO MTX for about a year now. These cars are really unexplainable... true sleepers. You have to drive one to believe. It's really fun to hear people talk crap about it being a "Taurus", then when you smoke em at the stoplights they shutup.
Yeah I own a 1995 White ATX. I Just got the car on an unbelievable deal. I paid $3,500 for it with 62,000 miles and the 60K maintenace was just done on it so it had plenty of power to spare. I added a Cold Air Intake and a K and N Filtercharger and now I am running 237HP. Small bolt ons can add major HP for this particular engine design. On Autotrader you can find plenty of SHO's for right around $3,000 I would suggest buying one for the all around performace of it. The insurance is also cheap because of the "Family" car. But I have taken down plenty of mustang GT's and a Mustang Cobra. They might say they only have 220HP, but that is a lot more than most other cars with 220HP. The Yamaha engine really gets every drop of juice out of all those horses... Ever in Minneapolis look for White Lightning...It's SHOFast.
I bought my 93 atx with 193,000 on it. The car is alright you guys must not have driven any thing with real horsepower before. The parts are to expensive and the same problems keep coming up no matter how many times you fix it because of the crappy design. like the water pump being placed right above the (cps) which causes the car to die went it gets hot. these water pumps are expensive and only last 60,000 miles before they start leaking.
I bought my '93 SHO MTX seven years ago. I have had the pleasure of putting on over 100,000 miles on this car. It is my dily driver.
Yes, the 60,000 mile service is pricey. But the car has never needed any other service in between.
This car is not only comfortable to drive, but fast and easy with a gallon of gas. My SHO gets over 32mpg at 70mph with the A/C running. Yes, it has dropped a few jaws of drivers of Z-Camaros, GT Mustags and a number of the hot Japanese cars.
My SHO now has 160,000 miles on it and it still runs great. This car has been very satisfying.
I got a 93 blue MT SHO about 5 years ago with about 48K miles on it and have since put on over 100k. The 93-94s are about the best ones out. The V8s iirc aren't as fast. I have had small problems with the car, but the engine is about bullet-proof. The other Ford items (like the interior) will fall about much faster then the engine will. Now with 170k she still scoots pretty good. A young Grand Prix driver who I work with just found out. When he saw the engine he called it a "spoon" which I figure means aftermarket or something and said that I suckered him. I said that the engine was stock. "It's a Yamaha." <bk>
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He said, "whatever, man."<bk>
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So the car is great. I really do love it. It is 12 years old and now and needing some love, but I am thinking not of getting a new car, but rebuilding this one. It will be cheaper for sure, but that is not the main reason for the rebuild. It is just a great car. It still handles well, runs great, and rides nice. it just needs some cosmetics.<bk>
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If you find one, take a look.
Hey people I have a 93 Taurus GL and I loved it it was quick... but its very unreliable... i want a SHO... I've always loved sleepers and after reading all these comments I want one!! someone hook me up.