2002 Ford Taurus - Consumer Guide Automotive

Category	LX sdn, ohv V6 Rating (See All Ratings)	Midsize Car Average Rating

Acceleration	4	5

Fuel Economy	5	5.3

Ride Quality	6	6.2

Steering/Handling/Braking	6	5.8

Quietness	5	5.4

Controls	6	6.3

Room/Comfort/Driver Seating (front)	6	5.7

Room/Comfort (rear)	6	4.3

Cargo Room	6	4.6

Value within Class	7	6

Total Score:	57	54.6

Ratings: Maximum 10 points per category

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2002 Ford Taurus Review

Ford's best-selling car makes some previously optional features standard for 2002, and former option packages become separate models. Added midyear was an optional interior package with wood steering-wheel trim. Base LX sedan models return, while SE, SES, and SEL sedans and wagons gain new submodels. Front bucket seats are standard on SES Deluxe and SEL sedans and optional for the SEL Deluxe wagon. The standard front bench seat gives sedans 6-passenger capacity, while a 2-passenger rear-facing 3rd-row seat is now standard on wagons for 8-passenger seating. The base engine is an overhead-valve 155-hp V6. Available on higher-line models is a 200-hp dual overhead-cam V6. Both engines come only with automatic transmission. Antilock brakes are standard on SEL and SES models and optional on other models; wagons get rear discs in place of drums. Traction control and head-and-torso front side airbags are standard on the SEL Premium sedan, and optional on all but the LX sedan and SE Standard wagon. Power-adjustable brake and accelerator pedals are available on all but the LX sedan. The new Wood Package, optional on SEL models, includes a wood- and leather-rimmed steering wheel along with woodgrain plastic shift knob and interior trim. Taurus shares its basic design with the Mercury Sable.

Competition

Perennial Best Buys Honda Accord and Toyota Camry continue to shine with refinement, model diversity, and comfort. Both come in coupe and sedan forms, offer economic 4-cylinder or sporty V6 power, have room for four adults, and are reasonably priced.

Recommended models include the import-flavored Chevy Malibu, plain-Jane Ford Taurus, and the good-looking Pontiac Grand Prix. All come with V6 power, offer lots of standard equipment, and have pleasing road manners that will suit a variety of driving styles. The restyled and larger Nissan Altima is new to the Recommended list this year. We are impressed with interior room and road manners, but disappointed by the budget-level interior materials and assembly.

News

Taurus's 2000-model makeover was apparently just what buyers wanted. Likely helped by its new, more conventional styling, Ford's mainstream midsize gained 4-percent in calendar-year sales to reach just over 382,000. Then again, Ford was probably hoping for more, given the update's likely high cost.

If you still haven't been won over, though, just wait a few years, for Ford has something quite different in store for 2004. Diverging sharply from sister Mercury Sable, Taurus will reportedly morph into one of those hard-to-classify "crossovers" blending attributes of sedan, SUV and minivan. Ford recently acquired Volvo, and is taking advantage here by starting with the P2 platform used under the Swedish maker's latest V70 wagons and S80/S60 sedans. Ford engineers are known to think highly of this platform, but would use only parts of it so as not to step on Volvo's toes, as well as to keep costs down for the lower-priced Taurus. Powertrains, styling and interior design will naturally be Ford's own, though specifics remain to be determined. However, a Volvo V70 wagon was recently seen running around Detroit with a wider-than-stock body and elevated ride height, apparently a test rig for the future Taurus. Putting everything together, we predict a sort of scaled-up Focus with V6 power, high-built wagon and maybe 4-dr hatchback bodies, roomy interiors with versatile seating configurations, front-wheel drive, and a likely all-wheel-drive option.

2002 Ford Taurus Road Test >

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