...about the Taurus SHO. I saw through some of the archives some topics about the SHO and some mismatched information. Perhaps I can help clear up some confusion and hopefully put some hope in the Bonne owner'* whoever come acorss one. And having been a resident SHOforum and Superhighoutput.com member, and SHO owner for the past 5 years, I can relate some good info for ya'll.

First off, 1989-1991, Gen I : All 5-speed manual, all 3.0L DOHC V6'*, 220hp, 200tq. Average 1/4 mile is 15.0-15.3 STOCK. There'* always a factory freak here and there, capable of very high 14'*, but that'* about it.

1992-1995, Gen II : All had 5-speed manual, all 3.0L DOHC V6'*, 220hp, 200tq. A 3.2L version equipped with 4-speed auto trans was made optional from 1993-1995. 3.2'* were 220hp, 215tq. Average 1/4 mile is 15.1-15.5 STOCK. Most are mid 15 cars.

1996-1999 Gen III : All had 4-speed automatic, 3.4L DOHC V8, 235hp, 230tq. Average 1/4 mile is 15.3-15.6.

For the most part, the 5 speed SHO'* are quick. Not the best 1/4 mile dragster, but a great car to mod the suspension and run for autocrossing. The good pulling power from the high revs is great to get through the corners with, and the aftermarket for suspension is great for these cars. They can handle on rails when fully equipped.

A common mod for the 5-speed guys is to drop in the 3.2L motor from the 93-95 automatics. The extra 15 ft/lbs makes a good difference down low in the powerband, but nothing extreme.

The mods for these cars are poor in terms of $ per HP. The Yamaha built motor in the V6'* and the joint Ford/Yamaha V8 in the 96-99'*, already are effiecnt motors, and pulling extra power out of them costs A LOT of cash.

To put that in perspective, let'* say you had a 1995 SSEi and a 1995 MTX SHO, both stock. Give each car 250 bucks to spend on mods. You could maybe pick up a higher-flowing y-pipe for the SHO, and maybe a K&N filter. The SSEi could snag up a new t-stat, custom CAI with a cone filter, and a smaller pulley. Gains? Probably 15hp/15tq for the SHO, and what, near 30hp/40-50tq on the SSEi? I don't know much about power numbers with the SSEi yet with pullies and such (trust me, I will learn soon ), but basically one pulley and the SHO is done. It'* been proven time and time again with GTP'* and SHO'*.

The V8 SHO'*? Don't even worry about them unless you get to tango on the highway stock. Light to light,...TQ OWNS!. Automatic v6'*? pretty much the same deal with them as the V8'*. horrible out of the hole. Good pulling on the highway from say 60-70mph rolls. Top speed doesn't mean much to me. It'* how the car does in everyday driving and down low. But that'* just my opinion.

Why does it sound like I'm bashing these cars? Well, not really, just clearing up some confusion I've noticed on the archives. I respect the SHO and having owned both an auto V6 and a 5speed V6 over the past 5 years, I will say they hold their own. But they are WAY to expensive to mod, let alone keep maintained. PArts are becoming discontinued for them. They require a 60k mile interval maintenance job that is very costly. Not doing it over time will hurt the SHO'* performance severly, and cause premature wear and tear, leaks, breakdowns, etc. After reading through this forum, and the Grand Prix forum, I feel confident in owning a car now that will not give me any major headaches like the SHO did. I was on pins and needled drving that thing back and forth to school and drving it for both of my jobs. I'm looking forward to having some good fun with SIMPLE maintenance on the SSEi and easy, cheap, and power-rewarding mods. The SHO was just killing me. FWIW, I picked up my last SHO, a 94 5pseed with 144k on it in Oct 2002 for $1000. Since then, I've dumped almost $3000 into it just to keep it up. That'* nuts. And it was still pretty much stock. It was still quick, but falling apart nonetheless. And now it'* time for a change for me, and something more reliable and worth the $$.

Thanks so far to all that have helped me with my first Bonne questions. This is a great forum, the people here are so much more mature and helpful than some of the other forums I've dealt with in the past.

Can't wait to get to smokin' some SHO'* badly with under $500 in simple tune-up maintenance and mods into my new SSEi...

Very informative.

Huh? 89 SHO'* 220hp 200 torque and Bonneville Blues SSEi couldnt beat it?

that was a very informative article that i read all the way through

SHO'* benefit the same way that LS1 cars do. Flat torque curves and high revving help take advantage of the manual gearing. A SHO may appear to only have 200 peak torque, but through 80% of it'* powerband up to 7300 rpm redline, torque is over 180ish.

damn

yup. My 210lb-ft @ 2000 greatly dwindles off past 3000rpm.

At high RPM DOHC > all

Then there'* GM'* DOHC that don't go to High RPM, where they would make a lot of power. If you bounced a Series III L32 into 4.0L displacement, and gave it lighter pushrods and stronger springs, you would kill the 4.0 northstar, and be able to outrev it. But we won't go there Jimbo.

The most important thing for street cars is a very wide power band. Witha good power band you can gear it to hell