Ford Taurus (2013)

The new Taurus also adds Ford's intuitive active park assist technology, making life simpler and more convenient for customers.

Ford Taurus also offers the following comfort and convenience technologies:

• New heated steering wheel adds to the comfort of the heated and cooled leather-trimmed seats
• Multicontour seats with Active Motion™, a Ford Taurus class-exclusive offering, help to reduce driver and first-row passenger fatigue with a subtle rolling massage pattern
• Intelligent Access with push-button start, allowing the driver to enter the car and start the engine via push button simply by having the key fob in his or her possession
• Auto high beams employ a sensor to switch headlamps to high beam when no oncoming traffic is detected
• Rain-sensing wipers use an advanced optical sensor to detect the intensity of rain and/or snowfall to automatically adjust wiper speed
• Rear view camera activates when reverse gear is selected, projecting via the center stack-mounted 8-inch screen
• Rear window power sunshade, a luxury-class feature that shades the rear glass at the touch of a button, helping to keep the cabin cooler

In addition, Ford Taurus is available with a wide variety of audio and navigation connectivity alternatives.

Packed with detail

Ford Taurus quality begins with design refinement. Building on the completely reinvigorated 2010 model, the new Taurus features a more muscular hood. Larger wheels and tires fill out the wheel-well openings, giving Ford Taurus an athletic stance. Rear quarter panels have been raised, enabling larger, full LED taillamps. Without increasing overall dimensions or vehicle weight, the new Ford Taurus looks more streamlined, substantial and sporty.

Improved driving dynamics is a quality the driver will feel. Beyond the across-the-board transition to EPAS, the hard-mounted steering rack with a faster ratio, springs and dampers have been optimized to provide improved vehicle handling, combined with improved ride quality.

The new Ford Taurus dynamics benefit from the addition of torque vectoring control. This feature uses a slight - virtually imperceptible to the driver - amount of braking force on the outside front wheel when accelerating through a corner. This minimal brake force provides an effect similar to a limited-slip differential. The result is a vehicle that feels smaller and more maneuverable, with more control when increasing speed through curves.

This innovative feature will please enthusiasts while serving as a confidence builder for less-seasoned drivers. Torque vectoring control - normally found in high-ticket sports cars - is a Taurus class-exclusive feature. In addition, this feature is standard.

The new Taurus adds curve control, a unique Ford braking control innovation aimed at slowing the vehicle, if it senses that a driver inadvertently enters a curve too quickly. With application of four-wheel smart braking, the vehicle can reduce speed by up to 10 mph in approximately one second.

Entering curves or on- and off-ramps too quickly contributes to more than 50,000 crashes each year in the U.S. Curve control is a Ford Taurus class-exclusive offering.

Across the board, all new Ford Taurus models will receive a larger brake master cylinder with revised booster tuning, resulting in a shorter pedal ratio and dramatically improved pedal feel. Brake friction material has been upgraded for improved fade resistance and performance.

Exterior craftsmanship for the new Taurus has been improved through the employment of digital pre-assembly. This advanced technology enables engineers to address potential issues in Ford Taurus manufacturing while still in the online phase and ensures precise, uniform surface gaps and margins once series production is initiated. Taurus was benchmarked against Audi A6 for exterior fit and finish.

Inside, no detail went untouched. Ford Taurus' interior craftsmanship is elevated through expanded use of soft-touch, high-quality materials inside the cabin. Upgraded materials across the instrument panel and throughout the center console are evidence of continuous improvement.

Additional improvements extend to cloth-wrapped A-, B- and C-pillars, flock-lined glovebox and console storage and new switchgear. This passionate attention to detail even reaches inside the trunk space, which is completely dressed.

NVH control has been enhanced in the new Taurus with the addition of A-pillar and cowl baffles and acoustic wheel-well liners to quiet road noise.

Safe Ford Taurus

The new Ford Taurus builds on a legacy of safety, as the current model earned an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick rating. The stiff Taurus structure contains much high-strength and ultra-high-strength steels, including boron.

Ford Taurus features the Trinity front-crash architecture, named for the three elements that are designed to absorb and redirect crash forces away from vehicle occupants. These components consist of an ultra-high-strength boron front beam to absorb initial impact force, boron "shotgun rails" that transfer impact forces in a diagonal path to the roof panel, and a decoupling engine cradle within the front subframe to help prevent the powertrain from interfering with the cabin.

Ford Taurus also features Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement (SPACE®) Architecture, a hydroformed cross-car beam embedded in the floor between the door frames to help provide additional strength on the sides of the vehicle. A rigid roof crossmember, side-impact door beams and boron B-pillar reinforcement also contribute to side-impact protection.

In the new Taurus, airbag restraints have been enhanced with optimized tethering and venting to specifically tailor deployment force to occupant size, position and seat belt status. In addition, Ford Taurus features the Safety Canopy® with rollover sensor.

In the event of an airbag deployment, Taurus provides an SOS Post-Crash Alert System™, and features AdvanceTrac® with Electronic Stability Control.

In addition, Ford Taurus offers a complement of driver-aid technologies, such as:

• Adaptive cruise control employing radar technology to monitor traffic up to 600 feet ahead, automatically adjusting Taurus speed to help maintain a safe distance
• Collision warning with brake support, enabled by adaptive cruise control, provides a "heads-up" visual warning combined with an audio signal to alert the driver to slower moving traffic ahead. The system also pre-charges the brakes to aid stopping
• Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) is designed to alert the driver if another vehicle is driving within a potential blind spot
• Cross-traffic alert, enabled by BLIS, senses and warns the driver of oncoming traffic from either direction when the Ford Taurus is backing out of a driveway or parking space
• MyKey® owner controls feature allows parents or fleet administrators to activate restricted driving modes. MyKey can limit top speeds and audio volume, provides earlier warnings and prevents deactivation of stability control systems. A new MyKey feature can prevent access to blocked satellite radio content