My race last night...

[Omar]

So, last night I was cruising on 294 N going towards Des Plaines/Park Ridge around 11:30-11:45 P.M. I was going about 70-75 MPH in the 3rd lane on the right minding my own business. I slowly start to pass a Taurus with the body shape of the ones that were made around the year '97. I noticed it said 24V on the side of the car.

Soon we were side by side for like 1/2 a min. All of a sudden I hear him give gas a little and then he starts pulling. I was like, "Umm, what the hell?" so I did the same. I kept up. Then he floored it and so did I. Keep in mind that there was no traffic. We both were going at it.

We soon got up to around 90-110. I was gaining on him but slowed down because I dont want to get pulled over.

Now I have two questions:

1. Is a 24V Taurus a V8? 2. If so, was he playing with me?

I know I lost to a Taurus 24V with that body shape before from a dead stop. However, I am thinking maybe the J is faster on the highway.

Just curious. If its a V6, I could care less. If its a V8, I'm impressed by my J.

Oh yeah, I dont condone racing.

Later...

- Omar

[AZ94Q]

That was the up model v6 tauras..

The v8 is a SHO.. if it had the newer body design. if it had the older design and had the 24v on the side, that would be an SHO.

[tpuig]

We have a '90 SHO, which is the 6cyl 32 valve. Very, very nice engine, although the car doesn't suite it. That Taurus pulled strongly all the way up to a fraction of an inch of the 140mph speedometer. (I was looking at the road, but it looked like about 138 or so.) The later models had the 8, which some folks liked and some didn't. Gotta say though, that our '94 Q45t is every bit as stable, although I haven't seen speeds close to that. The SHO gets all it's oomph above 3000rpm, but the Q has a lot more perceptable torque. Different, but both fun. My opinion is that the Q would eventually pull away from the SHO on a long road.I've never driven a J, so can't opine about that. Just be safe if you get tempted again. ;-) TP

[Mr1der]

wow, my condolences on losing to a taurus.

as far as the SHO goes, well, they're kinda eh.

The first Gen would actually move pretty good, the Second Gen just sounded like a V8...

I still never wanna work on either, the Yamaha motors are a little goofy...

[AZ94Q]

The 90 sho is a 24 valve v6...

The v8 sho is 32 valves..

[boomstriker]

The early one had the engine made by Yamaha- a 4 cam 24valve V-6. It was a very impressive engine for it's day with I believe 220HP. The J has a stronger midrange.It was the only thing good about the car though---major torque steer, bad brakes and mushy suspention.

If you were pulling on him from 80-110, you have the faster car.What happens from 0-60 determines the rest.The RWD J will smoke the FWD SHO off the line, and by what you learned, pull away to the end of the quarter.Kirk

[tpuig]

Doh! What he said, 24 valves on the '90. Guess I should prof read more. (just kidding) But I gotta say, when you wind out that Yamaha engine, it's like a screaming cat in the high revs. Even with a lot less horsepower than our Q, it's a great sound. Too bad the car is falling apart around it. It's one of the few FWD engines that I'll probaby pull when the car goes to the great parking lot in the sky... TP

[nlzmo400r]

either way you're driving an infiniti and he's in a taurus, u win either way

[VimyJ]

I did a quick google:

"Move up to the LX and you get a 24-valve 200-horsepower 3.0-liter ohc V6–an expansion of the Contour's 2.5-liter V6. Ford also based this year's new Taurus SHO engine on the Contour V6, adding two more cylinders and a set of internal balance shafts. The SHO V8, designed and assembled jointly with Yamaha in Japan, now delivers 230 hp versus 220 for the previous SHO V6." - From a Popular Mechanics review.

You were pulling on him. The previous Yamaha built SHO engine and the J's VG30DE are very similar performing motors except the Nissan engine is far more durable.

The J probably weighs more than the Taurus but at highway speed air resistance is the greatest force to overcome so your extra 10 hp were allowing you to pull on him.

[AZ94Q]

either way you're driving an infiniti and he's in a taurus, u win either way

PRECISELY!

My friend has an sho.. that thing is the biggest rolling POS..

The whole interior is like plastic, and it's falling apart. The chasis shakes/rattles over the smallest bumps.. When you close the door you can feel the panel seperate from the door..

The build quality is AWFUL!! Lol, and they put a sticker on the window to tell you it was assembled at so in so plant.. great so I know who to blame for the lousy quality

I'm sure some SHOs are really nice.. when my friend got his, it was in allright condition...

they are planets apart in terms of build quality.. really the only good thing in the ford is the japanese engine

[Mr1der]

where it's built and what it's built from are two different things in most cases.

Max's, Alti's, and Frontiers are assembled here, but most of the parts are shipped in from Japan, like the interior pieces, I think some of the sheet metal and frames are made over here, but I can't say for sure.

[Altiman94]

wonder is right. Nissans are assembled in Ohio

[Mr1der]

and Smyrna;)

ford just got horrible with the obscene amounts of plastic used in their interiors, my car was made a few years before it got crazy, but I've got sagging doors, and evil sunroof, faded paint (I blame it on the previous owners, one quarter still looks ok) and a broken backed driver seat, not to mention a dash besel that doesn't fit well at all anymore, but that said

hey, it's supercharged and rear wheel drive:D oh, a manual transmission (though notchy as hell) helps too...