History shows that for the most part, the full size sedan and fuel economy are usually never friends. Space, power and luxury often times come at the expense of efficiency and for that very reason, the segment has been falling fast in the U.S. In recent years, a trend of putting compact and midsize sedans in driveways has been created but despite the innovation that has boosted the smaller vehicle interest, there is still something special about big bodied vehicles. It is, after all, an American love affair and for the 2013 model year, Ford might just have the answer that will put the full size sedan back on the map. It’s name is the 2013 Taurus EcoBoost.
Under the hood of the upcoming sedan will be something rather rare among the full size sedan segment. Supplementing the base V6 and hot-rod SHO is Ford’s recently released 2.0 liter turbocharged inline four cylinder engine. Similar to the powerplant found in the Explorer SUV, the boosted block will manage to do the unthinkable and allow the big Taurus to achieve up to 32 mpg on the highway. The EPA certification bets all other offerings in the Ford’s class as well as some outside of it. With a combined highway and city rating of 26 mpg, the Taurus will out mileage the alternative heavy hitters from Germany, the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec and Porsche Panamera S Hybrid.
“Ford understands people want fuel-efficient vehicles but don’t want to sacrifice power, cargo space or convenience preferences to get them,” said Raj Nair, vice president of Engineering for Global Product Development. It may return the fuel mileage of a car much smaller, but the Taurus EcoBoost will be no slouch when it comes to power. The 2.0 liter will still pump out a stout 240 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque and do so through a six speed automatic transmission. “Taurus fuel economy showcases Ford’s success in developing smaller yet more powerful engines for its larger vehicles.”
Source: Ford
