Ok,no doubt some of you have been reading the forum discussion on how my wifes 1995 Ford Taurus beat the pants off a Dodge 1500 Hemi.Some claim that no way could this have happened.Well First let me explain that this was redlight to redlight,city block to city block,not on the open road or quarter mile.It was stop and go,stop and go.We did this for seven blocks and beat him every block.Some claim this is a fluke or a fish story.Well Check out this website for 0-60 Times for the 1995 Ford Taurus Gl Station wagon and you will see 6.0 seconds flat,A STATION WAGON.So why in the world does Ford not publish this in some form,Would that be a hell of a commercial,A Taurus Station wagon beating a Big Bad Hemi off the line.By the way,Dodge truck world has real world 1500 series Hemi owners with SLIGHT MODS struggling to get to 7.0 seconds. .http://www.autos.com/autos/car/midsi...ford/taurus/gl

 

The hemi trucks are overated, peaple are brain washed thinking they will eat up anything on the road. Like the "Yeah it's got a Hemi" stickers and the "mayor of truckville" liscense plate, gotta have one of those. listening to Aerosmith cd's so you can blare the good music from the commercials while you're driving around listening to the sound of your craptacular mopar transmission falling onto the highway. Maybe even pick up a few creepy guys working at the local Whataburger to cruise around with you in the middle of the desert since you won't be picking any chicks up in one. Yes i do belive your story. it may not have more hp but its got a better hp/weight ratio.

 

I believe you 100%

 

I saw the website, and I think you've been had. I've recently driven a 2000 Taurus wagon, and found it completely underpowered, and I would not care to drive it again. So, I looked it up on a google search. A '95 Taurus SHO, with the 220 HP yamaha V6 in it will do 0-60 in 7.7 seconds. In comparison, a '96 Taurus GL WAGON, with the 3.0 140 HP V6 will do it in 8.9 seconds. I don't know where that website got it's information, but it's dead wrong. My mustang will do 0-60 in 6.9 seconds, and let me tell you, it's one hell of a lot quicker than any taurus I've ever driven.

If you'd like to see these figures for yourself, go to this website http://www.eurotuned.com/0-60.htm. Scroll down to Ford, and you'll see the times for tauruses (Tauri?).

Don't get me wrong, I think the taurus is a good car, and does it's job well. But it is a STATION WAGON, not a sports car.

 

So it's got a hemi. So what? The legendary hemi elephant motor of the late '60s had 426 cubic inches of displacement and made 425hp@5000rpm and 490lb-ft@4000rpm. The new hemi displaces a paltry 350cid makes a measly 345hp@5400rpm and an anemic 375lb-ft@4200rpm.

The new hemi's numbers might be good by today's standards, but to invoke the legendary name of the past to try to bring back the glory days is pathetic.

BTW. I had a hemi that I bought new in 1982. It was a whopping 121cid 4 cylinder in a Mitsubishi pickup. At least it was sold by Dodge.

 

I respectfully disagree with that. The hemi back in the '60s was well known because it outperformed the competition back then, time after time. It did this because it achieved about 1 HP per cubic inch, which was amazing back then, as it is now. The new Hemi does the same thing now that it did back in the '60s. It has a very high output for it's size, and is a superior motor than what everyone else has in their trucks.

 

I'm still not going to buy one.

 

Well crazy001,I checked the site you quoted AND IT DOES NOT LIST MY YEAR MAKE MODEL and for the cars it does list it does not explaine how it get its numbers.The page I listed explaines all it's numbers through extensive research and ON HANDS TESTING AND IT LISTS MY EXACT YEAR MAKE AND MODEL.

 

And the original hemi was rated using gross numbers, the new one using net numbers. A typical engine lost at least 30-40% of its power when the change to net ratings was made in 72 or 73. The 302 went from 230 hp to 140 hp. The fact still remains that the day of the truck engine is gone. The illusion of performance through horsepower has sent truck engines the way of the dodo and we are left with car engines in trucks that have to be geared to the moon to get anything done.

The new hemi isn't even a hemi. It has figure 8 chambers.

 

Ok, I think you're taking this a bit too seriously.

No, a 140 horsepower front wheel drive station wagon, weighing 3,500 lbs will NOT do 0-60 in 6.0 seconds. There's no way. Not when my '05 Mustang with 210 HP, weighing 3,200 lbs, with a 5 speed tranny will only do it in 6.9. The site does not need to have your EXACT year and configuration of vehicle, as the car has been fundamentally the same for the past 20 years.

To be quite honest, you can believe what you choose to believe. If you disagree, pick up an issue of Motor Trend or Car and Driver, and go to their road test list. They both have listings of over 100 cars they've tested in the past year, and compare numbers. Find me a car with 140 HP that'll do 0-60 in less than 8 seconds. You won't see one. Please! Look it up! PLEASE!!!

once again, it's a STATION WAGON, not a sports car.

 

WHat he said

 

I agree with Crazy.

Ford will not publish false advertisements.

The new HEMI has HEMIspherical heads, so it is a HEMI

 

I was just looking at that site..the fastest 1/4 time listed for an '87-'93 Mustang is 14.5

I dont do much magazine racing, but from what Ive experienced on the street, some of those Tauruses, or Tauri or whatever run pretty good, especially from a punch...they can really suprise those unsuspecting victems with HEMI badges all over their vehicles

Same with the T-Birds.

I also noticed some inaccuracies in the listings...such as an '89 Turbo Coupe T-Bird.

 

the 0-60 times on that site are not correct. they claim a '95 taurus SHO will do 0-60 in 4.1 sec, thats as fast as a viper. they also claim the average 0-60 time of mid sized sedans is 5.54 sec, not

 

True about the change to net vs gross numbers. But remember that emissions laws also came into effect at about this same time. Reduced spark advance, incorrect jetting for performance, detuned engines, smog pumps, restrictive stock manifolds, early catalitic converters all add up to reduce the total HP rating to a greater extent.

The gross hp numbers advertised before the smog era wouldn't be too far off what the engine would do in the car because you're only talking about adding maybe an alternator or ps pump. Headders and dual exhuast could be added by the owner if needed. Today, monkeying around with a smog motor by changing one thing without looking at the total package can easily kill performance rather than helping it.

To compare today's hemi to yesterday's hemi and try to leach off the magic like the current dailmer chrysler corp is doing just seems wrong. Which would you rather have, today's smog dog or the monster from the late 60's?