1989-95 Taurus SHO v. Marauder, what's quicker?

[Chad1987]

Stock for stock, what's quicker? a 3.0/3.2 SHO or a Marauder?

[BAD MERC]

Haha - I had BOTH. My 1995 silver SHO atx was great but the Marauder had the pin-you-to-the-seat feel that a 225HP V6 couldn't replicate. But the Marauder is a 4200lb brick.

[gpfarrell]

To close to call!

My '91 and '95 SHOs were both 5-speeds and more engaging to drive than my MM.

Frankly, I never thought the bone-stock Marauder was a rocket so if I was forced to pick, I'd go with the SHO... as long as it was a 5-speed and had a decent driver.

The magazines said both were mid-6s in 0-60 and very low 15s in the quarter. Some cars tested were slower, and some individual cars have gone faster... but net-net I'd say it's too close to call.

[Chad1987]

Great, thats exactly what I was looking for!

I much prefer the size, feel and old school muscle car mentality of the Marauder, but the SHO would be a great daily driver! It turns out, they're both rated for 18MPG city, but the SHO edges the Marauder out on the highway by 2-3 mpg.

Is the Yamaha designed engine REALLY that fun to drive? People that have driven it talk about it like it's the second coming of Jesus, especially the pull between 4-7000 rpm...

Is that Yamaha designed 3.2/3.0 a reliable engine? People seem to have good luck with them.

I'm not talking about replacing the Marauder with the SHO, but rather adding a SHO to the stable as a daily driver.

[J-MAN]

Had a 1991 with a white out package, white body, wheels and emblems. A Great fun car to drive! Why did I sell it?

[gdsqdcr]

Second gear is Jesus gear. By the end of third you are in triple digits.

My 94 had a 3.2 mated to a 5apd with 3.0 cams. There was other minor work done to it, and the best I ever got was a 15.0 in the qtr at 101/102mph.

My marauder, with 4.10's, tune and a CAI, 14.5 at 95.

The SHO was a lot of fun to drive. That Yamaha motor purred ...

[lji372]

Had a 1991 with a white out package, white body, wheels and emblems. A Great fun car to drive! Why did I sell it?

uh....because you bought a marauder?

[Vortech347]

I raced a 91+ 5 times in a row at a drag strip with my 03' when it just had a superchips tuner and 3.73's. I won every time. Wasn't much he was on my back bumper every time. He would slowly reel me in when the Merc would grab 3rd. Had it been a 1/2 mile I'm confident he would have passed. I wish Ford had blessed our cars with a closer ratio 5-speed auto.

[whitey]

Second gear is Jesus gear. By the end of third you are in triple digits.

My 94 had a 3.2 mated to a 5apd with 3.0 cams. There was other minor work done to it, and the best I ever got was a 15.0 in the qtr at 101/102mph.

My marauder, with 4.10's, tune and a CAI, 14.5 at 95.

The SHO was a lot of fun to drive. That Yamaha motor purred ...
You should have been pulling off low 14's with those speeds. Wheel spin?

[Vortech347]

FWD, aka wrong wheel drive.

[Chad1987]

The SHO isn't as rare as a Marauder right? There were more built? Did Ford only produce them in a few colors as well?

[Vortech347]

The SHO isn't as rare as a Marauder right? There were more built? Did Ford only produce them in a few colors as well?

Ford made a ton of them. The rarest versions were the 91+ (plus) editions.

[2,4shofast]

A bolt on first and second Gen's are monsters, they are difficult to learn how to drive but if the person is a good driver it would give a bolt on Marauder a run of its money. My 93 with 15psi hit 438whp on a 3.0L block, but as Vortec said the FWD was a major down fall. I only lost on the interstate to bikes and a blown corvette. I really miss it just thinking about it now! I really need to rebuild it :beer:

[Chad1987]

In a SHO, is the 5 speed a good feeling shifter or is it balky and heavy handed? Is an MTX much quicker than an ATX?

[Vortech347]

In a SHO, is the 5 speed a good feeling shifter or is it balky and heavy handed? Is an MTX much quicker than an ATX?

HUGE difference. 5-speeds were almost a full second faster.

[Vortech347]

A bolt on first and second Gen's are monsters, they are difficult to learn how to drive but if the person is a good driver it would give a bolt on Marauder a run of its money. My 93 with 15psi hit 438whp on a 3.0L block, but as Vortec said the FWD was a major down fall. I only lost on the interstate to bikes and a blown corvette. I really miss it just thinking about it now! I really need to rebuild it :beer:

I've known you for how many years now and I have never seen this mystery SHO. :D

[gdsqdcr]

You should have been pulling off low 14's with those speeds. Wheel spin?

Traction issues with a front wheel drive ... Once it was moving, it was fun. I lapped an older M3 on a track, be was stock and had a hard time finding the line in the curves - I wasn't and I didn't have control issues.

[slickster]

Barely pulled on a first gen with a 93tune cai stock gears from 30 to 70

[gpfarrell]

Early MTX SHOs had a horrible cable shifter. Mid '91 they switched to a rod actuated shifter that was 100x better.

My '91+ was one of 900 1st gen cars painted Emerald Green. I thought it was rare until I decided on a DBP Marauder!

[gdsqdcr]

Early MTX SHOs had a horrible cable shifter. Mid '91 they switched to a rod actuated shifter that was 100x better.

My '91+ was one of 900 1st gen cars painted Emerald Green. I thought it was rare until I decided on a DBP Marauder!

I had a moonlight 94 with a full mocha interior ... Thought that was rare until my DPB.

On another note, a lot of us appear to be former SHO attics!

[SC Cheesehead]

My son had a '96 SHO, I liked the car, but no comparison the the MM.

[gpfarrell]

Personally, I don't feel the 96 SHOs were comparable to the 89-95s either.

[SC Cheesehead]

Personally, I don't feel the 96 SHOs were comparable to the 89-95s either.


Agree with that, older ones were much quicker as I recall.

[shodude]

The 96 seemed like a cop-out. It could have been special but a 235hp v8 was not. Its damn near builtproof once you have the cams welded. It was based on a the 2.5l duratec if it had been based off the 3.0 making it a 4.0l 300 hp v8 it would have been great! I love my sho's!

[Chad1987]

The SHO kinda seems like the Marauder's smaller, older brother. Same thought......the sports sedan variant of the volume sedan, just one was much larger than the other.

The 96+ SHO seemed like a half-assed job, it's V8 didn't make much more power (or sense) than the 3.0 & 3.2 V8 and it was much uglier as well. It wasn't as sharp as the earlier ones and it never offered an MTX.

I had a neighbor that a few years ago picked up a mint condition 40k 94-95 SHO ATX in Forest Green with a dark tan leather interior in mint condition for like $3600. Damn it that was a nice car.

[Vortech347]

I had a 96 SHO with nitrous.

[2,4shofast]

I've known you for how many years now and I have never seen this mystery SHO. :D

I know right, you need to help me find a garage big enough for all my cars ha ha

[2,4shofast]

I had a moonlight 94 with a full mocha interior ... Thought that was rare until my DPB.

On another note, a lot of us appear to be former SHO attics!

Yeah I think over the years on here I have heard at least 25 people say they have owned SHO's. I have owned 7 of them and loved everyone of them. They are just horriblely underpowered with today's cars.

[Chad1987]

220hp was a hell of a lot for a 3L V6 in 1989 and by 1995, it was still more than the competitors twin cam V6's. In 2013, the Kia Optima's naturally aspirated 2.4L I-4 makes 200hp, but it's not the monster that the Yamaha V6 is.

That engine is outpowered on paper by many V6's today, but it's personality can't be touched.