The Mysterious Case of the Slow SHO

"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/27/2014 at 22:08 • Filed to: None

So my dad, who currently drives a 2009 Ford Flex, has been trying to choose his next car, which he will likely get sometime after I get mine. One of the cars he has long wanted to look at is the Taurus SHO. However, despite that fact that there are at least 5 Ford dealers in town, none of them ever seemed to have a new or used one in stock. We would call ahead, and be told the car just sold this morning. Or, we'd be told the car was there, and then arrive to find that it had just been taken into the garage for its 172-point inspection, or, and I'm not kidding here, that the manager had gone on a weekend trip to somewhere warm and had left the only SHO the dealer had in the airport parking garage. However, yesterday, we finally pinned down one that we could go take a look at. It was a low-mileage 2012 that looked like this on the outside:

and had this lovely two-tone interior with Recaro buckets on the inside:

so we drove around in it for a while, marveling at the comfort of the seats, the firm yet supple ride, the toys, and the overall quality of this formerly basic, bread-and-butter American fleet car. However, things then became a little less wonderful. Merging on the onramp of the freeway, the car didn't fly forward the way a twin-turbocharged, 365 horsepower car should've. I don't mean it was a little underwhelming. I mean it actually felt slower than the non-Ecoboost Flex.

Our suspicions of something being amiss were confirmed a few minutes later. We pulled up at a set of lights next to a beat-up Mazda-badged late 90's Ranger (Bsomethingthousand) that had been driving aggressively for a while. There were two 16 year-old-ish guys in the cab smirking down at us. When the light turned, my dad gave it full throttle right up to about 65mph. And this sedan, this marvel of American performance and technology with a claimed 0-60 time of 5.1 seconds, proceeded to allow a rattling old Ranger to keep pace right along side it. It had to take at least eight or nine seconds for sixty to happen. Now I know for a fact that this was a real SHO, not an SEL with badges. But there is no way it should've been that slow. The only thing I can figure is that the turbos were somehow broken or disconnected, because the car drove very smoothly and quietly otherwise. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could lead an otherwise clean and supposedly fast car to perform so woefully? I am not mechanically inclined, so the broken turbo theory is the best I could come up with.

*EDIT: I am getting many good responses, but there are two I'm getting consistently. One is that of course it was slow, it's a heavy car. Yes, but it hasn't grown any since Car & Driver did the 0-60 tests. The other thing people are saying is that the dealer was likely using low-grade gas rather than premium. If this is true, it would affect fuel economy and performance A LITTLE. It would not take the car from a 5.1 to a 9.1 second sprint as far as I know. I hope to follow up with the dealer and see what they find out.

DISCUSSION (39)

KatzManDu > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:10

Valet Key?

heliochrome85 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:10

This gen SHO has not exactly been a great car. The underpinnings are just HEAVY

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:10

Was it cold and rainy?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > KatzManDu
04/27/2014 at 22:13

I don't believe so. The car still got up to past the speed limit on the interstate, it just took forever. I read the description of that feature on here , and it doesn't match what happened to us. You could be right, but I'm not sure.

Bandit > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:14

It is an utterly massive car...

pfftballer > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:14

87 octane.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > heliochrome85
04/27/2014 at 22:14

Yeah, but it still should've been faster than that.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/27/2014 at 22:15

About 65 degrees and somewhat grey. It rained earlier that day, but it was dry when we drove.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > pfftballer
04/27/2014 at 22:16

Would that bring the performance down that much? 0-60 took at least and extra 3-4 seconds.

Arben72 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:21

Maybe a huge boost leak, but more than likely the car was in some type of limp mode. Surprised there was no cel.

pfftballer > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:22

It could. If the ECU is pulling timing the whole way to prevent detonation it would murder your 0-60.

claramag, Mustaco Master > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:22

Worked on a few fresh off delivery 2014 SHOs. They're portly beasts, but they had more pickup than any beat up ranger. One of them did have a bad fuel injector, ran like shit. My guess would be something smaller, in Air/Fuel/Timing over an issue with the turbos. Or maybe something as simple as crap fuel, pretty sure they're supposed to run 92 octane

JR1 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:22

Maybe you got a lemon. I'd look around some more before you write off the option entirely.

xxstich666xx > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:29

I drove an MKS a while back which is basically the same thing. It didn't feel as fast as it claimed either but holy shit it wasn't Prius slow.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:34

I own one of these and there's definitely something wrong with the one you drove. Because this is a very fast car. I've kept pace with much faster cars than that Ranger.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > pfftballer
04/27/2014 at 22:35

I ran my SHO with 87 Octane for a while it doesn't affect it very noticeably...

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Arben72
04/27/2014 at 22:36

This is what I'm inclined to believe, because this car definitely can push you back in your seat (I own one).

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > claramag, Mustaco Master
04/27/2014 at 22:36

They can run any Octane, but gain 10 horsepower when run on 93 Octane.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Arben72
04/27/2014 at 22:42

Yeah that surprised me too

pfftballer > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
04/27/2014 at 22:44

Let me ask you a question Mr. Cheapfuck, were you drag racing while using this shit fuel? Why are you running a fuel 5 octane points lower than the manufacturer recommends? The car's computer's fuel maps are based on a MINIMUM fuel octane. It will get your sorry cheap ass from A to B on that shit fuel but it isn't good for the car and it won't live up to advertised performance. This is not a naturally aspirated car that you can feed whatever you want. Turbos add compression that leads to detonation and engine DEATH when you give crap fuel. The computer nanny has to pull timing and detune the engine to keep it from being ruined when cheapskates like you buy cheap gas. This greatly diminishes performance. Your testimony means nothing. This is a discussion of performance, not whether or not a car can survive you feeding it the wrong grade of gas.

I'm sorry if that comes across as harsh, I loaned my uncle my turbo Volvo wagon that I had carefully tuned for 93 octane and he killed it with cheap gas. I am not coping well.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JR1
04/27/2014 at 22:45

I know for a fact we got a lemon. I've been in a working ecoboost car before (F150), and it went like hell for what it was. This car was definitely not working right.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > xxstich666xx
04/27/2014 at 22:45

This car we drove WAS prius slow. Something had to be wrong.

BeaterGT > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 22:58

Fat Ford.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > BeaterGT
04/27/2014 at 23:00

Nah, it was slower than that.

JR1 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 23:10

Did you tell the dealer?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JR1
04/27/2014 at 23:12

Yes, about three or for times during the drive we asked the salesman if it was supposed to be this slow. He basically replied with, "Whaddaya talking about, this is fast!"

BeaterGT > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 23:30

Did you say anything to the dealer? When I picked up my Legacy GT, there wasn't premium in it but it was still quick so I would say fuel grade doesn't have the largest impact. But hey maybe the SHO is super sensitive to that kinda thing

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > BeaterGT
04/27/2014 at 23:33

Yeah we said something to the salesman a few times. It started out like, "Is it supposed to be faster than this?" to which he said, "No, this IS fast." We asked a few more times, each a little more skeptically, until the incident with the Ranger, when my dad finally said to the salesman, "It's supposed to be faster than that." "No, it isn't" was basically the response we got. So, yes we did, and it didn't help at all.

BeaterGT > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/27/2014 at 23:42

Haha jeez, get him in an S4 instead.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > BeaterGT
04/27/2014 at 23:43

I wish I could recommend this twice.

wiffleballtony > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/28/2014 at 01:43

Maybe the ECU needs a reflash.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > pfftballer
04/28/2014 at 08:12

How about you go read just about ANY article about this engine, because you'll see that it's designed to run 87 octane, but will get 10 more horsepower and better fuel mileage on 93. But 87 is definitely NOT the wrong grade of gas for this car.

Yes, you did come off harsh, because you obviously have no idea what you are talking about and you'd do well to apologize for calling me mr. cheapfuck, cheapskate and "sorry cheap ass"

87-octane unleaded/premium provides improved performance

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/28/2014 at 08:14

This car will run on 87 Octane just fine... Even though I just got verbally raped by pfftballer for stating as such, but the owners manual clearly states it's OK to run it on 87.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
04/28/2014 at 09:14

I agree with you completely. Maybe in a car that was, in his own words, "carefully tuned for 93 octane", regular gas could have major effects. But in a new Ford sedan, those effects would be minor, if even noticeable on the street. It's not like you''re running a top fuel nitrous dragster on regular gas or something. And you certainly aren't clubbing baby seals, which is what the above verbal rapeage was toned for.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/28/2014 at 09:30

Haha thanks. The car in STOCK tune is designed to handle any grade from 87 to 93.

Once I do have my car tuned I will be required to run 93. I already do now, since the increase in MPG pretty much offsets the additional cost of the higher octane.

I hope you get to testdrive an SHO that runs well, because they really are impressively fast.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/28/2014 at 09:34

Get a tune for it, that will wake the ecoboost up in no time. Go from 365 HP to 400 HP in the push of a few buttons!

pfftballer > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
04/28/2014 at 10:22

How about Mr. No-sense-of-humor. Sorry if I offended you, I thought it was obvious satire.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > pfftballer
04/28/2014 at 13:43

sarcasm and satire are sometimes hard to catch on to while reading something on the internet.

PardonMyFlemish16 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
04/28/2014 at 22:37

Im liking the crap fuel theory. Makes a ton of sense. The more you ask of the engine the less it can give you with crap fuel. Unfortunately that doesn't speak too well of the dealership

Thinking about it, that may have been why that 335i I drove was so slow.