Test drive Ford Taurus 1995 - 1999 Sedan

Highways

Today, the Test of the journal Cars is dedicated to large station wagons. There are not so many of these cars in our market. And we stopped at Ford Taurus, who turned out to be the only American universal sector, and the Audi A6 Avant the youngest car of this class from German manufacturers.
 
Audi A6 Avant
Aesthetics
In the transition to the new generation of the A6 model, for some reason, the sedans of this series were made similar to hatchbacks. Because of this, they greatly lost in representativeness, having lost its former solidity, and began to resemble cars from the people. Fortunately, the station wagons were much less affected by similar design metamorphoses, and brand new wagons look as impressive as the former Audi A6 Avant.
8 points.
General assessment of the design
Apparently, the Audi A6 Quattro modification prompted the longitudinal location of the engine of German engineers, where, due to the complete drive and some advantages of such a layout are manifested. And although we had at our disposal a front -wheel drive, the layout of the scheme, of course, remained the same. The V-shaped six-cylinder engine itself with adjustable phases of gas distribution, changed by the geometry of the intake tract and five (!) Valves on the cylinder, which you will not find on cars often.
Almost everything that is in the arsenal of the automotive industry has found a place in the Audi A6: Automatic five -speed Tiptronics gearbox with adaptive control, electronic differential lock, ABS with an electronic system of brake forces, disk brakes ...
Very modern design of 9 points.
Suitability for Russian conditions
In itself, German origin, not to mention the fully galvanized body, good arguments for choosing a car in our country. Practice shows that iron German cars are very confident in Russia. Other advantages: placement of a spare wheel in the trunk, a modern immobilizer and a gas tank hatch locks down by the central lock. True, so far nothing is known about the adaptive adaptation. 9 points.
Comfort in the cabin
It makes no sense to list the equipment installed on the Audi A6: on cars of this class, almost everything that can be dreamed of is already in standard configuration. We note only climate control with separate adjustments for the driver and passenger, the Bose audio system with the CD chain in the trunk, the interior decoration of wooden and aluminum inserts. The list of options, on the contrary, is extremely concise: navigation system, trinkets like the hatch in the roof, materials and the color of the upholstery. You have to make a choice between a nut root and a mysterious vavon tree. In short, complete debauchery and triumph of vulgar luxury!
10 points.
Ergonomics
Electroregulations of the driver's seat in length, tilt of the back and height of the pillow (separately for the front and back), as well as the position of the steering column that is changed in depth and angle of inclination, allow you to accommodate without problems and very conveniently. Very informative devices are rather successfully combined: in the center there is a multifunctional display, and in addition to the speedometer and tachometer there are four more arrow signs and analog hours. In general, the driver’s workplace is organized quite successfully and does not cause complaints.
It is quite clear that with such a wheelbase in the rear seats you can accommodate with great comfort. By the way, a few nuances: behind the arm -shaped armor, a hatch is hidden behind the back seat, under which a cover is placed for transporting long -sized objects just like in sedans. The back of the rear seat itself is divided in a ratio of 2: 3 and folds without preliminary folding of the pillow, forming an even platform with the trunk floor. And in the cross member, into which the curtain covering the luggage rolls, there is also a folding safety grid that separates the cargo compartment from the cabin.
10 points.
Security
The Audi A6 Avant has only four (two front and two side for sitting in front) airbags. (In this class there are already cars equipped with a twice as large number of eirbegs.) In addition, the front and back there are pyrotechnic security belts, as well as all other passive safety elements, from head restraint to protective beams in the doors.
Given that the possibilities of improving safety have not yet been exhausted, an estimate of 8 points.
Dynamics
Well, where you do not expect a trick from the Germans, it is in the dynamics of acceleration and braking. Moreover, our engine was not the weakest of the proposed for Audi A6. But in this case, the pretty decent power of the motor was unable to cut into the eyes of the flaws in the operation of the automatic box. This unit cannot even be called thoughtful, it is simply frankly dumb. Even when you push the gas pedal before the kick downs is triggered, the machine gun and half thinks about some of its life problems there, and only then, as if waking up from the daze, switches down. But the time is lost, and neither the lively response of the engine, nor the guilty-stubborn desire of the electronic brains of the box to rehabilitate, twisting the tachometer arrow on the second revolution, is no longer able to correct the situation.
The brakes do not leave such a unambiguous impression, but still there is something to complain about. So far, there is only smoothly slowing down any complaints. And as soon as you press the pedal sharply, from the heart you immediately feel the lack of brakes. Moreover, you do not expect this from the disc brakes that are on all wheels.
You see for yourself, the scope for improvement remained still large, hence the low estimate of 6 points.
Shodal qualities
Not an example of dynamic qualities, the handling and work of the suspension left the most pleasant impression. The car stands on the feet and, believe me, gives pleasure to its behavior. A sharp steering wheel (only about 2.5 revolutions from the stop to the stop) with a convenient feedback deserves special praise.
9 points.
Summary
The general favorable impression of the running qualities of the machine is pretty spoiled by an automatic box, the behavior of which is completely not characteristic of a modern machine gun on a European car. So when buying Audi A6 Avant, you should either think about a more powerful engine of 2.8 liters, or go in saving funds to the end and take a car with a manual box.
 
Ford Taurus
Aesthetics
Ford Taurus is a bright representative of the bio -design, and in its most extreme manifestation. This equally applies to both the appearance of the car and the design of the interior. And although the era of the bio -design seems to go into the past, Taurus looks quite modern. And, I think, it is unlikely that such a successful car will soon become obsolete.
9 points.
General assessment of the design
As for the design, here, in contrast to the liberal attitude to design, Americans profess pretty conservatism. In this regard, the Ford Taurus layout is no exception and is fully consistent with the front -wheel drive with the transverse location of the engine, a four -speed machine and the front suspension of MacPherson. The three-liter Duratec engine has six cylinders (V-shaped), 24 valves and, accordingly, two camshafts in each block head. The brakes on the Ford Taurus with the station wagon disk on all wheels, and ABS is listed in the list of additional equipment.
Despite the lack of special delights, the design is quite modern. 7 points.
Suitability for Russian conditions
In our market, the European modification of Ford Taurus is sold, whose lighting equipment is fully complies with domestic requirements. In addition, the cars supplied to Russia in addition to the immobilizer are also equipped with a security alarm. But the most interesting thing is that even the compartment of the spare tire placed under the floor in the trunk is locked up!
8 points.
Comfort in the cabin
The abnormal thrust of the Americans for comfort has become a tongue in the tongue. And in this regard, Ford Taurus is certainly the son of his parents. True, to feel the difference between comfort and luxury in the cabin’s cabin will not be difficult for you any wooden panels, only quite democratic plastic. But do not forget that in their homeland Taurus is a car for a fairly wide circle of consumers. And the average American is not used to denying himself either in leather upholstery, nor in the same climate control and CD champions, not to mention a variety of salon lighting automation and other cute little things.
9 points.
Ergonomics
With the exception of adjusting the angle of the back, all the driver's seat settings are equipped with electric drives. (Such a solution is often found on American machines. The main advantage of the speed of fitting.) The location of the governing bodies does not cause complaints. Perhaps, only the rear window control buttons are unsuccessful (hidden below the right of the steering wheel).
There is enough living space with an excess in front and behind, and the back of the rear seat leans back directly onto the pillow, forming an even cargo platform. In the luggage compartment, you can open the hatch as a whole, or you can only raise glass to quickly throw something light there. The longitudinal supports for the cargo on the roof are equipped with moving crossbars, to which you can fix the load so that the owners of the Ford Taurus have already finished trunk.
9 points.
Security
A pair of front pillows, three -point belts with inertial coils of four passengers and a belt at the center sitting behind, protective beams in the doors, in fact, and everything that Taurus boasts. Not the last word in ensuring security, but also something.
7 points.
Dynamics
A powerful three-liter engine and a surprisingly smart-automatic box make the Ford Taurus very mobile. Clockwork car. One gets the impression that the wagon simply does not sit still. It is worth releasing the brake and the car begins to roll very cheerfully without any touch to gas. And when you press the pedal, Taurus, screaming briefly with rubber, breaks off as a hound. When you add to the gas on the go, the box itself, without hesitation and without waiting for the bending with a kik-dowan, jumps to a reduced gear.
The brakes with a good and clearly dosed slowdown also turned out to be quite parting the character of the machine.
9 points.
Shodal qualities
Ford Taurus does not irritate pitching characteristic of large American cars. Apparently, adaptation to the markets in Europe affected. Both in the city and on the highway, the suspension behaves very decent and shows the slack only in quick turns, when the rear wheel begins to hang out quite early. This behavior itself is not crime, but at the same time, there is a desire to lose speed on Taurus. Therefore, the winding paths are not his element, the car all the time I want to break out of the operational expanse of the modern highway.
An extra argument in favor of this is a rather sharp steering wheel, which is quite convenient only with small and medium angles of rotation. Further, the feedback completely disappears on the steering force remains the same.
7 points.
Summary
In general, the Yankees made a very lively impression of a boring car. With such a restless character, he would have to enter some old European University, where he would be taught good manners ... controllability. Prices would not be ...
 
Alexander Stolyarov
Photo by Alexei Skirdov
 

A source: Cars