It is a time honored tradition among car companies… and it makes a lot of financial sense. Build cars with similar components. If they can dive into the parts bin instead of designing a new piece from the ground up, they can save a lot of money. Everything from floor architecture to minor switchgear may be shared among cars.
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A great example of this is with Chrysler. The Charger, Magnum, 300 and Challenger all have the same underpinnings… suspensions, brakes, steering… and also (with a few exceptions) the same engine and transmission offerings. In the case of the Charger, Magnum and 300, the front clips could be interchanged… although it wasn’t a direct bolt-up.
And then there are cases like the Toyota MR2, where a common front wheel drive powertrain was relocated behind the driver to build a mid-engine, rear wheel drive car.
So… what can we do with that?
Ford has the Taurus SHO. It is a higher powered version of a reasonably boring, but competent car. There aren’t that many front wheel drive 365hp powerplants floating around.
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Twenty years ago, Ford took the SHO powerplant and transplanted it into a Fiesta… the result was the SHOgun. Nasty powerful and incredibly twitchy. A wolf in econobox clothing.
What they really need to do is make a Ford GT for the rest of us. Perhaps a 2 seat, mid engine car, maybe weighing under 2400lbs. Back it up with a 6 or 7 speed transmission and a limited slip differential. I would bet that it could stretch 30+mpg on the highway. The Taurus weighs in at almost 4400lbs. Dropping a ton and reducing the frontal area would rock the mileage, even with a sporty tune. The Taurus SHO is rated for 25mpg on the highway. The SHO kicks out around a 5.5sec 0-60 time and a 13sec 1/4 mile. I would expect that a 2400lb mid-engine car with good traction could drop that time under 4sec for the 0-60 and 11.5sec for the 1/4.
Fun…
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