We were in Bowling Green, KY for the NMRA finals when we saw a open comp Taurus running 12.75s in stock appearing fashion. We then went investigating to find out who was behind the Taurus and what it had done to it.
It didn't take long for enthusiasts to get the new Taurus SHO into the 13s in stock form, and it seems like even less time has past for our first 12 second run. That is extremely impressive for a vehicle that weighs over 4,300 pounds, though sporting Ford's newest and most popular engine, the Ecoboost V6. The Ecoboost is a direct injection motor that produces 365 horsepower through two small turbos.
Our quest found us to Modular Depot owner Ken Bjonnes, tuner on the new SHO. The owner of the SHO is long time racer and car dealer Terry Reeves. From what Ken told us, achieving 12 second runs from the SHO was pretty easy. It took some figuring out on how to increase boost through the factory ECU, but they finally got the SCT tune working. Boost was upped 4-5 pounds to 15 PSI, timing pulled and fuel added. Ken wanted to make sure the SHO would survive and went for a moderate tune up, putting air/fuels into the high 10:1 range. The only other modification was a removed air box.
Ken says that they probably picked up around 60 horsepower to the wheels doing this and could probably squeeze some more power out of it with further tuning. The goal for this SHO is 11 second passes with as little work as needed. Next modifications will probably be a better exhaust and improved turbo piping. Inside sources from Ford say that the Ecoboost has managed to create over 500 horsepower on the engine dyno with ease.
If you don't believe us, watch the video and you will!
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