The 2011 Ford Taurus is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety “Top Safety Pick” resulting from the fact that it earned the highest plausible score in each and every of the Institute's collision tests and conveys standard electronic stability control. The federal legislature has not yet affirmed accident test scores for the 2011 Taurus.
As with the Taurus, a new model of Taurus SHO was launched in 1996. Although it contained less aggressive styling than its predecessors, it still differed from the normal Taurus with different seats, wheels, bumpers, drivetrain, as well as a fin being put on the driver's side windshield wiper, to keep it on the windshield at high speeds. A 235 hp (175 kW) aluminum 3.4 L V8 engine with heads from Yamaha and block from Cosworth was specified for the SHO model, but it was given the same 4-speed transmission as the LX: the manual gearbox option was no longer offered on the SHO. This was partly because this model of SHO was designed for comfort instead of performance.