Ask the Car People.SM


Mainstream Large Sedans Comparison

6854 messages,  Last post on Jul 16, 2012 at 8:08 AM

You are in the Sedans Forum.

What is this discussion about? Buick Lucerne, Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Charger, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima, Pontiac G8, Car Comparisons, Sedan

Messages Page 331 of 686

#3301 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [bobber1] by tjc78

Sep 14, 2007 (6:51 pm)

Replying to: bobber1 (Sep 14, 2007 5:51 pm)
After 15000 miles with a Toyota 2GR ('06 Avalon) I can tell you it is probably one of the smoothest engines I have ever experienced. From 4000 to 6000 RPM it is absolutely incredible. You can't tell the difference from redline to just cruising along at 2000RPM. I haven't driven anything with the Ford 3.5 so I can't compare I can only go by what I have read and the initial feeling is a lack of refinement compared to other v6s. Not that it won't be a trouble free or economical engine, just slightly behind the competition. Lets face it, Toyota has plenty of money to put into designing new engines, hybrid technology, etc, Ford doesn't. So they do the best they can within a given budget and pop out what they can. I do think they are in the right direction making the 3.5 the engine of choice in most of their vehicles over the next few years. Toyota and Nissan do very well doing that and Ford will too. It has to save money having the same powertrain across multiple lines.
 
Which Ford 3.0 with 255K? The old Vulcan pushrod or the Duratec? The Vulcan is known to be a very reliable engine.

#3302 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [tjc78] by bobber1

Sep 14, 2007 (7:57 pm)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 14, 2007 6:51 pm)
You know I don't know. It's in a late 90's Ford Ranger pickup. It's still running great.
 
My other brother also has a 3.0 in a similar aged Taurus. That's one only in the 130,000 range, but again not one problem with it.
 
Toyota obviously is doing things well. However,I'm not writing off Ford or GM for that matter. They're still doing a fair amount of R&D and let's face it most of the manufactures copy what everybody else is doing anyway.

#3303 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [bobber1] by tjc78

Sep 15, 2007 (5:21 am)

Replying to: bobber1 (Sep 14, 2007 7:57 pm)
If its in the Ranger its the Vulcan... still being used to this day I believe. The Taurus could be either one depending on the model.

#3304 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [tjc78] by thegraduate

Sep 15, 2007 (8:01 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 15, 2007 5:21 am)
Yep, the Ranger uses a 2.3L, the 3.0L FlexFuel Vulcan (148 hp I think), and the 4.0L from the Explorer.

#3305 of 6854 Re: Happy With Purchase [tjc78] by scbob

Sep 15, 2007 (9:13 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 14, 2007 11:21 am)
Not what Toyota says.

#3306 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [tjc78] by bobber1

Sep 15, 2007 (10:05 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 15, 2007 5:21 am)
You know my brother bought that Ranger with 119,000 miles on it and only paid $3,500. He puts 136,000 miles on it with very few repairs and the thing still looks and runs great. Beat that value!
 
He did the same thing with a BMW car before that. He's never paid much more then $5,000 for a car. Probably helps he's an engineer and is fairly handy, but from what I can gather just minor repairs on both vehicles and routine oil changes and maintenance seems to be the key.
 
His big premise is that most vehicles are a heck of lot more advanced then the generation before them and generally better. For instance the Ranger has nearly all the same technology or better than his 80's vintage BMW had.

#3307 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [bobber1] by chikoo

Sep 15, 2007 (12:13 pm)

Replying to: bobber1 (Sep 14, 2007 5:51 pm)
I will agree with you on this.
 
The Duratec is a dependaple engine, and if the vehicle is loaded, i.e. 2 persons or more, the engine feels very smooth.
What I am saying is that Ford engines are probably designed to be smooth revving under load. Under light loads, it is not damped well enough. That said, I have driven the Toyota 3.0L (in a ES300, RX300) and also the 2.5L on the IS250. The 3.0L is smooth, but it is also very detached from the driver. So much so that I could not even hear the belt screeching while seated inside the car. I was lucky my nephew who was standing outside told me to come out with the engine running to ear the sound. What does that mean? It means that the toyota engines are not necessarily more smoother. It is "felt" smoother due to the lack of any sound/vibration transmission to the driver.

#3308 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [chikoo] by chikoo

Sep 15, 2007 (6:49 pm)

Replying to: chikoo (Sep 15, 2007 12:13 pm)
The Duratec is a dependaple engine
 should read "dependable". sorry about that.

#3309 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [bobber1] by captain2

Sep 16, 2007 (6:39 pm)

Replying to: bobber1 (Sep 14, 2007 5:51 pm)
full throttlr engine sound and vibration levels in 3.0 DT Ford 500 and Fusions has been measured to be significantly higher than correspondent V6 engines from all the other mfgrs. all the way 'down' to The Chrysler V6 (which turns out not to be so bad after all. Granted that especially with the extra HP most driversd will rarelyif ever find the need to 'wind' the engine out that far - but in thew case of two of the engines that I do have experience with, the Toyota 2GR and the Nissan VQ, either engine is equally willing (and able) to spend all day in the 4-6000 rpm range without any 'racket'. This not really subjective as you note, a decibel is a decibel, but it does seem as one poster noted that it just might be possible for someone to like this lack of balance and isolation. The 3.5 has been reviewed by a number of auto pubs to share many of those same 'refinement' issues in the Lincoln MKX and Z as well as the Edge, which remains my only basis (along with a similar and simplier VVT) to suspect the 3.5 is 'only' a 'bored/stroked' 3.0 which in itself dated to the smaller 2.5s that proceeded it. Kind of like biting into GMs ludricrous claims that its old 231/3.8/3800 over its multiple incarnations is not still basically the same ole ironblock pushrod. And sure, both those engines, the GM3.8 and the DT ultimately became what they are now - reliable if nothing else.

#3310 of 6854 Re: 2008 TAURUS [captain2] by bobber1

Sep 16, 2007 (9:32 pm)

Replying to: captain2 (Sep 16, 2007 6:39 pm)
Okay. Reliability is what I'm after.

Messages Page 331 of 686

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement