Clearly, the Ford designers thought outside the ordinary sedan box. Instead, they focused on the details and sculpted an athletic profile that is perpetually poised. Exterior mirrors flow purposefully from the doors. Lines convey power and agility. Incandescent tail lamps pick up those same lines and race you around the rear. It's all meant to pull you inside where there are countless reasons to never get out.

What it's like to drive the new Taurus: Power delivery is confident, not high-strung. Handling is crisp, not twitchy. If you want to take a more active role in where you're headed, flick through the gears of the available six-speed Selectshift Automatic transmission with paddle activation. The available all-wheel drive will help you stick to the road when conditions get sloppy. And if you opt for the SHO model, you'll get it all plus some. That major plus being the all-new 3.5L EcoBoost twin turbocharged direct injection V6 engine that delivers V6-like fuel economy* with V8-like performance - 365 horsepower and 350 lb. ft. of torque.

With its assertive stance and sculpted lines, the new 2010 Ford Taurus is a balance of beauty and strength. Taurus design features include: Unique tri-bar grille  Jeweled projector beam headlamps Power dome hood  Prominent wheel arches that house several all-new wheel designs Incandescent tail lamps.

This car has so many optional intelligent features; you almost expect it to tell you where to go and what to anticipate on the way. There's a voice-activated Navigation System that provides you with current local gas prices on top of voice-guided turn-by-turn directions. Another feature warns you if it senses a potential collision and provides brake support. The invisible keypad and push button start makes locking yourself out of the car a thing of the past. Now that's smart. Just like so many of the features on Taurus.

Esquire magazine editors evaluated nearly a dozen significant new cars - using some unique subjective criteria - before naming the 2010 Taurus SHO as its inaugural Car of the Year. The article appears in the magazine's July issue, on newsstands today. "The reason we care about the new Taurus can be boiled down to four words: Looks good, goes fast. With a 3.5-liter turbo V-6, dubbed EcoBoost, you get V-8 power with V-6 fuel economy," said Esquire automotive correspondent, Ezra Dyer. "The SHO is a sleeper - a vehicle you can live with every day, that happens to have a secret under the hood."