Exterior When Ford introduced the third-generation Taurus, its styling and heavy reliance on ovoid elements became a point of criticism and controversy, strongly limited the car's appeal. As a result, for the fourth generation Taurus, Ford designed it with a more subdued, angular design, as part of Ford's
New Edge styling, in hopes of increasing the car's appeal. Instead of sloping back, this car's trunk stood upright in a more traditional shape, which greatly increased trunk space. The roof was also raised into a more upright stance to increase headroom, which can be seen by the thicker C-pillar and larger area between the tops of the doors and the top of the roof. The front and rear clips were also redesigned on the Taurus and Sable sedans; all body panels were brand-new except the doors.
Station wagons received the new front clips but from the firewall back they were essentially the same as the 1996-1999 wagons. The Taurus now had the turn signals integrated into the headlamps, similar to that of the previous generation Sable. The front bumper was also redesigned to include a larger front grille which, like the previous generation, contained a chrome bar running through the middle containing the Ford logo. The rear clip was redesigned with a larger trunk and trunklid, as mentioned above, as well as giving the Taurus two large taillights as opposed to the rear lightbar used in the previous generation cars. Mounted on the trunklid was a large chrome bar containing the Ford logo, like in the front. In 2003 for the 2004 model year, the front clip was slightly redesigned, and the Taurus got a new front bumper and grille. The grille was made smaller, with the chrome bar removed, replaced by just a large Ford logo in the center. The taillights were slightly redesigned, originally to include amber turn signals, but this was cancelled at the eleventh hour. Instead, the rear was given larger reverse lights, and the chrome bar above the license plate bracket was deleted.
Interior As with the exterior, the interior was completely redesigned with a more conservative style, although some features from the previous cars were carried over. The dashboard had a more linear appearance, instead of curving around the driver. The "Integrated Control Panel" was carried over but enlarged, reshaped, and placed in the center of the dash instead of being tilted toward the driver. The Flip-Fold center console was also carried over but it was revamped as well. When folded out, it now rested against the floor instead of the dashboard, and had different cupholders and storage areas. These new trim levels were renamed the following year to SES and SEL respectively. The SES and LX models were dropped in 2005, leaving the SE and SEL. The SEL line received a few upgrades for 2003, to give it a more upscale image. Among the changes were a new instrument cluster, wheels, as well as a slight redesign of the dash, with
woodgrain replacing the black trim. It also got woodgrain on the
steering wheel rim and around the
power window switches on the front doors. Also in 2003, Ford created a Centennial Edition Taurus to celebrate Ford's 100th anniversary. This special Taurus included many extras, such as lighter wood trim, special leather seats,
headlights with black accents, special wheels, a special leather case for the owner's manual, a leather jacket that said "Ford: 100 Years", a similar
watch, and a letter from
William Clay Ford, Jr. Production was limited to 4,000 units. For 2002, 2003 and 2004, the SES model received a "Sport" package, which consisted of five-spoked rims known as "slicers", and the Duratec engine standard. In addition, the exterior of the vehicle received Sport badging on the front quarter-panels, the chrome bar on the grille was changed to body color, the interior received two-toned cloth seats, a two-toned dash applique, special "Sport" floor mats, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. This model was only offered in four colors. The engines were carried over from the previous generation, with the
Vulcan being the only available engine on the LX and SE, producing and of torque, and as the base engine on the SES. The
Duratec engine was optional on the SES and standard on the SEL, producing . For 2005, with the LX and SES models being dropped, the Duratec was only available on the SEL, and in 2006 the Duratec was dropped altogether, with the Vulcan becoming the standard and only engine available on the SEL. Some pre-2004 Vulcans were mated to the four speed
AX4S automatic transmission; all other Tauruses of this generation received the
AX4N transmission. ==Variants==