The Ford SHO V6 is a family of

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...

s fitted to the

Ford Taurus SHO The Ford Taurus SHO (Super High Output) is the high-performance variant of the Ford Taurus. Originally intended as a limited-production model, the SHO would be produced for the first three generations of the model line, from the 1989 to the 1999 ...

from 1989 to 1995. The designation SHO denotes Super High Output. Due to the engine's unusual and aesthetically pleasing appearance it is sometimes transplanted into other vehicles. Its distinctive

variable length intake manifold In internal combustion engines, a variable-length intake manifold (VLIM),variable intake manifold (VIM), or variable intake system (VIS) is an automobile internal combustion engine manifold technology. As the name implies, VLIM/VIM/VIS can vary ...

is bilaterally symmetrical, so it can be rotated 180 degrees (making it face "backwards" on the engine, relative to its original installation orientation) to ease the engine's transition from

transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...

mounting. The SHO engines share a common

bell housing Bell housing or bellhousing is a colloquial/slang term for the portion of the transmission that covers the flywheel and the clutch or torque converter of the transmission on vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. This housing is bolted ...

pattern with the following Ford engines: the 2.3/2.5 L FWD HSC I4, the 3.0 L FWD/RWD

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

V6, and the 3.8 L FWD Canadian Essex V6. In 1996, Ford discontinued the SHO V6 and began fitting the Taurus SHOs with the SHO 3.4 L V8 and the Ford AX4N

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...

Origin

In 1984, executives of the

Yamaha Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors, and other motorized products. The company was established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha Corporation (however, Yamaha Corporation ...

signed a contract with the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

to develop, produce, and supply a compact 60°

V6 engine based upon the existing Vulcan engine for

application. There has been some confusion about the original intended use of the engine. It was thought this engine was first intended to power a mid-engine sports car, that project (known internally as GN34) was canceled. Patents have been found and pictures of prototype SHO powerplants installed in the Taurus show that the original intent was for the larger FWD setup and the GN34 would have come later. There were a few GN34 prototypes produced, most with standard Vulcan engines and a few other factory swaps, a SHO

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

being one.

3.0 L

The SHO V6 was a high-tech and revolutionary design when it debuted in 1988. Displacing , it was an iron block, aluminum head 24-valve DOHC engine with an innovative

. Its

oversquare In a reciprocating piston engine, the stroke ratio, defined by either bore/stroke ratio or stroke/bore ratio, is a term to describe the ratio between cylinder bore diameter and piston stroke length. This can be used for either an internal comb ...

and symmetrical design, which sported an bore and stroke, gave the high-revving engine an output of at 6200 rpm and of torque at 4800 rpm at the

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, ass ...

, and it sported the added luxury of being able to be used in rear-drive applications.

Redline Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an en ...

was marked on the

tachometer A tachometer (revolution-counter, tach, rev-counter, RPM gauge) is an instrument measuring the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated anal ...

at 7000 rpm, and fuel cut-off occurred at 7300 rpm. This engine was only available with the Ford MTX-IV transmission.

3.2 L

From 1993 to 1995, the SHO engine was sold in two displacements: the existing continued to be sold mated to the MTX-IV

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

, and a new engine was sold mated to the Ford AX4S automatic transmission. The new engine, while retaining the same stroke of its brother, sported a larger bore that helped raise torque output to at 4000 rpm at the flywheel. Horsepower output was still , but now at 6000 rpm: This was due to a milder cam setup compared to the more aggressive intake camshaft in the version.

Other Ford vehicles

In 1989, with the help of Roush Racing, Ford Truck Public Affairs created a one-off Ford Ranger, dubbed the "SHO Ranger", with a SHO V6 and a Mustang GT's T-5 manual transmission. According to D.A. "Woody" Haines, assistant manager of that division, they commissioned the project truck "to test the market." In 1993, Ford Canada hand-built 40 Mercury Sables, some of which were powered by SHO V6 engines, as part of their AIV (Aluminum Intensive Vehicle) program and released 20 to the public. Using aluminum suspension elements and aluminum body panels, held together with spot welding and adhesive joining processes developed specifically for this vehicle, the end result was a car that was lighter than a SHO Taurus.

Multimatic Motorsports Multimatic Motorsports is the competition arm of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations. Founded in 1992, the team has competed in the Firestone Firehawk Series, Motorola Cup, IMSA GT Championship, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Cup, Rolex Sport ...

entered one of these vehicles in the 1995

One Lap of America The Brock Yates' One Lap of America is an annual motorsports event in the United States that has been held since 1984. It is the successor to the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an underground auto race of the 1970s. T ...

event, finishing 15th overall and 1st in the Mid-Price class.

Modifications

A popular modification to cars equipped with the SHO engine is to replace the engine with a engine. Further modification can include installing the cams from a engine into a engine. These more aggressive cams, along with a higher torque output have been known to allow the manual transmission-equipped Taurus SHO to run into the low 14s on the .

SHOGun Festiva

In 1990, Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus took seven

Ford Festiva The Ford Festiva is a subcompact car that was designed and manufactured by Mazda for Ford between 1986 and 2002. Festiva was sold in Japan, the Americas, and Australia. The name "Festiva" is derived from the Spanish word for " festive". It was not ...

s and mounted SHO V6s − still mated to their native transmissions − behind the front seats in mid-rear engine configuration. Along with substantial cosmetic body changes, including custom fiberglass wheel arches to accommodate a wider stance and larger tires, the suspension was completely redesigned. Each car was painted a different color. These changes resulted in a car that could travel the in 12.9 seconds at , and could achieve a lateral acceleration figure ranging from .95 to 1.04 g. Two of the seven are notable;

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

owns number 003 (the silver one), and number 005 (the purple one) included special modifications for competition in the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

, including a rollcage and 5-point restraints. One was destroyed in the

2021–2022 Boulder County fires The Marshall Fire was a destructive wildfire and urban conflagration that started on December 30, 2021, shortly after 11:00 a.m. MST, as a grass fire in Boulder County, Colorado. The fire killed two people and became the most destructive ...

. Since the creation of these cars, others have imitated the idea by performing SHO-to-Festiva transplants of their own.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford SHO V6 engine SHO V6 SHO V6 engine V6 engines Gasoline engines by model