Top 5 Completely Re-Designed Cars for 2010

2010 is the year of reinvention for many of the automotive industry’s favorite models. With a new decade on the horizon, car companies have had to accelerate their vehicle development process and ensure that each of the automobiles in their lineup are capable of competing in a marketplace where sales are increasingly difficult to come by. This includes re-designing even those cars and trucks which are currently selling well in order to make sure that they don’t fall behind the curve.

This article takes a look at 5 of the best vehicles that have undergone a complete re-design for the 2010 model year.

2010 Ford Taurus

The Ford Taurus has seen its share of ups and downs in the past ten years, after having faded from its former glory as the best selling sedan in North America. Removed from sale after 2006 in favor of the poorly received Ford Five Hundred, the Taurus was re-introduced in 2008 as a face-lifted edition of its replacement.

For 2010, the Taurus finally receives the full re-design that it deserves. The look of the new flagship Ford sedan is aggressive, angular and attractive, a far cry from previous touchy-feely Taurus designs. This positions the vehicle well when it comes to competing against the Chevrolet Malibu and even the Honda Accord, which have both put on serious visual muscle in recent years.

Inside the car, the Taurus abandons its oval motif of old and embraces a cockpit-style design of the type more frequently encountered in rear-wheel drive sport sedans, with a high center console from which rises an integrated center stack containing a vehicle information screen and stereo and climate controls. Three round gauges dominate the dash in front of the driver, and separate hoods cover the dash space immediately facing both forward seating positions. The vehicle’s interior feels huge, and drivers benefit from features such as adaptive cruise control, a blind spot detection system and the newest edition of the Microsoft SYNC interface.

The 2010 Ford Taurus features a single engine option, a 3.5 liter V6 that is good for 263 horsepower and 249 lb-ft of torque. This unit is matched to a 6-speed automatic transmission with the option of paddle shifters on the steering wheel, and the vehicle offers buyers with the choice of all-wheel or front-wheel drive configurations.

2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster

The Nissan 350Z Roadster was a convertible that polarized fans of the popular Nissan 350Z sport coupe. Some felt that the styling compromises that were made in order to accommodate the vehicle’s drop top left the open air edition of the 350Z looking ungainly. Nissan designers took these criticism to heart when they put pen to paper and drew the new shape of the revised 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster.

Gone is the strange collection of geometric shapes that defined the departed 350Z Roadster’s rear deck lid and their place is a new and smooth rounded quarter section that feels far more organic and natural. The back end of the 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster finally matches perfectly with its front clip, which features a more flowing design than its predecessor, doing away with many of the sharp edges that dominated the earlier vehicle. The 370Z Roadster now has the graceful appearance of a game fish moving through water, and this has the additional effect of shortening the overall perceived length of the automobile. A number of convenience features find themselves installed inside the 370Z’s interior, such as navigation, heated and cooled seats (a must for autumn and spring top-down driving) and Bluetooth integration.

In comparison with its coupe cousin, the Roadster does not lose any teeth in the engine compartment. The vehicle features the same high-revving, 332 horsepower 3.7 liter V6 engine that is also capable of generating 270 lb-ft of torque. Acceleration to 60 miles per hour from a standing start can be achieved in about 5 seconds, whether buyers choose the standard 6-speed manual transmission or the 7-speed automatic option. The manual gear box also features a unique feature that blips the throttle in order to match the engine revs during downshifts, something which driving enthusiasts will be sure to appreciate.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class gets a long awaited facelift that sees it adopt a little bit of bigger brother S-Class’ design personality. The front end of the E-Class is sharper and more sporty looking while the sides reflect the same type of rising body lines found in the newest edition of the C-Class. This combination of looks – incorporating cues from the least and most expensive sedans in the German car company’s North American lineup – helps to firmly establish the E-Class as Mercedes-Benz’s middle tier offering.

The interior of the car features a simpler dash treatment than older versions of the vehicle, but all of the requisite Mercedes-Benz gadgets and doodads are still present and accounted for: the E-Class offers drivers goodies like the COMAND vehicle control system, navigation, “Attention Assist” (designed to keep sleepy drivers from getting into accidents), lane assist and advanced automatic headlight dimming. Blind spot assistance, parking assistance, adaptive cruise control and night view assistance round out the list of advanced features in a vehicle which barely trusts the driver to safely execute even the most basic road maneuver.

There are two engine choices available in the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The first is a 3.5 liter V6 that produces 268 horsepower, while more upscale versions of the car feature a 5.5 liter V8 that is capable of outputting a stout 382 horsepower. When paired with a 7-speed automatic transmission and the company’s AirMatic air suspension system, the E-Class’s ride can only described as the lap of luxury. The vehicle is not quite as sporty as some of its German competitors, but it does offer the classic and insulated Mercedes-Benz driving experience, which is what many buyers in this class are looking for in a premium sedan.

2010 Toyota Prius

When re-sculpting a class leader, there is always the risk that whatever details made the original vehicle so appealing to the masses will be accidentally left on the cutting room floor. Toyota approached the re-design of the Prius hybrid with kid gloves but what emerged at the other end of their creative process turned out to be a much better interpretation of the original compact electric vehicle’s original concept. The new 2010 Toyota Prius is larger, more powerful and has lost much of the ungainliness of the older model while still returning excellent fuel economy and a low carbon footprint.

Key to improving the Prius’ performance has been the decision to increase the size of its engine to 1.8 liters. This gives it a total of 134 horsepower when assisted by the two electric motors that are part of the vehicle’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system. These components themselves have been both strengthened and lightened, allowing them to rev higher and produce less drag on the system. The new Prius can hit 60 miles per hour in just under 10 seconds as well as drive at speeds up to 25 miles per hour on pure battery power – although not for very long.

The vehicles uses a continuously-variable automatic transmission and achieves an impressive fuel mileage rating of 51 miles per gallon in city driving and 48 miles per gallon on the highway. It can also be set to either Power or ECO mode, with the latter restricting throttle response and the amount of power that can be used by various accessories in an effort to increase fuel economy even further. The 2010 Toyota Prius also features better handling than that displayed by the previous generation, but it is at the expense of ride comfort thanks to a stiffer suspension that translates more bumps and potholes to vehicle occupants. New rear disc brakes are also a nice feature when it comes to real world driving and handling.

2010 Subaru Outback

The vehicle that helped to kick off the crossover craze in the 1990’s enters into its fourth generation for the 2010 model year. The 2010 Subaru Outback takes things in more of a rugged direction than it ever has before. The vehicle features greater ground clearance than the outgoing model, and its larger size helps to give it a roomier interior that is capable of competing with the standard family sedans that it provides an alternative to. This includes a maximum cargo capacity of 71.3 cubic feet, which is on par with that typically found in a mid-size SUV. The Subaru’s body cladding is almost non-existent save for lower rocker panel moldings meant to protect the paint from scratches and dings while exploring less civilized roads, and it’s sharp front end ‘smile’ look is more in step with the rest of the market.

The Outback has always been known for its off-road capabilities, which while limited were still greater than any other wagon-based crossover available. The 2010 Subaru Outback’s new rear suspension increases its hardiness on the trail, and it combines with Subaru’s excellent all-wheel drive system to create a vehicle which remains surefooted no matter what driving conditions might be encountered.

Underneath the hood, the Outback features a 170 horsepower, 2.5 liter, 4-cylinder engine in the base model, while the range topping version of the crossover makes use of a 256 horsepower, 3.6 liter inline 6. The smaller motor can be ordered with either a 6-speed manual transmission or a continuously-variable automatic unit, while the 3.6 liter is only available with a traditional 5-speed automatic.