Interior
The interior was also completely redesigned for the 1996 model year. Like that of the previous two generations, the interior was designed to be user-friendly. The dashboard wrapped slightly around the driver; all of the main controls were placed within easy reach, and were designed to be recognizable by touch and to be operated by drivers without taking their eyes off the road. The controls for the radio and climate control were combined into an oval-shaped "Integrated Control Panel" mounted in the center of the dash, which was created in response to many complaints from Taurus owners that they couldn't easily operate the main controls of the radios and climate control systems without taking their eyes off the road.
Another innovation was the "Flip-Fold" center console on cars not equipped with a standard floor console. It was a seat in between the bucket seats that could be transformed into a console, reducing the seating count by one. The seat cushion folded out into a console with a lockable storage bin and cupholders, resting against the dashboard. The seatback also folded down to become an armrest. A traditional center console with a floor-mounted shifter was installed on cars equipped without the flip fold console.
This generation's interior wasn't as configurable as that of the first two generations. The G and GL models (see below) were only available with steering column-mounted shifter, along with a cloth front bench seat and the "Flip-Fold" center console. The LX, on the other hand, came standard with bucket seats that could be ordered with either cloth or leather upholstery, along with a center console and floor-mounted shifter. However, a column-mounted shifter and a cloth front bench was available as a no-cost option. In 1999, the interior was again available in three configurations, like that of the first-generation Taurus; a front bench seat with a column-mounted shifter, front bucket seats with a center console and floor-mounted shifter, or front bucket seats with a center console and a column-mounted shifter. Each configuration was offered in both Taurus models (see below).
The Ford Taurus has many seating options, ranging from 5 people to 8 people. On wagons and sedans equipped with the floor mounted shifter, it seated 5 people standard, and wagons could seat up to 7 people, with a bench in the third row. Also, models equipped with the flip fold console could seat either 6 or 8 people, depending on whether the wagons had a third row bench or not. The sedans could seat a maximum of 6 people with the flip fold console, and 5 people with a regular console.
Read more about this topic: Ford Taurus (third Generation), Overview
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