The first Taurus had a much less efficient transmission so we shouldn't really try to compare directly to that. 35 on the highway, for that car, is very good!
Thanks for the huge massive list of mods! Unfortunately those are way out of my league. I'm going to get the grill blocks and wheel covers done first and then the wheel covers. My material of choice is coroplast. This will be fun, as long as it passes the wife test lol.