Treat guns like cop cars.

[pete f]

First of all. 250 hp engines in a 4300# car is reason kids in toyota camrys's out run cops.

second. Same as barrett saying you try to screw us we will not fix your 50 BMG's Ford makes a bladder contained fuel cell for the Crown Vic, but bean counters will not buy it. Hence the reason Ford feels like it can say stuff you to those involved in the police suit.

Fords new Five hundred AWD is being pitched as a new model police car.
I saw one being "demo'd" that had a big V8 sound and very very thin aerodynamic conforming roof light bars, with the AWD this seems to be a good package.

I just saw a blurb in a car magaazine sighting chrysler-benz putting together a cop car on the 300 platform, hemi and all,

Our city bought Impalas but are changing back after hideous lifespans and QC on drivetrains.

 

[jlwatts3]

I think it would be pretty cool to have the Chrysler 300 police cars. They're big enough and with the Hemi, they've got plenty of juice. They woould also look bad ass IMHO.

 

[cidirkona]

I rented an Intrepid once when someone t-boned my Cressida... that thing SUCKED. It's like a fat, slow, even more plasticy Neon.

-Colin

 

[brian roberts]

dodge insipids....

the intrepid has a BIG(can't get letters BIG enough)problem; w/the intrep, somewhere between 4-6 panic stops, the brakes burst into flame!!! you got it!!! and, best of all, chrysler KNOWS it. also, these cars get maybe 7,000 miles to a set of front pads, AND, you can't keep the front end aligned. some here in Md. have 700 miles on them & no alignment. one dept. found they could put Michelins on, & the F.E. would align, but its an ongoing work in progress, in Braille mode. plus, rotor distortion is so bad, that after a short while, if you're trying to stop fast & the steering wheel is straight, the s/w gets a violent shudder in it, but if you then turn the wheel a hair left or right, it'll cease!! plus, the F.E. is too light for what its asked to do. i mean Cord, Duesenburg, & i believe Auburn, tried the FW drive thing in the 30s, & scrapped the idea, only to have it resurrected by the automakers, w/all kinds of propaganda that the bean-counters fall for. police depts. have been fighting bean-counters for YEARS trying to get them to buy something that'll last for awhile longer than when the sweet taste of price has dissipated. the crown vic also has its probs; in police work, particularly training, the rear end overheats, melts the seals, destroys the axles because the lube escapes. some depts. have found a solution: cryogenically processed rear axles & improved lubricants. they've also found cryo-processed rotors & pads will give them approximately 3 times the life expectancy as stock braking components. problem is, there are charlatans out there who are joyfully ***king the public, so the process, even when performed by honest processors, is getting tarred w/the same brush. to make it all so much better, now NIIHTSA(i believe that's their acronym) has found that when the car gets something like 93,000 miles, its no longer suitable for police work. but we COULDN'T POSSIBLY make something good, hell no, that won't fund my "golden parachute", will it????

 

[W Turner]

Seems that if Dodge is willing to put in the R&D to make a semi-passable attempt at re-entering the LE car market, that would at least make Ford sit up and take notice and maybe get out of the stone age in terms of developing the CV line.

The future is AWD, 250HP V6's/300+HP V8's and better braking and handling performance. Ford has been able to rest on it's laurels due to no competition. Maybe at least the LE market will get the support it deserves from the car manufacturers.


BTW- That patrol Magnum is bada$$.

W

 

[Ivy Mike]

The Dodge Magnum police concept in the article (on the first page) has a few glaring problems. The first one I noticed is the 18" wheels and tires. First, an 18" steel wheel WILL bend the first time you take it over a curb. There simply isn't enough tire to take the shock of running over a curb. Alloy wheels would help, but the real solution is to use a smaller wheel and tire...you cut costs considerably that way. Big, speed rated tires are expensive. Smaller ones are cheaper and more widely available.

The next thing that caught me by surprise was the mention of a full size spare tire. That takes up a lot of room in a car where space is at a premium. I'd ditch the spare altogether IF I were in a large dept. Smaller depts may want to keep it.

I don't like the idea of front wheel drive police vehicles simply because a good hit to the front end causes MAJOR problems. You could very well lose your drive power from an impact. AWD is an added cost that can be avoided with better driving instruction.

GM, bring the Commodore to the states.
Ford, The Crown Vic ain't bad. Freshen it up a bit, but it is good.
DaimlerChrysler, revamp that Magnum for police use and you've got a winner. The HEMI sounds nice, but the 4.7l Jeep V8 would be fine...and less expensive. It has been known to push Grand Cherokees to low 15 sec 1/4 mile times.

 

[Art Eatman]

A Tercel for a cop car? I can see it now: A hooking device for the handcuffs, on the rear deck, with the BadGuys on skateboards...



Sorry; couldn't help myself.

Art

 

[Zach S]

It's pretty amazing to me that the only motor offered is the 4.6L 250HP engine. The optional 3.55 gears do help the car but assuming a weight of close to 4500 lbs, this car should be a slug.

Ironicly the Caprice weighed about the same as the Vic and only had ten more hp with the LT1 (50 LESS with the 4.3 - what a pig). I'm sure the LT1 made more bottom end torque, which makes a big difference in such a heavy car.

Personally I think the Vic needs about 6 pounds of boost. Theres a blower in the FMS catalogue that should do well on the Vics...

 

[brian roberts]

PCars...

97GT; one of the problems PDs are facing NOW w/the "smaller tires & wheels" concept is: there isn't enough stopping power when needed & severe rotor distortion as a result of trying to make a smaller wheel & rotor do the job of larger ones is a recurrent problem, the smaller rotors don't cool as quickly which accelerates the onset of distortion. where this concept is also of considerable concern is in the adult daycare industry. the bean-counters at the mfgrs., will put smaller rotors & wheels on these vans to boost the mileage by cutting the weight, but, when you get that van loaded w/aged flesh, not EVEN considering the wheel-chair lifts which are an ordinary fitting on many of these vehicles, coupled w/their anemic powerplants......you got some real problems to consider...carefully. i do know of one BMW specialty shop in S. Carolina that, if the car has US spec. wheels & rotors, the manager recommends the larger Euro-spec wheels, rims, rotors & tires(for about $2700) he maintains that the larger rotors, coupled w/cryogenic processing for rotors & pads has eliminated(his words not mine) rotor distortion.