Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

[Gtek-i]

lmao...

[fpv_gtho]

What do they expect to catch with those? Down under police Highway Patrol cars are either the 6ltr V8 SS Commodore, 260kw, 0-60 under 6sec, ~250+kmh top whack (going to 270kw with the new VE) and either 245kw Turbo 4ltr I6 XR6 Turbo or 260kw XR8 Falcons, about the same speed as the SS. THOSE are Police Interceptors. Hell, the Vic coppers even have a couple of 270kw HSV GTO coupes.

Just think though, the US cops probably pay the equivalent of half to a third of the price for a CV than the Falcons and Commo's here.

[Timothy (in VA)]

I think the Crown Vic's biggest strength is their strength in numbers. Any car being pursued is just one car, but the cops will have an entire fleet of V8 rear wheel drive Crown Vics at their disposal. Furthermore, a Crown Vic interceptor is built for hard driving (heavy-duty shocks, etc.), and the officers are trained for hard driving. Also, once they get going, they keep going - they've got 4000 pounds of momentum behind them after all. The weight also comes in handy if force is necessary to end a pursuit.

All in all, a Ford Crown Victoria with flashing lights is not something you want to see bearing down on you in your rear-view mirror.

[fpv_gtho]

Is it really a case though of theyre durable enough to go through anything, or that theyre cheap enough the cops will PUT them through anything?

[Equinox]

i would say they are just cheap and durable cars... because you can modify any car to have stronger shocks etc... but ford just gave the cops good deals so the cops use them. I bet if another company offered a good deal on police cars they would take it

[Fleet 500]

Gas guzzling, huge police car that's suprisingly slow, American style.

22 highway mpg is not really gas guzzling (they don't have a gas guzzling tax added on when bought new) and they're not all that slow.

[Quiggs]

They're not exactly underpowered when the departments take delievery of them. But add the hundreds of pounds of computer equipment, guns, and steel cage for the rear seats and the weight gets up there in a hurry. Word on the street is that those power figures are pretty conservative, too.

We've got 3 or 4 of them at school for Ford FACT. For what their purpose is, I guess they're good enough.

[coolieman1220]

its not about the speed of the car, its the speed of the radio to radio on like 324932842 others.

[clutch-monkey]

its not about the speed of the car, its the speed of the radio to radio on like 324932842 others.

lol it's true..... they don't need to overtake a felon if they can have 6 cars waiting for them just up the road

[Equinox]

thats true... good ol' spike strips

[KonaGreen]

fastest cop car I've seen here is a Nissan Maxima 3.5 SE ghostcar...it was sweeeet...

I've seen that thing. It scared the crap outta me one day. I was driving the work F-150 and it sallied past me in the left lane, then further down the road I saw it with all lights blazing as it hauled down some speeder. Frack... I swore from there on in to never trust any tinted car. Ever.

[mattmacklind]

In the US, police chases are rarely conducted on long expanses of open road, probably because our criminals, unlike in our movies, are not conducting big money exchanges at the end of a runway in the desert with Ferrari's and Lambos as getaway cars. They are robbing convenience stores and trying to get away in an 86 Ford Ranger with a 4 cyl. and an auto tranny, in a congested area. US police cars need to haul prisoners who puke, kick the doors, and generally don't want to be arrested, or block there way through an intersection. For the purposes of running down these masterminds, the CV works pretty well. If there is a pursuit problem, the police aorund me have the Camaro z28 or the old 5.0 Mustang GTs. They aren't the best handling cars in the world, but they can move on US HWY's pretty well, which are usually fairly straight. They are also scary as hell to see with the police livery and so on.

Cop cars have uprated transissions and suspension, and often have different motors that the stock cars. My brother had a police interceptor caprice classic from the 90's, back in the square design days. Had a corvette block, but de-tuned heads. Those cars will do almost 150. Thats fast for a four door american style sedan with no aerodynamics. The only thing I don't like about the CV is that they aren't very safe for the cops. They've had problems with rear end impacts during pull overs with the fuel tank exploding.

Almost forgot. If you're looking at buying one used, they are normally auctioned by the police departments and end up in the hands of streetside dealers. They can be great buys. When I lived in Chicago, (90's) they were a big deal, all the bangers bought them. Some of them still have police decals on them when they are sold! The cop cars I really liked were the early eighties Dodge Diplomats. Sometimes you could actually find a Pontiac Bonneville short wheel base version. I think Pontiac made the Bonneville as both a really huge car, and a small one in some of the same model years. I had family in the secret service in the US. The unmarked car was a Bonneville 4 door, short wheelbase, with a 302/301/305 (whichever Pontiac had). the thing trucked.

http://www.bonhamchrysler.com/inform...52505C_008.jpg

[Quiggs]

The only thing I don't like about the CV is that they aren't very safe for the cops. They've had problems with rear end impacts during pull overs with the fuel tank exploding.

3500lb car @ 80mph + 4500lb car @ 0mph = possibility of explosion no matter what.

[mattmacklind]

True, but its a known design problem, and it doesn't happen with Caprice's as it does with CV's. Lots of litigation over it with Ford, none with Chevy. Ford but a fuel "bladder" over the gas tank to solve the problem, even, but it doesn't solve it.

[fpv_gtho]

Well you can only beat a dead horse for so long. The CV might do the job, but any problem might be inherent in the cars design, and may not go away until Ford finally come up with a clean sheat design.