Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Charting the Five-Ohs: Next-gen Cop Car Comparo]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/19/charting-the-five-ohs-next-gen-cop-car-comparo/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/19/charting-the-five-ohs-next-gen-cop-car-comparo/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/19/charting-the-five-ohs-next-gen-cop-car-comparo/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It used to be that every full-line American automaker offered a version of its mainstream full-size sedan to make it appropriate for police duty. By the time 1996 rolled around, the Chevrolet Caprice, which was the last would-be competitor to the standard-setting Ford Crown Victoria, was discontinued, leaving the lucrative police market to the Blue Oval Boys.

The automotive industry took notice, and plans began in corporate board rooms to remedy that situation, and even a few new entrants - most notably Carbon Motors - sprung up with promising designs that eschewed the mainstream production-based sedan design.

In 2005, Dodge rolled out a factory police package for its full-size Charger sedan, and for the first time in a decade the Crown Victoria faced some stiff V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive competition. Then in 2009, Chevrolet announced that its new Zeta platform Caprice would be returning for the 2011 model year packing a strong 6.0-liter V8 of its own.

How would Ford answer this newly mounted competition? Would the aging Panther-based Crown Vic finally get an update? Nope. Instead, Ford just recently announced that it would soon offer a highly ruggedized version of its most recent Taurus sedan, optionally equipped with the stout 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 engine powering all four wheels as seen in the revived Taurus SHO.

We decided to see for ourselves how the three new competitors stacked up against the old guard Crown Vic on paper, and as you can see, there's little to separate each offering on the spec sheets. It should prove interesting to see how police agencies react to these choices, especially since reliability and durability will be mostly unknown factors for the first time in ages. See for yourself.

Ford Crown Vic Ford Taurus Dodge Charger Chevrolet Caprice
Availability Forever Late 2011 2005 - Present 2011
Type Four-door, body on frame Four-door, enhanced unibody Four-door, unibody Four-door, unibody
Engine 4.6L V8 3.5L V6
Twin-turbo 3.5L V6		 5.7L Hemi V8 6.0L V8
Power 250 horsepower 263 horsepower
365 horsepower		 368 horsepower 355 horsepower
Torque 297 lb-ft 249 lb-ft
350 lb-ft
 395 lb-ft 385 lb-ft
Fuel Economy 14 City / 21 Highway 18 City / 28 Highway (2010 Ford Taurus FWD)
17 City / 25 Highway (2010 Ford Taurus SHO AWD)
 16 City / 25 Highway 15 City / 24 Highway (2009 Pontiac G8 GT)
Driveline Rear-Wheel Front or All-Wheel Rear-Wheel Rear-Wheel
Shifter Column Column Column Console
Wheels 17-inch steel 18-inch steel 18-inch steel 18-inch steel
Brakes Four-Wheel Discs Four-Wheel Discs Four-Wheel Discs Four-Wheel Discs
Cop Brakes Y Y Y Y
Cop Suspension Y Y Y Y
Cop Cooling Y Y Y Y
Seats Front - Cloth
Rear - Vinyl Bench		 Front - Cloth
Rear - Vinyl Bench		 Front - Cloth
Rear - Cloth Bench		 Front - Cloth
Rear - Vinyl Bench
Interior Volume 106.4 Cubic Feet 102.3 Cubic Feet 104 Cubic Feet 112 Cubic Feet
Trunk Space 20.6 Cubic Feet 20.1 Cubic Feet 16.2 Cubic Feet 18 Cubic Feet
Special Features
 Overwhelming Ubiquity

Tough as nails

Capable of withstanding 75-mph rear impact		 Seats with downsized lateral bosters, cut-outs for utility belts

Ford SYNC

Safety Canopy(R) side-curtain air bag

Rollover protection system

Customizable steering-wheel switches

Rear doors swing 71-degrees

Capable of withstanding 75-mph rear impact

BLIS(R) (Blind Spot Information System)

Cross Traffic Alert

Rear View Camera System

Reverse Sensing System		 160-mph (certified) calibrated speedometer

AM/FM radio with CD player, changer controls, four speakers and clock with auxiliary audio input jack

Load-leveling, height-control shock absorbers

Independently switched red/white LED dome lamp		 Seats with downsized lateral boosters, cutouts for utility belts

In-dash touch-screen computer technology

Driver information center in the instrument cluster with selectable speed tracking feature

Charting the Five-Ohs: Next-gen Cop Car Comparo originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chevroletChevrolet Impalachevrolet impala policeChevroletImpalaChevroletImpalaPoliceChevy ImpalaChevy Impala Police Cruiserchevy impala ppvChevyImpalaChevyImpalaPoliceCruiserChevyImpalaPpvcop carcop carsCopCarCopCarsdodge chargerdodge charger cop carDodge Charger Police carDodgeChargerDodgeChargerCopCarDodgeChargerPoliceCarford crown vicford crown victoriaford policeford police carford police cruiserford police interceptorFord Police Interceptor Crown VictoriaFord TaurusFord Taurus Police Interceptorford taurus SHOFordCrownVicFordCrownVictoriaFordPoliceFordPoliceCarFordPoliceCruiserFordPoliceInterceptorFordPoliceInterceptorCrownVictoriaFordTaurusFordTaurusPoliceInterceptorFordTaurusShoImpalaimpala policeImpalaPolicepolice cameraspolice carspolice impalapolice interceptorpolice interceptorsPoliceCamerasPoliceCarsPoliceImpalaPoliceInterceptorPoliceInterceptorsFri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19407079/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/03/19/charting-the-five-ohs-next-gen-cop-car-comparo/19407079/article-detail.xml 19407079 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/03/police-badge-250_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/03/police-badge-250.jpg <![CDATA[Fritz Henderson to Autoblog: Chevy Caprice is being looked at as "police application"]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/15/fritz-henderson-chevy-caprice-is-being-looked-at-as-police-app/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/15/fritz-henderson-chevy-caprice-is-being-looked-at-as-police-app/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/15/fritz-henderson-chevy-caprice-is-being-looked-at-as-police-app/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Ever since General Motors announced this spring that it was killing the Pontiac brand as part of its restructuring, fans of the Holden-developed G8 sedan have been clamoring to save it as a Chevrolet. After company officials repeatedly said over the past two months that no such thing would happen, Bob Lutz re-lit the fire last week in one of his first pronouncements after un-retiring. Lutz proclaimed that the G8 would indeed become a new Chevrolet Caprice.

During our first drive of the new Buick LaCrosse this week, we had the opportunity on one of the legs to ride with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, and we pressed him for more details on the Caprice plan. Unfortunately it turns out Henderson brought his portable fire extinguisher with him, telling us:
We've been looking at it for police applications. As for whether or not it's broader than police applications, I am not a believer in re-branding and re-badging. We've been talking about in terms of potential police applications and we'll leave it at that."
Henderson also threw a soaking wet blanket on the idea of adding production to Oshawa alongside the Camaro, saying that the cars will continue to be sourced from Australia. So, for the moment, it looks like Zeta sedan fans will probably have to be content with taking a Blues Brothers approach to the problem: Buying their next car as a decommissioned black-and-white.

[Image: GoAuto]

Fritz Henderson to Autoblog: Chevy Caprice is being looked at as "police application" originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>capricechevroletchevrolet capriceChevroletCapricechevychevy capriceChevyCapricecop carcop carsCopCarCopCarsfritz hendersonFritzHendersonGM CEOGmCeoHoldenpolice carpolice carsPoliceCarPoliceCarspontiacpontiac g8PontiacG8zetaWed, 15 Jul 2009 09:28:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19098075/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/07/15/fritz-henderson-chevy-caprice-is-being-looked-at-as-police-app/19098075/article-detail.xml 19098075 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/holden-commodore-police-pkg-580_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/04/holden-commodore-police-pkg-580.jpg <![CDATA[Michigan State Police hit the test track with latest cop cars]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/17/michigan-state-police-hit-the-test-track-with-the-latest-cop-car/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/17/michigan-state-police-hit-the-test-track-with-the-latest-cop-car/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/17/michigan-state-police-hit-the-test-track-with-the-latest-cop-car/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


Click the Dodge Charger cop car for a high-res gallery

Every September since the 1950s, the Michigan State Police have conducted vehicle performance testing on the latest cop cars. Prior to the early 1970s when the first oil embargo occurred, they would go out for bids every year and then test just the low bid vehicle. In those days, testing was limited to acceleration, top speed and braking distance.

According to Lt. David Halliday of the Michigan State Police, as carmakers were struggling at that time and scrambling to sell their bigger vehicles, they all started submitting bids around the same price with only a $45 spread covering all the contenders one year. Around that time they decided to start testing all of the available vehicles and they also made their test results available to all interested police agencies. For the past three decades, a chunk of that annual testing has been conducted at the Chrysler Proving Ground in Chelsea, MI.

Gallery: Michigan State Police car testing

Continue reading Michigan State Police hit the test track with latest cop cars

Michigan State Police hit the test track with latest cop cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chrysler-proving-groundcop car testingcop carsCopCarsCopCarTestingmichigan-state-policepolice carspolice-car-testingPoliceCarsspecial service carsSpecialServiceCarsMon, 17 Sep 2007 11:58:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/990498/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2007/09/17/michigan-state-police-hit-the-test-track-with-the-latest-cop-car/990498/article-detail.xml 990498 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/09/cop-car-testing-56-1_opt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/09/cop-car-testing-56-1_opt.jpg -1 2