America’s Newest Cop Car, The Chevrolet Caprice

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Don't fanboy whine

. No one held a gun to Ford's head and said can the Crown Vic.

You'll just have to live with the fact that Ford DOMINATED the police pursuit business for over a decade ..and did it with distinction.

I guess you can wager that the FWD twin-turbo thingie can top its predecessor. I'll wager it won't. I think it will be plagued with durability and reliability issues to make it too expensive for fleet service ..something the CVPI excelled at.


Whether the new Ford offering is a POS or not, I do think that competing with the government for a government contract isn't going to bode well for the company that isn't under government ownership, LOL!

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: sw99
Too bad the Ford Police Interceptor is front wheel drive....

All wheel drive is an option, as far as I've heard.

 

[Russell]

Originally Posted By: Lethal1ty17
Originally Posted By: Russell
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
Yes, the Caprice was faster (vette motor) and handled better. when ur cruisin back roads (meant for 45mph) at 120 on the way to a call you need good handling.


120 on 45 mph roads? No way here in kY with narrow roads, hills and curves. At least not by me.

Carbon Motors is developing a ground up police car with a BMW desiel drive train. Could be interesting http://www.carbonmotors.com/


I drive home from lexington on a nightly basis sinc i work night shift at amazon, leestown road is vacant at 5am, and i easily hit 120 every time...


Sure on that realtlively straight and flat road. Duh. That road is almost like Kansas. Consider old Frankfort pike in Fayette County or how about most of the roads any eastern ky county. Different story

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Don't fanboy whine

. No one held a gun to Ford's head and said can the Crown Vic.

You'll just have to live with the fact that Ford DOMINATED the police pursuit business for over a decade ..and did it with distinction.

I guess you can wager that the FWD twin-turbo thingie can top its predecessor. I'll wager it won't. I think it will be plagued with durability and reliability issues to make it too expensive for fleet service ..something the CVPI excelled at.


Whether the new Ford offering is a POS or not, I do think that competing with the government for a government contract isn't going to bode well for the company that isn't under government ownership, LOL!


"If you don't buy this police unit, we'll cut off your funding!! How many do you want?"

 

[addyguy]

Obviously it was done on purpose, but I find it interesting that just as Ford phases out the rear-drive, V-8 cop car, Chevy brings out the exact same thing...I guess Chevy is betting that LE departments want this type of car, and take away Fords market and make their cop-car a flop.

But seriously, this Chevy car is old-school, even more so that the CVPI - 6.0-litre, OHV, rear-drive sedan...they are seriously going after the guys who lust for patrol cars like the old 400 or 454-powered Caprice/Impala's of the 1970's.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
6.0, nice.


Yeah, but they should have just dropped the (full power, NON-D.O.D.) LS3 in it!!

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: sw99
Carbon Motors is a great idea, I just think it will take a long time for LE agencies to buy into them. Maintenance, Certified techs and warranty issues will eliminate them right off the bat for most agencies.


...as well as purchase price, since I have a hard time believing that it can be built (at least for a profit, and not initially 'dumped' on market, like a certain import nameplate is infamous for

) for even the projected/stated costs.

 

[d00df00d]

The higher purchase price is supposed to be balanced by the longer service life.

 

[VaderSS]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Obviously it was done on purpose, but I find it interesting that just as Ford phases out the rear-drive, V-8 cop car, Chevy brings out the exact same thing...I guess Chevy is betting that LE departments want this type of car, and take away Fords market and make their cop-car a flop.

But seriously, this Chevy car is old-school, even more so that the CVPI - 6.0-litre, OHV, rear-drive sedan...they are seriously going after the guys who lust for patrol cars like the old 400 or 454-powered Caprice/Impala's of the 1970's.


Not really "Old-School" with a Unit-Body, but piques my interest just the same.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
The higher purchase price is supposed to be balanced by the longer service life.


I can see that as a possibility, but as someone already stated, LE agencies are hard to convince/sway, especially when they are used to changing their fleets every so many years.

I guess some will have to take a chance and experiment to be convinced?

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Diplomatic conspiracy aside, for cops some things really need to remain the same like an all American, atmospheric V8, RWD drivetrain. I can see the caprice being the vehicle of choice, as agencies need not adapt .

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: ItsuMitsubishi
Diplomatic conspiracy aside, for cops some things really need to remain the same like an all American, atmospheric V8, RWD drivetrain. I can see the caprice being the vehicle of choice, as agencies need not adapt .


Why? Because of "nostalgia"? A standard V6 that puts out more horsepower than the outgoing V8, in a FWD car, both of which will acheive better fuel effiency. How often do police officers drift and do all those things that police cars "need" to do. Reliability issues aside, the Impala FWD V6 seems to do the job just fine.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: ItsuMitsubishi
Diplomatic conspiracy aside, for cops some things really need to remain the same like an all American, atmospheric V8, RWD drivetrain. I can see the caprice being the vehicle of choice, as agencies need not adapt .


Why? Because of "nostalgia"? A standard V6 that puts out more horsepower than the outgoing V8, in a FWD car, both of which will acheive better fuel effiency. How often do police officers drift and do all those things that police cars "need" to do. Reliability issues aside, the Impala FWD V6 seems to do the job just fine.

@the police drifting comment - hilarious mental imagery of a hybrid cops/tokyo drift scenario

But yeah, I know a lot of cops like the fullsize, RWD aspect of their cruisers- nostalgia could be one of the reasons, die hard preferences could be another. The Impalas and Luminas, are relegated to the 'fake' cops; cars for the Community Enforcement and construction supervisor guys and maybe an unmarked here and there. Other FWDers on this side are Neons and Focuses for parking, and Civic Hybrids for the site supervisors. When Impalas were first introduced around here, it faced a lot of opposition from the guys. The Crown Vic still reigns supreme here, and I fully expect their replacements to be RWD V8s. I don't disagree that a smooth FWD V6 is a viable replacement, but you know old habits die hard.