Drove a rental Charger today

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Originally Posted By: GMBoy
But I see no reason for Police to be going 150mph - especially for tax collection purposes...


That statement probably depends on the region.
I have a niece that is a state trooper and her husband is a state trooper. Their department uses Crown Vics, some Chargers and Dodge diesel pickups. Thanks to a flat, wide-open area where they patrol, they do criminal high speed chases several times a month. My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics. Her hubby prefers the Dodge Diesel pickups because he's a big guy and the majority of his chases go off road following drug runners.
Sure, they do tax collection, but there's a lot more to it than that.
Their opinion is that the Crown Vic will outlast the Chargers, but that remains to be seen.
FWIW, the Dodge diesel tops out at about 110.
 
Thanks for sharing the testimonials! I'm always interested in what law enforcement thinks of its cars.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Thanks for sharing the testimonials! I'm always interested in what law enforcement thinks of its cars.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.


Here's what she likes. No Crown Vic is going to hang with this:
 
The new Charger and Challenger are a complete joke. Inferior outdated V6 engines. Horrible interiors. Looks like Rubbermaid made the interior of these vehicles.
Just a far reach into the past with some similar old school sheetmetal. A fad that is also dying. Time for Chry to get into the 21st century.
 
You know if you took the outside and frame of a Challenger (the new one) and just gutted it, you could build a mean car. If money were no object, of course. The insides and engine are shameful, but you have to admit, that is a beautiful looking machine on the outside.
 
Originally Posted By: bustednutz
The new Charger and Challenger are a complete joke. Inferior outdated V6 engines. Horrible interiors. Looks like Rubbermaid made the interior of these vehicles.
Just a far reach into the past with some similar old school sheetmetal. A fad that is also dying. Time for Chry to get into the 21st century.


What's a joke is your post. Just what is inferior or outdated about the 2.7 and 3.5 engines? As for the interior, "horrible" is a totally subjective term and you are certainly entitled to your opinion--as off base as it may be.
 
I can't speak for the 3.5L Challenger because I've never driven one, but I've been in the higher end models and I think the interior is just fine...
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.


Here's what she likes. No Crown Vic is going to hang with this:

Sorry, I was referring to the part about preferring the Crown Vics. :)
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Thanks for sharing the testimonials! I'm always interested in what law enforcement thinks of its cars.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.


Here's what she likes. No Crown Vic is going to hang with this:



A Marauder would...... Which is a Vic with the Cobra motor essentially.

For high-speed pursuit (up here), the Mounties have a few Mustang Cobras.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Thanks for sharing the testimonials! I'm always interested in what law enforcement thinks of its cars.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.


This is just her opinion, but she feels that a Crown Vic is more stable and has the stability of a Sherman tank. She also feels that if another car/truck tries to push her off road, the Crown Vic is more able to withstand the push or bump.
A lot of posts here brag about the Charger having a higher top speed, but very few high speed chases go that fast.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Thanks for sharing the testimonials! I'm always interested in what law enforcement thinks of its cars.

Originally Posted By: Kruse
My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics.

Why exactly is this? I have my suspicions and I've heard a few things but I want to hear what your niece has to say.


Here's what she likes. No Crown Vic is going to hang with this:



A Marauder would...... Which is a Vic with the Cobra motor essentially.


Nope, not even close. I dug through some of my old car magazines and turned up a road test of a Marauder and a 300C (which is basically the same car as the Charger with a Hemi).

Marauder (Automobile magazine, Aug 2002)
0-60: 7.3 seconds
0-100: 17.5 seconds
1/4 mile: 15.6 @ 94 mph
Horsepower: 302 @ 5750 rpm
Torque: 318 lb/ft @ 4300 rpm
Curb weight: 4195 lbs

Chrysler 300C (Car and Driver magazine, May 2004)
0-60: 5.3 seconds
0-100: 13.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.9 @ 102 mph
Horsepower: 340 @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 390 lb/ft @ 4000 rpm
Curb weight: 4140 lbs
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
But I see no reason for Police to be going 150mph - especially for tax collection purposes...


That statement probably depends on the region.
I have a niece that is a state trooper and her husband is a state trooper. Their department uses Crown Vics, some Chargers and Dodge diesel pickups. Thanks to a flat, wide-open area where they patrol, they do criminal high speed chases several times a month. My niece loves the high speed of the Chargers, but prefers the Crown Vics. Her hubby prefers the Dodge Diesel pickups because he's a big guy and the majority of his chases go off road following drug runners.
Sure, they do tax collection, but there's a lot more to it than that.
Their opinion is that the Crown Vic will outlast the Chargers, but that remains to be seen.
FWIW, the Dodge diesel tops out at about 110.




Very valid points. My wife is a fleet manager for a police dept here and she handles all the police cars (purchasing and maintenance of them). They use Tahoes, Chargers, Impalas and Crown Vics. Her excperience shows the Impala to be the absolute worse pos car they've ever had (and this is from my wife who USED to work for GM with me until she took a buyout and went to work for the Polce Dept.!) Anyhow - 95% of the force prefers the Vics over the Chargers. The Tahoes are mainly for Police chief use. They actually had 1 V8 charger catch on fire and burn. They have a mix of V8 and V6 Chargers and none are highly thought of.
 
Quote:

A Marauder would...... Which is a Vic with the Cobra motor essentially.

For high-speed pursuit (up here), the Mounties have a few Mustang Cobras.


Are you sure about the RCMP Mustangs? I haven't seen any since the old 5.0L foxes. They ran Camaros after that until they were discontinued. I'd be interested to see a late model RCMP Mustang if they do exist.

Here's a link to some RCMP cars, including some old 5.0L's and Camaros:

http://policecanada.policecanada.org/Canada/RCMP/index.html

Interestingly, the reason that police departments ran cars like the Mustang and Camaro's was because the patrol cars were so slow in the late 70's early 80's and were having trouble catching speeders. The CHP experimented with Camaro's in the late 70's and found they were effective for traffic enforcement (although the late 70's Camaro's didn't hold up well in police use). Ford's 5.0L Mustang became the car of choice until the early 90's when the Camaro took over. But by then the patrol cars were much faster and the need for these pony cars was much less.

With the performance of the Hemi Chargers, I don't see why anyone would use a pony car in police enforcement. The Charger is plenty quick/fast enough, 4-doors with a proper back seat where a cage can be installed. They may not be as tough and durable as a CVPI, but I bet they hold up as well as a Mustang or Camaro would.
 
Quote:

This is just her opinion, but she feels that a Crown Vic is more stable and has the stability of a Sherman tank. She also feels that if another car/truck tries to push her off road, the Crown Vic is more able to withstand the push or bump.
A lot of posts here brag about the Charger having a higher top speed, but very few high speed chases go that fast.


I've maxed out seveal Vic's at there 129 MPH top speed, and I don't find them that stable at high speed. They aren't bad, but over 110, the front end get's really light. On the older Vic's (pre 2006) with lighter steering, there was almost zero feel at high speeds, which was a little scary. I haven't driven a Charger, so I don't know how it compares, but I have drive other cars that feel more "sure footed" at high speeds than a Crown Vic.

As someone else stated it's not the top speed of the Charger that is important, it's the high speed acceleration that makes the difference. If you look at MSP test results, the Charger has MUCH better high speed acceleration. Even the ever important 0-100 MPH is much faster in the Hemi Charger over the CVPI (23.73 secs for CVPI vs 14.21 for Hemi Charger - note I quote the 3.27 geared Vic since the majority of depts use these gears).

See the PDF results here:

http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7-123--16274--,00.html
 
I was quite surprised a few years ago when I looked in the window of one of those Camaros and saw that it had a 6-speed!
 
I remember the FBI running Buick Turbos in 1986-87! (Regal Grand Nationals and T-types/Turbo-T models).
 
I remember in the late 60s the Shaker heights Police Dept. near Cleveland had some Plymouth Belveders had 426 Hemis in them with a two speed rear end differnetial...The shift lever was near the center front hump....
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN

Nope, not even close. I dug through some of my old car magazines and turned up a road test of a Marauder and a 300C (which is basically the same car as the Charger with a Hemi).

Marauder (Automobile magazine, Aug 2002)
0-60: 7.3 seconds
0-100: 17.5 seconds
1/4 mile: 15.6 @ 94 mph
Horsepower: 302 @ 5750 rpm
Torque: 318 lb/ft @ 4300 rpm
Curb weight: 4195 lbs

Chrysler 300C (Car and Driver magazine, May 2004)
0-60: 5.3 seconds
0-100: 13.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.9 @ 102 mph
Horsepower: 340 @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 390 lb/ft @ 4000 rpm
Curb weight: 4140 lbs


I was talking top-speed not 1/4 mile times. My '87 GT was faster than both of those things pretty much stock......... In the 1/4.

Gearing plays a big role.
 
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Originally Posted By: Oldswagon
Quote:

A Marauder would...... Which is a Vic with the Cobra motor essentially.

For high-speed pursuit (up here), the Mounties have a few Mustang Cobras.


Are you sure about the RCMP Mustangs? I haven't seen any since the old 5.0L foxes. They ran Camaros after that until they were discontinued. I'd be interested to see a late model RCMP Mustang if they do exist.

Here's a link to some RCMP cars, including some old 5.0L's and Camaros:

http://policecanada.policecanada.org/Canada/RCMP/index.html

Interestingly, the reason that police departments ran cars like the Mustang and Camaro's was because the patrol cars were so slow in the late 70's early 80's and were having trouble catching speeders. The CHP experimented with Camaro's in the late 70's and found they were effective for traffic enforcement (although the late 70's Camaro's didn't hold up well in police use). Ford's 5.0L Mustang became the car of choice until the early 90's when the Camaro took over. But by then the patrol cars were much faster and the need for these pony cars was much less.

With the performance of the Hemi Chargers, I don't see why anyone would use a pony car in police enforcement. The Charger is plenty quick/fast enough, 4-doors with a proper back seat where a cage can be installed. They may not be as tough and durable as a CVPI, but I bet they hold up as well as a Mustang or Camaro would.


Very sure. My cousin recently left the RCMP. They wouldn't let her drive them
grin2.gif


The OPP also have a couple.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: G-MAN

Nope, not even close. I dug through some of my old car magazines and turned up a road test of a Marauder and a 300C (which is basically the same car as the Charger with a Hemi).

Marauder (Automobile magazine, Aug 2002)
0-60: 7.3 seconds
0-100: 17.5 seconds
1/4 mile: 15.6 @ 94 mph
Horsepower: 302 @ 5750 rpm
Torque: 318 lb/ft @ 4300 rpm
Curb weight: 4195 lbs

Chrysler 300C (Car and Driver magazine, May 2004)
0-60: 5.3 seconds
0-100: 13.4 seconds
1/4 mile: 13.9 @ 102 mph
Horsepower: 340 @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 390 lb/ft @ 4000 rpm
Curb weight: 4140 lbs


I was talking top-speed not 1/4 mile times. My '87 GT was faster than both of those things pretty much stock......... In the 1/4.


A Marauder won't touch a Hemi Charger with the police package on top end. A Marauder tops out at about 130. The Charger will do 150+.
 
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