More headlights for us to remember (if you've been pulled over before....)
03-26-05, 02:53 PM
#16
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by EDGE2
You make a good point which I never realized the body on frame thing but the departments look at overall price so I doubt unibody will effect their buying needs, hopefully the cars are safe in collisions cause they will crash them, not like the Crown Vics that blow up, in fact some police departments have stopped using Crown Vics cause of the problem and Chrysler timing could not be better, and the Caprice I've heard from cops who drive around that the Chevy was better but the Crown Vic has a slight advantage in seat comfort but they liked the Chevy
The problem with the Crown Vic's fuel tank was not necessarily a frame-related problem. The designers at Ford simply mounted it too far back and too close to the rear bumper....a similiar problem that was MUCH worse in the early-70's Pinto. The reason that some Vics blew up is that many of them were parked on the side of Interstate highways during routine traffic stops where traffic was whizzing by them at high speed....often by drunk or inattentive drivers. The slightest error could lead to a MAJOR rear-end impact of tremendous force which ANY car, not just a Vic, would be hard-pressed to absorb without an explosion.
Ford made a redesign on later Crown Vics ( I don't remember the exact year) which placed the fuel tank further forward, away from the rear bumper. That has cut down on the explosion and fatality rate for police officers.
You are correct that some officers preferred the Caprice to the Crown Vic.....mainly for the Chevy's more responsive steering and the higher torque from the 5.7L V8....esentially a retuned Corvette engine.
03-28-05, 10:32 AM
#17
Zombie Slayer
I'm not worried in the least. Very few police forces will actually end up purchasing the Hemi option due to cost restraints. The Crown Vic and Caprice cars were fairly affordable to townships and offered decent performance with quality upgrades. This Hemi-powered "charger" (i still refuse to actually refer to it as a Charger) is priced out of the range of most towns budgets. I think you may see a few make it to some high profile Highway patrols like Georgia and California, but never here in Jersey. Hell, we have cops that drive around in the pathetic Malibu. And the dopes behind the wheel still think they're driving a "performance vehicle!"
03-28-05, 12:48 PM
#19
Lexus Test Driver
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
Police like Crown Vics even in spite of their poor handling mainly because of their truck-style ladder-frames and body-on-frame construction that enables them to take a lot of punishment without having the car seriously deformed or damaged from things like running over curbs and occassionally going somewhat off-road during pursuits.....a trait that was also shared by the rear-drive body-on-frame Chevy Caprice until GM dropped it in 1996.
This is something that the Charger and Magnum lack. They, like almost every other sedan in production today, are unibodies....so it will be interesting to see if the police accept the trade-off of less impact-protection and durability on the cars for the much higher power-to-weight ratio and better handling of the Dodge Hemis.
This is something that the Charger and Magnum lack. They, like almost every other sedan in production today, are unibodies....so it will be interesting to see if the police accept the trade-off of less impact-protection and durability on the cars for the much higher power-to-weight ratio and better handling of the Dodge Hemis.
The Charger will be good competition for the FWD Impala, though. Better performance and handling, and probably a bit more rugged too. That and the 3.5L SOHC V6 is more poweful than the 3800. Maybe the police package FWD Impalas will get upgrades to the 3500 or 3900 VVT engines now.
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