heyholetsgogrant Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Best cars for cops The Michigan State Police Precision Driving Team puts police cars to the test. January 20, 2006; Posted: 12:38 p.m. EST (1738 GMT) By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - If there were a list of the "toughest jobs for cars" being a police car would probably be right up there at the top. They need big trunks, decent back seat space, huge amounts of front seat space (to allow for computers and radios) and they have to be capable of driving at high speeds for extended periods of time. Plenty of cars could fill a couple of those needs. But police departments need to find the ones that can do all three at once. It's not like your local police chief can just go to his neighborhood Chevrolet dealer and take an Impala out for a nice high-speed-pursuit-style test drive, either. That's why the Michigan State Police do their annual cop car round-up. "Numerous police agencies throughout the U.S. base their criteria on these tests," said Sgt. Keith Wilson with the Michigan State Police Precision Driving Team, the unit that conducts these tests. The state troopers take examples of potential police cars and test them on race tracks. They measure handling, acceleration, top speed, braking and something called "communications and ergonomics." Communications and ergonomics is judged based on the comparative comfort of the cars, the readability of gauges and how difficult it is to install equipment like computers and radios. For 2006, the Michigan Police tested versions of the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, the Chevrolet Impala, the Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger and the Chevrolet Tahoe SUV as potential general purpose police vehicles. A smaller-engined version of the Magnum was also tested for suitability as a "support vehicle," a category that otherwise included SUVs. While they may be losing market share elsewhere, domestic carmakers seem to have a virtual lock on the police car market. Volvo submitted a car for testing a few years ago, Wilson said, and Subaru inquired about doing so. But non-U.S. branded police cars remain a rare sight on American roads. In the past, some smaller cars -- Ford Mustangs, for example -- had been used by some state police departments as specialized high-speed pursuit vehicles. But bigger, better engines in modern full-sized cars have allowed state troopers to have their speed and trunk space, too. Wilson refused to choose a specific "best car," saying that individual police departments have their own needs and would have to balance the performance number revealed by the testing against their own requirements and vehicle costs. Overall, based on the Michigan police's recently published final scores for the 2006 model year, the Dodge Charger ran away with all the performance categories. It fell short, however, in communications and ergonomics. Gallery: Best cars for cops http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/funonwheels/01/19/best_cars_for_cops/index.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I say dump the Crown Vic and Impala, and go with the charger or Magnum with a Hemi, you would have to worry about buying extra cars for high speed chases...a few weeks ago I saw a Maryland State Police undercover chrysler 300C with a Hemi.. -Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Here in Falls Church they used to drive Volvo's (which made the statue outside the local Volvo dealership of a man slopping some hogs very apropos), but now they're back to American cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyholetsgogrant Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 I wouldnt want to give my squad car back if I was a cop!...man thats badass! -Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Does Fairfax County still use those undercover Camaros? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
england Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 our cops use volvos & beemers for high speed pursuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCollins Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Here in Falls Church they used to drive Volvo's (which made the statue outside the local Volvo dealership of a man slopping some hogs very apropos), but now they're back to American cars. That's because the owner of the Dealership was also the mayor (or on city council) of falls church :doh::doh: I've been in FL for 14 years, is it Don Beyer Volvo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
england Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 started selling the chrysler 300c over here looks a nice bit of kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnedAussie Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 In New South Wales (Sydney), the cops there were seriously considering using the Subaru WRX as pursuit vehicles. Have seen pics of a Subaru with police livery, but not certain if they are being used for pursuits or general duties. Maybe a Sydney based 'Skins fan can confirm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallsux Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 Does Fairfax County still use those undercover Camaros? Yes. Camaros, Mustangs, & Explorers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofAlvinWalton Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 To answer your "title question"...maintenance $$$$. Patrol cars need constant maintenance and it would be very, very expense to hire a BMW mechanic or take 15-20 BMW's to the BMW dealer for maintenance each week. (insert volvo, honda, toyota, etc for BMW). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 To answer your "title question"...maintenance $$$$. Patrol cars need constant maintenance and it would be very, very expense to hire a BMW mechanic or take 15-20 BMW's to the BMW dealer for maintenance each week. (insert volvo, honda, toyota, etc for BMW). I agree with this assessment the most. Departments either have their own mechanics or use a local dealership. It would be difficult and expensive to train the mechanics on new cars and/ or hire new ones. Also, cost is an issue. Politics is also an issue. Foreign cars just don't go over well. I have heard about departments only allowing Ford and Chevy cars. Dodge is not even considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 To answer your "title question"...maintenance $$$$. Patrol cars need constant maintenance and it would be very, very expense to hire a BMW mechanic or take 15-20 BMW's to the BMW dealer for maintenance each week. (insert volvo, honda, toyota, etc for BMW). I agree with this assessment the most. Departments either have their own mechanics or use a local dealership. It would be difficult and expensive to train the mechanics on new cars and/ or hire new ones. Also, cost is an issue. Politics is also an issue. Foreign cars just don't go over well. I have heard about departments only allowing Ford and Chevy cars. Dodge is not even considered. I'm pretty sure it comes down to incentives given by manufacturers to use their products. There's also state and federal funding that would be lost if non domestic vehicles were purchased in many cases. I don't know how much things have changed since I was with chevy, but back then, the city garages only did general maintenance such as oil changes, brake jobs, tires, and minor electrical repairs. All the tough stuff went to the dealer, so if a department went with an import, there would be little to no retraining of their techs. The other thing to take into account is budgets. Often you have to go with a lesser quality product to get the number of vehicles you need. Way back when, some may remember that more then 2/3 of the law enforcment around the nation had chrysler cruisers. Chrysler was on the verge of going under, and the fed stepped in, pushing states into getting chryslers or lose funding. As soon as the program ended, most went back to Ford and Chevy. We just finished 4 police bikes for Coral Gables PD. They would get better incentives if the went with Harley, but they insist on the higher quality of the BMW. CHP also uses a lot of BMW motorcycles at this point. Reason being that the cost isn't that far off from the Harleys, and there is actually less maintenance on the BMW so you save in the long run. The american auto prices are slowly catching up with the full size touring cars of europe. I think when the get a bit closer, you will see more import cars as PD cruisers IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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