I know police cruisers are based on regular Crown Victorias and Caprices, but how are they modified? I know the engine, transmission, suspension and maybe more components are seriously beefed up, but what specifically is added?
In the case of a modern cruiser, like a Crown Vic, you’re getting basically the same car. The engine and trans are probably identical but for some software differences (maybe higher RPM shift points, maybe no speed limiter). The frame could be reinforced. The alternator is probably bigger to support the gizmos inside. And like you said, “beefed up.”
If you mean “what’s added,” like police gizmos on the inside, well, can’t help you there!
It’s been years, but I suspect the major differences are similar to the police interceptor I owned several years ago, back when Chrysler dominated that market. I had a Plymouth Gran Fury interceptor that had, of course, the big 440 cubic inch pedal to the metal engine. And got about 4.5 mi./gallon.
But it also had thicker roll bars and stiffer shocks, a battery that had, IIRC, 165 cranking amps (way above the civilian version of ~100 amps), heat insulation around the engine compartment, a large radiator and a furious water pump so you could idle away a tank of gas without overheating, and thin-walled low profile tires.
The interior was all business - vinyl seats and thick rubber on the floors.
I’d guess newer trooper models have niftier stuff. Wig-wags and the like.
Here’s the specs on the 2004 fleet Crown Vic and Police Crown Vic:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/products/fleet_showroom/2004fleetshowroom/2004-cvic.asp
https://www.fleet.ford.com/products/fleet_showroom/2004fleetshowroom/2004-cvicpolice.asp
Aside from the rear stabilizer, radio delete, and a bunch of options (lights/siren/etc and/or prewire for these things, kevlar lined trunk), there really isn’t much difference. The rear stabilizer is probably the same as the one that is standard on the LX Sport.
Elwood: It’s got a cop motor of four hundred and forty cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tyres, cop suspension, cop shocks, it was a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas. What do ya say, is it the new Blues Mobile or what?
Jake: Fix the cigarette lighter.
Sorry, couldn’t resist
The most important upgrade is the heavy duty coffee and donut holder.
I wish I could remember the site, but I read an article about 6 months ago about this. It may have been Car and Driver, or some other magazine. They tested the police version of the car vs the consumer version. It was written in a funny way, they were really expecting a performance vechicle but it wound up being almost identical to the regular model.
If it was an “operational” cruiser (with all the extra equipment in/on it), that’s pretty impressive considering the weight of everthing.
The exact differences depend on the make, model, and year. I know most mid-nineties Caprice cop cars came with a heavy duty frame (thicker rails/extra crossmember), transmission cooler, recurved fuel injection management, and heavy duty brakes, sway bars, and suspension components. Most of the ones I saw at auctions were also fully loaded w/ power windows, power doorlocks, air, etc. I don’t know how common the previous set up was/is, but when I was looking into buying an ex-cruiser a few years ago, most of the Caprice cars I looked at (Ventura and LA counties in California) had the above.
Peace - DESK
When I was in high school, one of my friends had a car that had formerly been a police cruiser. It had been repainted, so that the only external sign of its heritage was the through-the-door-column spotlight. It had a four-barrel carb, and a big engine, etc. It also had a twenty-gallon gas tank. My friend observed that it “sure knocked hell out of a ten-dollar bill” to fill.
Back when I lived in D.C. and would drive to my folks’ place in ME, I learned the hard way that (at least in the early '90s) Connecticut state troopers drive unmarked V8 Ford Mustangs. I’m convinced these cars have special optical sensors that can detect, in a fleet of automobiles moving at 85 mph, the one car in the pack not sporting Conn. plates.
Frickin’ bastids.
Related question: why do US police fleets use such huge vehicles?
They’re slow (I’ve driven several civilian Grand Marquis and Crown Vics), they’re unwieldy, they guzzle gas, and it isn’t like criminals require extra rear legroom (and as far as I know the grill separating the front and rear seats doesn’t require a lot of space)…
The only reason I’ve been able to come up with is that a larger vehicle will absorb more collision damage in a high-speed chase situation. But how many of those does the average patrolman see in a year?
Why not equip them with (to stick with Fords) a Contour or Taurus?
Orange County (Fla.) is converting most of their fleet to the Dodge Stratus, which would seem to underscore my point, but why has this taken thirty years? (I hate the Stratus though; much harder to spot a lightbar on one at night if it’s behind you)
I’ve researched mid-nineties Caprice cop cars since I acquired a civilian '96 Caprice with the same engine as the cruiser. Honestly, the engine and transmission are PRECISELY the same with the exception of different programming in the engine computer and higher-quality hoses. The coolant hoses on the 9C1 (Chevy Police Package Sedan) version are made of this supposedly indestructible green sillicon, instead of the standard material you see engine coolant hosing run through.
With regards to the suspension, the springs are taller than the ones on the sport package but not neccesarily stiffer. Despite much research, I’ve seen no claims that the chassis is reinforced on the 9C1 Caprice in those years.
I have a vague recollection that the Crown Victoria’s Interceptor and Taxi packages both get a reinforced chassis. Perhaps Chevy didn’t see the need to reinforce this chassis.
Thanks Philster, this little gem really cracked me up.
http://www.gmfleet.com/us/products/specialized/police/impala9c1/
http://www.allpar.com/squads/
http://www.policevehicles.com/index.html
http://www.emergencyremarketing.com/
Oh yeah. Some other random stuff I remembered.
The last year of Ford Police Interceptor I read up on does in fact have a speed limiter, but it’s set at 137, and the car itself probably won’t go over 130 without a hill to help it. The Ford PI also gets a special aluminum driveshaft because the one from the civilian Crown Victoria has some high-speed shudderring problems around 110-115 or higher. And the rear-end ratios on the Interceptor are generally more aggressive than the ones on the Crown Victoria… 3.55 or 3.2x-something versus I think 3.08 or so. Ford seems to change the rear end on the Interceptor every other year in search of lower 0-60 times or whatever they’re looking for.
If you want to be a real gearhead and look up specs on different police interceptors, the Michigan State Police do tests every year on the latest law enforcement vehicles. Kinda’ neat stuff.
The PDF version can be found here: http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/msp2004report.pdf
and
http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/msp2004bulletin.pdf
Police and taxi companies have always preferred “real cars”, with rear wheel drive, body on frame construction, and longitudinally mounted engines, as God had intended 
. While “modern” unit body front wheel drive cars are certainly reliable and are more fuel efficient in general, most are not up to the task of carrying the extra weight and bearing the abuse that comes along with police or taxi service, at least in the estimation of those charged with making those decisions.
While I won’t argue with you that in 2004 there exist other viable options, I can see several reasons (real and perceived) why these vehicles remain so popular, including power, value, high speed handling, durability, interior room, safety, ease of maintenance, etc. It’s certainly obvious that in the past 20 years or so, the lines separating types of automobiles have been blurred. The Crown Vic is the only mass-produced full size “real car” surviving in the U.S. market. You just can’t buy another vehicle that can do what a Crown Vic does for less money.
I suppose the real answer to your question is, in a nutshell: Cops don’t want to drive smaller front wheel drive cars and fleet managers don’t want to buy smaller front wheel drive cars for cops to drive.
Wait wait wait… you’re seriously suggesting that a Crown Victoria has decent high-speed handling ? Nothing weighing over two and a half tons short of a Lamborghini is EVER going to go around corners quickly…
Ease of maintenance and the wishes of the cops are good ones though.
Well, I’ve also seen Intrepids, FWD Impalas, and Grand Prixes as patrol cars. For actual high speed c hases, the local cops here have a fleet of Camaro Z28’s, and other departments have used Mustangs (some even have Saleen police specials). However, the Crown Vics are definitely the most popular. Reasons I can think of are:
- Reasonable price - for something that large, a Crown Vic isn’t too expensive.
- Tradition. Cops have used large sedans for a very long time.
- Yes, the cage in the back takes up a fair amount of room, so having a large back seat is a definite plus.
- Rugged construction. Sure, a cop usually doesn’t have to push staled cars off the road, jump his cruiser over over a curb, or ram a criminal’s car. But it happens often enough that it’s good to plan ahead when buying patrol cars.
Lamborghinis have gotten pretty badly bloated by now, actually - a Murcielago has a 3,638 lb curb weight. That’s only 420 lbs less than a civilian Crown Vic, for the record.
Here in the Houston, TX area at least, we have also seen a recent spate of local police buying fleets of newer front-wheel-drive compact cars, presumably for economic reasons in less-performance-critical roles. Mostly I see this with County cops though, and not HPD.
Generally speaking, as far as I’m aware, the changes from the factory are minor if anything, as others have noted. Another change commonly seen on police and taxi vehicles is an additional oil cooler and sometimes a transmission cooler as well, because of the potentially long idle times and long number of hours run per day in general. This can greatly enhance the engine life and help prevent overheating problems. In general most police mods, factory or aftermarket, are geared towards toughness and longevity under harsh conditions rather than speed, much like taxi modifications.
No doubt most police forces have a small number of “fast” cars for particular sub-units, but they probably don’t order them in fleets - they probably have the local dealer, a local performance shop, or even their own mechanic division in the case of a large city, perform the upgrades. On a sad note, even fast police cars rarely if ever have manual transmissions, chiefly because a police officer has far too many other things to worry about (interacting with his radio, his mobile data terminal, dealing with his weapons, watching for idiots in his way while in pursuit, etc…) to be thinking about shifting gears himself.