# How are police cars improved over regular ones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-police-cars-improved-over-regular-ones/228385 "2004-02-10T03:34:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![5cents](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/46a35a/32.png) [@5cents](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5cents)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-police-cars-improved-over-regular-ones/228385/21 "2004-02-12T15:42:15Z")
> [@Stan Doubt](#): > > 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. Police in Germany use [BMW M3](http://membres.lycos.fr/cit43/Autoshorsserie_2/dossier_police_gendarm/Polizei_BMW_M3.jpg) and 525. Absolutely beats the crap out of a Crown Vic in terms of power, handling, durability and safety. Ease of maintenance is a toss-up (depends on what your mechanics are trained on). Interior room the Crown Vic wins, but not by as much as you’d expect (at least with the 525). Value is a potential problem, but police M3 and 500 series are stripped-down, so price could be close, and I’d expect a well-maintained BMW to last longer than a well-maintained Ford. Volvo test-marketed a police car in the US about 20 years ago. It was based on the 240 turbo. Used in a few places in New Jersey, but never caught on. Scroll down to near the bottom of [this page](http://www.ukemergency.f9.co.uk/p207.htm) to see a few current Volvo cop cars in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-police-cars-improved-over-regular-ones/228385/22 "2004-02-12T15:54:53Z")
The GM police vehicle (Caprice) prior to 1997 was equiped with an option package (9c1) that included all sorts of things that included transmission cooler, power steering cooler, heavier frame, optional LT1 v-8 engine (same as the Corvette except it had been detuned from 300 to 260 hp but would run well on regular gas). And my personal favorite, armour in the back of the front seats so you couldn’t be stabbed thru the seat. They also come with a “ticket light” that really lights up the interior of the car. Do a search for 9c1 Caprice, GM discontinued the B-model rear-wheel drive for 1997 and they have become something of a collector or cult car. If you are familiar with the Chevrolet Impala (MFG 1994-1996) it is the police car with leather interior and big wheels, LT1 engine and some other trim, basically. With reality setting in at many big-city police departements the move is away from vehicles like I described above - a lot of that stuff is nice but not really necessary as little police work is as depicted on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-police-cars-improved-over-regular-ones/228385/23 "2004-02-12T18:09:11Z")
> [@Bongmaster](#): > > 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. About three years ago (although I don’t know if it was a current issue then) I read an article in Popular Mechanics in which they tested a civilian Crown Victoria against a Police Interceptor Crown Vic. The author started off by saying he was expecting the cop car to have markedly better acceleration and handling. He was disappointed. Since the police model is effectively stock in terms of the drivetrain, and the suspension changes aren’t very major, the police model is just an overweight version of the civilian model. Weight is bad for performance, so the cop car was soundly defeated in 0-60, 1/4 mile, braking distance, skidpad and slalom. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-police-cars-improved-over-regular-ones/228385.md?page=1)