I’m wondering if there’s a greater ‘one size fits all’ approach in America, whereas elsewhere police forces might buy a variety of cars for different purposes? Thinking of the police cars I see locally, which are fairly typical for a British force:
Focuses for around town
Volvos for highway work (crammed full of all sorts of equipment)
I’ve seen at least one Jag, I suppose intended mainly for high-speed pursuit
Unmarked Rovers
Land Rovers for rural & coastal work
Ford Transits for carrying people who’ve been arrested (typing this, I realise this use of a separate vehicle for this purpose makes the use of smaller patrol cars possible)
Around here, most departments tend toward a single vehicle for the majority of patrol work. I know the California Highway Patrol has some sports cars in their lineup, and some Chevy Suburbans. But most police departments like to keep things tidy by getting a fleet rate on 20 Crown Vics, for example.
I can see how European police departments would use seperate patrol and transport vehicles, given the narrow nature of a lot of European streets. A smaller car is essential in such an environment.
In GENERAL - governments buy cars from their own nation (if possible). Everywhere. And, it’s not a bad idea- as long as you don’t have to accept lower quality (like Harleys).*
*Yes, I know that many dudes that think Harleys are a lot of fun, and wouldn’t have anything else.
So perhaps now the Impala can match the durability of the Crown Vic, but the new Impalas were built with these issues in mind. Speed and acceleration, however, are still issues: (from the OP link)
I can see where those would be big issues with some police departments.
I’m not sure inherently is the most accurate term, but in reality, it’s true that the RWD V-8’s available are more durable than the FWD V-6’s available.
Engine: Most American V-8’s are designs that have been around a long time. They’re tough and have a track record. Most American V-6’s were designed in the 80’s and later, specifically to use in FWD cars. The emphasis was on space savings, not durability. Many of them have mechanical weak spots that limit how hard/long you can run them without needed significant repair.
Transmission: RWD cars can use simpler designs. From the perspective of the well-proven 3-speed RWD trannies of past decades, two major mechanical changes have become common nowadays: an overdrive gear (making it a 4-speed); and FWD design, which includes adding a final drive (differential) and offsetting the driving shaft from the input shaft. Both of these two features add complexity and detract from durability, but FWD notably more so. Most FWD vehicles use an overdrive transmission, which makes it worse yet.
Suspension: FWD cars cram a lot of stuff up front. There’s less room for suspension components, and quite a bit more weight for those necessarily smaller components to handle. Something’s gotta give. Related to this though not a durability issue, is handling. The front/rear weight bias of the car gets farther away from the ideal, and it’s a lot tougher to get good handling, which is also an important aspect of a pursuit vehicle. The top race cars are RWD. There’s a reason for that.
I think it’s politics, too. Publicly-funded bodies tend to buy stuff made by the people who, directly or indirectly, fund them.
The British police are lucky in that they can now choose the best vehicles for the job at the best price, with no stupid Buy British policy to worry about. They used to have to drive around in things like the Morris Marina.
This is a very pertinent point…as with regular cars, the dominance of automatic transmission is a largely American phenomenon. So these durable American transmissions are significant, whereas durable non-European manual gearboxes are important outside of America.
If you’re talking specifically about the Crown Vic, it should be noted that it has body on frame construction.
I can’t think of another domestic passenger car still designed this way. It makes repairs in body shops much simpler, and to a limited extent it lets you bend the chassis without destroying body panels and vice versa.
On front wheel drive… my friend’s FWD Hyundai skidded into a curb on ice. Took out the transmission along with some body work.
With a rear wheel drive car, he would have just had the body work and maybe a ball joint to worry about, saving him $1500-$2000 in work.
Cops do a lot of hitting curbs with their front wheels, and even more with potholes and crappy surfaces.
At the risk of turning this into an Impala/Vic discussion:
The Vic isn’t faster than the Impala because of V6 vs V8 or FWD vs V8. It’s faster because the modular 4.6 in police tune happens to be stronger than the 3.8 in the Impala. Chrysler has/had a 3.5 liter V6 yielding 5 horsepower more than the modular 4.6.
Incidentally, both the 3.8 and 4.6 engines are more or less indestructible in any revision made since 1998 or so. That 3.8 is decades older in design that the 4.6.
Why don’t cops use imports?
Patriotism and concern for the US economy on the part of the PDs are one.
Also… find me an import with matching acceleration, interior size and cargo space to the Impala or Crown Vic with an invoice of $23000 or less, the Impala’s approximate invoice in 2005.
Criterion:
Acceleration
A. 0-60 time 8.8 seconds or better ('05 Impala)
B. 0-100 time 25.2 seconds or better (approx. '05 Impala
Top Speed: 122 MPH or better ('05 Impala)
Interior Room: 104.7 cu ft ('05 Impala)
Trunk Volume: 18.6 cu ft ('05 Impala)
Invoice: $23250 or less
I used the stats above since they’re a low baseline. The Crown Vic can beat all of the above numbers (except the “city PD” version with the aggressive rear-end ratio… top speed is 115.)
Seriously, please find me an import that meets or exceeds all the above. I’m not saying you can’t, I just can’t think of one.
I suspect you can’t make a business case for an import that matches the above, since most imports that big are… pricy. Maybe the V6 accord?
Transmission: RWD cars can use simpler designs. From the perspective of the well-proven 3-speed RWD trannies of past decades, two major mechanical changes have become common nowadays: an overdrive gear (making it a 4-speed); and FWD design, which includes adding a final drive (differential) and offsetting the driving shaft from the input shaft. Both of these two features add complexity and detract from durability, but FWD notably more so. Most FWD vehicles use an overdrive transmission, which makes it worse yet.
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Picking a nit here. The statement above is basically accurate for automatic transmissions, which in the context of this thread is perfecly valid.
**Manual **transmissions become slightly simpler, more efficient,l ighter, and more compact, when designed with offset input and output shafts. Nearly all motorcycle transmissions ( even Guzzi and BMW, which otherwise resemble automotive drive trains) use offset designs for this reason. The downside is that if the input and output are coaxial, then the transmission becomes a very modular component, easy to “drop in” to next years model. Offset shaft designs are universally model specific.
The above explains to a large extent why front-wheel-drive was slow in gaining popularity among US auto-makers. Japan and Europe were at the forefront because manual gearboxes are much more popular there, and a manny tranny is actually simpler in a FWD.
Oneothe downside to offset shaft designs is that they must ALWAYS transfer power through at least one pair of gears. The coaxial (RWD) design allows one gear (high, or high-1 for and OD design) that is direct coupled, gears are still turning but they are not transferring the power. Effiency is high, and wear virtually zero when driving in this gear.
Albuquerque police department had to fight long and hard to lose thier Harleys. A lot of the resistance was economic. Apparently the deal with HD was so sweet that the bikes were essentially free. They still have a few. One is ridden by a short statured female officer who likely has inseam issues with the BMW R1150RTPs that now comprise the bulk of the fleet.
In addition to maintainance the Harleys have performance issues. Nearly any modern car will outrun them in a straight line. (I did NOT say out accelerate) The more aerodynamic RTPs will run 130+mph all day long based on trying to keep a civilian version in sight.
The Subaru Outback 2.5i Wagon seems to exceed all of the above except interior room, and I’d think the 50% larger cargo space would make up for that, no?
