The AM Forum

BOO HISS front wheel drive and 6 banger 3.5L
Long live the crown vic.

Almost as funny when local cops ran 318 mopars and us kids were running over 400 HP. 

I guess it's the new era of the "green" force!

Most around here ran the 383 into an A727 torque flight xmission.  Could run with most stock 400's.  Those really serious ran 440 magnums and 426 hemi's, some with the dual-quad cross-ram manifolds.  It was a good time then.  It is interesting to note that the Dodge Charger is making serious inroads into the law enforcement like the Chevy is in the EMS market.

My Prelude should be able to beat the pants off that. Of course it could beat the pants off a CV as well.

That's almost as funny as when Waterford went to Volvos.  Hopefully, the municipalities will see the light and go back to torque and HP

They are cop cars, not dragsters.  :P

Dragsters are people too.... :'(

I think most cops prefer dragsters

They love high horsepower. But if they can "make" you, there is no outrunning the radio.

Who cares what cops prefer? What car does what they need and costs the least? A big gas guzzling monster probably isn't what's needed 99% of the time. High speed chases are mostly a thing of the past, especially in cities.

if giganticness was so important why didn't ford make a fleet version of the town car?  now that would have been a cop car.  when the impala cop car came out i asked cops what they thought about it.   half said they didn't like it but half said the crown vic was a pain to drive and liked the impala which surprised me. 

the other thing about high speed is American cars can go fast but much above 80 mph handling sucks with few exceptions like the corvette.  ur cop crown vic has the horse power but if you want to chase at 100 mph plus give me a Mercedes.  The Germans know how to make a sedan that holds the road and moves. 

Back in the 60's, Ethiopian cop cars were Volkswagen Beetles.

probably because the average motorist drove a donkey.

Back in the '70s, I was helping one of my college professors do a proof of performance on a directional antenna array.  We ended up having to make measurements in just about every town in Massachusetts, and one of them was Montague.  We encountered a cop care, and I couldn't believe it - they used V.W. *BEETLES* as cop cars - way back then.

But, from what I found out later, that would be typical of Montague, even at that time.

RI State Police apparently have some of the new Dodge Chargers.  Saw someone pulled over by an unmarked Charger on I-95 the other day....

Around here all the cop cars are fords, actually come to think about it, almist all the state govt. agencies around here mostly use some kind of ford vehicle
shelby

I went to Montague once when I worked for scrotorola reminded me of Hooterville

Yeah but does it have the most needed 5" fart pipe with a ring of blue LEDs inside and a 4 foot tall Kenny Bernstein drag wing on it?

West Virginia just switched over to Toyotas, they thought the stuck accelerator pedal was a feature.

lookit the police chargers:

http://www.allpar.com/squads/police-cars/charger.html

Got a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension, and cop shocks.....

http://www.videosift.com/video/Its-got-a-cop-motor-cop-tires-cop-suspension-cop-shocks

MoPar's "St. Regis" was a favorite with Maryland State Police and there was a huge outcry among troopers when the state threatened to go to a smaller, more fuel efficient patrol car.

The argument that kept the officers in a big car was that they use the car as their office and need the room.  These days, they need even more room for their mobile computer terminals on a pedestal.

And, I'm increasingly seeing unmarked Suburban/Expedition type SUVs. Initially MSP was using these for truck weight enforcement (they carried scales in the back) but now they're on routine patrol with LED light bars in the sunvisor and upper rear window, as well as installed in the side-view mirrors.

Can't outrun the radio, as noted, and it's tough to ignore the police lights in your rear view, especially if you've just passed the SUV at an enthusiastic rate of speed.

I think it's a waste, there shud be an increase in Battery Hybrid Vehicle usage, more bicycles, there shud be at least one 4x4 vehicle suv whatever assigned to each Town an County precinct for obvious reasons. This continual  Car mindset needs upgrading..Seriously.


73
Jack
  

In some cities they probably would be better off in something clad in steel plate with a 25 mm main gun and 7.62 mm coax.

It seems that at least once a month there is a high speed chase going on somewhere in the west coast.   This will increase the more limited the cop cars become.  Criminals aren't usually the smartest segment of the population, if they think they can get away they will try.  I doubt many would be impressed by a Prius driving force.   

Of course you could get away with the "green" cop cars, if you put some firepower on the police helicopters.  I alway thought it was funny how they could keep a camera trained on the escaping vehicle but that was all they would do, kinda like a sports commentator.   A precision non-lethal munition would fit that application nicely.

Howdy Ed,

In Towns an Tight urban areas yea...more walking patrols, close all Bars at Midnight an get people off the streets an in bed bring the city curfew's back an enforce them... as far as chasing road warriors I thought that was outlawed in some states because of the crashes it causes I'm not sure which ones, your answer the Chopper is the right one, radio ahead will do wonders.

It should be more creative than just another v6 Campbells Soup car or fleet thereof. Out of the car an protecting the public.


73
Jack

25+ mpg, 4 cylinder, 3.9 Liter turbo Diesel Crown Vic.  

All thats missing is veggie fuel and thats an easy conversion on this direct injected engine. The Cummins 3.9 is a torque monster for it's size.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7FT4z4U8Xw

Seemed like Sky King always had a ready supply of sandbags which he could drop through the windshield of  an escaping bad guy with unerring, non-lethal accuracy. The car would safely careen off the road into the Arizona desert allowing the ground based  authorities to capture the dazed criminal and lead him off to jail. If Sky King could pull this off in a fixed wing, twin engine aircraft imagine how simple it would be from a helicopter.  :)

next they will want them to carry a .22 to save on ammo cost.
I know lets outsource it.

Privatize the police force!  

Hello, Your emergency call to Omnicorp police is important to us.

For English please press 1....

The sky king thing was funny.  Were I work we manufacture a laser guidance system that would fit in a coke can.  It can put a mach 1 rocket inside a 1 meter window.   wouldn't take much to put that into something less lethal and let it take out a running car.  Of course,  having the rocket option is nice too...

Welp, Hallidirton did build all those holding pens around the country that have been id'd on yuptub, I'm sure they'd be more than glad to souply a force of armed petrolmen at our expense of course, for our Protection.....Yeaaaa our interests come first...lol

In downtown block square City wide areas them little cars wud be great I figured, area wise/coverage/burst speed on a short run ,..you don't have so much Petrol vehicle issues, but I could be wrong, major highways thruways sure keep the
petrol Engines there. If I were a Patrolman deciding a Firearm issue I wud use what the New Jersey Patrolman use, good knock down/range friendly Gloxks Pistol.
Great Firearm.



73
Jack

This new patrol car might be promising:

http://www.carbonmotors.com/

ldb
K5WLF

The V-100/150 Commando series, I believe by Cadillac-Gage, comes to mind. 

No, no, no. Think "big picture". Think "greatest good for the greatest number".

Simply put a remote-control throttle override in every new car (OnStar offers this now). In 3~8 years, the cops could use bicycles and it wouldn't matter.

We now return you to Testosterone Time; please buy a big car 'cause it makes a big profit for our sponsor.

Bill, W1AC

Yea, that would work, except that some one some where would figure a way to "over-ride the over-ride".   You really can't castrate your law enforcement or military and expect the bad guys will cooperate by playing by the same rules.

On a completely different track,  but I wonder just how hard it would be to Hack Onstar?  I mean it's a wireless computer system, so... 

Imagine the "fun" in causing millions of "smart" automobiles across the country to suddenly shut off or lock the owners out etc. 

No matter how good you encrypt, some one will  be able to decrypt if they are determined enough.

I'm surprise someone hasn't figured a way to hack the GPS tracking system yet to trace peoples movements.   "Mrs Smith's husbands car was parked outside the Notell Motel 10 times during the last month..."  you know just that sort of thing.  I guess you can do it with cell phones now anyway, so cars would be just a matter of time.

As a matter of fact the Communistwealth of Mass is looking at a means of charging everyone on the road tolls, based on how much they drive over the road.  This would be just the perfect means to implement that, The onstar style system would just log the milage (and speeds for traffic enforcement) and report it at the end of the period.  Bill your credit card direct just like the Easy-into-your-wallet-pass does now.   

You could even take it one step father and have the GPS navigation system govern the Cars throttle for the max allowable speed limit on the road you are driving on.  Speeding would become a thing of the past.  It would be simple to implement, just ask Toyota, er no.. I mean Guberment Motors, umm no Maybe Ford?

You can't have "the greatest good for the greatest number"...It is impossible to maximize two variables in an equation.

ldb
K5WLF

Ed,

Have you any idea as to the means "OnStar" uses to access an automoble?

(((Questions?  Call 1-888-4-ONSTAR)))

Yes, my Impala has the system but I don't use it very often...

Tape a sheet of aluminum foil over the antenna and you have disabled the on star.

Just like them Flu shots...at first they're every where, Then........then .....there's a shortage, increased demand. Everything in a hurry, great way to get the masses injected quick...

But how does any one Know what's in them Shots. Great Crowd control i don 't trust them an they don't get to my arms Not after last year...

So far a person can still buy a vehicle with out the toys...So Far.... :-\

73
Jack.

I don't know much about the system, although I worked for a company that made those little blister type antennas for it.  I was ust posting random ideas which I thought were close enough to reality to be a little scary.

Ed,
I was thinking the same thing this past week about toyota. Could someone have hacked into their data base and added a little code. Press the gas X times and it goes full bore.
Look at all the losers out trying to hack into your computer over the net.

Yes, I had that though too.  It wouldn't be to far fetched scenario for a former GM or other manufacturer employee (maybe even international) who had a grudge against Toyota to mabe hack some code for the operating system.   

Industrial espionage is a consideration too.  People don't really think about that in this country but it's a real situation.

Here's a good story on the new Ford Cop car. It look quite evil.

http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/03/chicago-ford-plant-to-build-new-police-interceptor.html

"The Police Interceptor will be built on the same platform as Ford's 2010 Taurus.

But company spokesman Said Deep said that about 90% of the Police Interceptor has been engineered specifically for law enforcement use.

"It shares some sheet metal [with the Taurus], but it's a very different car," Deep said.

Inside, the seats have cutouts that accommodate police-issue utility belts. They are also narrower to allow officers to get in and out quickly.

The gear shifter is on the steering column to free up space between the front seats for gear.

That space is 9 inches, the same as in the Crown Victoria, so that existing equipment can fit.

The rear door panels swing out 10 degrees farther than on a regular Taurus to make it easier to get detainees in and out.

Also, the police version will have a larger trunk to accommodate equipment.

There will be a souped-up model available to the police with a 365-horsepower engine."

I got to sit in one of the "Carbon Motors" police cruisers.
Did this video shoot about a year ago.
It has a German-built diesel engine in it
("doesn't SOUND like a cop car.")

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/03/20/carbon.motors.police.car.cnn (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/03/20/carbon.motors.police.car.cnn)

But remember who owns a good portion of their competition; the same people who have the Cray supercomputers and like items and crack secure codes for a living.

It sure doesn't sound like a usual patrol unit, but the entire concept of a purpose-built vehicle certainly makes sense. I wish Carbon Motors good luck with the project.

ldb
K5WLF

Acceptance by law enforcement agencies may hinge on "green" subsidies.

The price tag is around $50K per unit, and it's an untested vehicle without a fleet history. 

Sure, the engine and power train are said to have far more longevity than consumer-grade vehicles, but when you think about the fiscal logistics, a local government may very well choose to buy two, high production volume, ordinary cop cars, to one of the Carbon Cop Cars.

But we shall see.

Sky King - I wanted to "meet" Penny... now that was a gal!

I want a scaled down Cummins 3.9 - maybe a 2.0... find me one!!

                      _-_-bear

The aircraft itself is still around, and is privately held, according to a check of the tail number.

Haven't checked how Penny has held up.

The Carbon car will have BMW engines:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aCO8Mt6m43HU