New Police Cars

I have pictures and videos of two new police cars as well as some details about both of them. The motivation for this story was when I spoke with a Florida Highway Patrol officer (FHP) that I have become friendly with about his new Dodge charger police car.

We were standing at the local County fuel island gassing up our Government vehicles. He was lucky to get one of the V8's as the county also got a few of the v6 models. Although the v6 option (3.6-liter Pentastar) is not as lame as most v6 down grades. In fact it delivers 292 horsepower and 260 ft/lbs of torque.

It can also burn E85 as it is a flex-fuel engine that gets around 27 highway mpg. The 2012 Charger Pursuit package has the mighty 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine that puts out 370 horsepower yet pulls in 25 mpg on the highway. He was bragging about his pick for the best police car of all times.

After they took his Z away they put him in a standard Crown Victoria. This made him very sad because it was so slow but it was short-term. He is now in a Dodge charger V8 black and tan. He told me that his Dodge seems to be faster than his old Z28.

He also stated that the braking was much stronger thanks to heavy-duty anti lock vented disc brakes with 18-inch performance tires on steel wheels. I asked him about the handling and he conceded that the light weight of the charger and the higher center of gravity did not provide the same handling as his beloved Z28. The Charger Pursuit has ESC (Electronic Stability Control) designed for the police package.

Dodge charger police interceptor problems

I found a few articles that tested the braking performance. The Dodge was measured against other patrol cars and returned the shortest over all stopping distance. So it's not a matter of stopping its how many brake jobs will it need?

Dodge has addressed the issue by pulling back on the performance coupled with installation of harder material brake pads. Public and private fleet organizations now have the option to purchase the slightly under performing V6 model that will get much better wear from the brakes. The Chrysler 3.6 comes in at 292 HP while the Chevrolet 3.6 Liter does 304 HP with less weight.

Ford Taurus police interceptor

By the time you read this though the Ford Taurus police interceptor should be a reality. The plans are to offer some flexibility to local law enforcement departments. Although both will have a V-6 you will have a choice of performance options.

The standard normally aspirated 263 hp version that is E85 capable or you can get the twin turbo model with the direct injection fuel injection system that pushes the base horsepower to 365. Note that the twin turbocharged model has a six speed automatic transmission and is all wheel drive whereas the standard V-6 is just a front wheel drive.

The police package Taurus will have a much larger alternator than the civilian models to run all the police equipment. Also different on the police interceptor package will be a new set of redesigned performance brakes in all four corners.

It seems that Ford has studied the problems mentioned above about the Dodge charger police vehicle. Their new police cars will have steel wheels and focus on high-performance brake ventilation to help cool the rotors and in turn reduce brake wear.

Doing some research I learned about Ford's plan to eventually completely discontinue the Crown Victoria police interceptor. Ford's target goals are to end the production of said vehicle sometime in 2012. They believe that their next generation of new police cars will be in full production by then.

New Taurus police interceptor video

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