[jpark]

Dearborn, Mich., Nov. 13, 2009 - Ford Motor Company announced today it will produce an all-new purpose-built Police Interceptor specially designed and engineered to replace the Ford Crown Victoria law enforcement vehicle lineup in 2011.

Here's the full article:

http://www.ford.com/about-ford/news-ann ... t-of-31418

 

[rehctelf]

Rumour has it that they will borrow the Falcon platform from Australlia.

I'm a little sad that the nearby Ford Talbotville plant near St. Thomas will still get mothballed.
It's my understanding that production for these new cruisers will be done in the US.

 

[rehctelf]

Here's some news from the local paper that points to the Taurus as a good possibility.
The London Free Press IMHO the Falcon looks cooler.

 

[Squishy]

They're not developing a new body-on-frame platform? A lot of departments are anti-unibody for durability reasons (less repairs after bumping cars). OPP here are switching to Tahoes for that reason.

 

[jonas1022]

Local dept is testing a Fusion as a cop car. Yeah, I know. Seems strange, but the Impala that they have been using was in the garage over half the time. And the Chargers are far from bulletproof. The old CVPI cars are tougher than dirt, the other companies offerings are really not that great. Faster definitely, but not a CVPI.

 

[Squishy]

I don't understand why Ford doesn't just upgrade the suspension on the Panther platform, save some weight, and give it another little facelift. It's the oldest platform in North America and has gone through so much service as a fleet vehicle...don't fix what ain't broke! They can give it the same engine offerings as the F-150, which would allow departments to pick from 248 HP for around-town cruisers, 292 HP for small traffic departments, to 320 HP for highway divisions. Maybe even drop in the Raptor engine for the rich highway departments. All of those engines have monster torque which should mean decent fuel mileage for stop-and-go.

I wonder if this is a response to Carbon's "purpose-built" cruiser? The Caprice is supposed to be "police-only" as well.

 

[KC5ZRQ]

...don't fix what ain't broke!

Evidently it is broke. Seems that when hit from behind they blow up. They redesigned the platform around 2003, and guess what. It still blows up.

Evidently the Caprice is going to be rear-wheel drive and built in Australia. Imagine the Pontiac G8/GTO redesigned to meet the needs of the police. http://www.chevroletcapriceppv.com

 

[Squishy]

The NHTSA determined years ago that the CVPI had no design flaw which contributed to the fuel leaks. Rear impact risk was comparable to the old Caprice. I assumed that whole thing had blown over by now; nobody I talk to here has recently linked "Crown Vic" and "rear impact fire". Take any other car and smash it from behind at 75 MPH countless times, and you will get fires. No CVPIs have ever "blown up". For further reading: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/Cars/problems/ ... index.html

The new Caprice is unibody. Once you nudge someone with a unibody car, the structural integrity is compromised. Do it with a body-on-frame car, and most times you just have to replace a body panel. The G8 in our dealer lot also looks a lot smaller than the CVPI.

 

[KC5ZRQ]

Here is the site with the stats. http://www.crownvictoriasafetyalert.com/Statistics.html

In Lubbock County, Texas, where I live, two police cars have been struck from behind at high speed and exploded, this year.

Ford isn't going to continue making the CVPI because they are involved in dozens of lawsuits related to fires caused by high speed rear impacts. Even if the Crown Vic design isn't to blame, the safety tech is way behind the times and the vehicle needs to be updated. Ford doesn't even sell the Crown Victoria to the public anymore.

The G8 probably is smaller, but if you imagine it REDESIGNED for police use, that would be what the Caprice PPV is.

 

[Squishy]

Ford has never been found liable in Panther fuel leak lawsuit. Take a look at the numbers from your site. Only the CVPI shows dramatically higher numbers, because they are intentionally placed in harm's way. Civilian vehicles are rarely put in such circumstances. A more reasonable statistic would be the number of fires per rear impact above 50 MPH.

Unless someone comes up with a body-on-frame interceptor, I predict most departments will be favouring the Tahoe. There might be a mix of Fords and Caprices as departments test them out, but once the maintenance numbers come in I think they will start looking back at the framed offerings. The Magnum/Charger and the Impala both went through this process.

What exactly is "REDESIGNED" for police use?

 

[KC5ZRQ]

What exactly is "REDESIGNED" for police use?

#1 is that it has an auxillary battery. I am in the battery business and I replace the battery in a CVPI every other day.

#2 specially designed seats to accomodate the equipment police wear on their belts.

#3 6-liter V-8 with active fuel management.

#4 Larger brakes.

#5 Airbags are specially placed to prevent impact with police equipment.

#6 Accomdation for an in-dash touch-screen computer.

... I'm sure there's other stuff. I notice that the photos show that it is equipped with a push bar.

 

[jpark]

I'll give GM credit for trying, but I'm still amazed that a company with literally thousands of US and Canadian "engineers" can't do anything better than to import a car from Australia.

I'd like to know what these thousands of GM engineers do all day long.

I'll bet that Ford will continue to dominate this market. Not only do I see CVPIs around here, but the NYS Thruway Authority uses Mustangs, and our local police departments use lots of Fusions, Explorers, and Escapes as well. Three of our largest local malls use Escapes for perimeter security.

 

[Squishy]

Auxiliary battery = good, but not as vital now with LED light bars. Airbags = good. I think the CVPI already has specially designed seats both for officers and their "customers" in the rear. Even the Impala takes my belt with no discomfort to me. I don't like the in-dash computer, as I prefer a more modular setup. The smaller departments, especially, will want to be able to simply swap out a broken computer instead of sending the entire car to the shop. It could be solved by having a sort of slot-loading computer unit, but the retention system would have to be beefy enough for high-speed rear impacts.

I could design a kickass interceptor if someone would just pay me. Hint, hint, GM: base the Caprice on the GMT900 platform.

 

[jpark]

Yikes, do you want to design an urban assault vehicle?

:shock:

 

[Squishy]

:lol: We're already switching to the Tahoe here anyways. I figured same platform, car-like body would be more pleasing to the tree-huggers.

 

[KC5ZRQ]

Auxillary battery is for:

Fuel ring (activates pumps at automated stations)
Computer
Dashboard video recorder
flashlight charger
RADAR equipment
Two-Way radios
Cellular phones
High use of dome lights
Overhead emergency lights
Good-time radio
GPS locators
RATS direction finders

Keep in mind that many departments are moving toward a "no-idle" policy to save gas.

 

[ISU01XCapeXLT]

Official website....

http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordpoliceinterceptor/#

 

[Ajax]

Sweet! Ballistic door panels that resist AK 47 rounds, maybe we should import these to Afghanistan and Iraq......

 

[haukap8]

Here's some news from the local paper that points to the Taurus as a good possibility.
The London Free Press IMHO the Falcon looks cooler.

Have heard as well that the Taurus is in the running, I have seen pictures and it looks pretty spiffy