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http://jalopnik.com/5491850/2012-for...op-replacement

Quote:

2012 Ford Police Interceptor: The Crown Vic's Robocop Replacement

Ford's Crown Victoria-based police interceptor will finally end production late next year. This is its replacement — the 2012 Ford Police Interceptor. Other than the movie Robocop, it's the first time Ford's Taurus has served as a purpose-built patrol car.

Ford first introduced its police package in 1950 and today the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is the industry leader. The automaker's dominated the streets to the point that over the last five years, Ford's controlled more than 70% of the patrol cars sold. Obviously police fleets are an important segment. Unfortunately, the Crown Vic's Panther-platform's getting a little long in the tooth — it hasn't seen a redesign in over 15 years. The replacement? An all-new Police Interceptor built off the Ford Taurus platform that will be produced at Ford's Chicago, Ill. assembly plant.

The new Police Interceptor sedan will obviously offer two powertrain options in order to be competitive with the upcoming Chevy Caprice PPV. The first'll be a standard engine with a 3.5-liter V6 Duratec engine producing more than the Crown Vic's current anemic V8 and more than the standard Taurus V6 — over 263 HP. But it's the second powertrain that police officers'll be pining for — a twin turbo Ecoboost 3.5-liter V6 delivering 365 HP and 350 lb-ft of torque. That's the same engine found in the new 2010 Ford Taurus SHO and it gives Ford a performance boost over the new GM patrol car — the Chevy Caprice PPV — that'll be hitting the streets at about the same time as the new Police Interceptor.

There's also an optional AWD system for the members of the Fargo police department and any other P.D.'s with need of more-than-front-wheel drivetrain police cruisers.

And oh, that interior. We're told by police forces who've already seen the vehicle that nearly 90% of the interior's been redesigned specifically for police. Ford's done little things — like installing the slimline shifter on the column to free up more console area. The instrument panel includes a horseshoe shape for aftermarket equipment installations. It even appears they've thoughtfully provided standard 9" spacing between the passenger and driver — just like the Crown Vic — so agencies can transfer existing aftermarket equipment to their new Police Interceptor. Ford's also supposedly redesigned the doors to make them open 71 degrees. That's not quite as good as the Carbon Motors concept's suicide doors, but not too shabby — and better than the Caprice PPV it'll really be in competition with.

We can also see that there's a 220 amp alternator to provide officers with all the power they'll need for computers, lights and the like — and we're told by suppliers there's a flexible conduit inside the headliner for ease of wiring aftermarket equipment. Lastly, don't forget the anti-stab plate in the back of the front seats — for your protection from shiv-equipped baddies in the back seat.

But that's the near-term future. The long-term future reportedly include a second Police Interceptor that'll be available as a "utility version" built on the same platform. Yup, a Ford Flex-based Interceptor.

But, we are wondering if the Taurus being used as a Police Interceptor is just one more step in the eventual evolution of Detroit police officers into Robocop. Probably not, but somehow that's all we'll be thinking if we see this mean-looking patrol car pulling us over.

Send an email to Ray Wert, the author of this post, at ray@jalopnik.com.

more pictures at the link.

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EXCLUSIVE: The Chevy Caprice Police Car Is Back!

After a 15-year absence patrolling U.S. streets, an all-new law-enforcement-only Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) joins GM's fleet in 2011. Although it's built on the same rear-wheel-drive Camaro and dearly-departed Pontiac G8-spawning Zeta platform, it's not a G8 sedan.

Chevrolet plans to make the announcement of their new police cruiser today at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police convention, in Denver, Colorado. Because we asked, we've been given an exclusive look at the details of the new car they plan to begin taking orders on next year with cars set to hit the streets in early 2011.

Contrary to reports at the end of last week by a number of auto outlets, we're now able to exclusively report GM's new police cruiser brings back the old Chevy Caprice name. It also will not be a re-badged Pontiac G8 sedan. Instead, the new Chevy uses the longest wheelbase version of the Zeta platform — 118.5" — making it almost four inches longer than the 114.7" wheelbase Pontiac G8 sedan. If that bigger-than-G8 number sounds familiar, it should — it's the same length as the Holden VE Ute, the Holden Statesman and the Middle Eastern Chevy Caprice and...drum roll, please...the Pontiac "El Camino" G8 ST. That's right folks, the new police car from Chevy is as close to the El Camino as we're coming here in the U.S. We'll give you a moment to clean up any coffee you've just spit up.

Done? Good, because there's more to the story. Chevy sounds like it's setting up the Caprice to not only meet the bar set by the police vehicle competition, but to blow it away. The long wheelbase Zeta-platformed Chevy sits right in the middle of the Ford Crown Vic's 114.7" wheelbase and the larger Dodge Charger's 120.0" wheelbase.

Under the hood, GM says the Caprice will have a 6.0-liter LS2 V8 engine rated at an estimated 355 HP and 384 lb-ft of torque mated to a six-speed auto transmission. Power output compares favorably to the 340 HP HEMI in the Dodge Charger police edition and absolutely blows away the Ford Crown Vic's 250 HP 4.6-liter V8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Fag...layer_embedded

We're told that bigger engine will deliver an expected best-in-class 0-to-60 time of under six seconds along with a similarly best-in-class top speed. But, for those forces uninterested in the super-sized 6.0-liter eight-cylinder engine, we're also told a V6 engine will be offered beginning in the 2012 model year.

The Caprice with both engine sizes will recieve the same police car-specific vehicle systems like high-output alternator and standard 18-inch steelies with bolt-on center caps and will ride on a heavy-duty four-wheel independent suspension and a "police-calibrated stability control system."

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...lice_Car_2.jpg

Chevy's cop competitive streak continues to the interior with optional compatibility available for in-dash, touch-screen computer technology (by relocating the standard radio to the trunk), two trunk-mounted batteries, with one of them dedicated to powering various police equipment and complimentary special packages such as spotlights; lockouts for the power windows and locks; and an "undercover" street-appearance package. Good luck with the "undercover" part considering there's no civilian version of the Caprice PPV.

Even the front seats have been sculpted to "pocket" an officer's equipment belt, with the foam density of the seatback and cushion insert surfaces designed to conform to the shape of an equipment belt's various items, allowing the officer's back to rest properly on the seatback surface. The barrier between the front seat and rear seat is also positioned farther rearward than the Charger or the Crown Vic, allowing for full front-seat travel and greater recline while officers take a highway-side siesta.

The new Caprice will also have significantly larger interior volume — 112 cubic feet — than the Ford Crown Victoria, including — thanks to the longer wheelbase — nearly 4 inches more rear legroom to help give handcuffed suspects a much more comfortable experience. The Caprice PPV's long wheelbase also gives it 18 cubic feet of free trunk volume. That's enough room for a full-size spare located under a flat load surface in the trunk storage area and any number of shotguns, RPGs and whatever other riot gear an officer feels like fitting into a trunk.

The new Caprice will not replace any current vehicle in the GM police vehicle fleet. Rather, it will join the Chevy Impala and the Chevy Tahoe in the bowtied brand's marked patrol vehicle lineup as a very high-powered member of GM's fraternity of police vehicles.

We can't wait to try out the driver's seat. Hopefully it'll be sometime before we try out the extra-large back seat.

Send an email to Ray Wert, the author of this post, at ray@jalopnik.com.

more pictures through the link.

i'm a ford boy at heart... but that 355hp vs the 250 of the ford... man, the caprice ppv is gonna be a beast (relatively speaking when compared to other potential police cruisers)...

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Originally Posted by The_AK (Post 7170069)

I thought the Chevy Caprice would have taken the cake, but I think its the column mounted shifter that made the difference (need that extra space in the center console). Interesting

the shifter takes up space for the box of tim hortins doughnuts

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Originally Posted by seakrait (Post 7170090)

no kidding, and its fwd (optional awd for ford) vs rwd
says in the article that the ford may come in a twin turbo model. Thats definitely going to add to repairs costs :/

Caprice sounds like the best option imo

The Ecoboost engine is fantastic. It's not a sportscar engine by any means, but it pulls hard when you need it to, and when you're just cruisin, it sips fuel the same as a non-turbo does. But most importantly it's very reliable.

I can see cops complaining about the FWD bias of the AWD system. The biggest complaints I've heard about the FWD Chevy Impalas where actually about the lack of knee room and trunk room. (although lack of RWD is often mentioned too)

At least with the Taurus, since an AWD version is available (and standard with the ecoboost) there is the potential option of disconnecting the front axles and making it a true RWD. The Chevys don't have that possibilty.

got busted by a tl stealth car 2 years ago :( but wow, this ford is awesome LOL

speaking of stealth cop cars, i saw a NISSAN X-TRAIL stealth car pull somebody over in richmond a few weeks ago!! wtfff

poor guy never had a chance to see it coming...

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Originally Posted by twitchyzero (Post 7170548)

nods to robocop!
http://www.automobilesnews.com/wp-co...7/12/roboc.jpg

S.H.O. F.T.W.

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Originally Posted by PiuYi (Post 7171379)

speaking of stealth cop cars, i saw a NISSAN X-TRAIL stealth car pull somebody over in richmond a few weeks ago!! wtfff

poor guy never had a chance to see it coming...

i'll probably laugh out loud if i get pulled over by a Nissan Juke,

about 30 minutes after i'll probably facepalm though

Yea, they're getting pretty sneaky. Saw a white honda ridgeline pull over a navi on scott rd a while back. Not fair.
Posted via RS Mobile

I saw a Nissan Quest pull over a honda prelude... never saw that coming.

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Originally Posted by ilmatic (Post 7171555)

I saw a Nissan Quest pull over a honda prelude... never saw that coming.

sorry, ya mine was a Nissan Quest, not X-Trail,

but shit seriously looking in rearview mirror for shape of headlights to check if its cop doesnt work anymore... :(

on the topic of odd ghost cars,i saw an older model pontiac sunfire pull someone over in port moody this week, haha. i never would have seen that coming.

but i am with the general consensus, that ford is pretty hot.

Cops should drive rice-rockets and pretend to race everyone and as soon as the other person is 40km over the limit turn on your sirens and bone him haha...
:troll:

Are these eventually supposed to replace the crown vics?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilmatic (Post 7172080)

Cops should drive rice-rockets and pretend to race everyone and as soon as the other person is 40km over the limit turn on your sirens and bone him haha...
:troll:

Isn't that entrapment though!?

Delta has a green Nissan Altima running around

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Originally Posted by Captain Picard (Post 7172136)

Delta has a green Nissan Altima running around

50% of the time I'm driving on Nordel Way, someone is being pulled over by that Altima :rofl:

if the thing is indeed lowered, no cop shop worth its name is going to buy it, just imaging in a chase, hitting a curb, the bumper gets caught, and the perp drives away

I've seen a gunmetal 07+ Santa Fe pull over people on hwy 91, twice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Picard (Post 7172136)

Delta has a green Nissan Altima running around

I used to see that altima all the time on 99/91.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD¹³ (Post 7169805)

The crash bar, steelies, and number of antenna's this car would have in reality would kill the clean look and make it a dead giveaway like most other ghost cars. Front end looks like a TL-S?

Real Ghost cars don't have crash bar, steelies and antenna's, they look just like any other civilian vehicle on the street.

What you're thinking of are unmarked police cruisers.

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Originally Posted by willystyle (Post 7172761)

Real Ghost cars don't have crash bar, steelies and antenna's, they look just like any other civilian vehicle on the street.

What you're thinking of are unmarked police cruisers.

true. but they'll still have emergency lights that you might be able to see if you look closely. then again, if you're that close to one, you've probably been pulled over already. :p