You guys seen the Carbon Motors company that specializes in police cruisers? They are pretty freaking sweet.

 

A nearby police dept. that switched to Impalas was thoroughly embarrassed by a hopped up, meth head with a Ford Expedition during a pursuit. 2 units were disabled trying to follow through a city park, yards, lots, etc. PIT was ineffective with the Impalas, chase was finally terminated by, ......you guessed it, a State police Crown Victoria which performed a text book PIT maneuver. One of the disabled Impalas literally left a tire/wheel with axle shaft attached laying 50 yds from the cruiser after encountering a couple of curbs at 45mph.

 

You mean this?

MPGs would be one big advantage...(28 to 32 city/hwy)...Especially with all of the inevitable idling......

I like the aluminum spaceframe body too.

Specifications
OEM Carbon Motors Corporation
Vehicle Platform Codename E7
Brand Carbon Motors™
Nameplate To Be Determined
Assembly Location Connersville, Indiana
The Police Car Capital of the World
Price Comparable to Retail Passenger Car Outfitted with Law Enforcement Equipment. Detailed pricing will be announced in a few months.

POWERTRAIN / CHASSIS
Engine Forced Induction Diesel
Recommended Fuel Ultra-low sulfur (ULS) Diesel
Driveline Rear-Wheel-Drive
Horsepower > 250 bhp
Torque > 400 lb-ft
Transmission Multi-Speed Automatic
Front Brakes 14" Vented Discs, ABS
Rear Brakes 13" Vented Discs, ABS
Wheels 19 x 8" Steel
Tires 245/55R19
Front Suspension Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension Multi-link, coil springs, self-leveling shocks, anti-roll bar

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase 122.0"
Front Track 66.9"
Rear Track 66.9"
Overall Length 200.0"
Overall Width 78.0"
Overall Height 64.2"
Ground Clearance 7.0"
Curb Weight 4000 lbs
Weight Distribution (front/rear) 50% / 50%
Front Headroom 40.0"
Rear Headroom 38.5"
Front Legroom 45.0"
Cargo Volume 20.0 cu ft
Fuel Capacity 18.0 gallons

PERFORMANCE
0 - 60 mph 6.5 seconds
Quarter Mile 14.5 seconds @ 98.0 mph
Top Speed > 150 mph
Braking 60 - 0 mph 125 feet
Lateral Acceleration 0.85 g
Combined City/Hwy Fuel Economy 28 - 30 mpg

SELECTED FEATURES AND OPTIONS
All-new purpose-built vehicle platform exclusively for law enforcement
Meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements
Designed to 250,000 mile durability specification
Turn-key built-to-direct-order - 24/7/365 call center support
Turn-key end-of-vehicle-life process
Comprehensive warranty
Aluminum spaceframe body structure
75 mph rear impact crash capability
Cockpit with fully-integrated factory fitted law enforcement equipment
Integrated emergency lights, spot lights, take down lights, and directional stick
Segment exclusive coach rear doors for safer suspect ingress and egress
Vehicle dynamic control
Anti-lock brakes
Optimized approach / departure angles and ground clearance
NIJ Level III-A (or better) ballistic protection (front doors and dash panel)
Purpose-designed seat for use with on-body equipment - Heated and ventilated seats
Heads up display
Reverse backup camera
Remote start capability
Driver specific intelligent key
360 degree exterior surveillance capability
Automatic license plate recognition system
Video and audio surveillance of rear passenger compartment
130hz - 350hz bass siren
Nightvision compliant interior illumination
Integrated forward looking infrared system (FLIR)
Integrated shotgun mounts
Optimized storage capability (compartment and cargo)
Integrated front and rear passenger compartment partition
Hoseable rear passenger compartment
Integrated push bumpers and PIT capability

 

Agreed.

I think I've been misunderstood and I'm not well informed, (my fault). The CV is ancient and has little to no improvements over the years. Even the styling is way outdated. It's my opinion that many CV's are still sold to PD's as they incur less costs to outfit these cars while using existing equipment that came from older units. The budgets for the state troopers is typically much higher than for the local PD's. Saving $2500 to outfit a car with used equipment is a big savings.

I didn't realize that the Taurus was being considered for LE use. I'm impressed.

 

Maybe some departments somewhere are getting good service out of FWD Impalas. I have seen not one here in CA, even up here in snow country. As the CV is being phased out, the Charger is taking over. The Tahoe police package is also popular along with the Expy.

Mopar owned the police market here in the 60's and 70's, Chevy in the 80's. Fords were mostly a "Southern" thing back then.

Turbocharging and AWD in an abused fleet vehicle? They wont hold up. The reason the ancient CV does so well is because it has ancient, reliable, repairable technology that is more important, cost wise, than a few mpg's.

Jim

 

Mopar still had a share of the police market in the 80's (I own one) but it was rapidly waning - One complaint about the Mopar cars was the gas mileage and, if my Gran Fury is any indication, mileage was atrocious - efficiency wasn't really engineered into those cars...

The Mopar M-body cruisers could take one hell of a beating but people wanted something with better economy... I read somewhere that the M-body could produce slightly more power than the CV, but I'm not about to test that theory...

The Crown Vic had the size, weight, and power comparable to the M-body, but got better fuel mileage and, as the M-body was an old design dating back to the 70's, it was time for an upgrade anyway...

Something in the back of my mind keeps nagging me about what Ford used used for the police market before the CV - I want to say the LTD, but weren't they pretty much the same car?

 

When I lived in Torrance in the '80's they had Chevy Malibu's with the 350 and they loved them. The Ford LTD-II 302 was junk by comparison. It was a Fox platform unibody, not at all like the BOF Panther that came later. The real boxy '80s Impala/Caprice were also very popular on the West Coast. The problem with the Mopars was the lack of power from the California de-smogged 318. Up in the mountains almost anything else could outrun them.

Jim

 

Ah yes... The infamous "Lean-Burn" system that never worked right and caused more problems than it was worth... I can believe that...

I set out to bypass the "Lean-Burn" computer on my Fury and succeeded - but only after completely wiring in a whole new ignition system consisting of a Mopar Performance "chrome box" module, dual ballast resistor, and a distributor with vacuum advance...

 

Prove it.....saying just that it won't hold up without anything to back yourself up makes you look uninformed.....

Now if you have new information on the eco boost motors or current awd systems than lets here it...

 

Simple logistics.............new unproven technology, more complicated, more moving parts, more things to go wrong, simply not as rugged. Just because its NEW! and HIGH TECH! does NOT mean its better, just because its old school does not mean its archaic and useless. The rush to trash the proven standard for the newest hi tech wonder will be our undoing someday. This type of vehicle I do not see holding up under abusive fleet use........Give the CV a re-do from the ground up along the same RWD large v8, large sedan lines, using the newer 5.0 coyote engine. Then you will have a true police interceptor.......You seem far to willing to throw the baby out with the bath water, just to have the "newest thing".

 

I'm confused......

Turbocharging can meet the demands of the race track or the race course....but not the demands of being in a cop car? Turbocharging isn't necessarily a 'new' technology either.......Nor is the AWD (so far as I know, Subaru was making AWDs ever since the 70s.......More and more cars are using that platform)......

The BIGGEST rigor of police use is extended idling.......Will that eff-up a turbocharger? Well, it doesn't in DIESELS anyway........How it would eff-up an AWD is also confusing to me......

I think the biggest point of the OP is that will ALL the added crap that goes into police cars nowadays, folks are FINALLY getting the hint that 'purpose-built' (i.e., manufactured from the ground up for a specific use......) is the way of the future. Carbon Motors already had this idea.....and apparently GM and Ford are following suit.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Carbon Motors platform (the diesel), precisely because of the idling factor. Also, if you can purchase a 'purpose-built' high-performance, uber-safe vehicle for about the same price as purchasing a manufactured vehicle, tacking on all the add-ons, then why wouldn't you? Consider the OTHER benefits of the diesel plateform: One, twice the longevity of the gasser. Two, 28-30mpg. So....You have a car twice as long, AND it's getting almost twice the mileage of the gasser....Can you imagine the savings? Even if the diesel ends up costing a little more?

No brainer to me.

 

I'm fine with updates.....but we've updated the cv what....5 times over its lifespan? At some point you need to throw out the old stuff and start over..... Crown vics handle like a pontoon boat on wheels......the entire chassis needs to be redesigned.....they don't have good aerodynamics.....which isn't important at 50.....but in a high speed pursuit aero's make all the difference. The drivetrains are outdated.......so that needs to be entirely redesigned...... The interior isn't particularly friendly to the ergonomics of sitting in a car for 8 hours.....so it needs too be redone....


Now....whats left?


Since GM, Mopar and Carbon motors have all designed brand new cars with these systems in mind......why shouldn't ford???

 

You beat me to the point.....have you seen the way some of those awd turbo'd subaru's are driven off road......Engines built for turbo use and drivetrains built with awd in mind have no time stamp that they're only good for 100K miles....

 

Well guys, having a friend who is a fleet mechanic for a trucking company.........Turbo chargers are one of the most replaced items on OTR rigs. The engine lasts forever, the turbo..........not so much.

CV uncomfortable interior? as compared to what?......a Town car?

 

I will agree with the updates and platform specific for a particular job. I have driven a few crown vics and put those big cars thru some spots that people still do not know how we fit. I had a non police package and outdrove the state trooper that was trying to keep up and catch me. He told me that he thought I only had running lights because my brake lights never came on in any of the turns. He also said he had me going into one turn at 80 and had no idea what I topped out at since he could not keep up.

I think the handle and hug really well for as big as they are. Let me also clarify that I did not know he was chasing me until he pulled up next to me at a red light.