I liked the driving position on the E-series much better than the Dodge B-series because the Ford "extended nose" reduced the size of the doghouse quite a bit, but the Fords do indeed handle like... well... twin-I-beam Fords have always handled :-/
I haven't yet driven a newer non-Twin-I-beam E-series, so maybe that's been fixed.
They hide their overstocks and recall better. Remember, Japanese car companies are all about image, not about substance anyway (yeah, maybe a bit overly cynical, but that's the way I see it for the most part). If they convey an image of quality and never a hint of a recall or overstock, dummies will still flock to buy them. A co worker just picked up a new T*yota Tundra v8 because, as he said, "they were GIVING the things away!" Far cheaper than he could get a Dodge Dakota. All is not as well as it seems at Toy, either.
Regardless of any badging: dual exhausts indicates a Hemi v8, single exhaust indicates a 3.5L v6. The 2.7L v6 is not available in a Charger police package car (actually I don't think its available in the Charger AT ALL.)
The brake pads are different, the rest of the brake components are the same. When it came time to do the brakes on ours I asked at the dealers for the different part numbers for parts for the police package Imps and everything was the same so I just bought some good pads. The Suspension differences are just stiffer struts. The cooling system has the second fan the size as the first, there is one wrecked police package Imp in the junkyard near my house so I may pick up the fans someday.
With very little success. Chevy's market share in those segments is minimal compared to the venerable Ford Crown Victoria.
What, you don't like what happens when the camber angles of each front wheel change so radically in a turn, especially in a turn with bumps.
Argh, what horrible suspension geometry that was. The amazing thing is that Ford advertised it as a "feature" for so long!
Based on what? Here in VA, most state trooper cars are Impalas.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
The first time I saw Tatas was in India.. I was told they are a large family owned concern, making trucks, buses, even small cars.
It has been a number of years since I was in India, but the cars of the period that I can speak of were like the old British crap.
Surely they have modernized some by now.
Have a look here:
Most published reports put Ford's share of the US police patrol car market somewhere between 80% and 90%. That doesn't leave much for Chevy and Dodge!
Thanks for the info. I will take a look next time I am out there.
The 2.7 litre engine is standard in the Charger SE.
I'm not sure what officers you're talking about. The all refuse to drive them here unless there are no crown victorias left. The highway police won't even touch them anymore, they had one dose of them, then the next year i saw them all go through the car auction 1 year old with
50-60,000 kms on it, while all the vics at the auction were 3 years old with 200-225,000 on them.
Well thats the problem with toyotas. They do/"appear to" make a good quality truck, but when push comes to shove, and you put your money where your mouth is... a v8 toyota looks pretty shitty compared to a fullsize f150, or even an f250 if you get the right price. For the money, I would take the better looking Ford over a toyota at the same price.
Fullsize fords i have more respect for than any other truck, i have thrashed those trucks through more woods roads.
The rangers, however, are a completely different story!
I'm sorry, but the Impala is a great car. And, like I said, the Officers down here (Ontario, Canada) love them. We have more of them then we do Crown Vic's.
A 2.7L Charger must be a real slug. Even the 3.5L is not particulalrly impressive. The 3.5L Chrysler 300 is slower than the 3.0L Ford Five Hundred which everyone except me says is "too slow." I can't imagine the 3.5L Charger is any faster than the 3.5L Chrsyler 300.
I wonder how many 2.7L V-6 Chargers Chryler actually sells? Hard to imagine anyone wanting a slow car that is also uncomfortable, rides poorly, has mediocre fuel economy (21/28), rattles, and is unreliable. I can see the atttraction of the Hemi version, at least until I get my first speeding ticket.
Ed
Where are you getting this idea? When I bought a Nissan Frontier earlier this year, I did a bit of shopping and everyone's lot was stuffed with pick-ups. If anything, the Toyota dealers had many more Tundras on the lot, in relationship to sales, than Ford had F150s. The Nissan dealers had Frontiers and Titan everywhere. The Nissan dealer nearest my house has at least 50 Frontiers on the lot right now (and this is on the lot where I can see them - he has storage lots out in the country I don't see).
Where are you? When I was shopping for a Tundra, the dealer had no problem rolling out one with the options I wanted from the "back" lot. When my Son was shopping for a Mustang, the dealer had to get one from 100 miles away to match his wants. The dealer also had plenty of Tacomas, but they came in too varieties, stripped 4 cylinder manual models, and completely loaded up and totally useless for a work truck models. I actually wanted a Tacoma instead of a Tundra, but they had no Tacomas with the equipment I wanted - they were either ridiculously over-equipped (and therefore ridiculously over-priced) or stripped to the bone (but still ridiculously over-priced). I could find plenty of Tundras set up as a work truck with the equipment I wanted. For some reason, Toyota wasn't building any Tacomas with similar equipment. I assume they figure the only people who buy Tacomas are fleets looking for strippers and boy racer looking for big wheels, big stereos, and lots of chrome. They had plenty of those choking the lot.
Again where do you live? You don't have Toyotaton? Around here it seem like "Toyotaton" is an 11 month event. When Toyota isbn't running ads with stupid F150 comparison (like my Tundra can haul 6'6" boards - your Ford can only haul 6' 3" boards), they are screaming about the huge savings, great discounts, rebates, etc. If you listened to the Toyota ads, you would think they were giving Tundras away (at least till you try to buy one and they slap on the "dealer fees" that make the price non-competitive). Nissan is even worse. It seems like they have been running the "Year End Sales Event" ads since last January.
Why do you think Ford is shutting down so many US plans and offering buy-out to 30+% of their work force.
Ed
That may be your opinion but when I owned my formed fleet business numerous departments particularly city departments, bought the Chevy and Dodge FWD cars because they were available for a few thousands less than the Interceptor and got better fuel mileage Service experience soon shows the maintenance and repair cost vis a v the Interceder far outweigh the lower purchase price and when they bought more cars they returned to the Ford. Ford 'owns' the police car business, by at least eight to one at well over
100,000 units, over the current Doge RWD cars and the Chevy.. That surely slows which car department prefer.mike
That may be but Ford still sells more F150s in about a month or so than Toyota sells Tundras in a year ;)
mike
On Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:23:13 +0000, John Horner got out the hammer and chisel and etched in the wall:
Yeah, I work in a building next to two Sheriff stations. We share the same parking lots. I see a ton of Crown Vics outside and no Impalas. Since the Feds moved in there are a few black Suburbans, too.
Only one Avalanche though. And I get to drive it home. :P
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:46:40 -0500, Mike Hunter got out the hammer and chisel and etched in the wall:
What "may be your opinion?" Please don't top post.
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