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 cops do not like the Dodge and the Chevy because once the cage is installed there is not enough room in the back seat. To make more room some departments are placing the cage three inches ahead and that does not allow the driver seat to be moved back.
mike
Apparently you are not aware the Interceptor has been upgraded every year and is by far the number one selling police vehicle. It is bullet prove in more ways than one. Too bad it is going away in 2008.
mike
The Tundra is an also-ran when it come to truck sales. Likewise the Nissan Titan. If some do not think Toyota is dumping 2006s, they have never seen a 'Toyotathon' ad ;)
mike
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.
(top posting fix0red)
It's probably #1 because it's been the only legitimate player in the game since the demise of the Caprice (up until Chrysler started certifying the Charger, that is.) Wasn't it you yourself that stated that if I didn't have a RWD car I couldn't understand what handling was? That's one statement that you've made that in general I wholeheartedly agree with. I think after a couple years we will be seeing a lot more MoPar cop cars unless GM or Ford gets their act together. I for one welcome the return of our Hemi-powered overlords (even if it's not the same Hemi.) Now just give me a goshdarned 2-door coupe with a manual transmission, please.
nate
With very little success. Chevy's market share in those segments is minimal compared to the venerable Ford Crown Victoria.
It is pretty strange that the largest automobile company in the world has been outclassed in this segment by Hyundai of all companies, not to mention Toyota, Honda and Chrysler. For some reason GM never cracked the code of building a top-notch minivan. From the Astro through the dustbusters and on to the last two generations the GM vans were always also-rans.
John
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 s***ty 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
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