Does V-6 have enough hop for the cops?

From Automotive News:

Does V-6 have enough hop for the cops?

COMMENTARY Rick Kranz is product editor for Automotive News.

Does V-6 have enough hop for the cops? Six-cylinder vs. Hemi V-8: No contest in a 0-to-60 sprint, right?

You might be surprised by the results of a shootout conducted by the Michigan State Police, which has released results of its annual police car test of Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge vehicles.

The test measures things such as quarter-mile acceleration, stopping distance, ergonomics, fuel economy and 0 to 60 mph acceleration. The test is performed to help law-enforcement agencies across the country choose police cars or SUVs.

This year one vehicle was noticeably absent. The test is the first in decades without the Ford Police Interceptor, the law-enforcement version of the Ford Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic and Ford's V-8 police car engine were discontinued last year.

For decades, the Crown Vic had been the law-enforcement favorite, primarily for two reasons: rear-wheel drive and V-8 power.

While the Crown Vic has been put out to pasture, the Police Interceptor moniker now is being used on a heavy-duty version of the Ford Taurus. Two law-enforcement models are available, each with a 3.5-liter V-6: a front-wheel-drive model with 280 hp and an all-wheel-drive version with a twin-turbocharged engine that hammers out 365 hp.

The twin turbo and awd configuration is Ford's answer to the competition's V-8-powered, rwd cop cars, the 355-hp, 6.0-liter Chevrolet Caprice and the

370-hp, 5.7-liter Dodge Charger.

See the complete Michigan State Police analysis at autonews.com/copcars.

I'll mention one statistic: 0 to 60 acceleration. How does a twin-turbo V-6 fare among the V-8s? Quite well, it turns out.

The V-8-powered Hemi Charger reached 60 mph in 5.83 seconds, according to the Michigan State Police. That was followed by the Caprice, at 5.91 seconds, and the Taurus, at 5.92 seconds.

The twin-turbo Taurus was a mere 0.09 seconds slower than the Hemi Charger.

What does that suggest about the future of the V-8? Simply, it's another nail in its coffin.

You can reach Rick Kranz at snipped-for-privacy@crain.com.

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Reply to
C. E. White
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There is a saying when you have to wring the last HP out of an engine, the last horsepower usually comes at the wrong time.

Yes, a twin turbo direct injection 6 can make as much power and torque as a normally aspirated 8, but at what cost??? The six is MUCH more highly stressed - and a twin turbo engine is definitely in thoroughbred territory.Let's see how they compare after 200,000 miles

- or even Kilometers.

Reply to
clare

I wasn't aware the Caprice was back in production, much less RWD.

Reply to
Steve Walker

I sort of agree. You can do a hell of a lot with 2.5 litres and 6-12 cylinders BUT a really good engine of this type costs a fortune, and is not made to lollygag around the doughnut shop.

Radar and radio communications are "light speed" faster than anything on wheels.

Reply to
hls

Police cars have a very limited lifetime, and it's not the engine that fails, it's usually the body, and it's often because it's running into things. So there may be no serious disadvantage in having an engine that fails at 50,000 miles here.

"You can't outrun Motorola" as they say, yes.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

finally, a logical thinker! well said.

Reply to
jim beam

Not for civilian sales.

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Doubt that the Ford twin turbo will sell a lot since very few departments really need that sort of speed.

Reply to
Steve W.

Up here you see a LOT of "retired" cruisers on the road in private hands - many in use as taxi-cabs (and yes, they are ex cruisers - not purchased new as cabs) And even being in the rust belt - the bodies are generally in pretty good shape - even when the cab is retired and scrapped. The number of cruisers lost to collisions is slightly higher than would be expected in normal civilian use. An 80,000 Km lifespan would be TOTALLY unacceptable to the Waterloo Regional Police Serevice or the Ontario Provincial Police, and most urban police forces.

Reply to
clare

that might be, but I doubt it's much fun to drive a car without awd in michigan winters. more so in suburbs

maybe there is another "don't stuck" facility on police edition rear wheel drivers? a rear bench driver helping to push out of a snowbank I guess

Reply to
AD

The NC State Surplus has old NC Highway Patrol Cars for sale all the time. I've looked at a few. The Crown Vics usually have over 100,000 miles. It seems they are mostly snapped up by the local cab companies who repaint them and drive them forever. The dual exhauts, cheap wheel covers and plugged holes are a sure give away that you are riding in an old HP car. The NC HP is using Dodge Chargers now. I have not seen any on the suplus list. The Raleigh city police seem to only sell their old Crown Vic cop cars when they are wrecked or have over 150k miles.

My thought on the need for hig power patrol cars is - why? It seems like the bad guys are always in an SUV, Van, or a clapped out Honda. Any decent modern sedan should be able to keep pace. In the few cases where the bad guy is driving something actually fast, are we really better off having multiple idiots driving at 100+ mph? Lately around here it seems there have been as many single car cop accidents as bad guys driving fast and causing mayhem. I can see the need for a few fast police cars, but I can't see the whole police fleet needing 150 mph cars. I think sticking the cops in regular Tauri or Accords or Camry's would be just fine. The county where my farm is located gives the deputities Fusions (not even 6 cylinder Fusions). Seems like a good idea to me.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

"Cincinnati police now cap chase speeds at 20 mph over the speed limit."

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- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

Perhaps they won't hold up as well as one might hope but realistically the cops really have no need for that much power and other then just accelerating fast for the fun of it there are very very few times they ever need to accelerate faster than a run of the mill fleet car can do. Particularly in the city. It's just a my dick is bigger then your dick thing with the cops.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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