New candidates for future police cruisers

[Bill Glasheen]

I read this article with some interest.

Automakers' competition fierce for law-enforcement fleets

The Good:

• Dodge Hemi Challenger. Bad-assed vehicle that looks great and kicks booty.
• A new contender from a brand new auto company - The Carbon Motors E7. Yahoo!!! Great to see two new car companies this year. That would be Tesla Motors and now Carbon Motors.

The Bad:

• A front wheel drive vehicle from Ford? They're trying to sell a Taurus as a vehicle to chase bad guys? Are you freakin kidding me???
  
  Go ahead - make my day!!!

The Truly Interesting:

• The Carbon Motors entry - if it goes forward - has the following features:
  
  • A turbodiesel engine. Good call!
  • Built-in bioweapon sniffers. Now that's just downright cool! Almost makes you want to don the blue.
  • The light bar is aerodynamically built into the roof. Not an add-on.
  • The shotgun mount, computers and other gear are built in, not rigged on accessory mounts as is typical.
  • Wider opening doors to get in/out quicker and to stuff in a bad guy.

So... Read up and tell me what you think.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Not something you want to see in your rear view mirror.





Here are the stats. Pay no attention to horsepower; this is a diesel. Check out the torque, and top speed.



Here's where you stuff the bad guys.



No floor rugs. Just rubberized bottom with a drain so you can flush away the vomit and pee that comes with drunks. (I kid you not)

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Here's the more traditional - a Hemi-powered Dodge Charger.



- Bill

[Glenn]

The front view of that Carbon Motors vehicle has a raptor look, seeing that in the rear-view mirror would definitely make a statement.

The Bad:

• A front wheel drive vehicle from Ford? They're trying to sell a Taurus as a vehicle to chase bad guys? Are you freakin kidding me???

This is because Ford is discontinuing production of the Crown Victoria police cruiser, the mainstay of most urban police departments, with the 2011 model year, so they are promoting the 2010 Taurus as the basis for a replacement.

Keep in mind this is the new full-sized Taurus and not the old mid-sized version, the new Taurus is not far from a Crown Vic. Technically the mid-sized Taurus was discontinued in 2006, and replaced by the full-sized Five Hundred. However in 2007 a new president of Ford decided to rename the Five Hundred to Taurus for the 2008 model year, and revamp the line. This was done to draw on the Taurus name recognition, but essentially the new full-sized Taurus is a completely different car from the old mid-sized.

The Five Hundreds suffered from having a 3.0L 203 hp engine, which was far too underpowered for the size and weight of the car and resulted in it not having any pep in acceleration...and my Five Hundred definitely falls into that category. The revamped Taurus has been given successively more powerful engines however, with the new 2010 SHO version containing the new Ecoboost 3.5L V6, a "twin-turbocharged, gasoline direct injection power plant" with 365 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque and that supposedly provides more power for the same fuel economy as the standard 3.5L V6. It's a more powerful engine then the current Crown Vic police cruisers have.

The Taurus would eliminate the main drawback of the Crown Vic, which is that the latter is rear-wheel drive while the former is front-wheel drive. The improved control provided by front-wheel drive, particularly in poor driving conditions, would definitely be a plus.

What could go in Ford's favor is that the decision is not solely based on horsepower, particularly for urban police departments. Ford has a long history with many departments around the country, plus a large production capacity which could be an issue for the newer companies. The current trend of urban police forces not engaging in high-speed pursuits due to the liability they have incurred with these could work in Taurus' favor for those departments as well. Since state police departments have already shifted to smaller, faster vehicles, they will likely continue to do so with options such as Carbon Motors or Charger.

[Glenn]

Interesting that the article mentions some fleet managers perceiving front-wheel drive as being less durable and requiring more maintenance than rear-wheel drive. I wonder if there are any stats to back that up. Except for a brief time with a Crown Vic that I bought from my parents, I have driven only Taurus/Five Hundreds for over 20 years and have never had any trouble with the front wheel drive. Then again my use is probably not as hard on it as police use would be. With the control advantages of front-wheel drive, I would think the officers driving the vehicles would favor that over rear-wheel drive, but the cost concerns of the managers, real or perceived, will likely win out.

I didn't care much for the Crown Vic. It was too big, and the rear-wheel drive really sucked in slick road conditions, which are common here in Nebraska. In adverse conditions front-wheel drive provides better traction, better cornering, better stopping, and virtually eliminates fish-tailing. Probably the most annoying feature of the Crown Vic though was that if the engine was running and it was in park, the doors would not lock...if you tried to lock them they would automatically unlock, and when you came to a stop and put it in park the doors automatically unlocked. Not what I consider a desirable feature from a personal safety perspective! I soon sold it for another Taurus.

[Bill Glasheen]

Glenn

I meant what I said when I was ridiculing the FWD Taurus. And it isn't at all about maintenance.

FWD only recently became popular. Why? With the 70s OPEC oil embargo, the transverse-mounted-engined FWD vehicles (per the Mini, Rabbit, Civic, etc.) got the best fuel economy. If you're seeking maximum interior room per dollar and best fuel economy in a cheap gasoline vehicle, then FWD is the choice.

Rear-wheel drive is the driver's car. Don't believe me? Look what they use in NASCAR. Look at the standard for BMW. Look at what you see with Nissan (all FWD or AWD) and then the upgrade to Infiniti (all RWD or AWD).

FWD vehicles have both understeer and a problem called torque steer. The former means that you're likely to overshoot if you have to make a sharp turn at high speed. The latter means that the engine torque will be fighting you when you try to steer if your engine has any juice in it. The more powerful the engine, the more FWD just won't work.

The problem with some RWD vehicles is poor balance. If you balance a car correctly (all BMWs, all RWD Infinitis, etc., etc.), then you have a 50/50 front-to-rear balance at a stop. Step on the gas and more weight shifts to the drive wheels. The exact opposite happens with a FWD vehicle. My van has a nasty habit of spinning its FWD wheels when I have to start out of my development (turning right) where it's slightly uphill. The torquey Nissan VQ engine throws the weight of the vehicle back to the rear wheels, and the front wheels lose traction.

A poorly-designed RWD vehicle (like a truck with most of its weight over the front wheels) will fishtail badly and will lose traction in bad weather. Properly designed modern RWD vehicles won't do that. Furthermore... traction control and stability management systems virtually eliminate the FWD advantage in slippery conditions.

AWD (4WD) is the way to go if you want optimal traction in slippery conditions. It is however worth noting that the better AWD vehicles start as RWD in the economy models.

One really novel AWD approach is the ATTESA system used by Infiniti. The natural state is RWD. If there is any wheel slippage, the front wheels kick in as much as needed. That gives you the best of both worlds.

Many modern AWD systems vary the torque to the various wheels depending upon which wheels are slipping and which are holding (BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, VW/Audi, etc.).

Per the Police cruisers... They need to engage in chases that can get very hairy. Emergency avoidance maneuvers, sudden 180-degree turns, etc. all apply. Check out the slalom run scores of vehicles to see which vehicle a Policeman would rather be driving when engaged in a high speed chase. The numbers don't lie. The kings of the slalom track are all RWD.

- Bill

[Glenn]

I meant what I said when I was ridiculing the FWD Taurus

Oh I don't doubt it, ridiculing the Taurus has been a popular past-time for many. But you got any rear wheel drive cars that are both well-designed AND affordable? Then again, now that it is a full-size, the Taurus is also getting too expensive.

AWD is definitely the way to go for poor conditions if you can afford it. If rear wheel drive has gotten better I'll never know it, I have been stuck in snow too many times with rear wheel drive cars to want to take that risk again. Now if I ever move to the Sun Belt it might be a different story.

What's frustrating about cars like my Five Hundred is that with front wheel drive, traction control, and anti-lock brakes, I can't get it to lose control when I go to empty ice-covered parking lots to try to practice regaining control of a vehicle that starts sliding out of control. Takes all the fun out of ice.

[Bill Glasheen]

The Taurus (old and new) is a nice, economical family car. It also makes a good fleet vehicle. However you don't want to be chasing bad guys in a Taurus.

As for an inability to practice losing control... You might find it interesting that the best RWD vehicles give you the option to turn the traction control off. Why? Because if you know how to drive and you don't freak at a little bit of slippage, you can actually drive better/faster with the stuff off (in a good vehicle). To wit.... car magazines like Road & Track will give slalom numbers for such cars with traction control on and off. The vehicle will ALWAYS go faster in the slalom run with it off. But of course this is performance as achieved by professional drivers.

I posted this before, and I'll post it again. This is what you can do with a properly balanced, AWD vehicle. You cannot do ANY of this stuff with a FWD vehicle. No fun! SOME of it can be achieved with a good RWD vehicle (like a souped-up Bimmer).

Ken Block Gymkhana Practice

By the way... The "530 WHP" stat means he's getting 530 horsepower AT THE WHEEL. Mechanical losses (from drivetrain friction) have been subtracted from engine horsepower to give you not what the engine puts out, but what the wheels actually have at their disposal.

Note how Ken USES fishtailing to re-orient his vehicle on a dime. This is the fastest way to change directions. Just point the vehicle in a different direction (as if a kid picked your little vehicle up and turned it) and then step on the gas. Been there, done that once when I hit a patch of ice and started spinning (in a minivan full of family).

FWD and RWD with traction control is driving for idiots. These vehicles protect the drivers from their (un)natural instincts and un-trained responses.

- Bill

[Glenn]

The Taurus (old and new) is a nice, economical family car. It also makes a good fleet vehicle. However you don't want to be chasing bad guys in a Taurus.

No if I were chasing the bad guys I'd want the Carbon Motors, that sucker looks cool!

Ability aspects aside, the stereotype of the Taurus will definitely count against it. The officers are not likely to have much affinity for it and the bad guys are not likely to be much intimidated by it. I suspect that by discontinuing the Crown Vic and trying to replace it with the Taurus, Ford is going to lose its dominance in law enforcement fleets.

As for an inability to practice losing control... You might find it interesting that the best RWD vehicles give you the option to turn the traction control off. Why? Because if you know how to drive and you don't freak at a little bit of slippage, you can actually drive better/faster with the stuff off (in a good vehicle).

Doh! Now that you mention it, my Five Hundred has that option as well...never occured to me to try it! And now it looks like I'll have to wait until next winter. I do like to stay practiced on recovering an out of control vehicle, It's helped me avoid a few accidents in the past.

Note how Ken USES fishtailing to re-orient his vehicle on a dime. This is the fastest way to change directions. Just point the vehicle in a different direction (as if a kid picked your little vehicle up and turned it) and then step on the gas. Been there, done that once when I hit a patch of ice and started spinning (in a minivan full of family).

Same here once, and I noted at the time that it also worked well for getting everyone in the car to suddenly be quiet...the wife has nixed me attempting it on purpose for that though.

On a related note, I've known a couple of people who have had accidents caused by having cruise control on when they hit a slick spot. Cruise control and slick conditions do not mix.

FWD and RWD with traction control is driving for idiots. These vehicles protect the drivers from their (un)natural instincts and un-trained responses.

Well if helps them keep from hitting me, then I'm all for it! But also in some conditions, like Nebraska winters, these features simply make driving easier and increase the likelihood of successfully getting from point A to point B. Nothing wrong with that.