Police cars: Crown Vic vs Dodge Charger Hagerty article

[Pete Kaczmarski]

Cop Car Showdown: Dodge Charger vs. Ford Crown Vic

Real cop cars have always been rear-wheel drive, four-door American sedans. The young upstart is the Dodge Charger and the fading champ is the Ford Crown Vic. Out of production since 2011, the Crown Vic still forms the backbone of many North American police fleets. Since all Ford has at the moment is the Taurus Police Interceptor and the Explorer, it looks like the future belongs to the Charger, but will it live up to the Crown Vic’s legacy? Here are a few of our thoughts:

1. Exclusivity: The Charger has it here. The Crown Vic has served in every type of fleet imaginable from the U.S. to Canada, to Latin America, the Middle East and even Russia. For many though, the Crown Vic is synonymous with the other cars with lights on the roof – the yellow kind with meters on the dash instead of shotguns. Chargers, on the other hand, rarely show up as airport cabs.
   
2. Longevity: With its separate body-on-frame construction (of the kind found on pickups), the Panther-platform Crown Vic was famous for strength, ease of collision repair and simplicity. It’s common to see Crown Vics with more than a half-million miles on them still going strong. The jury is still out on the unibody Charger, but it’s safe to predict that it won’t match the record of the Crown Vic.
   
3. Menace: Tough as it was in service, the Crown Vic doesn’t really look very tough. The Charger, however, is just the thing to get perps in a compliant mood as soon as they see it in the rearview mirror.
   
4. Performance: Crown Vics were generally equipped with 4.6-liter modular V-8s of around 250 hp. Even the V-6 of the Charger Pursuit cop car makes 292 hp. The 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 makes 100 hp more than that. In performance, it’s no contest.
   
5. Perp Space: Cabbies love the Crown Vic because of leg and knee room. Felons love it for the same reason. The rear seat area is huge and the Crown Vic is wider than the Charger by several inches and longer by an entire foot
   
   https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vi...=&utm_campaign=Hagerty Weekly News 10-28-2015

 

[Rwc]

FWI, the few cops I know think the Taurus interceptor is awesome. Wish it was slightly roomier but still really like it. They like the chargers as well but say in drag race he interceptor has the edge.

 

[commando1]

Whichever way it's going, the officers are not thrilled and the fleet shop isn't either..
I remember Mass. State Troopers taking retirement rather than going into Crown Vics when their Caprices were retired.
Change is hard.
I remember when the company retired the Volvos to go back to Internationals. I did everything I could to keep my Volvo right up until the last minute of the morning it was taken out of service.
Change is hard.

 

[1978 NYB]

Maryland State Police are keeping the Crown Vic's no matter how many miles are on them. Most have 300,000 to 600,000 miles on them now. The State just keeps on throwing money in them until it won't roll down the road anymore. The Troopers like the Hemi Chargers but the car they like most is the Malibu PPV (Police Pursuit Vehicle) which has the 6.0 motor in it.

 

[patrick66]

Oklahoma City PD bought a BUNCH of 2011 Crown Vic cop cars new - 100 or so and put them all in storage. Their desire to keep the Fords was quite strong. They are stored in at least two places in the city, and brought out for service through attrition. They'll be driving these for at least another decade.

The suburbs use a lot of Impalas and the new cop Caprices, while the county Sheriff much prefers the Chargers. The Highway Patrol uses a mix of the Ford CV, Ford Taurus and the Explorer cop, and a lot of Chargers. A lot of them!

 

[1978 NYB]

Excuse me.....the Caprice PPV is the cop car. Not the Malibu as I previously stated.

 

[commando1]

Excuse me.....the Caprice PPV is the cop car. Not the Malibu as I previously stated.

Which is a rebadged Holden and I believe Holden is going to stop producing vehicles down there.
GM is going to produce the Holden in China.

 

[1978 NYB]

which is a rebadged holden and i believe holden is going to stop producing vehicles down there.
Gm is going to produce the holden in china.

geezzzzz!

 

[commando1]

Thank the bail out money we gave them....

 

[patrick66]

Look for an "L" as the first letter of the VIN for China. A "7" is Australia.

 

[stubs300]

1. Performance: Crown Vics were generally equipped with 4.6-liter modular V-8s of around 250 hp. Even the V-6 of the Charger Pursuit cop car makes 292 hp. The 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 makes 100 hp more than that. In performance, it’s no contest.

I think there's a typo or 3 here, doesn't make any sense how a V-6 has more ponies than a V-8?

 

[polara66hardtop]

My brother was a deputy for 31 years in phoenix Until 2012. He loved and drove the crown Vic until 2008, when he got a new Charger. He didn't like the size, but overall good marks. he then had a horrible crash on duty driving the charger, but he walked away with minor Injuries. The shift captain and Investigators, after looking at the car later said if he had been in the Vic, he would be dead. He was sold after that.

 

[commando1]

Interesting. I always felt safe in a Vic. Just the perception obviously.

 

[72Fury]

The Crown Vic is a safe car. I saw one report that showed they were just under Mercedes in crash safety. On thing to consider is the age now. A 2004 is not going to be as safe as a 2015 on anything. Side air bags and many improvements have come along the way. I keep telling myself to go out and buy a really nice 2007 or newer (has the hour meter) Vic before they are all toast.

 

[saforwardlook]

The Crown Vic is a safe car. I saw one report that showed they were just under Mercedes in crash safety. On thing to consider is the age now. A 2004 is not going to be as safe as a 2015 on anything. Side air bags and many improvements have come along the way. I keep telling myself to go out and buy a really nice 2007 or newer (has the hour meter) Vic before they are all toast.

Crown Vics have been known for catching fire in rear end crashes and to also collapse such that the doors are wedged and occupants can't get out. Some upgrades were made along the way, but the issue was never really completely satisfactory. But there is no doubt they are durable and reliable vehicles that last hundred of thousands of miles even under hard use.



I personally don't think they have much rear seat room largely because the cars have a lot of front and rear overhang, and when the front seats are adjusted for reasonable comfort and room, the rear seat foot well area is cramped. Look at the versions that still have the cages for the back seat area - hard to image a big guy even able to get in there (no - I don't know this from personal experience - lol).

 

[saforwardlook]

[/LIST]


I think there's a typo or 3 here, doesn't make any sense how a V-6 has more ponies than a V-8?

The better power of the Charger 3.6L V-6 and 5.7L Hemi engines is correct due to better engine technology and also because the Crown Vic police engines emphasized durability over performance. A friend of mine has a 2006 used Crown Vic Police Interceptor and it pulls pretty strong though, better than the HP rating would suggest at WOT - maybe the axle ratios help. Numbers are correct.

The technology revolution in engines began with a California rule that set the first carbon dioxide (CO2) emission standards in the U.S. to address global warming. They took effect in the late 2000s. CO2 regulations indirectly affect fuel consumption too, forcing more efficient engines with better fuel economy. The auto industry fought the regulations with all they had, but ended up losing because California engineers demonstrated that the regulations could be achieved with no downsides. The auto industry argued that improved fuel economy would force vehices to be smaller and would not perform well and would lead to mass worker layoffs because the public would not buy such vehicles. The auto industry also lobbyed the Bush administration to try to strip California of their authority to set regulations separate from the rest of the U.S. and almost succeeded. But the Obama administration at the outset fought to uphold California's authority and won the legal battle. Since then, the U.S. EPA adopted the California regulations across the U.S. and worked with California to adopt the 2016 - 2025 fuel economy regulations going forward. The truth is that improved efficiency also yields improved performance, and from smaller displacement engines. So today, even full size vehicles achieve good fuel economy with higher HP engines that yield better than ever performance.

 

[polara66hardtop]

The main point was in 2008, the Charger was safer than a 2002-2007 Vic, I don't know anything about the newer cars. The accident was a T-bone, and the Charger had side bags as well as superior support. Unfortunately, John couldn't beat the Lymphoma two years later, and passed away at 62. it does really suck.

 

[tbm3fan]

The main point was in 2008, the Charger was safer than a 2002-2007 Vic, I don't know anything about the newer cars. The accident was a T-bone, and the Charger had side bags as well as superior support. Unfortunately, John couldn't beat the Lymphoma two years later, and passed away at 62. it does really suck.

Most don't realize that the Panther platform never changed from the day it was first introduced. All Ford did was alter the sheetmetal and the engine from a 5.0 Windsor to the 4.6 Modular. Kind of like putting a newer F150 body onto a 1966 F100 frame.

Essentially, the car in later years was a cash cow for Ford as there were no engineering costs to recoup. Lucky for them as they didn't have much else, beyond F150 and E150, in the run up to 2008 recession. Fortunately their CFO and Treasurer risked Ford's assets in 2006 for $20 billion to pay for losses and a rainy day fund. That was why they avoided bankruptcy in 2008. They were so mismanaged it was a miracle they survived till Mulally came along in 2006.

 

[commando1]

I'd still feel safe in a Town Car. Or a NYB.

 

[patrick66]

Most don't realize that the Panther platform never changed from the day it was first introduced. All Ford did was alter the sheetmetal and the engine from a 5.0 Windsor to the 4.6 Modular. Kind of like putting a newer F150 body onto a 1966 F100 frame.

Essentially, the car in later years was a cash cow for Ford as there were no engineering costs to recoup. Lucky for them as they didn't have much else, beyond F150 and E150, in the run up to 2008 recession. Fortunately their CFO and Treasurer risked Ford's assets in 2006 for $20 billion to pay for losses and a rainy day fund. That was why they avoided bankruptcy in 2008. They were so mismanaged it was a miracle they survived till Mulally came along in 2006.

Not entirely true. The later ('92-newer) cars DO have a few differences in the frame and suspension over the earlier cars. You can not simply unbolt an early ('79 - '91) Panther body and place it on a '92-later frame. In 2002, Ford significantly changed the front and rear suspension, and went to the more modern offset wheels, as a result.

A similar example can be made for the '61 - '76 GM full-size platforms, and the '67 - '78 Mopar full-sized cars. True, there is a lot that interchanges within those groups, but there is a lot that does not. Going even further, you can take the '61 - '71 Dodge/Fargo trucks, '72 - '93 Dodge trucks, '67 - '87 Ford trucks, and '73 - '87 GM trucks.