More of a rant than a question...... 'friggin Fords.....

[YELLAHEEP]

First, I'm a cop, so most of this probably won't concern you guys..... but this kind of crap just bugs me even as a general car consumer...... I'm speaking of annoying "features" that I have no clue why car engineers think they're a good feature.

Ford had "decent" thing going with the last few years of the Crown Vic. Then they go and frick it all up with the new Interceptor Taurus. Other than the fairly impressive twin turbo power plant and all wheel drive...... the car is completely useless for police work. The average 6' tall cop can't get in or out of this car without folding in half, and then, when you're in, the "B" pillar is several inches forward of your shoulder. You literally have to pull and climb out. The windows are small and your field of vision is GREATLY reduced over the Crown Vic. The trunk is a joke and with a cage/divider in, the back seat is incredibly cramped unless the car is outfitted with the plastic aftermarket seat and even then there's still no knee/leg room for the average sized person. Ford claims they had a focus panel of cops put in their ideas toward making the Interceptor a good police vehicle........ Unless all the cops on their focus panel were 5' 6" and 150 lbs and carry no duty gear...... I call B.S.

The Interceptor is useless as a cop car.

The police package Expedition isn't bad. Decent power and ground clearance for a 4x4 SUV. The brakes on the other hand are the suck. Rotors will warp easily after spirited driving and after a full on pursuit or lengthy emergency run, they pulsate so bad it's unsafe. Additionally...... who's the asshat at Ford that thought having the external lighs (turn signals and tail lights) come on everytime you open a door, or lock/unlock the truck using the key fob???? Seriously, a cop car isn't supposed to announce it's arrival or location for crying out loud. Sure, you can disable the DRL's and turn the horn off from beeping when locking/unlocking......... but no ability to disable the dadgum "Illuminated Entry" feature???? That guy needs fired. Oh, and you can't drive around with your seat belt off for even a few seconds without the warning light and chime constantly going off. WTF! To defeat that, I have to pull the passenger's seat belt over and plug it into mine.... Seriously, the police package for an Expedition consists of steel wheels, a spot light and rubber floors. Big friggin deal.

I hate Fords. Gimme back the ugly but effective '96 Chevy Caprice. Now THAT was a cop car. Lots of power, good brakes, handled very well considering it's size and plenty of room to stuff crooks in the back and your gear in the trunk with a full size spare tire.

Rant off.

:looney:

 

[POSJ]

I'm sorry for Ford's failure...but the only thing I got out of that is that Cops don't wear seat belts.

 

[Talyn]

I'm not a cop but I have had several in for decals.

The average 6' tall cop can't get in or out of this car without folding in half, and then, when you're in, the "B" pillar is several inches forward of your shoulder. You literally have to pull and climb out.

I have no problem getting in and out and I'm 6'2", but I also don't wear a utility belt so maybe that has a part in it.

The windows are small and your field of vision is GREATLY reduced over the Crown Vic.

Yes, vision is horrible in them.

the back seat is incredibly cramped unless the car is outfitted with the plastic aftermarket seat and even then there's still no knee/leg room for the average sized person.

I have trouble fitting in the back seat.

Additionally...... who's the asshat at Ford that thought having the external lighs (turn signals and tail lights) come on everytime you open a door, or lock/unlock the truck using the key fob????

That is annoying on any car. I thought I accidentally turned the lights on at first when it was in the bay.

Oh, and you can't drive around with your seat belt off for even a few seconds without the warning light and chime constantly going off. WTF!

There maybe some form of a sequence you can perform to defeat that. Subaru has that feature, but it can be defeated. Out work truck (a Ford) also has that feature, but somehow someone disabled it too... it use to be annoying to just drive the truck to the end of the parking lot to the loading down w/o the seat belt on.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

I'm sorry for Ford's failure...but the only thing I got out of that is that Cops don't wear seat belts.

We wear 'em during normal driving. But when you're working at night, driving slow through the neighborhoods and you may have to jump out to grab/chase a car prowler..... or if you're responding to a call where there is a threat potential and you may have to drop low in your seat or out of the car completely. We're trained to NEVER keep our belt on when pulling up to talk to someone or when we enter a subdivision....... the last thing you wanna be thinking about is having to unbuckle your seat belt.

For those reasons, I wouldn't blame cops in places like L.A., Chicago, etc for never wearing a seatbelt.....

 

[YELLAHEEP]

I have no problem getting in and out and I'm 6'2", but I also don't wear a utility belt so maybe that has a part in it.

The belt AND vest........ these two don't play well with each other where bending at the waist is concerned.

Yeah, I can get in/out of the Interceptor fine in civilian clothing.

 

[IllianaXJ]

All of those reasons are why I am glad our department went with Chargers.

 

[xjtrailrider]

One of the kids on my sandlot football team dad is a VA state trooper. He has the interceptor and hates it as well. He is a big guy, 6'4" 250ish, looks like a pro linebacker.

I hear that Chevy has a version of the Impala with 3.6/FWD that is a beast! I don't think I have seen one yet though.

The Ford looks too small to be safe in a high speed crash. I like the look of the Charger but I hear they are not well liked either for many issues.

Here it is;http://www.gmfleet.com/police/chevy-impala-marked-patrol-car.html?seo=goo_|_GM+FCO+Police_|_RTN-Police+Impala-Broad_|_Impala+Police+Package_|_chevrolet%20impala%20police%20package

 

[bjoehandley]

I've talked to a couple cops who have had the pursuit package FWD Impala's with the 3.8l, those were absolute dogs, especially when heat soaked from sitting in summer traffic. I've also heard those can be scary to drive at speed too. My sister has a civilian '06 Charger SE (with the 3.5l V-6) and that can be a bit tricky to see out of, but does have good rear seat room. She has warped the rotors on that car too, but she did that to her '92 Briarwood at least once or twice in the 7 years she had that and our Parent's '06 Town and Country just in one day of driving during October in Branson, MO.....luckily she doesn't drive my '98 Limited unless she has no choice and only driven my 200 once on roads that warping brakes shouldn't be possible, and for only 5 minutes total.

Of the local departments, the town I live in has one or two of the new naturally aspirated Explorer Interceptors to replace their older Explorers and have bought one or two of the Holden built "Chevy" Caprice Pursuit Package cars.

The town I work in has started buying Hemi Chargers, mostly new ones, but they do have an unmarked one that's the same body style as my Sister's.....only in black......very sinister looking! I believe they have a Tahoe too, but since my store moved, I don't spend any more time than necessary on that side of town and haven't seen it.

The town I drive through to get there has appeared to buy a Taurus or two, but I have yet to see going my way or parked near it when stopped, so I don't know if it's boosted or not.

My Dad still does track inspection one week a month for a Union Pacific (ex C&NW) rail yard in Chicago and part of their yard is by one of the parking lots and had the opportunity to watch Ford do a demo autocross course showing the capabilities of the Taurus and Explorer Interceptors and shot some video of it with the camera he was using to photograph any defects he found. I don't know if it was the new Interceptors, or the people driving them, or both, but I'm sure that of the XJ's we've had over the last 20 years would make laughing stocks out of those once we ran the course a couple times. Even with the crappy Goodyear Eagle LS2's on it, my 200 would probably have been faster too. Don't know how the Tahoe would do on that course, but I think I would want the Charger or Caprice instead of the Taurus just based on those two videos.