The skinny on Police Interceptors?

[koda6966]

http://poconos.craigslist.org/cto/1296785975.html

Like that one.

If anyone on here has knowledge of these types of vehicles let me know. A friend of mine is looking into buying one (I might look into one later in life) and was wondering what they're like for speed/comfort/reliability?

I know they're probably abused, with cops tearassing after people, but I hear these vehicles (non interceptor) go for over 300k miles in Taxi services.

 

[feellnfroggy]

It's nothing special anymore, they used to come with a bigger motor better tranny etc. Now all you get is a aode tranny and they replace the air ride with stiff spring suspension, Other than the sleek look they arent good for much, nice ride though.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Drove them. Trained others to drive them. An interceptor package is nothing more than an upgraded suspension and cooling package. My friends Lincoln had a better 4.6L than my CV did, but my CV could run down the interstate all day at 100+ and never break a sweat. Those cars handle/corner a heck of a lot better than you'd expect as well.

 

[Will]

This is a good article.

 

[dragogt]

Drove them. Trained others to drive them. An interceptor package is nothing more than an upgraded suspension and cooling package. My friends Lincoln had a better 4.6L than my CV did, but my CV could run down the interstate all day at 100+ and never break a sweat. Those cars handle/corner a heck of a lot better than you'd expect as well.

Agreed, I had a '94 that I've pushed to 75/ 80 mph on tight twisty back country roads.

Also any engine mod for a 'stang will work on a Vic.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I had a 99 Crown Vic, wasnt a PI but the P73 (P71 is the PI, P72 i believe is taxi).

They run pretty decent for what they are, and handle well. There tough...you ever watch those cop chase shows? Of a cop tearin balls through a cornfield at 70mph...or a rutted dirt path?

The main difference between a PI vic and a Civilian Vic is the PI's get a 126MPH governed top speed, the civilians i think are 110 (either one is capable of 130+)

I think the PI's get 3.55 gears as well, as opposed to the 2.75's used in civilians, they also get dual exhaust, better suspensions, more cooling, and other little things.

I dontknow how the PI vics run against the Chargers.....i dont think there quite as fast but the chargers fall apart like tissue paper when used hard, the Vics stay togther. Something to be said for Solid axles and frames.

later,
Dustin

 

[iceracer60]

the new gen pi's also have a different ecu programming right from ford that bump the power up a lil, when i was in ford training we reprogrammed his non pi vic with a vin off a pi and it definetly had more power, and that was without any other mods done.

 

[Jason]

I dontknow how the PI vics run against the Chargers.....i dont think there quite as fast but the chargers fall apart like tissue paper when used hard, the Vics stay togther. Something to be said for Solid axles and frames.

later,
Dustin

Any evidence of that? They have been used around here for a while and most hold up better than the CV counterparts.

 

[Will]

Evidence? Dustin? Nah!

Those Chargers are fast. The Vics are slow.

Charger: 0-60 5.6 seconds; 14.2 @ 99.4mph quarter-mile--test weight 4,248#
Crown Vic: 0-60 7.8 seonds; 15.9 @ 88.1mph quarter-mile--test weight 4,385#

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

I agree with most above, and know from working on them. From about 91 up a interceptor package has an oil cooler, p/s cooler, and trans cooler, some of the newer vics have these also on the civ models, but not as good of coolers. Also the programming in the computer governs it at a higher speed, and has a little bit more power, plus they used to (may still have) dual exh on a PI model. The suspension and tires are specifically made and matched to the car to make it handle better.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I never said the vics were faster then the chargers.

I know a guy that works on Police cars for jackson county, basically first time you ram something or do anything resembling hard work with a charger they come apart.

No, i do not have any first hand experince. But the Vics are built very stout.

Put it this way, a Vic is basically built like a 2wd pickup, minus the rear leaf springs. It uses the same engine, tranny, and rear end, and the same (style) of front end as a 2wd F150. The frame is also damn near as heavy, and you think a Charger that is made of a minivan like construction is really stouter then a F150?

later,
Dustin

 

[Will]

The Vic frame is thin, boxed--nothing like an F150 frame. The rear is probably more Ranger-like with 28-spline shafts. Everyone uses the same front.

But I suspect the CV is tougher. I'd still rather have the Charger.

Our sheriff's department is pretty much all Explorers. The sheriff himself drives an F150. Those make more sense to me in a rural community.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It would be kind of fun to get an old intercepter, they get a lot of respect on the highway because with their distictive shape it is hard to tell at a glance if it is a cop or not. It is fun to watch them, everybody slows down and checks their speed before they pass...

I can ID a CV at night from a good ways off just by the headlight shape. 90% of the time it is a cop car with lights on top.

I watched a CV turn around on the interstate last week and it was very cool to watch him work his way thru the traffic to get the speeder up ahead of me. That thing could move.

The highway patrol is going to Chargers now which is kind of freaky, because there are so many out there on the roads that are normal cars, they don't stick out as well. A couple months ago they were having a big speeding crackdown on the interstate, it looked like they had a CV running the radar and a slug of Chargers doing the dirty work.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

The Vic frame is thin, boxed--nothing like an F150 frame. The rear is probably more Ranger-like with 28-spline shafts. Everyone uses the same front.

But I suspect the CV is tougher. I'd still rather have the Charger.

Our sheriff's department is pretty much all Explorers. The sheriff himself drives an F150. Those make more sense to me in a rural community.

I've seen a police F-250 driving around town around here... It's not local, but I never have time to read what town it's from... I thought that was a little overkill... Don't see why the sheriff needs that big of a truck... Our county has the most random patrol vehicles... Crown Vics, Impalas, Explorers, Expeditions, Trailblazers, Chargers, and Chevy 1/2T trucks... I've seen at least one of each...

 

[84projectFORD]

weakest point of the high milage CV is the trannys. if you drive it and it shifts solid (usually first to second has a slim hesitation when they get pretty worn, that and thrid to fourth will slid into gear instead of a solid shift) and also jsut check the fluid, we ususally flush them every 30K. The 02s had the 28 spline 8.8 but in 03 they changed to the 31 spline. Other things to look for at the oil cooler lines, they like to leak pretty good after a while (if its just a oil film around the steel ends your good). I always like the 01-02 over the 03-05s, they seemed to have better bottom end and a bit more power. id also check the spark plugs on it. We do spark plugs on all the DPS CVs at 60K intervals and since it will be close to 120K they might be due. other than that stuff, keep up on the maintence and it will last a long time.

here in AZ, DPS is not gettin the chargers but instead, they are now buying the chevy impalas. I can not say anything bad about these CVs. sure they aint the quickest or the best out there but look at it like this. These officers (specially DPS) run these cars at an idle all day untill they get a speeder or are called on to something. From there its full throttle up to 120-130 mph to get there with a thousand pounds of gear, radios, computers, ect in the back. Now that car will hardly ever get into 4th gear at that speed in the hill we have here so your talkin RPMs at 4.5K to 5K for 40-60 miles at a time and not gettin hott. This goes on for 120,000 miles + in these cars day in and day out untill the officer gets a new car. Now i rarely see shot trannys in them let alone a overheating issure. In the 6 years ive been workin on these cars i have yet to replace a motor. They all ahve their little issues but every car does. I honestly cant believe these cars can hold up to what they do every day