TriShield

The cops get their most potent pursuit weapon since the spike strip



BY JARED GALL
September 2011

As evidenced by the law-enforcement community’s loyalty to the Ford Crown Victoria, dynamic prowess is not a high priority for police cruisers. Neither is interior space. In fact, the Crown Victoria’s success suggests that the only things police departments look for in their cruisers are a V-8 and rear-wheel drive.

Nevertheless, in the new Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle), the cops are getting much more than just any old rear-drive, V-8 sedan. They’re getting a stretched Pontiac G8, with all that car’s attendant strengths. And then some. The front struts were stiffened, as was every component in the rear suspension. Talking to the Caprice’s chassis engineers, you’d think they’d been developing a track package for the defunct G8. They say they focused mostly on strengthening transient response. Their new cruiser feels planted but will happily wag its tail when properly coaxed.

Officers transitioning into this car from a Crown Victoria are in for a surprise the first time they spin the bow tie’s steering wheel. What is this? Effort? Feedback? Revelation? A car this planted and responsive seems like overkill for patrolling broad, flat highways, but officers and troopers in twisty locales will be praying for pursuits.

Two Engines, One Price



Chevy will offer two engines in the Caprice PPV, a 3.6-liter V-6 and a 6.0-liter V-8. The six makes 301 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque; the eight ups the count to 355 and 384, respectively. The last V-8 Pontiac G8 we tested needed 5.2 seconds to get to 60 mph and 13.8 to rip through the quarter-mile. Figure on the 2012 Caprice needing a couple extra 10ths, thanks to a few additional pounds. The V-6 car should need an extra second to hit the same marks. Departments hoping to put on drifting exhibitions with their cruisers will have to opt for the V-6 car, as the V-8’s stability-control system can’t be fully disabled to keep the cops in the more-powerful cars from getting in over their heads.

Interestingly, the Caprice’s price with either engine will be the same $31,495—before contract and bid pricing enter the picture to lower it, anyway. Considering that the bulk of GM’s development costs for pushrod V-8s was amortized sometime in, oh, say, the early ’70s and that the V-6 is a modern—and recently developed—dual-overhead-cam aluminum piece with direct injection and variable valve timing, that actually makes some sense. It also leaves each department to choose more freely whether it wants the higher performance of the V-8 or the better fuel economy of the six. With the eight, the Caprice is rated at 15 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway. The V-6 car hasn’t been tested by the EPA yet, but figure on its bettering those numbers by a mpg in each category.

Both engines will be paired with six-speed automatics. Like the civilian G8, the transmission has a sport mode that holds gears longer and downshifts under braking, but we take issue with the name for that function. Shouldn’t it be “pursuit”? Or if two Ps on the shifter surround are going to be too confusing, maybe “chase”? As opposed to other police cars, which have their shifters relocated to the column—somewhat clumsily in the case of the Dodge Charger police car we drove—the Caprice’s shifter remains on the center console, albeit offset to the driver’s side next to the right leg. This is done to make room for computers, but we drove a car with the computer mounted on a pedestal that lifted it above the shifter, which seemed fine. The PPV will also be offered in a “detective package” set up for stealthier duty. In this car, the shifter remains where we remember it from the G8 and even retains its manual-shift gate. (We’d be impressed to see the in-car footage of an officer banging off manual shifts during a pursuit.)

An Important Fundamental Difference



With other police cars, there’s a long list of what’s been changed from the civilian version. But with the Caprice, the mere existence of the car is unique to the police market. In the U.S., there simply is no civilian version. Other than of course, our late Pontiac G8. The differences between this car and the G8 follow the usual police-duty script: upgraded suspension components, cooling system, and brake calipers, rotors, and pads. In the police market, the testing performed by the Michigan State Police and the California Highway Patrol is referenced by departments and posts throughout the country. Chevrolet says the Caprice’s braking performance was the best ever recorded in California’s testing. There’s also a second battery to power the myriad auxiliary systems in a police car, with an isolator between it and the primary battery to make sure the car always starts even after sitting on location with lights, computers, and cameras sucking juice.

The biggest difference between this car and that formerly known as the G8 is its size. Stretched 3.7 inches between the wheels—overall length is up 8.1—the Caprice has a startling amount of space inside. We’d be happy to sit in the back seat for overnight stakeouts, the 43.1 inches of legroom nearly equaling that of a long-wheelbase BMW 7-series. That volume shrinks significantly with the perp partition fitted, the most devastating loss being the total abolition of toeroom. But we’re not too upset by the discomforts forced on those who find themselves behind the glass in a cop car. Neither is Chevrolet, apparently, as the PPV only has curtain airbags in the front seat. Pipe down, ACLU. That’s because, with the partition blocking off the front and rear seats, the regular full-length curtain can’t deploy. Based on the number of times we’ve seen baddies on TV and in the movies bonk their heads getting into the back seat—we can only assume this is an accurate depiction—an external curtain airbag might be more useful anyway.

Now that the Ford Crown Victoria is dead and replaced by the Taurus, the rear-wheel-drive V-8 cop-car market is left exclusively to the Dodge Charger police car and the Caprice. We’ve heard a lot of cops gripe about not having enough space inside the Charger. We can’t see that complaint being very common in the Caprice, and there is no dynamic reason the Chevy shouldn’t be the go-to pick of police officers everywhere. The law-enforcement community is about to get a very effective tool.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

What a pompous *******.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

Agreed. Aside from the fact that he is also dead wrong (he may be correct when talking about the classic small block but NOT the LSx line).

zz4camaro1980

Huh? I agree its a bit of an exageration, but he is right... the Non Recoverable Engineering costs as well as new tooling required to design and build a relatively new engine is significantly higher when compared to tweaking the LSX platform. NRE and tooling usually takes years to recover.

Either way. I dont like it! (giving them something faster, not the car itself) I dont want the cops to be able to keep up. Give them all a Prius, it will save tax payers money on gas.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

Considering he said small block pushrod motors were amortized in the 70's, the LS series line of motors did not debut until the late 1990's, and the shared parts are exceptionally minimal. I would say he is dead wrong. He is implying that the LS series motor in that car is effectively no different than an SBC with a modern ECU and fuel injection. He is at best an idiot, at worst he knows better but took a shot at the motor becasue he feels Dual Cam/4 valve motors are always superior. MY point is basically it is an uneccessary jab thrown into an otherwise informative article.

88blackgt

Seriously if that sentence bothered you this much you should probably step back from the keyboard and take a walk around the block or something.

And he said "the bulk;" not exactly a precise definition. Its still a 16 valve OHC V8 with roughly the same dimensions so you could make a case for what he said.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

I think you meant to type OHV.
And "roughly the same dimensions"...well, "roughly" can be quite a subjective term.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...s/viewall.html

88blackgt

I did mean OHV. It is a very subjective term, the same way the author used "bulk."

My point is that this article is nothing to get riled up for. Most automotive journalists are by no means experts on a given platform or line. Its like worrying about Yahoo!Autos articles; they don't know any better just let it go lol. Not to mention he is picking out a single line using imprecise terms.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

True.

88blackgt

Have a feeling part of my previous post would be equated to bashing, which it wasnt at all, so I just deleted it.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (19)

These cars are only going to get a 2.92 rear end? It is even heavier than the G8 and with that rear it will end up being a dog. They also come with smaller tires than the G8, 235's.


http://www.chevroletcapriceppv.com/p...chure-2011.pdf

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

Well, I don't think anyone is claiming that it's going to be a fast car in general.
But as far as police cars/cruisers go, it's going to be (is) quite fast actually.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

I am not that riled up about it. Had time on my break for a commentary. Have to break up the mental monotony of working in Excel all day.

Although for arguements sake, he is paid to write about automobiles. This would be roughly akin to a baseball writer not knowing the difference between Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. They are roughly similar, they both played for the Yankees, were left handed, and their careers overlapped a little. Just playing a little devil's advocate.

88blackgt

You make too much sense for automotive journalism.

And to keep things going, would you really expect the sportswriter to know minor details of each professional player of the modern era?

But seriously I agree with you but we all know that isnt the case.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

Probably too much sense for modern (particularly internet) journalism.

That would be to much to expect. However, I would expect some decent research before making statements. Especially as this is a fact piece and not an opinion article. Considering the big deal that was made when the LS series was introduced, becasue it flew in the face of the OHC multi valve movement. As you said, all those things take effort, which is in short supply these days.

bizerk1

yes if they want fast police cruiser that is what chargers are for,lol. I have seen one already in person, a chevy dealer has one near me that was being prepped.