based on my limited experience with them in the driving courses... they feel like more of a drivers car, in that you can make them do what you want it to do, rather than the charger feeling like you have less say so with it wanting to assist you. then again, i like good ol' threshold breaking with no abs, and no power steering, or traction control and determing my own maneuvers with the input i get from the car.Best LEO car ever IMO. I do like the new caprice though. I hate the impalas and I hate my charger, the V6 is terrible.
we have hybrid escapes too, lol... definitely not meant to be patrol vehicles. we had a chase a couple months ago and the escape ended up about 5 minutes behind in a 15 minute chase. one of them got outran and left by a ford work van :nonono:
all of our chargers have a hemi... but that may change with the new chief since he came from a department with v6 chargers, and seems to like them. he seems like he'll be an excellent chief though, so i won't complain.
I respectfully disagree though the Impala is close. I went back a few years since the Crown Vic has been phased out, but I'd consider this data from the Michigan State Police testing more accurate since it takes place on a closed course and it doesn't rely on a driver to look down at the speedo at 100+ on a public road:
Top Speed of police cars (mph):
Crown Vic PI 4.6L (3.27 gears) - 129
Crown Vic PI 4.6L (3.55 gears) - 120
Charger 3.5L - 137
Charger 5.7L - 146
Impala 3.9L - 139
Tahoe - 133
data from here: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/m...tion_Top_Speed_and_Brake_Testing_304540_7.pdf
Sorry guys, I know you all have a soft spot in your heart for the Crown Vics but they are slow, even the Tahoe was quicker/faster. 250 hp doesn't move a 4500+ lb brick very well
i wouldn't claim a crown vic is fast, but it feels a lot better at speed (in my limited experience with it) and far better on the driving course than the impala. i notice that testing shows brake fade on the impala... it's noticeable. i wish that testing showed a slalom, and skidpad.