Nice cop car! They always have one cop taking radar, and then another cop hiding in the Camaro behind a bush or building or something who chases you down. I've never been pulled over by it, but I've seen it on the highway.
The British police are using more and more Subarus as area cars. Not seen one myself. Volvos are popular as unmarked cars and motorway cars at the moment as they are rather fast and can take some abuse for TPAC.
Don't see why the US police use Crown Victorias though. It's mainly agility that's needed for police cars, not having a total yank tank. A (say) Focus RS could do the job and would probably own a Crown Victoria in a straight line. There's only one thing we do with them things in the UK ... we get that "car"'s stablemate, chainsaw it in half and make them in to stretch bloody limos (and now some loon thought it was a good idea to do it with a Hummer. Now that is dangerous).
There's plenty reasons why they drive them. If they drove a UK police car the way they drive those Crown Vics, the tracking and steering would be knackered, the suspension shot, the bodywork wrecked and the structural integrity of the car compromised.
Crown Vics are built on a separate chassis - unlike pretty much any car designed in the last 20 years, there's no monocoque. This gives them the ability to bash, ram, and bend the bodywork to a fairly huge extent, then just take it off and bolt a new wing/sill/bootlid on. I suspect a Crown Vic can take the kind of abuse that defies belief of people brought up on modern, lightweight monocoque cars. The sheer size of the car is probably necessary when you consider how much larger many cars are that are native to the North American market. You also have to consider that the Crown Vics of some police depts (I'm guessing the inner city precincts and suchlike, not the highway patrols) basically have to run 24/7, which is unheard of for a UK police car.
It has nothing to do with agility, and everything to do with how much abuse they can take, and consequently how much it costs to keep the fleet running.
Could have all the power in the world, yet it still won't go round a corner in a hurry or catch anything more than a kid on a pushbike, even then I think it would struggle.
Just shows what a useless piece of sh*t hummers really are. I know it's a totally different car, but my dad's MGRV8 has 510 less BHP, and can out-accelerate it.
Lemme guess the fuel economy of that Hummer... 1 mpg? On a good day maybe
Lamborghini Murcielagos are expensive, but they are ugly and heavy. It weighs as much as a midsize American car, for god sakes! What a boat. Ugly, also. All it is made for is showing off how much money rich people have. Only Lamborghini that is actually good is the Miura.
The french gendarmerie -had- this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMOkDQm9bwk
The reporter tells that that only special trained cops can drive the car. No criminal would outrun them now assures the fat cop (called poulain) inside!
Basically, if you live in the UK and you do something dodgy, a fat man in one of the following will track you down in between having fry-ups...
I remember reading the reason the Crown Vic's are used is that they are a pure workhorse - like a lot of American cars they are very sturdy (i.e. no crumple zone, aim is to be solid in an accident) and are very comfortable for long shift work.
My local 'Cop Shop' has an undercover Focus ST, the new shape one, in black, that lures you into a race then pulls you over and gives you a fine and some points. Nice of them. Bastards.
They also have a couple undercover BMW 5 series tourings...
