In the 1st paragraph of this page, the author says "Among the things that made the Crown Vic so popular was its rear-wheel drive, which made it easy for officers to avoid spin-outs and drive over curbs and other elevated obstacles."

Why is RWD better in avoiding spin compared to FWD ?

Correct me if im wrong, but:
When a car is accelerating, the weight is shifted to the back of the car, pushing the rear wheels into the ground so they will be less likely to spin.

Now, you can see why front wheel drive would be likely to spin, because the weight would be at the other end of the car, taking the weight off the front.

Absolutely true if it was "RWD made it easy for officers to avoid WHEEL-SPIN".

But the passage was talking about "SPIN-OUT", or "oversteer a lot and lose control", which often happen on RWDs with too much throttle applied.

If the journalist meant to "save" the drift(by countersteering) then yes, if he wasn't then he was bs'ing.

They were so lethargic to drive it was almost impossible to spin one anyway, which wheels are the powered ones also has no bearing on how well a vehicle goes over curb stones and raised obstacles. That is all down to how compliant the suspension is, which in the Crown Vic is like a fresh sponge cake and how strong the components used to glue the wheels to the car are. The V8 was hardly worth mentioning either (other than to give Red Necks boners), thanks to the god awful slush box and the poor tuning of said engine it had no poke and god help you if you tried to slow down in a hurry. You needed a football field to do it.

The only reason for hanging onto Crown Vics for so long (if you ignore the fact Yanks hate advancements in technology) was the cheapness of them and the ladder chassis, which made repairs easier/cheaper.

I'm not sure why a Sheriff in the article was surprised by Ford discontinuing the Crown Vic though. They announced back in '08 (maybe earlier) they were going to stop selling the Crown Vic to anyone but fleet buyers (taxi firms and law enforcement) everyone else having to buy it's posher Lincoln sister and the Vic would follow some years later after Ford made a suitable alternative.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

I'm not sure why a Sheriff in the article was surprised by Ford discontinuing the Crown Vic though. They announced back in '08 (maybe earlier) they were going to stop selling the Crown Vic to anyone but fleet buyers (taxi firms and law enforcement) everyone else having to buy it's posher Lincoln sister and the Vic would follow some years later after Ford made a suitable alternative.

but everyone started buying the impala instead.

I'm sure I've heard the term "spinning out" as a substitute for "wheel spinning" in American TV shows (ice road truckers springs to mind actually, although that might be Canadian, not sure), that must be what is meant here.

Quote from sinbad :

I'm sure I've heard the term "spinning out" as a substitute for "wheel spinning" in American TV shows (ice road truckers springs to mind actually, although that might be Canadian, not sure), that must be what is meant here.

burn out

Quote from RiseAgainstMe! :

burn out

There's also "spinning your wheels," but that's usually said in relation to lack of progress in general, not necessarily related to cars.

I've never heard someone refer to wheel spin as "spinning out."

Quote from bunder9999 :

but everyone started buying the impala instead.

I can't blame them, the 2nd Gen Crown Vic and the 8th Gen Impala are some of the few American cars I'd happily own if they were sold in right hook guise (the rest are SUVs and pickup trucks). They aren't drivers cars and the interior is lacking compared to European vehicles, but something about them, I quite like.

Quote from Keling :

Absolutely true if it was "RWD made it easy for officers to avoid WHEEL-SPIN".

But the passage was talking about "SPIN-OUT", or "oversteer a lot and lose control", which often happen on RWDs with too much throttle applied.

Oops, my bad, sorry

Quote from Forbin :

I've never heard someone refer to wheel spin as "spinning out."

"Spinning up" maybe, and someone mis-hearing?

Naw, I noticed that too in IRT. Semi going up an icy hill at 10 mph, spinning its wheels and "spinning out". Quite a frequent commentary in the series. Canadians are just weird, eh

I would say in my FZR Experience it's much more easier to ram a vehicle with RWD than FWD because even if you **** up the front of a crown vic (IT doesn't happen, trust me) you can still throw power down where in a FWD you wouldn't (As effectively.), Try it yourself, P.I.T Manovuer and ram AI with a FXO and a XRT, I guarantee you the XRT will still be driving after a few good bashes where the FXO would be having heavily hindered steering.

I've rode in alot of fleet crown vics. (Even drove one, around a parking lot, almost crashed. ^^) They are very heavy cars, It's like a building on four springs, I suppose power can be put on the ground better in RWD.

Forgot I left the liquor in the kitchen, sorry guys for the post above.

Quote from Keling :

In the 1st paragraph of this page, the author says "Among the things that made the Crown Vic so popular was its rear-wheel drive, which made it easy for officers to avoid spin-outs and drive over curbs and other elevated obstacles."

Why is RWD better in avoiding spin compared to FWD ?

???

What a weird article. The only reason why US police agencies were so obsessed with the Crown Vic is only historical. Big, spacious, reliable, rides comfortably (important if you spend all day on vehicle patrol), proven police-pack modifications, good pricing, and yes - RWD!

Why is RWD good for law enforcement? There are a few reasons:

• RWDs are generally better for evasive or offensive manoeuvres than a FWD: J-turns (a sharp U-turn performed in reverse), PIT, tactical ramming (for protection escorts) in particular. The only exception are bootlegs (a U-turn using a handbrake), which are actually easier with FWD.
  
• RWDs sustain front-end damage better than FWD.
  
• High-speed chases put a LOT of load on front-tyres. You're less likely to blow out the tyres in a RWD than a FWD in such situations.

If riding over curbs was ever an issue, AWD would be better.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

They were so lethargic to drive it was almost impossible to spin one anyway, which wheels are the powered ones also has no bearing on how well a vehicle goes over curb stones and raised obstacles. That is all down to how compliant the suspension is, which in the Crown Vic is like a fresh sponge cake and how strong the components used to glue the wheels to the car are. The V8 was hardly worth mentioning either (other than to give Red Necks boners), thanks to the god awful slush box and the poor tuning of said engine it had no poke and god help you if you tried to slow down in a hurry. You needed a football field to do it.

...

You don't need a NFS-HP style 600hp+ patrol car to pull over a driver who happened to cross the double yellow line by mistake. Even if the suspect does get crazy and want a hot run, 9 times out of 10 he/she doesn't know much about sporty driving. Performance is not important at all in most cases.

At $21500 you can buy a Impreza WRX. At $25000 (Impala's Price) 400hp Mustang V8 is available. But those cars won't help much in patrolling.

Quote from samjh :

...

Why is RWD good for law enforcement? There are a few reasons:

• RWDs are generally better for evasive or offensive manoeuvres than a FWD: J-turns (a sharp U-turn performed in reverse), PIT, tactical ramming (for protection escorts) in particular. The only exception are bootlegs (a U-turn using a handbrake), which are actually easier with FWD.
  
• RWDs sustain front-end damage better than FWD.
  
• High-speed chases put a LOT of load on front-tyres. You're less likely to blow out the tyres in a RWD than a FWD in such situations.

...

Isn't FWD better for J-turn ? With some throttle you can turn much faster than a RWD.

Your 3rd point reminds me of another issue:
Those cars have very understeery suspension setting, which means higher anti-roll stiffness on the front end. When cornering, the weight transfer between the front wheels will be higher than that on the rear. With RWD you enjoy more evenly distributed weight on driving wheels and therefore better power delivery. The police interceptor version of Crown Vic has LSD, but I don't think it can solve the problem completely if the car was FWD.

Quote from Keling :

You don't need a NFS-HP style 600hp+ patrol car to pull over a driver who happened to cross the double yellow line by mistake. Even if the suspect does get crazy and want a hot run, 9 times out of 10 he/she doesn't know much about sporty driving. Performance is not important at all in most cases.

At $21500 you can buy a Impreza WRX. At $25000 (Impala's Price) 400hp Mustang V8 is available. But those cars won't help much in patrolling.

a 21500$ wrx?? in canada the 2.5i is 21000$, wrx is 38000$ and the STi is 41000$

Cad != usd

Usd != 21,500 wrx

Quote from PMD9409 :

Usd != 21,500 wrx

That's a lot of Subarus. :'D

Quote from Töki (HUN) :

That's a lot of Subarus.

probaly the Chinesek nockoffs

Quote from Keling :

You don't need a NFS-HP style 600hp+ patrol car to pull over a driver who happened to cross the double yellow line by mistake. Even if the suspect does get crazy and want a hot run, 9 times out of 10 he/she doesn't know much about sporty driving. Performance is not important at all in most cases.

In most cases they don't need guns either. But they still carry one all the time.
Just give it a rest. RWD is better than FWD. And it's not about the amount of power the car has it's about the amount of power you can get down to the road in any situation.

I never said FWD was better than RWD, but the arguments for it in that article are BS. And a the Crown Vic was never a great police car in terms of putting down its power, handling or braking. But police forces didn't change them for the same reasons cabbies in NY don't want to move away from the Crown Vic. They are seen as iconic to the trade.

Quote from Dygear :

Cad != usd

As it stands CAD is worth more than USD. So it should be cheaper in Canada than America.