Competitors have arrive and gone, but the Ford Crown Victoria has dominated the police-car industry for years. By the time fleet product sales of your Crown Vic end in late 2011 (product sales towards the public stopped in 2008), nonetheless, the cop-car market will be awash with new autos. In addition to Ford’s personal Taurus-based Police Interceptor, Dodge will have a brand new police-spec Charger and Chevrolet will likely be peddling the Caprice PPV. To that list we can now add the Ford Police Interceptor Utility, a cop SUV based around the all-new Explorer (which, conveniently, shares a platform with the Taurus)!!
It’s the very first factory-modified Explorer police vehicle to arrive from the Blue Oval, despite the fact that there were aftermarket businesses that modified prior-generation Explorers for law-enforcement duty. As with all the civilian model, the typical engine is often a 3.5-liter V-6; front- and all-wheel drive will probably be obtainable. The engine can run on E85 and produces “at least” 280 hp; we can’t imagine it would make much less than the standard SUV’s 290 hp and 255 lb-ft. Ford says the Explorer is a minimum of 20 percent more fuel efficient than the outgoing Crown Victoria PI, which employed a thirsty 4.6-liter V-8.
From Factory-Stock to Cop-Tough
Police autos live a hard life, so Ford engineers made the requisite upgrades from inventory. The Interceptor Utility scores larger-than-stock brakes sitting behind 18-inch wheels, and Ford also installs a heavy-duty alternator, an enlarged radiator, and a liquid cooling system for the transfer case. As in the Taurus, the shifter has been relocated for the steering column to offer additional space for police gear in between the front seats. Those seats feature sculpted bolsters to accommodate holsters and belts; the rear bench seat can fold flat for more thug-stacking space—or a lot more conventional storage—and is upholstered in vinyl for less complicated cleaning.
Common gear includes stability control, a backup camera, parking sensors, a blind-spot warning system, Curve Control, plus the Sync infotainment system—presumably to make deciding on appropriate chase music less distracting. The buttons around the steering wheel may be reconfigured to operate add-on police equipment for instance lights and sirens.
The true king of police SUVs has long been the Chevrolet Tahoe, whose body-on-frame development and hefty V-8 engine make it a popular choose for police departments’ hauling wants. (There also was a police version in the Dodge Durango, however it was far much less prosperous.) It is going to be interesting to see how the Explorer Police Interceptor, with its smaller size, unibody construction, and V-6 engine, is received by veteran officers.
The Explorer PI will be constructed alongside the Taurus-based police vehicle—and civilian versions of the two—at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant; each should enter service toward the end of 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment