Police Interceptor Part Duex  - "What Ifs"

By: Sheriff Buford T Justice 
last updated 7/24/03

96+ SHO Police Pursuit What If

Say one does have a POLICE INTERCEPTOR badge on their fender, actually let’s assume they have 96+ SHO and they would like to know how their car would run against a real police interceptor, just out of natural curiosity because we all know one can’t out run the police radio.

One could visit the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center www.nlectc.org and download the latest "Michigan State Police Test of 2000 Patrol Vehicles," year 2000 that is - because the choices for patrol are limited to 6 cars and 4 SUVs.

From quickest to slowest, for the year 2000 they are.

• Chevy Camaro (5.7L SFI) in stick or automatic.

• Volvo S70 T5 (2.3L PFI Turbo) sedan or Wagon.

• Chevy Impala (200 HP 3.8L V6) replaces the Caprice.

• Ford Police Inceptor (4.6L DOHC SFI) which is a Crown Vic.

• Jeep Cherokee (4.0L) – 2WD or 4WD

• Ford Expedition – (5.4L) 4WD

• Ford Explorer – (4.0L) - 2WD

So how do they run and compare to a 3^rd Gen SHO?

Times are in seconds.

All tests performed sans light bar and the normal trunk full of essential departmental junk. All cars top speed limited by chip, one should not assume any vehicle is out of steam at their chip-imposed limit.

Using numbers from the July 96 Road & Track SHO road test, the Camaro is noticeably quicker than the SHO. We could guess that.

The SHO is quicker off the line then the Volvo turbos, then the Volvo is faster at speeds above 65 mph. Is that odd? The SHO is not known to be fast out of the hole and my parent’s T5 feels like a beast off the line? The difference between a SHO and T5 Volvo is very small and may not be important; I have never seen a patrol Volvo in use. With mods the SHO might skunk the Volvo except at altitude where the turbo maintains HP levels. The Volvo sedan only weighs 3320 lbs. and makes the same HP as a 3^rd Gen SHO.

Next are the Ford Interceptor and the Impala. Either is 2 seconds slower 0-70. The Impala weighs 100 lbs. more then the Gen 3, the Ford Interceptor weighs 500 lbs. more than the SHO. They are 15-20 mph slower on top speed if they don’t have a light bar or other external junk (like antenna or A pillar spotlight). Both of the cars are chip-limited.

The 99 and prior Crown Vics had a 2.73 final gear ratio, which put it in the SUV performance category. It took forever for them to get to speed.

So how come they seem so quick? My theory is it is because the drivers don’t pay for their own gas or for repairs. Even at 2 seconds faster 0-70 – It is different situation winning a street drag by 2 lengths, or an unhappy patrol car one length off their rear plate. Ask me how I know this to be true. ;-)

The Jeep police SUVs out-run the Ford police SUVs. Neither can touch a SHO unless you choose to do a lot of off-roading in your SHO.

"Vehicles were driven on a 1.635-mile road-racing course containing hills, curves and corners and except for the absence of traffic simulates actual pursuit conditions" – ok, and they did not take the Ford SUVs on the track because Ford does not recommend them for pursuit work. Makes sense to me. One and a half miles in 90 seconds equals 60 mph so 1.636 miles in 1:20 or 1:27 indicates average lap speeds of ~ 70 mph. Note that the spread of times is only 7 seconds and if we assume the SHO is on par with the Volvo it again splits the difference between the Camaros and the Ford - Chevy sedans.

Using information from the MLECTC most recent (1999) test of Patrol Vehicle tires the Impala on best tires generates .694 "G" on a 200’ diameter dry test circle. The best Ford Police Interceptor was .688 "G" on the same dry test circle. Car and driver (July 96) rates the SHO at .79 "G"; and that is with the small OE anti-roll bar.

Best speed for the Impala for a dry 700’ slalom is 54.5 mph, the Ford Interceptor best was 53.41. Road and Track (July 96) reports the SHO speed for a 700’ slalom as 61.0 mph, much faster. Are the slalom laid out the same – are the times comparable? I don’t honestly know, I think they are.

I have 3 lessons I would like to share.

• One could assume from the above that the OE SHO should handle much better than either police sedan. I one had occasion to follow 2 MD marked cars across the MD pan handle (I-68) at speeds of about 100 mph for and extended period of time with my scanner on. They were having fun "doing the mountains" at a velocity I found it very challenging. They obviously knew the roads well and the cars were comfortable at those speeds. Flying blind into an interstate sweeper at 110 with a 1000-ft drop-off past the guard-rail is not as easy or relaxing as one may first assume.

• Second I have a poor man’s G meter. A 2" Saint Benedict hanging from my rear view mirror. It is a heavy bugger and spiritual advantages aside the tangent the angle chain makes from plum indicates G forces. Typical cornering forces are almost never near the theoretical .79-.80 limit. If you tried this, the first corner with an uneven surface, oil spot or dirt would send you into a guard-rail in a flash. Having an advantage and using the advantage under street conditions are two very different things.

• Someone who would know said the police don’t chase drivers, they just follow a driver from a safe distance and wait for the pursued to make a serious mistake, then swoop in and collect the pieces and do the paper work. Recommended follow distance is a few hundred yards. If the police spot a car a few hundred yard, a two car length performance advantage does not amount to much. Ya can’t out run the radio …

From MLECTC again "As can be seen from the California pursuit data for the 3- year period of 1994 through 1996. A collision occurred in 26 percent of all pursuits. Over one-half of all pursuit-related collisions occurred in pursuits lasting 1 to 2 minutes; more than 73 percent occurred in pursuits lasting 1 to 4 minutes; 83 percent of the collisions occurred in pursuits lasting 6 minutes or less."

In case you don’t get it, the chance of a person wrecking their car and getting in a huge amount of trouble running from the police is real high. My argument is that the SHO is a better car, not that running from the police ever works. Ya can’t out run the radio…

so …

Hey, lets be safe out there!

DISCLAIMER, this study was undertaken out of academic curiosity, nothing here should be interpreted in any way as encouragement to do anything stupid, reckless, irresponsible and criminal on public roads. Those sorry criminal pukes dumb enough to run from law enforcement will be caught, prosecuted. Running from the police is illegal, immoral and not very smart. Those who do risk their life and the lives of police and other innocent bystanders deserve whatsoever they get in court. If you read this and go out and hurt somebody the chair is too good for you.

From the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center for model year
2001:

"Ford beefed up the Police Interceptor with a new 235-horsepower 4.6L V8 engine and reconfigured last year's rear axle ratio of 3.55:1 to 3.27:1 for improved fuel economy. Ergonomic and safety improvements include improved seats with power lumbar adjustment offered on the driver's side, a weapons cut-out feature added to both front seats, and optional adjustable-position accelerator and brake pedals. For personal safety, Ford engineers have designed an advanced restraint system that works via a combination of seat belt pretensioners, dual-stage air bags, and seat position sensors that adjust air bag deployment speeds. The sensors monitor both the seat position and the passenger weight of the seat occupant. "

AM General Hummer has a 0-90 time of NEVER but is rated for pursuit work.

Ignoring the SUV's because they don't change much and are not all that fast.