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Retired Leo driving instructor bought a Dodge!

40K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  Slidd 
#1 ·
Ive been retired out for about 3 years almost. Have a big pile of titanium and a cane to remind me of it every day.

anyways, the wife came home with a new SRT 392 Charger this weekend, and all I could do was laugh. I remember when the crown vics were being phased out and we were testing all the new options.
One was the dodge charger. Boy was it fast...boy could it not turn or stop.
Dodge had the stupid idea to have a special police tune on it that delayed the throttle or trans shifting if you pushed the throttle over a certain percentage... casing you to press harder and harder on the throttle...and then after a pause, BOOM, car would shift and give you max power. usually spinning the car mid corner or on exit.

We took some out on the street and it wasn't too long until the doors had a hard time opening and closing due to the chassis being bent... IA complaints from heads hitting the roof going into the back seat...

But they were fast in a straight line...

And we didn't go with them. nor the impala which I believe wants to kill anyone who drives it.

We bought some tahoes. which I loved, unless you had to turn... and then settled on the ford expeditions which came in as I was leaving.

I loved that old crown vic...

Anyways, I drove my wifes charger for about 10 miles and what a different car it is... Faster...,uch much...and boy can it turn and stop. I mean it feels huge...but it will still turn.

Probably the only car I would never want any of the PPV pieces on it LOL.

Now I need to debate putting my Sergeant stripes on the back of it and risk some socialist vandalizing it...
 
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#2 ·
Congrats on retirement, congrats on the Charger, and congrats on such a cool wife! :thumbs_u:
 
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#3 ·
Not retired but also a leo and driving instructor. You are correct in your assessment of today's police cars. Still love the crown vics. Most hated cop car for me was the 4.3 v8 caprices from 96, horrible. Dodges have almost always good in a straight line and can't turn or stop....remember the diplomat ahh. We drive the Ford Explorer ppvs. Good for my department. Have fun with the new car, hate you have to use a cane though.
 
#4 ·
Not a leo, worked for the city fleet maintenance garage for years though and I hated those damn things, I'll never understand the love for the Crown Vic beyond their ridiculous durability. Any way congrats on retiring and the new car!
 
#5 ·
Thank all. Yeah we had a few Caprices left over, and oh my what a boat. Tikibeast, the thing about the crown vics, was they handled pretty well, were great at long car chases, you could jump them, hit curbs... the motors when new are good, but most city maintenance shops due service like its a street car..not a constantly raced and beat up battle wagon.

Forget getting bushings replaced, let alone them pulling motors that have compression at 70...oh well... I worked for a big city. Every one has problems! I was lucky, one of my best friends from high school worked at the corps yard and helped me out a few times...but he would just tell me, or rather confirm horror stories.


Nothing better than a crown vic with 150K on the clock LOL!!! SMH
 
#7 ·
Thank all. Yeah we had a few Caprices left over, and oh my what a boat. Tikibeast, the thing about the crown vics, was they handled pretty well, were great at long car chases, you could jump them, hit curbs... the motors when new are good, but most city maintenance shops due service like its a street car..not a constantly raced and beat up battle wagon.

Forget getting bushings replaced, let alone them pulling motors that have compression at 70...oh well... I worked for a big city. Every one has problems! I was lucky, one of my best friends from high school worked at the corps yard and helped me out a few times...but he would just tell me, or rather confirm horror stories.

Nothing better than a crown vic with 150K on the clock LOL!!! SMH
I was always amazed as the abuse they would survive, but whenever I'd get a call to go pick a unit up I dreaded driving it back to the yard. Then again it was a small city with a small budget so the sloppy handling and the complete lack of acceleration might have been more to do with the rejected parts budgets I was submitting...but at the end of the day they just felt like dogs compared to my Grand Prix at the time. I still wish we could've gotten more money directed to our vehicle maintenance budget rather than...some of the other uses they found for the budget.
 
#8 ·
donyours have that sticker in the engine bay saying they have the special police transmission tune? If so, For the love of all that's holy, please use the stock transmission tuning!!! Lol!!!

when we eventually move to someplace normal like Idaho, I'll check in with the local chief and see if I can help out as an instructor. POST instructor cert's may no longer be valid, but I'd do anything to get back into the game any way possible. Small towns could use some big city knowledge and help. Plus I work cheap...let me go to the range and shoot your ammo!!!
 
#12 ·
I had a Tahoe as my Sgt's car for a bit ad I LOVED everything about that vehicle except turning.... Whoa frigging nelly.... That car did NOT like to turn... I test drove the explorers and they were nice in that they were easy to get in and out of. The crown vic, with all that gear, and ****ty crushed seats, became a bear to get in and out of. I wonder if anyone did a study on back strains from that car.

But the explorer, easy to get in and out, power was alright, better than a clapped out 150,000 mile crown vic....

....BUT.... they have the same problem the dodge chargers had...They are not battle wagons, they bend easy. You could hop a curb in a CV and no wear to the chassis. Do that in a harger or a explorer and the doors no longer opened or closed well if at all. The chassis bend real easy.
I would have loved the charger/Tahoe HP/TQ with the Tahoe transmission in a crown vic...That would have been awesome.

I had the joy of driving an old caprice for a quick minute. That fricking boat...when the transmission decided to do something (apparently tuned by the same people who did the chargers) that caprice got up and went...then it was hold on for dear life and pray to God that it would sway in the correct direction and then actually come to a stop in time. Lol! I am glad I never got into a pursuit in one of those things.

Id love to find me a mercury or crown vic interceptor package used that was never a police car.
 
#15 ·
The NOPD had Chevys and Fords forever but in 1981 a new police chief decided to order some new Dodge Diplomats. Those things were junk and they destroyed them on these streets in nothing flat! Went back to Ford and never looked back, that old LTD and the newer Crown Vics were some tough sob's.

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