http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/...pd_muscle_cars

NYPD Adds Dodge Muscle Car to Its Fleet

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Feb 9, 6:48 PM ET

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NEW YORK - The New York Police Department is adding some muscle to its car fleet: the 2006 Dodge Charger, whose 1969 model is best remembered for outrunning a hapless sheriff in "The Dukes of Hazzard."

The department plans to buy 15 police versions of the car for a pilot program that will begin this summer, officials said Thursday.

With so many flashy foreign cars on the road, speed matters, said Leonard Lesko, the NYPD's director of fleet services.

"The car that does 110 mph doesn't do it anymore," Lesko said.

In a recent analysis by Michigan State Police, Chargers equipped with a V-8 engine had the quickest acceleration (6.52 seconds to 60 mph) and fastest lap time (150 mph) of any police vehicle tested.

The police highway unit will test drive 10 Chargers featuring V-8 engines, officials said. The rest will have V-6s and hit city streets in the five boroughs.

If they pass inspection, they could replace hundreds of squad cars in the NYPD's 3,000-vehicle patrol fleet, now dominated by Ford Crown Victorias and Chevrolet Impalas.

The Charger appeared in 1966. Over the next several years, it made an impact on the stock car circuit and on television, starring as the General Lee, an orange 1969 model, in "The Dukes of Hazzard."

The price was being negotiated. A company Web site lists the civilian model's starting price at $22,995. Modified police models typically are sold to law enforcers at a discount.

 

Looks like Ford is falling on police vehicles too. It's about time... Crown Vics are too old


-Matt-

 

It's just time. Every 8-10 years they change the Police cruisers. The early to mid 90's were the Caprices, then the late 90's till now were the Crown Vics.....and you have a bunch of little Insepid I mean Intrepids/Impalas as police cruisers as well. They need something with a lil more grunt. Although the new Impala does have a V8 and 300hp.

 

New York cruisers lead a rough life! Seems like a waste to abuse these babies this way. It's also bad news for the bad guys!

 

I might be the only one... but I don't wanna see Chargers as police cars... I know everytime I see a Crown Vic, Impala etc, I slow down in case it' the police... I don't wanna have to be all cautious when I see a Charger... I wanna speed up to it and check it out...

 

I had a cop challenge a friend of mine in his slightly modified Eclipse. At first my friend shook his head emphatically "no" the cop held up what looked like a ticket and ripped it in half. My friend sorta shrugged his shoulders at the cop and smiled a bit. My friend decided to go for it. The cop took off mighty quick, quicker than my friend did. I think he was holding off a bit, but the cop would probably have still beat him even if my friend had jumped on it.

 

I rarely slowdown for any cop, cept when they are on the side of the road pulling someone over. I basically just set my cruise to less then 10 over anyhow...so I'm golden! [8D]

 

I like the brilliant drivers who go into a nose dive the moment they see a cop. Watch me drive irratically! Duh!

 

about time, those damn fors couldnt outrun a geo ( not literaly )

 

Actually the current Impala police package is only going to offer the 3.9L 242hp V6 and the 303hp V8 is not going to be offered. I remember reading in an older article at allpar, that the primary reason why they were getting Impalas was the fact that with the 3800 II series V6, they were able to get the best fuel economy and the Impala was able to out break in a shorter distance than either the Intrepid or Crown Victoria. They valued this over acceleration because they claimed you wouldn't be able to drive any faster than 45 mph in the city.

Now the 3.9L is rated at getting the same fuel economy as the 3.5L powered Charger does, so they lost that advantage. For some reason, Chevy did something to screw up the breaks because it takes the Impala a lot longer distance to stop in there test than the Charger or Crown Vic (both of which weigh more). With the fact that the Charger is RWD, they will probably fall in love with the Charger since it won't have the torque steer the Impala has. I think the Impala is going to fall out if they don't give it some advantage in the market against one of the two cars.

I hope the Charger takes the police market away from Ford. They need to be pulled off the government's budget so then they are forced to make cars that appeal to the mainstream american like the LX platform has done.