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Only way I heard any of their gruff was when they'd bring one in needing a PTU, and ask me why they did away with the VIC. Troopers loved them. At least the ones who would chit chat about cars... At first they were head over heels for the chargers. HEMI? RWD?! Sign me up until encountering deer or actually having to stop a pursuit...
Their complaints PTU aside were with how they handled. They liked the ability they had to take off without roasting the rear tires, but did not like how they acted in snowy corners. One sheriffs dept had a lot of impalas that were fwd they hated them with a passion. Good for in town use, not good on curvy back country roads. When the contract or however it's decided, was up, they had switched to chargers. I wonder why? I wonder how many of those were AWD... I know they're available with it...
Vics for durability.
Power wise the hemi v8 of course. Either way when you want to chase someone with a sports car,gonna have to rely on a radio more than a throttle.
But most criminals drive crap anyways.
No I'm not that's their words. They didn't care for the new taurus not because of the interior, they didn't like how they handled, they much rather had RWD
AWD is not superior what so ever. Under steering comes with AWD. We could go to limerock a racetrack that's a road course near he border of NY/CT and we can have it out in he snow covered course. I'll take the crown Vic, you take the AWD taurus. I'm confident I'd not only make it many laps around without ending up in the wall but I'd pass you in a corner while that front end starts plowing from the under steer I'd be right on the gas pedal overtaking you on the inside all be it in Tokyo drift fashion between racing stock cars on dirt, and having been on limerock myself I'll even allow you a head start and a few dozen practice laps. If AWD surely was superior I'm sure many dirt track racers would be utilizing AWD. Or if FWD handled there would be more FWD cars... Watch the little 4 bangers at lebanon valley pull right up the banked corners wheels all the way to the locks turning left yet still going right/straight. Even some of the guys who snuck subaru imprezas that were N/A and AWD those cars did the same...
Rally cars, memory serves correct there were quite a few fast RWD cars back in it's formation that beat some of the times produced by modern AWD systems...
I don't like the crown Vic, I just give credit where credit is due. The crown Vic was built like a tank. And quite reliable aside from the EGR system faults the DPFEs would act up a lot cause the to idle rough, have sluggish acceleration. The cooling fans and control modules would burn up and cause them to over heat. (In typical ford fashion) if rear ended would go up in flames until the fire suppression recall was carried out... While the 4.6 leaves a lot to be desired, had ford ever put the drive train from a cobra in one for a pursuit vehicle... They would have had a winner.
Aside from that they were great I guess...
Read the links. The Michigan State Police tested the AWD Taurus against the CV on a track and the Taurus is much faster. I will happily race you around any racetrack in the world on snow/ice in an AWD Taurus against a RWD CV. The Taurus' performance superiority is well documented. Not my opinion - established, empirically proven fact. Are you aware that many high end exotic sports cars are now using AWD? As far as AWD/FWD understeer - easily solvable. I despise understeer and had a '09 WRX that was plagued with it. I installed an adjustable rear sway bar and dailed it in until I could induce oversteer at will.
Dirt track cars have no correlation to pavement driving. Do you think drifting is the fastest way around a road course? Fun - yes. Fast - no. Or maybe you're onto something. Perhaps you should contact the F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR organizations and tell them they've been doing it all wrong.
Read the links. The Michigan State Police tested the AWD Taurus against the CV on a track and the Taurus is much faster. I will happily race you around any racetrack in the world on snow/ice in an AWD Taurus against a RWD CV. The Taurus' performance superiority is well documented. Not my opinion - established, empirically proven fact. Are you aware that many high end exotic sports cars are now using AWD? As far as AWD/FWD understeer - easily solvable. I despise understeer and had a '09 WRX that was plagued with it. I installed an adjustable rear sway bar and dailed it in until I could induce oversteer at will.
Dirt track cars have no correlation to pavement driving. Do you think drifting is the fastest way around a road course? Fun - yes. Fast - no. Or maybe you're onto something. Perhaps you should contact the F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR organizations and tell them they've been doing it all wrong.
I didn't see the links before, ok so you've experienced the under steer the police complained about. See unlike you or me, police can't modify their patrol cars. Repair, recall sure. Add anything other than OEM components
No.
Staying directly on topic with AWD vs RWD in cop cars is one thing, no way shape or form is the current platform in the taurus a reliable or cost effective design. Ever see where the PTU sits? It's directly on top of the exhaust with not so much as a heat shield to protect it. Fluid burns PTU fails. Even with liquid cooling. (I'm a ford tech I know first hand)
There's a HUGE different between the PTU flawed system FoMoCo utilizes and what the likes of AUDI/Lambo use. Those are in leagues of their own. Light years apart from one another.
Of course "drifting" isn't the fastest way around an asphalt course. On dirt, yes. Slow down for a corner your getting pushed then spun out. So there's no arguing with you with nascar f1 and the like
But if you're in a snow storm chasing someone and the car starts plowing through a corner and you nail a ditch... What good is it? None. With the Vic you can throw that sucker sideways and keep right on going IF you know how to drive of course... And pursuits aren't always going to happen on a track of course. Let's face it, some departments aren't so keen on training for driving I don't recall the local dept sending guys to skip barbers school at lime rock to go run radar...
Would you agree that after modifying your subaru to oversteer that it was more controllable?
Or argue that unsersteer is acceptable?
And to touch the high end and luxury brands, how many of them have tire profiles that actually bite in snow and adverse conditions? I'm sure if you were to park a Lambo in the grass after a light rain storm and went to take off you'd spin all 4 tires without traction control on. Can't argue that low profile wide tires provide grip in that scenario, however on a road course like limerock it sure would...definitely not in a rainstorm. Would hydroplane like crazy...unless the tires had a radical tread design and depth to sling water correct? Not your run of the mill "all season" tires that just about every car leaves the showroom floor with...
Point making-AWD inherently under steers. Unsersteer is bad. Me mentioning Audi bmw etc 90% of them that were along the TSP in snow storm accidents had wide low pros. Even my current rig was rendered useless in the snow. Can get just as easily stuck or wrecked in AWD/4wd.
If yes, why would the troopers who've shared their complaints favor the Vic? Would it be due to how it handled? And make a point of it being RWD?
Or simply how it held up when in a pit maneuver or collision?
The chargers that were totaled out, of course nobody reported the speeds at which the collision with the deer or losing it in a corner were provided...
At any speed you could total a crown Vic too... But somehow they could and did clobber deer and could still drive. See many pursuit videos on YouTube with them whacking all sorts of vehicles and continue to keep going. Even bouncing them off medians and over rail road tracks off roading like they're in the baja going after runners...
Can't discredit it for being built stout... Make no mistake, I'm not a fan of the Vic. But if I had to choose between the Vic or modern taurus even for a daily driver. I'd protest in favor of the caprice/SS (LS series FTW) but take the Vic between the too.
If no understeer is easier to control
Why aren't F1 nascar etc not running feeble wheel drive or AWD?
Might wana give them a call you may be onto something j/k man.
Crown vic and any of its cousins. go for the town car for stealthiness, you just blend in.
there is one simple reason the crown vic is king, ease of repairs and parts, high working knowledge by mechanics.
there is a "brown wire mod" for the crown vics, look it up. it offers quick acceleration. Nice sticky tires, and maybe a coil spring/sway bar upgrade is all thats needed.
OP, you have started a few threads on the Crown Vic. If you want one, go buy one. Tons of folks across those threads have said they are practically bullet-proof. How much more approval do you need?
To answer the original question, neither. Both. It depends.
Crown Vic: The CV was/is a good car. Not great at anything really, but reliable and strong with its body on frame construction. In todays world, it is underpowered and outdated. Agencies still using them are desperate to get rid of them because they are now expensive and difficult to maintain as they age and need transmissions and rear ends. (Lots of hard left turns under acceleration eats the rear ends.) Cops loved them because the current generation of blue grew up in them. That was the primary vehicle for an entire generation and so they were the comfort zone they grew to love. They weren't really that great of a car.
Charger: Goes fast and looks sexy. Officers that use them day in and day out either love or hate them. If over 6' tall, they generally hate them. The Charger has two flaws that are major. Front end needs to be reworked on almost 100% and if OEM parts are replaced with MOOG torsion bars (and anything else that went bad) it will be fixed for life. OEM admits they are on 3rd generation components and still not as good as MOOG. The 2nd flaw is in the Hemi motor. Generally a great motor for average driver but a flaw in use as a PPV (Police Pursuit Vehicle) doesn't keep enough oil in the lifters on cylinder #3 and they eat camshafts. Literally 50% failure rate by 125k.
Bottom line: The "best" police vehicle depends on the use. Metro areas need a different vehicle than open highway cruisers. Cold weather and snow play a role, as well as shift times, are they shared vehicles or individually assigned? Is there a two man patrol or single officer? How much gear are they carrying? What is the pursuit policy? What is the agency policy on alt fuel or green initiatives? One size does NOT fit all departments.
Between your choices, the Charger is the better car due to the more advanced drivetrain.
No cop I know EVER liked the Crown Vic, they were slower and heavier than the 4th generation Chevy Caprice. Most police departments loved the LT1 powered Caprice, they hated it when GM discontinued them, and only went with the Crown Vic because they had no choice when updating their fleets.
So your entire premise is faulty... the Crown Vic became a cop car ONLY because GM stopped making the better option.
The Charger is faster, handles better, bigger, and much much much safer. The Crown Vic is a tin can on a frame.
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between racing stock cars on dirt, and having been on limerock myself I'll even allow you a head start and a few dozen practice laps. If AWD surely was superior I'm sure many dirt track racers would be utilizing AWD. Or if FWD handled there would be more FWD cars... Watch the little 4 bangers at lebanon valley pull right up the banked corners wheels all the way to the locks turning left yet still going right/straight. Even some of the guys who snuck subaru imprezas that were N/A and AWD those cars did the same... 
