Reviewing the competition

Since I can’t seem to get any cars from Chrysler, here are a couple of hot GM cars:

Buick Regal
Chevrolet Cruze

The state of the art: police cars

Motor Trend reported that Chevrolet engineers are hustling to fix the shift selector location in the upcoming Chevrolet PPV Caprice. In our preview of the PPV, we made specific reference to the console location of the transmission shift selector on two different occasions. We were skeptical about it at that location. Whether it is booty, bottles, bodies, or bombs, things tend to get tossed into center sections of Police Cars. Certain implements, like gear selectors, would be interfered with there!

Chevrolet bragged that they had expended two years on development of the Caprice PPV vehicle front seats. They should have spent about 6 less months and worked on fitting a steering column mounted gear selector a la Dodge Charger instead. Now they are scrambling to get it fitted. Things like machine tools, production lines, training installers, and costing take a bit of time to accomplish, given when engineering is done. Looks like the cops have scored another one. But, they know what works in their equipment.

Speaking of cops, the new Ford Taurus Police Interceptor has been unveiled. It was widely rumored that this was the vehicle that Ford intended to utilize to try to capture the loss of the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor when production ends for it in August 2011. It should be pointed out, to date, not one: REPEAT: NOT ONE police agency has used a turbocharged engine as their standard patrol vehicle. They break, as all police vehicles tend to do occasionally. A turbo just costs that much more to fix, and police chiefs and vehicle management folks really don’t appreciate the costs associated with those fixes. Ford might better find ways to improve the power of the V-6 in normal aspiration forms, and hope it would be able to run up near the Dodge and new Caprice (and possibly Carbon) in 2011. Or, start working on a V-8 that will fit the Taurus. We don’t think it will work, unless perhaps Ford tosses in FREE turbocharger repairs if you buy one.

Curtis Redgap is a retired Sheriff’s lieutenant.

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