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In my area its the opposite effect. They start acting stupid around look-alike cop cars. They do it to 2 of my family members, ones got a Charger the other a Merc Grand Marquee, which looks almost exactly like a Crown Vic.
"The Police Effect: Dodge Charger"
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I thought this might have been the case for people who own chargers, but I don't know if it's more noticeable when a non-owner drives it.
A co-worker of mine rented a charger for the week he went to Florida and had a story to tell. The side story was more interesting (it's the only part I remember) and it included what I'm just dubbing "the police effect". He said it was crazy, when he rented the car, people would just get out of his way as he went about his business. He found it very noticeable.
I guess the Charger commandeers traffic quite a bit. Owners experience this? Sounds like a nice perk!
A co-worker of mine rented a charger for the week he went to Florida and had a story to tell. The side story was more interesting (it's the only part I remember) and it included what I'm just dubbing "the police effect". He said it was crazy, when he rented the car, people would just get out of his way as he went about his business. He found it very noticeable.
I guess the Charger commandeers traffic quite a bit. Owners experience this? Sounds like a nice perk!
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They might want to act carefully around a Charger. Quite a few local and state police agencies are using "plain wrapper" Chargers. Could be embarrassing and expensive!
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See also Chevy Caprice, along with (usually) all-black or white Chevy Tahoes.
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Sometimes.
My area is interesting as it's 5 jurisdictions and 2 states where im at. Hate to say d.bags in one county here love to race you in their Chargers (even if it a 3.5!) the cops drive older GMs old and new Ford PIs , in another county Charger is the #1 cop car but mostly marked Impala/ CVs for unmarked.
The city is trying out Dodge again (the last time they had Dodge was the Diplomat! ) but there marked, mostly PI/PIU.
The highway cops in both states it's either the CV, Tahoe, Caprice or Charger (non-turbo Taurus only in urban areas) .
In other words Chargers don't really bat an eye here as cop cars.
The city is trying out Dodge again (the last time they had Dodge was the Diplomat! ) but there marked, mostly PI/PIU.
The highway cops in both states it's either the CV, Tahoe, Caprice or Charger (non-turbo Taurus only in urban areas) .
In other words Chargers don't really bat an eye here as cop cars.
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1,109 Posts
I get a lot of stares with my '13.
It doesn't help that I just swapped my 17" aluminums for new 18" steelies with full wheel covers and 245/55 rubber.
Our state patrol and most of the surrounding counties use the Charger, so it's as bad as driving an old Dip or Fury when they were still in service.
I think most people know that the SXT/RT models have fancier trim, wings, chrome wheels, etc.
The only thing different between my SE and a Pursuit is the grille - mine is chrome, the Pursuits (except the Street Appearance pkg) are all flat black.
It doesn't help that I just swapped my 17" aluminums for new 18" steelies with full wheel covers and 245/55 rubber.
Our state patrol and most of the surrounding counties use the Charger, so it's as bad as driving an old Dip or Fury when they were still in service.
I think most people know that the SXT/RT models have fancier trim, wings, chrome wheels, etc.
The only thing different between my SE and a Pursuit is the grille - mine is chrome, the Pursuits (except the Street Appearance pkg) are all flat black.
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Most of the time I'm not more than 5mph over the limit, so it doesn't effect me one way or the other. I do see a LOT of the local idiots throw on the brakes when they see a black or white Charger though. City uses black ones here and the county Sheriffs dept uses white ones.
I've have quite a few friends that work in law enforcement and jamming the brakes like that gives them a big clue you're probably speeding and they are more inclined to flip on the lights. Especially if they can see the front end dip due to the heavy braking action.
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Well, with today's LIDAR, any sudden change in speed will be immediately obvious. Even with older Doppler radar, the change in pitch was very obvious. The one thing about older Mopars with torsion bars up front - most of them didn't dip, or dipped very little, if you stood on the stop pedal. Even the newer LX/LD cars barely dip.
If I met a cop back in the day, instead of mashing the brake pedal, I would watch the mirror to see if the cop hit his brakes - the idea being I wouldn't attract any attention or disrupt the flow of traffic. That kinda worked until they started using brake-light cut off switches. Then you had to watch and see if they were visually slowing or attempting to make a u-ee. Most of the time, I'd get lucky and traffic was too heavy or the road condition or weather was poor, and the cop kept going.
If I met a cop back in the day, instead of mashing the brake pedal, I would watch the mirror to see if the cop hit his brakes - the idea being I wouldn't attract any attention or disrupt the flow of traffic. That kinda worked until they started using brake-light cut off switches. Then you had to watch and see if they were visually slowing or attempting to make a u-ee. Most of the time, I'd get lucky and traffic was too heavy or the road condition or weather was poor, and the cop kept going.
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