Current State of the Squads
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Present and future Dodge squad cars
The Dodge Charger is offered with a police package in the 2006 model year. There have been many orders for demo and pilot units, and deliveries are finally starting en masse. Visit our Dodge Charger squad car page, with full testing results by two police testing agencies.
The standard 3.5-liter High Output V-6 engine on the Magnum and Charger police package has 250 horsepower and 250 lb-ft. of torque, and is coupled to the Mercedes five-speed electronic automatic, with 18-inch V-rated tires and steel wheels, heavy-duty police brakes and linings and heavy-duty suspension. The Hemi with cylinder deactivation is available, but the 3.5 liter engine performs roughly as well as the current Ford Police Interceptor V8, while getting an additional 2 mpg on both city and highway, and stopping about ten feet faster from 60 mph. The price of the Charger squad varies from $1,000 to $4,000 above the Ford, but performance is far better even with the 3.5 (where cornering and braking carry the day).
The 2006 Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger police packages include a certified speedometer, column shifter, emergency rear door lock override, heavy-duty five-link suspension system, heavy-duty alternator, heavy-duty battery, heavy-duty brakes, inoperable rear door locks and rear windows, and special police electrical wiring. Optional equipment includes daytime running lamps, dual spot lamp, police-type heavy-duty front seats with manual lumbar adjustment and full-size spare tire. Pictured above is a prototype version donated to the Auburn Hills police department (with a few others) by Chrysler, presumably for field testing.
One observer wrote:
Dodge's biggest problem right now is the dealer service network. They've got an excellent product, but their service network is the weak link in the chain and the folks in the field know it. A friend said he has a number at the factory in Dearborn that he can call and immediately talk to a 'real person' when he has an issue with a Ford. He said the local Dodge dealer won't even return messages left on voice mail.
The folks that had/have Intrepids [told me] it's a 'love/hate' relationship at best, but all agree that they're better than the Impalas. Folks seemed encouraged that the new Charger is on the rear-drive LX platform, but the fact that it's a uni-body and the trunk is a bit lacking may put some people back a bit. Chrysler will eventually take a share of Ford's police car market, but I don't think it'll be 'by storm' like they'd hoped.The new 3.9 liter 240 hp engine in the Impala ran well at Chelsea [141 top end], but at Grattan I think what it gained on the straight, it lost in the cornering and the brakes were horrible! It may be a problem in the anti-lock software, because the problem arises in the last 20 mph of deceleration.
This Chevy 240 HP 3.9 liter V6 motor is a new engine for 2006 with variable valve timing and is not an upgrade of the old 3.8 liter motor that has been around for eons. They indicated that there were still some 'developmental issues' with the police version of the V8 Impala.
The 4.6 liter Ford V8 is the only one that suffers from a lack of low-end torque, because of the overhead cam and only 281 cubic inches. The old LT1 Caprice had oodles of low end and you could throttle steer it around some corners, where you can't do that with the smaller Ford motor.
I spent about 1000 miles in a Charger R/T [both as driver and passenger] and I'm impressed with the power and the capacity of the brakes. The car I was in was set up as an 'unmarked' and was used as the 'hands on' demo. The car had [a decent number of] miles on it at the time and they'd been very hard miles. The engine was familiar with the rev-limiter in top gear and the anti-lock feature on the brakes had seen its share of use too. Every time the car came back from a road test, the brakes and the cats were stinking. Even with all that abuse, the rotors still looked like mirrors. Looks like the brake issue from the Intrepids has been solved…From what I can gather, nothing in the way of police cars [Magnum or Charger] are being shipped to anyone (December 2005). Nobody in the dealer network that I have has even seen as much as a Charger police car demo. A fleet guy has one on order, but says he's had two demo orders canceled by the factory. He got the county bid and the Sheriff says he wants ten vehicles, and another municipal agency has 'piggybacked' four more on the county bid. Dave is tearing what little he has left of his hair out by the roots. This is beginning to sound like the story of the 600 lb gorilla; now that we've got it, what do we do with it?
The name Dodge Enforcer was making the rounds, but wasn’t used. The last time that name was used was in the Chrysler Enforcer.
Overshadowed by the LX cars are the usual Chrysler suspects, including the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Durango, both of which are in use in various towns and cities as special-service vehicles. Randy Wieckowski sent in a photo of a Warren, Michigan Jeep Liberty.
Mexico City bought 751 Neons for its police department in 2005, and 409 Dodge Stratus patrol cars in 2006. The Federal police in Mexico bought 816 Chargers in 2006. James Hale wrote, “In the 1970s they had the Mexican Super Bees, which were two-door fastback Plymouth Dusters with a 4-bbl 318 V8 coupled to a four-speed manual tranny. In 1977 they had the Mexican version of the Aspen/Volare, namely, Dart and Valiant, with the 360 V8. During the 1980s they had E-cars with turbo engines which were really fast too.”
