Charger vs. Crown vic

[SDBP619]

We are switching from the tried and true crown vic over to the new more modern Chargers. I was just wondering peoples opinion as i have noticed other agencies and departments making the transition also. of course i prefer the handling of the crown vic, probably because that was the car we were trained on originally. Though i can't lie the charger is a lot of fun to drive and it has "the look." what do you guys think?

[CHP cruzer]

My dept is slow in giving the Charger a chance. They have them at the academy for the instructors to use. They have V6 models for commander's cars. Some are used as public relations cars but they look so ugly. They have put on some ugly chrome rims and grille insert. WTF!!! They have to run our own tests to choose the patrol vehicles. I haven't driven a Charger yet, so I can't compare.

[katseiye]

Only thing I don't really like about the Charger is the limited view from the driver and passenger seats by the time you've added in car video, cages, racks, laptop docking station, radar etc. Cuts down on your vision on an already limited platform.

I get to keep my Crown Vic for now.

[NBPD_Newb]

Around here its the opposite CHP. The Admin here received the V8s and the patrol received the V6s. That is for the sherrif's dept.

[pujolsfan146]

Only thing I don't really like about the Charger is the limited view from the driver and passenger seats by the time you've added in car video, cages, racks, laptop docking station, radar etc. Cuts down on your vision on an already limited platform.

I get to keep my Crown Vic for now.

+1. On the Sheriff's department I have a take home Crown Vic. I also work parttime in a department that has the Charger. The Charger is very nice and powerful but It does have a limited field of view. It is taking me some time to get used to that. I like to have a good view when I am patroling. It seems like there is plenty of room when riding in the car but the view is that of a compact sports car.
We are possibly going to the Charger in the future. The Sheriff has one now and his main concern is the trunk space. Since we have takehome cars all our gear for special teams, swat, diveteam, mobile field force, is put in the trunk. From what he says the trunk space is really limited.
I am looking forward to the possibilites of the new Impala. Especially since it is rear wheel drive. If it is roomier there is a good possibility we will switch over to it.

[katseiye]

+1. On the Sheriff's department I have a take home Crown Vic. I also work parttime in a department that has the Charger. The Charger is very nice and powerful but It does have a limited field of view. It is taking me some time to get used to that. I like to have a good view when I am patroling. It seems like there is plenty of room when riding in the car but the view is that of a compact sports car.
We are possibly going to the Charger in the future. The Sheriff has one now and his main concern is the trunk space. Since we have takehome cars all our gear for special teams, swat, diveteam, mobile field force, is put in the trunk. From what he says the trunk space is really limited.
I am looking forward to the possibilites of the new Impala. Especially since it is rear wheel drive. If it is roomier there is a good possibility we will switch over to it.

Hadn't even touched on the trunk issue. Has just enough room for crime scene tape, a box of flares, a couple of cones and then I have to jam my patrol rifle case in there cuz they didn't put a rifle rack in the one I had to drive for a short time. Crown Vic's got twice the room there.

[CHP cruzer]

A local PD has both for patrol. One of the officers has told me about the limited view and the stiffer ride. Our dept uses the bid process to get everything that we use. So we can get stuck with the lowest bidder. An example of this is that we still use old light bars (federal vision) and GE radio heads. What they have told us is that one Charger costs 3k more than a CV. So the fact that we have a couple of thousand cars statewide, for the same cost of eight Chargers, they could buy nine CV's. We'll see in 2011 when Ford is suppose to stop making the CV.

[redbird07]

Never have driven a Charger but some of the guys who do drive em dont like the limited view.

[spankya521]

Think I'd love an unmarked V8 Charger. Our traffic guys use them and so do our warrants guys they seem to like them.

[j706]

I was issued a new charger in 2007. It was a V6. For the most part the thing drove good. It handled better than the CV and was about equal in performance. I think the charger has better brakes. I drove mine for 17K. I just got to the point that I hated the thing. It has a very annoying clunky shifter with a very long delay between forward and reverse. The visibility is terrible. I pulled out in front of three different vehicles while in mine. I never saw them. We have had two out of ten wrecked,all due to visibility. One was totaled and resulted in serious injury's to our officer. He was t-boned and could have been killed very easy. The charger did hold up well in the crash. I found a low mileage CV in the motor pool and switched out.

Some officers like them. I might have stayed with mine if it had been a V8. The operational costs are considerably higher on the charger. Everything costs more. Even with ours being V6 motors, we see no increase in mileage. Stick with CV if you have the choice is my suggestion.

[CHP cruzer]

The only thing that I would like in the Charger is the quicker acceleration and higher top speed. The top speed of my CV is 124 mph. I think the top speed of the Charger is closer to 150 mph. Overall the CV is still better.

[KAA951]

I drove an 06 Charger Police Package (yes, it had a Hemi) for 2 years / 50,000 miles (before it was "retired" and sold to another agency).

I loved my Charger and hate being back in a CV again. As far as I am concerned, the Charger is a much safer vehicle and runs circles around the CV- especially on wet roads and on snow/ice.

Yes, it has a blind spot to the passenger rear- so does my CV. I learned to compensate for it just like I have in my CV.

The only complaint I had about the Charger- wind noise. With a roof mounted lightbar (Whelen LED) the wind noise at highway speeds is much louder than a CV. If I could have had a "slick-top" lighting package- the Charger would have been perfect.

[ICE Offcr]

What about the magnum? It has lotsssssssssss of trunk space and is just as powerful as the charger. I have cilivian version (hemi) and it is fast, I have seen a few police depts with them but know very little about the police package.

I did order one (magnum) from my fleet but no hope yet.

[j706]

What about the magnum? It has lotsssssssssss of trunk space and is just as powerful as the charger. I have cilivian version (hemi) and it is fast, I have seen a few police depts with them but know very little about the police package.

I did order one (magnum) from my fleet but no hope yet.

We have a admin magnum for one of our detectives, it has a V6,skinny tires ect. It looks like something grandma would drive. The magnum is no longer in production. The hemi versions are very nice IMO.

[bill198483]

i am driving a brand new charger with v8 hemi and the ford cv doesn't even comapre to it. The handling, braking and acceleration are all incredibly better. The only cons to the charger are that the trunk is too small and the blind spots are bad. our ford cv have the padded seats and the new chargers have the molded seats, which is a step up in safety.