33 car grid in jeopardy

[cosworth151]

Maybe the owners and drivers want ground suckers, but most fans want to see cars that actually have to be driven, not 1000 hp slot cars. Why is aero downforce considered to be a bad thing when it's generated by the top of the car, but good when generated by the bottom? Following that to its logical conclusion, the teams should all go to Chaparral/Brabham style vacuum cleaner cars.

As for Ford and their Eco-Bust cars: Just further proof of the lunacy of having auto operations run by people who know nothing about cars. I've been a Ford fanatic my whole life. In another year, Ford won't have anything I could buy. They dominated the police and livery car markets for over 20 years. Now they're completely out of it. (Along with no drivable sedans). The same with vans. After next year, we'll have to start buying GMC's, because Ford is abandoning the full size van market, too.

[John S]

As for Ford and their Eco-Bust cars: Just further proof of the lunacy of having auto operations run by people who know nothing about cars. I've been a Ford fanatic my whole life. In another year, Ford won't have anything I could buy. They dominated the police and livery car markets for over 20 years. Now they're completely out of it. (Along with no drivable sedans). The same with vans. After next year, we'll have to start buying GMC's, because Ford is abandoning the full size van market, too.

It's just the trend for retro, Cossie.   
You can have any colour-vehicle you like as long as it's black-Eco. 

[Jericoke]

Not to get too far afield, but what is wrong with Eco-Boost?

I know Ford himself loathed V6s, but that was more about manufacturing quality than any genuine dislike of numbers divisible by 3.

A car needs to do two things.  It needs to get from A to B, and it needs to do it safely.  Anything beyond that, who cares?  Modern manufacturing mean that cars are like any other commodity.  It doesn't matter which one you get, it will get you where you're going, and you'll get there safely.  A company spending money on other things is wasting their money.

A Mercury Marauder (my dream car), with a V8 produced 302 horsepower.  A Police Interceptor, with a V8 produced 260 horsepower.

A Ford Taurus family sedan produces 360 horsepower with a V6.  Why would you want a 302 hp V8 in place of a 360 hp V6?  Why would police forces continue to buy a car that can't even catch a grocery runner?  Why would Ford spend any money upgrading when police buy their cars at $500 above cost?  (quick math... 20,000 units, $500 profit per... $10 million profit.  not bad.  How much does a V8 programme cost to run?)

[Dare]

Smaller cars with 105 hp engines get you from point a to b and they get you
there quick enough for me.

500 hp engines sound great but with speed limits how practical
are they.I'll stick to the gas savers meself

[cosworth151]

A car needs to do two things.  It needs to get from A to B, and it needs to do it safely.  Anything beyond that, who cares?

Gruel will sustain you. Anything beyond that, who cares?  Is there anybody here who would turn down a Lambo for a Lada?

Driving should be invigorating, it should be inspiring, it should be fun. Police don't want Taurauses (Tauri ?) because they're front wheel drive. Like almost all FWD vehicles, they handle like drunken hogs on walking on ice.

I stopped believing factory HP ratings in Jr. high School. My E-150 has a P.I. engine and will out run and out handle any Taurus ever built. Sure, there are economical cars that are are fun to drive, too. (MG Midget    ) It just that most of the econ-slugs out there today are as inspiring as a diet of bread & water.

[Jericoke]

A car needs to do two things.  It needs to get from A to B, and it needs to do it safely.  Anything beyond that, who cares?

Gruel will sustain you. Anything beyond that, who cares?  Is there anybody here who would turn down a Lambo for a Lada?

Driving should be invigorating, it should be inspiring, it should be fun. Police don't want Taurauses (Tauri ?) because they're front wheel drive. Like almost all FWD vehicles, they handle like drunken hogs on walking on ice.

I stopped believing factory HP ratings in Jr. high School. My E-150 has a P.I. engine and will out run and out handle any Taurus ever built. Sure, there are economical cars that are are fun to drive, too. (MG Midget    ) It just that most of the econ-slugs out there today are as inspiring as a diet of bread & water.

Econ slug?

2012 Honda Civic EX Sedan   0-60 mph 8.8   Quarter Mile 16.6

2010 Ford Taurus SHO    0-60 mph 5.2    Quarter mile 13.6

1976 Lamborghini Countach LP400   0-60 mph 6.6   Quarter mile 14.1

I know there's more to driving than acceleration, but almost all modern cars meet the 'fun to drive' standard of a mere 30 years ago.

That's part of the problem with IndyCar.  Once upon a time, a car that can go fast was something exotic.  Now... what does IndyCar offer fans where speed is just another ticket?

[John S]

Police don't want Taurauses (Tauri ?) because they're front wheel drive. Like almost all FWD vehicles, they handle like drunken hogs on walking on ice.

Now you, and probably them, are skating on thin ice Cossie. Far from handling like drunken hogs front wheel drive beats rearwheel drive hands down in snow and ice, and handle at least as well in other weather. The only possible advantage I can see for rear wheel drive is a straight line drag race, and how many law enforcment tasks are just dead straight drag races? 

What's so different about the US police, most of European law enforcement is with front wheel drive cars and they ain't complaining. Maybe it's just US produced cars you are complaining about and not really the type of drive. 

 

[Jericoke]

Police don't want Taurauses (Tauri ?) because they're front wheel drive. Like almost all FWD vehicles, they handle like drunken hogs on walking on ice.

Now you, and probably them, are skating on thin ice Cossie. Far from handling like drunken hogs front wheel drive beats rearwheel drive hands down in snow and ice, and handle at least as well in other weather. The only possible advantage I can see for rear wheel drive is a straight line drag race, and how many law enforcment tasks are just dead straight drag races? 

What's so different about the US police, most of European law enforcement is with front wheel drive cars and they ain't complaining. Maybe it's just US produced cars you are complaining about and not really the type of drive. 

 

Cos is right.  The Police Interceptor was a superior package, and the 'replacements' are not nearly as effective in any critical way.  the problem was too many police departments were balking at the cost of fuel going up, and driving cars that weren't efficient.  Because the Crown Vic and Grand marquis didn't sell enough volume for a redesign, Ford couldn't afford to keep making the Police Interceptor.  Right or wrong, people don't want a RWD body on frame.  Too many bean counters were looking at the MPG of the interceptor, and ignoring everything else.  If a Taurus is used in a chase to disable another car, that unibody Taurus is written off.  If a PI is used in a chase, the frame is unaffected, the body gets hammered back out, and it's on the road the next day.  So you save $400 in gas, but you've spent $40,000 on a new car.

[lkjohnson1950]

Most police agencies are trying to avoid high speed chases these days. They try to chase you with a chopper and radios, get out in front and cut you off, then they use spike strips to disable your car. There are also more and more vehicles equipped with something like On-Star which allows them to shut the vehicle off remotely. My Subaru turbo 4 will outrun any Mustang GT except for the latest one and it's real close to that, and it gets better mileage than my old Taurus ( which I was NOT fond of ).

[cosworth151]

Thanks to climate change, we seldom have more than a couple of weeks of icy roads, even here in Ohio. Winter driving is not even a consideration anymore. In any case, the best vehicle I ever had on snow or ice was my old 1966 T-Bird Town Landau.

2012 Honda Civic EX Sedan   0-60 mph 8.8   Quarter Mile 16.6

2010 Ford Taurus SHO    0-60 mph 5.2    Quarter mile 13.6

I almost always drive further than a quarter mile, and seldom in a straight line. (Hey, I live in Appalachia    ) Rear drive will ALWAYS out handle FWD. How about a list of FWD F1 cars? FWD LeMans prototypes? FWD CanAm cars? Just remember one of the oldest rules of driving: "Steer the front with the wheel and the back with the gas pedal." For example, there is a tight "S" curve I go through here in town most days. I dive through the first into the second, blip the throttle to start the rear end drifting, the van points itself down the road and I'm gone. In a WWD (Wrong Wheel Drive    ) car, one has to crawl through while the rear end flops around like a dead fish.

One more thing on the Ford PI. Ford already has its replacement in production. It's called the Australian Falcon. Just like the new Chevy SS / Caprice PPV is a Holden.

[Jericoke]

Thanks to climate change, we seldom have more than a couple of weeks of icy roads, even here in Ohio. Winter driving is not even a consideration anymore. In any case, the best vehicle I ever had on snow or ice was my old 1966 T-Bird Town Landau.

I remember my dad putting chains on my mom's Grand Marquis wagon.

I also remember my mom's XR4Ti couldn't go up an incline if there was snow on the ground (after the chains were outlawed)

FWD is more important in Canada, but the police know how to drive.