First Drive: Caprice PPV

[PREMiERdrum]

LINK - Police Fleet Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

As big as a Crown, as fast as a Camaro—that’s the new Caprice. And that should not surprise anyone. The mid-1990s police Caprice was larger than the Ford Crown Victoria and as fast around a road racing course as a police Mustang. It also had a higher top speed and much better brakes than the Mustang.

 

We had a chance to drive the near-production Caprice PPV on the famous “Black Lake” at GM’s Milford Proving Ground in Milford, Mich. Just for fun, GM Fleet also provided a new Camaro SS to drive. What GM intended as play, this group of fleet managers treated as serious work. At the end of the day, nearly 90 percent of the drivers preferred the handling and overall performance of the Caprice over the Camaro!

 

GM Fleet introduced the Australian-built, police package, 2011 Caprice PPV at the 2009 IACP conference in Denver. Check out the full details of the Caprice at www.hendonpub.com: click Resources, click Article Archives and then search for “Caprice.”

 

True “Large” Police Car

 

At 112 cubic feet, the Caprice PPV has a much larger interior than even the full-size 107.5 cf of the Ford CVPI. The amount of front seat hip room, critical for duty-belted officers, is the same for the Caprice as the Ford CVPI. The new Caprice has police-specific seats, which have been under development longer than the police package for the Caprice! The 17.4 cf Caprice trunk is a bit smaller than the 20.6 cf CVPI trunk. However, the Caprice’s full-size spare is below a flat load floor.

 

The 2011 model year will be a short one for the Caprice PPV. The 2011 Caprice PPV will come in two versions: the police package 9C1 and the detective retailappearing 9C3. Delivery of the detective Caprice 9C3 will be around April 2011, while the police patrol version Caprice 9C1 will be available around June 2011.

 

For 2011, the Caprice PPV will be powered by a 355 hp, 6.0L V8. This will have Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation) and be E85 FlexFuel compatible. For 2012, the Caprice PPV will come standard with the 3.6L “direct injection” V6 used in the Camaro and Cadillac CTS. The 6.0L V8 will be an option in 2012.

 

GM will continue to produce the current police Impala “for several years.” It will remain a V6-powered FWD sedan and the police vehicle with lowest initial cost available. GM will also continue to produce the current Tahoe indefinitely. It is scheduled to be restyled “in a few years.”

 

With the duty cycle properly extended to 150K miles and the current residual values, the Tahoe PPV has the lowest total lifecycle cost of any police package vehicle. The Tahoe remains a body-on-truck-chassis, full-size SUV powered by the 320 hp, 5.3L V8. The Tahoe comes as a police package 2WD and as a non-pursuit, special service package 4x4.

[SVTDarkCobra]

The taillights on this Caprice looks a lot like the current Impala taillights.

[rmc523]

LINK - Police Fleet Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk about generic looking - the thing looks like it could be any generic cop car in various video/racing games.

 

 

I thought the quote about the "retail appearing" detective version was funny, as there is no retail version of the thing.

[MY93SHO]

Can that shifter look more tacked on?

 

And shouldn't it be on the column in a PPV?

[PREMiERdrum]

Talk about generic looking - the thing looks like it could be any generic cop car in various video/racing games.

Most "normal" folk probably wouldn't even notice that this isn't an Impala.

 

I thought the quote about the "retail appearing" detective version was funny, as there is no retail version of the thing.

 

Not officially, but I've heard it's coming for MY2012... and it will look exactly like the detective version. And it will fail, just like the G8 and GTO before it.

 

 

Can that shifter look more tacked on?

 

And shouldn't it be on the column in a PPV?

 

The shifter absolutely boggles my mind. The redesigned the console, and physically moved the shifter from its original location, but still decided to keep it on the floor. I know retrofitting the mechanism onto the column would be more difficult, but this is a huge oversight on GM's part. Allegedly, a column shifter will be an extra-cost option for MY2012 PPV's.

[rmc523]

Most "normal" folk probably wouldn't even notice that this isn't an Impala.

 

The shifter absolutely boggles my mind. The redesigned the console, and physically moved the shifter from its original location, but still decided to keep it on the floor. I know retrofitting the mechanism onto the column would be more difficult, but this is a huge oversight on GM's part. Allegedly, a column shifter will be an extra-cost option for MY2012 PPV's.

 

True about the "normal" folk part - I thought about that when I posted my comment.

 

GM at it's finest! Extra-cost column shifter ---that's the way to do it!

[PREMiERdrum]

True about the "normal" folk part - I thought about that when I posted my comment.

 

GM at it's finest! Extra-cost column shifter ---that's the way to do it!

 

Carpet costs extra, too. Vinyl floor will be standard. :shades:

Edited December 15, 2010 by PREMiERdrum

[DC Car Examiner]

I saw two of these last week. The front isn't pretty, but I thought the design was otherwise clean:

 

 

 

 

 

Better-looking interior than the G8, but as a retail car it would have the same styling issue that sank the G8 -- just too dull.

[PREMiERdrum]

I saw two of these last week. The front isn't pretty, but I thought the design was otherwise clean:

 

The front is a mess, the rear is a mashup of current gen Impala and last gen Malibu, and the profile is generic. What part of that is "clean"?

 

Better-looking interior than the G8, but as a retail car it would have the same styling issue that sank the G8 -- just too dull.

 

This I agree with.

[twintornados]

It is a generic looking car that if they price it right.....will get snapped up left and right....I sure hope Ford is doing the right thing with the Police Interceptor sedan and utility.....

[PREMiERdrum]

It is a generic looking car that if they price it right.....will get snapped up left and right....I sure hope Ford is doing the right thing with the Police Interceptor sedan and utility.....

 

The PPV, IIRC, stickers $2,000 to $3,000 higher than the outgoing CVPI.

 

Of course, sticker doesn't mean much with these sales.

[T'Cal]

Can that shifter look more tacked on?

 

And shouldn't it be on the column in a PPV?

 

I'm guessing it all got down to cost - it was cheaper to modify the floor shifter than to reposition it to the column. I agree that the shifter needs to be column mounted. I doubt that there is even one agency out there that will be switching over its entire fleet to any one car all at one time. Therefore, there will be a transition between current models - all with column shifters - and Caprices. It's not a good idea at all to have part of the fleet having a major difference such as some with column shifters and some with floor shifters. In high stress driving, those kinds of differences cause confusion, delays, and crashes.

 

That being said, Chevy made the best of a bad situation. If it had to leave the shifter on the floor, it did the best it could by moving it forward and closer to the driver. It does fall readily to hand and it does not interfere with any other equipment. I've sat in the 9C1 and found it acceptable, though not ideal. On the plus side, police consoles currently used in the CVPIs will bolt in with little need for modification, saving money.

[rmc523]

The front is a mess, the rear is a mashup of current gen Impala and last gen Malibu, and the profile is generic. What part of that is "clean"?

 

 

 

This I agree with.

 

 

Maybe "clean" = plain?

[RichardJensen]

What is the deal with Australian cars and large clear plastic headlight covers?

[rmc523]

Huh? How is it any different from our cars?

[RichardJensen]

They've all got quad headlights (on a black field--if the car is 'tough') with a large clear plastic cover:

 

[DC Car Examiner]

The front is a mess, the rear is a mashup of current gen Impala and last gen Malibu, and the profile is generic. What part of that is "clean"?

 

 

Clean = opposite of busy. There aren't lots of lines flowing around everywhere, even on the front.

 

A lot of clean designs are generic, because it's hard to pull off simple yet attractive.

[RichardJensen]

Clean = opposite of busy. There aren't lots of lines flowing around everywhere, even on the front.

 

A lot of clean designs are generic, because it's hard to pull off simple yet attractive.

I would say bland, not clean. None of the lines are well resolved--they are not related.

[ANTAUS]

Looks as conservative as the Ford 500 when it came out...Looks like a "last generation" product in comparison to the rest of their line.

[jpd80]

What is the deal with Australian cars and large clear plastic headlight covers?

Busted headlights quite common in our country due to the propensity for trucks to

throw up huge rocks, it's quite frightening to see half a brick coming towards your

windshield, but comforting to know the Falcon will keep you safe.....

[RichardJensen]

Busted headlights quite common in our country due to the propensity for trucks to

throw up huge rocks, it's quite frightening to see half a brick coming towards your

windshield, but comforting to know the Falcon will keep you safe.....

At least the new Territory promises a move away from this particular trope.

[jpd80]

At least the new Territory promises a move away from this particular trope.

 

It's a refreshing change from so much of the predictable safe language FoA used during the 2000s.

They seem to cling to style cues that worked in the past, afraid of having another Taurus styled Falcon

that bombed in the sales department. That fear stopped them from being adventurous, I hope this style

change is them throwing off that fear and having the guts to make something to attract new buyers.

Territory is probably more important to FoA than Explorer is to Ford NA, it's the vehicle that saved FoA

and proved that Ford could build a mid sized SUV that people would buy in significant numbers and

pay a premium price for a vehicle that offered so much than a large sedan but at a similar price.

Edited December 15, 2010 by jpd80

[DC Car Examiner]

Looks as conservative as the Ford 500 when it came out...Looks like a "last generation" product in comparison to the rest of their line.

 

It is from 2006, but it looked old even then.

 

Not that a cop would necessarily care, of course, as their car of choice has barely changed since 1998.

[J-150]

 

 

Not that a cop would necessarily care, of course, as their car of choice has barely changed since 1998.

 

 

This 2011 Caprice is no 1996 Caprice. We will see how it truly perfoms in real world conditions. RWD V8 doesn't mean it will hold up any better than the Wimpala has.

[97svtgoin05gt]

This is neither a good looking car nor a bad one. It is simply a car. They will undoubtedly find some people retail wise to buy this. As for police duty, reliability will be the key. I'm fairly sure the GM driveline will hold up pretty well, it'll be the suspension, brakes and electrical systems that will be tested. If those systems perform well and don't need constant repair, they'll have a hit.

 

I think Ford has taken a risk putting all their police duty eggs in the V-6 basket. There are still tons of people out there that consider police work a V-8 kind of job and for that reason I think short term GM will have a hit. If this thing turns out to be a maintenance nightmare, the tide will turn but I'd say initially they'll sell more police vehicles than Ford.