Crown Victoria Police Interceptor

[SpotsCat]

In September of 2002, Ford was supposed to announce a "fix" for the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (CVPI) that would hope to prevent the fuel tank from rupturing in the event of a read-end collision.

The fuel tank on the CVPI is located behind the rear axle, and in a rear-end collision the tank can be forced into the rear axle, where a protruting bolt head can pierce the tank, causing catastrophic failure.

http://www.crownvictoriasafetyalert.com/images/CVcrushzone.jpg

For you LEO's out there, a question - Has the CVPI that you drive been modified to lessen the risk of a ruptured fuel tank in the event of a rear end collision?

[USAF_2T2]

I really don't know if it has been updated or not Spots Cat. I drive an 03 Crown Vic.

The only thing I have to say is thank God the fuel tank isn't behind the front bumper on my car. :yikes: :yikes: I would have exploded the other night. But it did get his attention.

[Big_Dave]

The only thing I have to say is thank God the fuel tank isn't behind the front bumper on my car. :yikes: :yikes: I would have exploded the other night. But it did get his attention.
Ya finally got'er up to ramming speed, huh? :p :rofl: :rofl:

[USAF_2T2]

I don't know how fast rammin speed is, but the Impalas that the Highway Patrol have don't hold a candle to the Crown Vics.

I can suffice to say that I blew his doors off as we were heading to the same chase. The Violator took it upon himself to hit a tree and when he tried backing up he got pushed back into the tree.

I spent about 15 minutes pushing out my plastic bumper, looks like nothing even happened.

[lonewolf]

ya i have heard those impalas are pretty lame compared to the crown vics,what is your opinion on the old 9c1 caprices,i had an 88 model and after getting 2 speeding tickets,decided it was best to get rid of it :D

[Crystal Pistol]

1) Yes, mine has additional shielding and some bolts were replaced.

2) I am better off in a RWD full framed Crown Vic that an I am in a unibody FWD Impala or Intrepid.

Back in the '60s - '80s, police cars were either Chevrolet Caprices or Impalas, Dodge Diplomats or Plymouth Furys, or Ford Crown Vics, etc. No body had a lock on the total market.

After the RWD Caprice was discontinued, Ford was l;eft as the only RWD full size police car on the market, that was after 1996. I went to NHTSA'a websight and looked at the stats a few years ago, the Panther chassis (Crown Vics & Merc Grand Marquis, etc) had almost the exact same incidence of vehicle fires resulting from having been hit by high sped vehicles as the 96 and older RWD Chevrolet Caprice/Impala. It's rare.

The reason it's police cars that are so predominant is that those are the cars most likely to be found stopped alongside high speed interstates. When those police cars are predominantly Ford CVs, it stands to reason that Ford CVs will represent a larger percentage of those that catch fire when struck by cars running 70 and better (which is where the problem is). But when you look at how many of each model have been hit versus how many catch fire, the percentages do not show that Ford is any more likely to burn than an older Chevy caprice that so many claim was the best police car (yes, I had them too, they were great ... but I also liked my first polce car a lot ... a '78 Plymouth Fury 440)

In the late '90s, there was a Dallas officer killed though, as I recall, and a suit was brought against Ford, and at the time ... Ford was the only maker of RWD full size police cars and represented something over 80% of the market. Suddenly the only police cars catching fire were Fords ... but the stats show that Ford was also the one most likely to be hit because they were so popular, and because most all highway patrol, sheriff, and state police agencies used them as did most city police depts.

Many Fords were hit at really high sopeeds and didn't catch fire, in fact most don't. There was an officer hit at the foot of an exit ramp that is severly burned and disfigured, Pheonix I believe it was ... but he was hit by another Crown Victoria used as a taxis that was traveling at near 120 mph when it came off the ramp and hit him knocking the police car several hundred feet. A lesser car would have killed him before any fire.

We will contiunue to have to carry 18-25 gallons of gasoline with us, the choice is where do we carry it. Yeah, you can require Ford to add fuel cells like Nascar, but if you don't require it of Chevy and Dodge, you'll see budget conscious fleet managers purchasing those instead as they'll then enjoy a price advantage and soon it'll be all Chevys or whatever, and officers still being burnt from time to time.

I like my Ford, it's my 2nd one, I hope to get a 2005 or 6 to replace this one. I don't place long objects in the trunk unless they lay cross ways, no tire tools, etc that might puncture the trunk floor and tank in front of it are positioned to allow it in my trunk. I do not carry a small hydraulic floor jack store lengthwise like I have chewed others out for either.

[jimr]

Ford put a band aid on it to shut up some critics.(mostly removing some bolt heads,plastic covers over shock mounts :wtf: and some rubber pieces under tank straps) all current CVPI's still in police service were recalled. as CP said if you control the majority of fleets you are going to have the spotlight when something bad happens.
CP hold out for a 2006 they are getting 17" tires and a stronger drive shaft for higher top speed.

[Deputy Dogg]

My 05 has the fix from the factory and my 03 that I just "handed" in had the repairs done by our shop and reimbursed by FMC. I had a 02 Impala for a while, was in the shop more than on the road, had no power, no space and sucked more fuel than a CV. Total POS.