Ovrclck350

What's so special about the Police Interceptor's? After doing some research, I found they have a 130MPH cut-off, so I suppose at a high speed chase, that wouldn't be too good. Although, i couldn't hit 120 in my ride....damn governor.....

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See pics @ Billy's Firebird
92 Bird 3.1L Auto
Best $750 I ever spent....
DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!
Kills:
93 Mustang LX (Before Mods)
98 or 99 Dodge Stratus (tough one, edged out at 40)
92 Camaro RS 305 TPI
Close Calls
94 Grand Am 3.1 V6
92 Cavalier 3.1 V6
01 Porsche 911 Turbo (Had em till first gear)
Mods-Jet Stage 2 Performance Chip, Accel Cap/Rotor, Accel 8.8 MM Wires, Accell Coil, AC Delco Rapidfire Plugs, Dynomax Catback, K&N
AIM name OVRCLCK350

Vader

Over,

There was nothing really special about most SEO vehicles. Some had better engines, some didn't. For example, the SEO version of the 1987 Camaros had lower power output than the IROC-Z L98s. It had a flatter cam profile and weenie tires. The suspension was a bit softer, and the same speed limiter was active depending on the tires selected.

SEO Caprice cars were a little different. They had a slightly better engine than the standard Caprice. In 1991-1993 they had the TBI engine that was essentially an L98. 1994 included the LT1 engine in SEO vehicles, but it was tuned for a little lower output than the LT1 in 'F' and 'Y' cars. The Caprice SEO vehicle did have a heavier frame, larger ball joints, high speed wiper arms, silicone coolant hoses, extra cooling for oil, transmission, and engine coolant, and brake cooling air deflectors that were not a part of most their civilian counterparts (the Impala SS had the larger frame and many of the other SEO components, but not all). There are generally a few other changes to SEO vehicles from "average" cars, like larger alternators, very austere interiors, little instrumentation, and those classy spotlights stuck through the 'A' pillars.

As far as performance, there used to be a mystique about cop cars being fast. Back when most of them were Dodge and Plymouth vehicles, the "mystique" became a joke, and has been a myth ever since. Today, the fastest thing about a cop car is the radio and a trained driver. That more than makes up for high cruising speed.

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Later,
Vader
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mtx28

yea.. do new cop cars have the same engine the GT mustangs do? i was always under the impression they at least had a little help under the hood.. but maby im wrong. but yes, although i dont konw specifically, i have seen some of the driving techniques they are taught, and they are pretty slick

Vader

MTX,

The Drowned Clitorias that most departments were using until the 231 Impalas came out were the same base LameAss 4.6L modular engine as used in the Mousetanks and their Grand Marquis cousins. The top speed of a "clean" 'Vic (without the exterior light bar) is 126 MPH with a tail wind and a donut-abstaining driver. A rooftop light bar and a few glazed cake donuts drops that to 114 MPH. Even a tired ThirdGen with a speed limiter can slowly walk away. Worse (or better) yet, the little engine doesn't make enough torque to kick the pontoon boat off the line with any authority.

The 2000+ Impala LS SEO vehicles have more interior space, more top end, way more accelleration, better fuel mileage, and handle much better than the 'Vics. The few that are supercharged are reportedly very impressive - not unlike the SSEi and Rivieras.

The older Caprice SEOs had a pretty soft handling package, but had just about enough low torque with the LT1 to do the 1/4 better than most suspects and top end to push the beast along at 140+ MPH - and that's with the worst of the LT1 cam profiles.

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Later,
Vader
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rsilver

Vader, I laughed my *** off on your "Cop Vic"
comments.Am still laughing as I write this.
I did have a question though about the 91 -93 caprice engines in the cop cars. You said they were basically a L98 with TBI. I keep looking at the 91-93 caprice crate engines that GM sells but I understand they are the LO5 with the swirl port heads. Did the caprice cop car get a different engine than the standard caprice? I always thought the engines were the same (ie LO5) but the cop car got bigger injectors.Thanks......bob

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91 camaro RS L03 convert,
t-5, ultimate TBI mods,TBI spacer,SLP 1 5/8 headers,
3"cat back, 3.42 torsen posi,alston SFC's,Global West LCA relocation brackets, edelbrock STB

jrr

I think it there was a difference up to about 1972 or 1973 when a "cop motor" was really different from what the average consumer could buy. If nothing else, it was the most powerful big block available for any model and stuffed into the big sedans like the Impalas, Galaxies, LTDs, Gran Furys, etc. Police Interceptors died out pretty much when the infamous pellet-bed cat converters and 7.9:1 CR smog motors came along.

If F*rd had any sense, they'd shoehorn the Triton V-10 into the Drowned Clitorias *LOL* as part of the Police Package option.

Vader

RSilver,

As far as I have been able to ascertain, the pre-LT1 SEO vehicles were designed to get the better heads and exhaust (AKA cast iron L98-style), but still use the TBI intake to make them compatible with the PCM used in the 'B' cars in those years. That probably explains the larger injectors, since the extra fuel has to be mixed with extra air.

If anyone who was at Arlington in those years wants to shed some light on this, I'm all ears. I do know that the design of an SEO vehicle can also involve options. Not all new Impalas get the charged 231, but that was the intent of GM when they offered the new model (I got to see one of the factory SEO vehicle being paraded around to departments when the program kicked off). I guess police departments squeeze their pennies like the rest of us, and often opt for "standard" engines in their fleets.

As another example, the SEO Tahoes do have a better timeslip than the "standard" civilian version, but a carful consumer can order almost any option if he/she is dilligent.

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JRR,

Yes, back when I was first getting my hands dirty on engines, some "police interceptor" vehicles had almost as much power as some of the muscle cars. The average sedan didn't often get that kind of engine. For example, the 440 stuffed into the fenders of the old Dodge Coronet/Plymouth Satellite would be enough power to cross the finish line within the same day as a 1968 Z-28 302, and they could hang with a 427 aluminum Corvette long enough to see the color of the car and the tail lights. They were better than a Coronet/Satellite designed for the masses, but they weren't "all that".

The true performancce police cars died some time in the middle '60s when the 396/425 HP BBC became available in a 1966 Chevelle, the SBCs started getting decent cranks, and Ford started building the 428s, 429s, and 351Cs. Notice how Chrysler kinda started losing its "performance" image right about that time? The remainder of car companies didn't care to pick up the slack too much, and no really special engines for police vehicles were built since then - unless you count the goofy-cammed 1987 Camaro SEO.

I remember seeing such odd entries as the Ford LTD-II with a 351MC, the Americam Motors Ambassador with a anemic 390, and Dodge Diplomats, "woof-woof" 360s and all, posing as "police interceptors". The return of the LT1 in the Caprice in 1994 was the closest to a "special" police car as there has been in about twenty years, and it was available in better trim in the Corvettes and 'F' bodies at the same time.

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Vader
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Ed Maher

Hey vader, would there have been anything special about a late 80s, early 90s f*rd ltd. The reason i ask is i rmemeber getting a ride home in one from a buddy of mine that was a cop, and i recall that thing as being pretty damn fast. It was as grandma looking as you can get, but as we were heading up the highway he tells me how it has the infamous 'intercept' package. And then proceeded to go 60-100 in a couple seconds. At least as good a ride as an 87 GN that my wrestling coach had.
Perhaps a (w)ho(re)302 from a mustang or a 351w even?
...ed

jmd

iTrader: (4)

A Clown Vic will break 126 if it's "clean"... the problem is the civilian version with the performance / handling package had better suspension (lower, 16's) than the police version (std. height, 15's) in '94 and other years. The squads are not stable at speed as well as the civilian ones.

Show me a supercharged 231 Impala before you talk about them. This is not offered in the Imp.

Revel in the glory of times past, but the 302 in the F's back then was not a quarter miler. It was an RPM roundy round type motor. BFD to being able to 1/4 with a DZ 302

Ed Mahrer,

The 351W 2v HO was available 1979 all the way through 1991, even in CA. I had an 81 Grand Marquis with this. At least Ford knows how to do an exhaust system (on the Mustang & full sizers) - it had factory duals w/ 2 cats. The port EFI 302 was available sometime around then, but wasn't anything to write home about. It's unfortunate that they didn't put sequential EFI on the 351W... big mistake.


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jmd
L69 / T5

Chvywolf

I don't know about all that technical stuff, but i was cruising threw Carolina and i saw a cop in a 99 Ram Air Camaro. I know for a fact that i couldn't get away from him in my 89 L03. But i did find a cool looking picture on Chevys website.

http://www.chevrolet.com/camaro/cam02_gallery/index.htm

If the link doesn't work, It's a new Camaro painted up like a cop car, complete with lights sitting on the side of the road and the caption at the top says "Here Speeder, speeder, speeder" I thought that was funny.



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89 RS Conv 305 700R4
85HO heads
Edelbrock intake
Holley 600
Hedman Hedders and Y pipe
Flowmaster

Vader

JMD,

I haven't seen the engine compartment on any of the new Oshawa Chevys since I saw the prototype at a law enforcement show in 1999. The one that Chevy had touring the shows had the charged 231, was plain white with a black Chevrolet Police logo on the doors. I don't know what ever happened to the concept, but a charger was evidently the factory intent at one point (maybe to sell the cars?).

Yup. I know someone who had a '90 Town Car with a 351MC and carb, rated at something like 175HP. Why was Ford so far behind on SFI on the sedans? IMO, they should have stuck with the older cases and upgraded the fuel systems, but someone at Ford was married to the idea of the Romeo engine. (DU-UH!) All the easier for us to spank them, I guess... A 351 with a decent fuel system would be more of a challenge.

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Later,
Vader
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"I know how to solve your problem, but I can't tell
you since you might use the information illegally..."
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Macgyver

Just throwing my two cents in, but Ford really missed the boat on the EFI 351, We have an 88 XLT Lariat F150 work truck, it flat out HAULS, and I don't mean in the cargo carrying sense

jmon92conv

FYI--the cops here in southern In along I-65 use new Z-28. I don't think that they have had any work on them, but I would not try to outrun them.

Jeremy

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92 Z conv
5-spd B&M shifter
home-made ram air, air foil, headers, no cat, TB bypass, kevlar pads, slotted rotors, BMR panhard, alston SFC, 3.42's Edelbrock STB

D_Amlee

Years ago my dad bought a 1969 Delta 88 police package car. No air conditioning, 455 ci motor that put out 400 HP (factory rating at the crank). The car wasn't all that when it came to acceleration, the gearing was all made for highway speeds, but the sucker would fly on the open road! My mother drove the car for many many years until the body/frame rusted through and she had to sell it. I drove it many times myself, always trying to do some good for the motor by opening it up on the highway to blow the carbon out of the cylinders.