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<HGROUP>2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV

A Pontiac G8 in a polyester sport coat.


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• June 2012
• BY EDDIE ALTERMAN
• PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC URBANO

When, in the throes of bankruptcy, GM ditched its Pontiac brand, the G8 sedan went with it. The good news: That estimable car came back. The bad news: It’s only for cops.
The ’12 Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) powerslides into an era of rare upheaval in the cop-car business. Ford’s Crown Victoria, the body-on-frame stalwart of taxicab and police-car duty, has ascended to that great 24-hour garage in the sky, providing new and exciting fleet-sales opportunities for such unconventional cherry tops as the front-drive Impala. The Caprice (along with the Dodge Charger Police Pursuit Vehicle) represents the segment’s recidivist tendencies: big V-8s up front, powered rear wheels. Hell, the Caprice even has optional wheel covers that’ll fly off during chases.
The pinched front end, with its anachronistically small grille, opposes a rear that steals its horizontal theme from the current Impala. Both revised end caps are designed to provide higher vagrant clearance. But see the car in silhouette and you’ll quickly make out the G8’s bone structure through the Caprice’s sheet steel.
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It gets a 3.7-inch stretch between its axles, which gives scofflaws plenty of room to luxuriate—at 112 cubic feet, it’s bigger inside than either the Ford Taurus–based Interceptor or the Charger cop cars. And even though it employs a unibody rather than the easy-fixing construction of the Crown Vic, fleet managers will love concessions to swapability such as the bolted rather than welded front crossmember.
We drove the Detective model, with its cloth seats, as opposed to the Patrol model, rendered in fluid-resistant vinyl. Both are available with either a 301-hp version of GM’s 3.6-liter, direct-injected V-6 or (for no extra charge) the G8 GT’s 355-hp, 6.0-liter OHV V-8. A six-speed automatic, installed in both, has a gear-holding sport—nay, pursuit—mode, just like the G8 did.
Because it wore the more basic Detective trim, our press car didn’t have any cool Five-O stuff on it—no partition grate, no lights, and, critically, no rifle holder—but evidence of  the cabin’s copification is everywhere. The front seats are scalloped around the love handles to accommodate utility belts, and the Patrol model has an offset shift lever to clear monitors and the like. An optional auxiliary battery can supplement the standard 700-CCA (cold-cranking amps) unit to help keep lights, computers, and recreational tasers juiced up. The entire driver zone, with its cruller-proof plastic steering wheel and just-the-facts-ma’am AM/FM/CD stereo, feels like a single, vast injection-molded piece, a stark but utilitarian carrier for police-communication equipment. Unfortunately, though, the rear is so roomy and the tumblehome so slight that cops will really have to work to slam a perp’s head into the roof. Here’s hoping that the partition will facilitate this important aspect of police work.
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A moment behind the wheel is enough to recognize this as the car born in Australia as a Holden and sent here as the last great Pontiac. The leather-lined cabin may be gone, but what we loved about it before is still here. The ergonomic relationships—pedals, wheel, minor controls—are first-rate, and visibility out is quite good despite the cricket bats posing as A-pillars. Its real appeal, though, is its dynamic integrity, its virtuous and controllable rear-wheel-drive behavior, its quiet and stiff structure. The steering is linear and uncorrupted by power; the heavy-duty brakes are stout and fade-free (even if the cop tires conspire to keep stopping distances at 175 feet); and the spring-stiffened Caprice still loves to get its long wheelbase sideways.
In acceleration tests, the PPV mirrors the G8 GT very closely. It’s off by just a tenth of a second to 60 mph and in the quarter-mile, where it posts 5.3 and 13.9 at 103 mph, respectively. In braking, the Pontiac, shod with Bridgestone Potenza RE050As, beat the PPV  by a significant 12 feet from 70 mph, even though lateral grip is equivalent at 0.84 g. So, if you were to drive, say, a ­Mustang V-6, a Caprice might take you at the line, but you would beat it through corners. This information may prove either helpful or extremely ruinous.
Still, you might wonder why we’re reviewing a car most of us will experience only from the back seat. It’s because this cruiser is a stalking-horse for Chevy’s next rear-wheel-drive sedan, which will wear civilian duds. It will be based on a new version of the Caprice’s Zeta platform, and it will be called Super­ Sport. It will also be the inspiration for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup racer.  And, irony of ironies, there will be a cop version, too. View Photo Gallery
<NAV class=mod>PHOTOS (25)

 

Highs and Lows >

Highs:

Cop motor, cop suspension, runs good on regular gas.
Lows:

Cop tires, only for cops.
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• + Overview

• 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV - First Drive Review
• 2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV - Car News

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• Test Sheet

<!--/research-->Specifications >


VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $32,305 (base price: $31,745)

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel


Displacement: 364 cu in, 5967 cc
Power: 355 hp @ 5300 rpm
Torque: 384 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 118.5 in
Length: 204.2 in
Width: 74.8 in Height: 58.7 in
Curb weight: 4197 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.9 sec
Zero to 140 mph: 31.5 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 5.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.9 sec @ 103 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 154 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 175 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.84 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 15/24 mpg
C/D observed: 16 mpg

TEST NOTES: Best acceleration is achieved by nailing the throttle from idle to minimize wheelspin. Timing manual upshifts is complicated by the lack of a redline indicator on the tach.

 

Not made in the us so most police departments cant buy it

 

The Ford Crown Vic police interceptor was made in Canada. Oakville, Ontario if I recall right.

 

It might be North American made but ikn none of the the police stations around here can buy em sence there made outside the country, but from what ive seen it looks like the Charger is the way its goin the ford is too over priced for what u get i think

 

• Well I guess if the USA Police Department aren't getting them, that I'm going to withdraw my application to
• be a HOT Rod Police officer (LOL)...I'm sure Mike that they will sell them in the USA to police Dept's, if they can afford them!
• Chevrolet Police Patrol Vehicles Picture
  GM is claiming bragging rights in a recent police test between the 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle versus the 2013 Ford Police Interceptor. | September 22, 2011| General Motors Corporation
  

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News
2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle Claims Bragging Rights in Testing

By <A id=disclaimer_popup href="http://www.insideline.com/staff/email-disclaimer.html">Anita Lienert, Correspondent | Published Sep 22, 2011


Just the Facts:

• The 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle outperformed the 2013 Ford Police Interceptor in recent Michigan State Police testing, said General Motors in a statement on Wednesday.
• Ford said that its 2013 Ford Police Interceptors did well in Michigan State Police testing.
• GM said the Caprice PPV posted a best-in-class top speed of 154 mph compared to 148 mph for the Ford Police Interceptor.

GRATTAN, Michigan — The 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle outperformed the 2013 Ford Police Interceptor in recent Michigan State Police testing, said General Motors in a statement on Wednesday.
Ford said that its 2013 Ford Police Interceptors did well in Michigan State Police testing, but avoided citing specific performance statistics.
GM said the Caprice PPV 6.0-liter V8 was the best-in-class in the 60-zero mph braking test for the second straight year with a 125.8-foot stopping distance.
"That was four feet less than the Ford Police Interceptor Taurus AWD turbo," said a GM statement.
Caprice also posted a best-in-class top speed for the second consecutive year, increasing 6 mph to 154 mph versus 148 mph for the Ford Police Interceptor, said GM.
"The Caprice LFX 3.6-liter V6 outperformed the naturally aspirated Dodge Charger V6 and Ford Police Interceptor Taurus sedan V6 in 60-zero braking, top speed and acceleration," said GM.
The 2012 Chevrolet Impala PPV posted a best-in-class top speed among all V6 entrants at 150 mph, said GM.
The 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe PPV has a segment-leading top speed of 139 mph, said GM.
Inside Line says: Should be interesting to watch which vehicle the cops prefer.

 

What exactly are cop tires?

 

The V8 Charger still owns the Caprice in tests

Michigan State Police puts cop cars to the test

 

Hi Iffy, I think they are tires owned by the cops or they are tires they confiscated from High Performance cars & put on their police cars ~> LOL

Or just a high performance tire made for the abuse & high speeds ? Like below
Goodyear: U.S. Government Sales - Police Tires

 

I've seen several Police Departments in Oklahoma and Texas with the Caprice as well as the Taurus here lately