smk4565

e-Golf!!! Electric and a hatchback 2 for 1 deal. Another wagon...

Here are some German police cars: Hmmm, looks like they use the Volt's Opel cousin over there (among many others) Many Opel Insignia Wagons Seems they like the A-class, proving a hatch back can be a police car. Hmm, what about a Focus ST hatch police car here?

Subaru Outback would make a lot of sense, they aren't too expensive, they are good on gas, have cargo room, and have all wheel drive. They are even made in the USA.

More BS because first off, most times on your car are at the 5.1-5.2 mark. One publication getting a slightly better time does not change that fact. Second, the Hemi AWD edition is $36K not $41k.http://www.nwmc-cog.org/SPC-Documents/SPC_2016_Charger_Pursuit_Price_List-_Order_Form-3.aspx Third, I wonder how you feel about Germany's use of mostly larger Mercedes models for their police fleet? Fourth, most of those chargers are for state troopers and highway patrol (not much city use) and that Hemi is rated 27mpg on the highway. Again, if you don't get why most cops prefer larger vehicles, then you need to just stop now. You've been told why repeatedly and just ignore and make up ridiculous reasons why they shouldn't. Ford plans to kill the Taurus, so I guess cops better get used to a Fusion. Unless they only buy SUVs, that are slow. So their goes the "we need speed" argument.

Here is the car and driver test of the Charger police car, with the as tested price of $40,875. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-dodge-charger-pursuit-v-8-awd-test-review And here is a review of my car stating the 4.8 second 0-60 time. http://www.motortrend.com/news/2008-mercedes-benz-e550-quick-test/ And another quoting 4.8 http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2007-mercedes-benz-e550-page-3 And a 3rd magazine that got 4.9 seconds (07 model, but same as an 08) http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/reviews/a12789/2007-mercedes-benz-e550/ Considering I used Car and Driver's time for the Charger Police car, makes sense to use their time for my car.

Car and Driver tested the Dodge Charger Police car with Hemi and all wheel drive, 0-60 in 5.2 seconds. My car does 0-60 in 4.8 seconds. So no, it couldn't catch my 08 E-class. But there is no reason really to spend $41k of tax payer money on a car that gets an observed 16 mpg when using tax payer funds. I'd also like to see government fleets and police department fleets meet the same CAFE standard they want the masses to meet.

I think an off road E-class Estate is pointless. But the only reason I could see the justification is if they think wagon sales are dropping too low, and the E-class wagon alone doesn't have enough volume. By using the exact same body and drive train, and just lifting the suspension 2 inches and putting a skid plate or side skirt on it, it doesn't take any development cost, and maybe it makes the total wagon sales volume go up. I don't think it will make total wagon sales go up, but that is the only reason I can see them doing it.

The G550 4X4 squared or whatever it is called has 3 locking differentials. It would toast those other cars off road, and the HummVee is wider and not as powerful.

I think the Fusion hybrid would be a good option for city police that would do a lot of idling, or low speed and city driving, they would benefit from the Hybrid's city mpg. A regal 4-cylinder Fusion, like a 2.0T would be find for every day type Police work. An Escape or Transit Connect could be used if they need more space, those have turbo 4 options. Chevy Equinox is a decent sized vehicle that gets over 30 mpg highway. The Malibu and Malibu hybrid could be used in the same way as I said about the Fusion. They don't need a V8 Hemi Charger, it is just wasteful on gas, and it isn't really going to let them respond to a crime faster because you are still limited by other traffic on the road, pedestrians, etc, and if you are running red lights you don't really worry about acceleration time since you aren't slowing down that much. And as the point was made earlier, if a high speed chase breaks out, it isn't like they pick what car they use, so unless every car on the squad is a Hemi V8 charger, that doesn't matter. And you use radios, On-Star engine shut down, the other Sat-Nav based car over ride technology, etc to stop a car, roadblocks etc. Plus a fast car can outrun a Charger Hemi police car anyway, my car could out run one easily and there are faster cars than mine out there.

BS. You don't get to move the damn bar here. You first said there was a $10K price difference, which clearly there was not and then you willfully ignore the number one reason for choosing the Explorer in the first place, SIZE. Much like your explanation why they chose the i3, the same is applied here (best choice for the job required) so why you want to ignore that simple little fact is beyond me.Btw, all that packaging you mention would apply to the Escape as well. Again, only a $4K difference, not $10K. You just need to admit to your error and your ignorance on this one SMK. Ok, I will admit there isn't a $10k difference in the fleet prices. I just assumed an Escape and Explorer would be about $10k difference in price. Using the fleet prices, the Police Utility is $31,175 and the Ford Escape is $23,590 for a $7,585 difference. Even if you wanted to spend an extra $1500 for the Escape SE with an Ecoboost it is still a $6,000 spread. You could sub in a Transit Connect if you needed more cargo space, and those are also under $25k. All I said was the i3 had more room than a Volt. And I think the i3 has enough room for police use, thus an Escape would also.

No need for an off road wagon, when for 2017 they are bringing the best off roader there is to the USA.

I have no doubt it will be better than an Allroad or Volvo Cross Country, but why even bother? Those dont' sell at all here, they probably dont' sell much in Europe either. I think this is a dumb idea, they already have an all wheel drive wagon which non one will take off road anyway, and they have an off road E wagon called the GLE.

So they are fine for them picking the i3 because it has more room than a Volt but can't see why they'd pick an Explorer over an Escape?I'm just going to let you think about the fallacy of your argument before commenting further. One last thing. The fleet Explorers are nowhere close to $40K. They start at $31K.http://www.fleet.ford.com/edms/price-lists/?group=PriceList The Volt doesn't have much space at all. An Escape would have as much room in it as an i3, thus enough room for a police vehicle. I don't think they need more room than what an Escape offers. The Police interceptor Explorer might start at $31k but they are all tacking options on, the ecoboost motor alone is $3,100 if they add that. Maybe they are $35k average, but an Escape would be $10k less probably. Did you actually click on the link? Obviously not or else you would have SEEN that the Escape is only $4K cheaper than the much larger Explorer. Let me break it down for you, since you clearly did not do your homework here.Ford Escape 2016MY Escape PL640 Price List.pdf 05/02/2016 27k 2017MY Escape PL725 Price List.pdf 04/14/2016 25k 2015MY Escape PL525 Price List.pdf 12/01/2014 29k Ford Explorer 2016MY Explorer PL650 Price list.pdf 05/03/2016 31k 2017MY Explorer PL725 Price List.pdf 04/29/2016 30k 2015MY Explorer PL525 Price list.pdf 10/01/2014 33k Good grief man. Check your damn facts next time before replying. Again, the purpose for choosing the Explorer over the Escape is obvious. They are LARGER, which means it can haul more gear. Again, DUH! I would down vote your post ten times if I could. But they aren't buying an Explorer they are buying a Police Interceptor Utility according to the Ford price list. Which is $31k base before light bars, cages in back, ecoboost at $3100, etc. Considering the Escape is 2 classes below Explorer there has to be at least a $5k difference in price, and I did read the Police Utility price list. Plus the Escape would use less gas.

Buick should have 2 sedans, Chevy and Cadillac 3. That is probably enough. I think Chevy should shrink the Cruze, Malibu and Impala, 6-8 inches each, having starting prices around 15k, 20k and 25k, with the Impala being more of an Accord fighter, Malibu becoming a Civic, Focus, Corolla fighter. Spark and Sonic die in this scenario. On the Crossover side, add a crossover below Trax for $15k, shrink Equinox to Escape size, add another Crossover in between Equinox and Traverse so they have 5 crossovers. Buick and Cadillac need 3 crossovers each.

Norway has announced a plan to ban sale of cars with an internal combustion engine by 2025. They won't be the first. China should do that, their air quality is a joke. Government mandates will lead to more electrification too. Electricity is the most readily available power source. And the batteries will eventually get there, they just aren't there yet. The horsepower is already there.

So they are fine for them picking the i3 because it has more room than a Volt but can't see why they'd pick an Explorer over an Escape?I'm just going to let you think about the fallacy of your argument before commenting further. One last thing. The fleet Explorers are nowhere close to $40K. They start at $31K. http://www.fleet.ford.com/edms/price-lists/?group=PriceList The Volt doesn't have much space at all. An Escape would have as much room in it as an i3, thus enough room for a police vehicle. I don't think they need more room than what an Escape offers. The Police interceptor Explorer might start at $31k but they are all tacking options on, the ecoboost motor alone is $3,100 if they add that. Maybe they are $35k average, but an Escape would be $10k less probably.

The volt has the advantage of running on gas when the juice runs out though, unlike the electric only i3. And if they bought a Ford Focus hatchback Police package (if one existed) they could run it on gas, it would cost under $25,000 and have more cargo and passenger volume than a Volt. I think the LA PD wanted pure electric, the Volt is still a gas powered car. If we are going to call the i3 a waste of money, I am all for that. Look at most European police cars, they have Opel/Vauxhall Astra hatchbacks, Puegot Hatchback, Ford Mondoe (Fusion) sedans, and they function just fine. The only reason the police departments have Taurus, Explorer, V8 Chargers, and Caprice to a lesser degree, is the car makers only want to make police cars out of larger higher margin vehicles, and the police companies are using tax payer money so they don't care what it costs. Plus if you took away fleet sales, these large sedans like Taurus, Charger, etc would really be in the dump, because the retail market is drying up fast for large sedans.

Tesla is going to be selling the 60 kWh Model S (which actually has a 75 kWh battery) for a starting price of $66,000 before any credits. That is a 200 mile range car. If they can get the batteries cheaper a Model S starting at $60k in 5 years time seems doable. Cars like the Leaf, and Mitsubishi miev-i whatever don't sell because they aren't any good. Stuff like a Soul EV or B-class, or Focus electric are too expensive compared to the gas counterpart. Once Tesla and others start building good EV's at reasonable prices, gasonline power is dead.

I think a lot of police departments spend more than they need to on police cars. I see tons of Explorer police cars, those have to be $40k easily, when an Escape for $28k would do the same thing.

I have driven the i3, they are torquey and have good jump off the line, for city driving they are plenty quick. Because of the squared shape and no ICE they have a lot of room in them too. Compared to a Volt the i3 has more electric range and more cargo space. The Bolt isntt on sale yet. A better comparison might be the Leaf or Kia Soul EV, since they are pure EV with a hatch back. Maybe after testing they determined the i3 the best electric car.

They need a Z4 Gran Roadster, that could be like a 4 door roadster with a back seat. And for sure they need a i3 Gran Electric Crossover Coupe M Performance. I sort of wish Mercedes would phase out the CLS and call the 4-door coupe fad over, every other auto maker would drop this nonsense within 2 years. All of them want to look like a CLS, but none do, even the current CLS doesn't have the looks of the original.

Sadly sedans will keep dropping in sales. Most buyers don't care about acceleration, handling, braking ability, the crossover can meet their daily needs and haul around the crap they don't need in the first place.

The problem with the other two Gran Coupes is they look like sedans. At least make it look like a coupe. I think they should make a 3-series Gran Sedan, an X3 Gran Crossover, and X5 Gran Crossover, 7-series Grand sedan, maybe even a 6-series Gran Sedan that is s door car, shaped like a sedan.

Wagons and hatchbacks are a useful body style, more cargo space, but the handling and performance of a car. In that regard they make a lot of sense, but consumers just don't seem to buy much of either body style. In theory, they are better than crossovers, an E-class wagon would get better gas mileage, handle better and be faster than a GLE suv, the E-class wagon probably has as much or more cargo and passenger space. Yet consumers want the crossover.

I think the only way they could sell is if they were like a discount car brand. If they are priced the same as VW, it is pointless, no one is buying VWs. And since Hyundai and Kia want to move out of that discount area and have fancy trim levels, there is that open part of the market for a cheap car. I think they are better off just selling the Yeti as a VW, as a inexpensive crossover it would sell.