good bye grand marquis

[Scrappy Doo]

I was laughing out loud reading that review.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Dave McFly

wasn't the Marauder just the grand marquis with the crown vic tailights (tinted darker I belive) and a crown vic trunk lid as the marquis's had different style rear end. and even when they discontinued the Marauder, they kept the crown vic lights and trunk lid on all versions of the marquis?

from wikipedia:

Cosmetically, the Marauder borrowed trim parts from both its Ford and Mercury stablemates. The headlights and corner lights, from the Grand Marquis, have all non-reflector surfaces blacked out and its grille is painted body-color instead of chrome. Side trim and the B-pillars are painted body-color like the Crown Victoria, which also donates its trunk panel, and tail lights which are tinted to just within DOT standards. The Marauder's front and rear bumper cover are unique to the vehicle though, with the front featuring Cibié fog lamps, and sporting the car's name embossed on the rear bumper. The car's five spoke, eighteen inch wheels feature Mercury's classic "god-head" (Mercury's silhouette) emblem on its center caps.

so all you really need besides the crown vic trunk/lights is the front fascia rear bumper cover and the wheels/tires . great, now I want a GM to make into a 'Marauder clone' .

No, the Marauder was much more than that. The biggest difference being the 300HP DOHC mill vs the 22x hp mill in lesser models. Beefed up 4r75w transmission (same as the Mach 1), 3.55 rear gears, higher torque converter (on 04s), beefed up suspension, 18 inch rims with staggered tires, different exhaust that sounded amazing, different grill, front bumper, taillights, mouldings, etc, tweaked interior with bucket seats, floor shifter, bucket seats, aux guages at the bottom of the center stack. Totally different driving experience from your run of the mill Corwn Vic or Grand Marquis.

[Morepwr]

I think they got their money out of the tooling to build those!

[Stew]

Originally Posted by syr74

I can say with authority that I know of more than a few members of two State Trooper bodies that don't agree regarding the CV, and to be blunt a bit of your pining sounds like it has more than a tinge of Chevy bias to it since any relatively new, P71 police package Crown Vic is going to turn circles around the old Caprice, it genuinely isn't even close (of course, given the difference in age this is how it should be....but it certainly doesn't follow your logic) And that in turn leads me to wonder what else you might be taking liberties with here

As for the new Caprice living up to the old one, not unless you leave durability out of the equation. FWD or not Ford seriously beefed up the chassis and suspension on the Taurus for police duty and I still think the life cycle on it is going to be disappointing compared to a CV. For whatever reason GM is by all appearances just throwing us a run of the mill Holden Caprice with a police package throw on top despite what some have claimed, no major reinforcement of anything, and that probably isn't a good idea. My guess, by 60k miles that thing is probably going to look like it's been taken off road daily if you take a peek underneath.

Don't underestimate those old LT1 Caprices. I would easily put them against ANY CVPI in ANY performance category. kind of like comparing the Maurader to the 96 Impala SS, both had basically identical performance numbers despite the difference in years and the Caprice keeps the same stats as the Imapala SS where the CVPI gets a major downgrade in HP compared to the Marauder.

[Georgie]

front bench seats are great for dates

[Dave McFly]

Originally Posted by Stew

No, the Marauder was much more than that. The biggest difference being the 300HP DOHC mill vs the 22x hp mill in lesser models. Beefed up 4r75w transmission (same as the Mach 1), 3.55 rear gears, higher torque converter (on 04s), beefed up suspension, 18 inch rims with staggered tires, different exhaust that sounded amazing, different grill, front bumper, taillights, mouldings, etc, tweaked interior with bucket seats, floor shifter, bucket seats, aux guages at the bottom of the center stack. Totally different driving experience from your run of the mill Corwn Vic or Grand Marquis.

you mis understood me, i meant COSMETICALLY different, I knew that the drivetrain bits were share with the police interceptor version of the crown and it it had the DOHC 32v V8 from the Cobra mustang (minus the supercharger). the one poster was talking about the body panels, carry on .

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Dave McFly

you mis unsterstood me, i meant COSMETICALLY different, I knew that the drivetrain bits were share with the police interceptor version of the crown and it it had the DOHC 32v V8 from the Cobra mustang (minus the supercharger). the one poster was talking about the body panels, carry on .

Ah, my bad, wasn't quite awake yet LOL.

[mrray13]

Originally Posted by syr74

I can say with authority that I know of more than a few members of two State Trooper bodies that don't agree regarding the CV, and to be blunt a bit of your pining sounds like it has more than a tinge of Chevy bias to it since any relatively new, P71 police package Crown Vic is going to turn circles around the old Caprice, it genuinely isn't even close (of course, given the difference in age this is how it should be....but it certainly doesn't follow your logic) And that in turn leads me to wonder what else you might be taking liberties with here

As for the new Caprice living up to the old one, not unless you leave durability out of the equation. FWD or not Ford seriously beefed up the chassis and suspension on the Taurus for police duty and I still think the life cycle on it is going to be disappointing compared to a CV. For whatever reason GM is by all appearances just throwing us a run of the mill Holden Caprice with a police package throw on top despite what some have claimed, no major reinforcement of anything, and that probably isn't a good idea. My guess, by 60k miles that thing is probably going to look like it's been taken off road daily if you take a peek underneath.

As to the first paragraph, I can say with authority that those troopers will be in a minority. And, to go along with your bias accusation, probably Ford fans. That would be the only cops I know who prefer the PPCV over the LT1 Caprice. All others, some not even car people,loved the Caprice, suffer with the PPCV.

Just how new of a PPCV do I have to drive to experience this better PPCV? The one I'm in daily is an 07 model, just turned 60k. Our two 06 models feel the same way, as do our 04s. The only difference any of us can tell is the instrument cluster changed from the 04s to the 06/07s.

Seriously, the sad truth is, the PPCV hasn't changed much since this latest generation in performance, and will be overshadowed by the older, but better, LT1 Caprice. No bias involved, just truth. Do some research, you'll be surprised.

As to the second paragraph, I hope you are wrong about the new Caprice. We seriously need a true cop car. Maybe Carbon Motors is on to something with the E7, a purpose built and designed police vehicle. And it's diesel!

Originally Posted by Stew

Don't underestimate those old LT1 Caprices. I would easily put them against ANY CVPI in ANY performance category. kind of like comparing the Maurader to the 96 Impala SS, both had basically identical performance numbers despite the difference in years and the Caprice keeps the same stats as the Imapala SS where the CVPI gets a major downgrade in HP compared to the Marauder.

Thank you sir!!

[Stew]

I have had a number of the big body on frame cars: 94 Grand Marquis, 97 CVPI, 96 Roadmaster Limiter LT1, 96 Caprice B4U LT1, 93 Caddy Fleetwood, TBI 350. Far and away my Caprice was my favorite and 1 of vehicles i relaly regret getting rid of (other is my 84 355 S-10). All of them are bulletproof, bu the LT1 cars wer MUCH quicker and even got better gas mileage (20 aver for the CVPI, 24 for the Caprice (2.92 rear), and 26 with the Roadmaster (2.63 rear).)

[Scrappy Doo]

Our CVPP's only get to 70k then they go bye-bye. They are slow, but otherwise they aren't a terrible car.

[305pride]

Originally Posted by Georgie

front bench seats are great for dates

lol my home boy has told me stories with his front bench seat in his 2005 impala

[Zabo]

Originally Posted by mrray13

Maybe Carbon Motors is on to something with the E7, a purpose built and designed police vehicle. And it's diesel!

Which means that High School resource officers get free fuel during alcohol busts.

"But that's MY 5th of jack!"

"Now it's MY tank of gas.. foo."

[Dave McFly]

I have only had one body on frame car my G body 1980 Malibu, in fact I did not know it had a full frame instead of a unibody untill i had it on a lift to get a bad exhaust system repaired !

[syr74]

Originally Posted by Stew

Don't underestimate those old LT1 Caprices. I would easily put them against ANY CVPI in ANY performance category. kind of like comparing the Maurader to the 96 Impala SS, both had basically identical performance numbers despite the difference in years and the Caprice keeps the same stats as the Imapala SS where the CVPI gets a major downgrade in HP compared to the Marauder.

I have heard this stated before but it just isn't accurate. In terms of handling the Marauder would put down a skidpad performance in the neighborhood of .88G, no Caprice/Impala got within sniffing distance of that in stock trim and was on par with a G8 GT. Somebody is going to want to chalk this up to tires, but the truth is that the Impala SS wore pretty good rubber in it's own right and skidpad performance in this instance likely says as much about balance as anything. Since the latest CVPI cars effectrively wore that same suspension it becomes difficult to argue that the Impala SS could handle like the CVPI.

As to the first paragraph, I can say with authority that those troopers will be in a minority. And, to go along with your bias accusation, probably Ford fans. That would be the only cops I know who prefer the PPCV over the LT1 Caprice. All others, some not even car people,loved the Caprice, suffer with the PPCV.

Just how new of a PPCV do I have to drive to experience this better PPCV? The one I'm in daily is an 07 model, just turned 60k. Our two 06 models feel the same way, as do our 04s. The only difference any of us can tell is the instrument cluster changed from the 04s to the 06/07s.

Seriously, the sad truth is, the PPCV hasn't changed much since this latest generation in performance, and will be overshadowed by the older, but better, LT1 Caprice. No bias involved, just truth. Do some research, you'll be surprised.

No bias just truth? I'll have to disagree. How about refuting just that skidpad number I mention above? You find me a body on frame Caprice or Impala that can deliver those kind of numbers in stock trim and I'll reconsider. Worth mentioning, CVPP brakes are better too, although the Impala/Caprice wore decent stoppers itself they weren't going to be nearly as resistant to fade.