2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG Fashion Force On Patrol In Manhattan

The Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class hasn't aged as well as we'd like. In its first incarnation, the CLS was a trendsetter; a swoopy and stylish sedan Mercedes-Benz liked to call a coupe. That's not to say the second-generation CLS-Class isn't an eyecatcher. But there's no way it's as good-looking as the W219 CLS Benz. This, however, isn't stopping Mercedes-Benz from using the CLS-Class as a fashion policemobile during New York's fashion week, as I noticed on Autoblog earlier today.

True, the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG driven around Manhattan by style-conscious New Yorkers will not be on the lookout for offenders. Stacy and Clinton, they ain't. The 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG is scanning the sidewalks for fashionable trendsetters and then giving them a lift, some tickets to runway shows, and a picture or two. You're wearing mom jeans? Uh... keep walking. Haute couture? Get in the car.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is a big promotional event for the Stuttgart firm. Even though we might find clips of middle-aged tourists wearing Hawaiian shirts over wrinkled khakis humourous, Mercedes-Benz is sticking with the less controversial, friendlier plan. Could they have used the more stylish SLS AMG? An enthusiast would've hoped so, but impracticalities get in the way with that Gullwing-doored two-seater. The GLK would have been my pick, but Mercedes-Benz is keen on touting the supposed style of its new big-engined four-door coupe.

But where are they gonna stretch the 507-bhp CLS's legs in Manhattan? There's a whole lot of pent up energy in a twin-turbocharged V8. Restricting it to taxi/police duty in New York City is as inappropriate as tasking a Chevrolet Aveo with land speed record breaking at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

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Chattanooga Police Department's New Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI

Unless you're located in Tennessee, you won't be seeing Volkswagen Jetta SportWagens as Police cars in North America anytime soon. For a few community policing officers in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the surrounding Hamilton County, the diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI - with a lovely bodykit and requisite light bar - will make for a lovely ride through southeastern Tennessee.

From a purely financial standpoint, the main benefit of these Volkswagen-gifted Jetta TDIs is tremendous fuel efficiency. The EPA rates the Jetta TDI at 42 miles per gallon on the highway. Diesel fuel in Chattanooga is currently running about thirty cents higher than the price for regular gasoline.

And why the gift from Volkswagen USA? 12 miles northeast of Chattanooga is Volkswagen's new factory. Made in Germany? Not so much. Designed In Germany, Built In Tennessee? That's more like it.

The Good Car Guy acclaimed the Jetta SportWagen TDI in The Good 12 v3.0. But keep in mind, this Jetta isn't based on the new for 2011 Volkswagen Jetta sedan, a different car with the same engines. 

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Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle Photo Gallery

Interrupting GoodCarBadCar.net's exhaustive automotive Sales Stats recap for police vehicle coverage isn't unusual. This time, Ford is back at work, but it's not a police car they've completed. This 2011 Explorer-based Ford Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle is certainly more practical than the new Ford Taurus Police Interceptor (more about which you can read here and here) but it's still wildly different from the garden variety Ford Crown Victoria Interceptor.

Fuel efficiency should improve up to 20% for departments currently running Crown Victorias. The Ford Explorer Police Interceptor will use its 3.5L V6 to generate 280 horsepower. Power will be necessary to keep things moving when the cargo area is filled with up to 800 pounds of gear.

The Good Car Guy was a ride-along participant a few weeks ago in an aggressively-driven Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. Though antiquated and somewhat anemic, the CVPI held on to the road far more capably than criminals would previously expect. When Ford says the new Explorer Police Interceptor "has been put through its paces, undergoing a battery of torture tests to ensure its individual components can hold up to rigorous driving", you can believe it. 

Pictures of the all-new 2011 Ford Explorer turned Explorer Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle are in the Gallery below. Many include the Taurus Police Interceptor, as well.




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WILL THE 2011 FORD POLICE INTERCEPTOR BE A FALCON OR TAURUS?

The upcoming demise of the Ford Crown Victoria and thus its role as a taxicab and police pursuit vehicle will see Ford replacing the Crown Victoria Interceptor in 2011, Ford announced today. Fuel economy, durability, safety, and performance are categories in which, Ford says, improvements will bemade over the Crown Victoria. For those not familiar with the current Ford police package, it rests on a vehicle which underwent its first facelift and engineering changes sometime during Taft's presidency. Of course, the Crown Victoria was the only car big enough to accomodate William Howard Taft.

Ford Announces Interceptor Will Be Taurus

All kidding aside, the Crown Victoria remains a beloved car in many police circles, at least the circles in which nobody was involved in a rear-end collision with an exploding Crown Vic. Ford's promise to efficiently phase out the Crown Victoria while phasing in a new police car inspires plenty of speculation in the automotive world.

Check out February 2010's GCBC post on the

Top 5 Unconventional Police Car Choices

Curious, isn't it, that so much of this speculation comes from people who love to drive fast cars fast? What, we care about which vehicles pull us over? Apparently. The Police section of GoodCarBadCar.net is one of this site's most popular zones. Regardless, the car you see pictured here is the Aussie-built Ford Falcon XR8 Police vehicle. The Falcon's one of those cars North American auto enthusiasts really want to see for sale here. You know the kind, like the Pontiac GTO (nee Holden Monaro) or the Pontiac G8 (nee Holden Commodore), both of which are classified in the "nobody bought them" classification. Regardless, the Falcon is certainly coolish and, with its rear-wheel drivetrain, is likely pleasing to the ears of cops.

Yet the new Ford Taurus is capacious in both the cabin and the trunk. And Ford boss Mark Fields did say this new car would be engineered in the USA. If that's going to be the Falcon, it'll be reengineered, and that could be what Fields meant.

After a few days with the Taurus last week, it seems to me that the Taurus would be a perfect police car. No police force is going to receive another body-on-frame package like the Crown Victoria so they might as well stop whining about its rugged nature. Though rear-wheel drive is great for a good many, it's not useful to have cops stuck on steep roads in the northern states or in Canada. Plus, the Taurus can be had in wicked fast SHO form, a perfect highway patrol chase car. And again, there's the roomy factor. In both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive formats, the Taurus could be one sublime Interceptor, a perfect alternative to GM's new Chevy Caprice PPV and perhaps a nice mainstream mainstay to put Carbon Motors out of business.

We shall see. One way or another, expect Ford to put up quite a fight. Dearborn's own sells between 45,000-60,000 Interceptors each year - about 75% of the market. That's revenue no automaker would want to lose.

HORSHAM SOUTH POLICE USING KIA SOUL PATROL

Toll House Kia in Horsham South, Sussex, has kindly given the local constabulary a Kia Soul outfitted for community policing duty.

The Police Community Support Officers are excited about the head-turning style of the Soul since their role relates directly to visibility in the area. Sussex's Soul patrol car is kitted out with reverse parking-assistance and the full onslaught of 18-inch wheels.

Many of the unique vehicles featured in GoodCarBadCar.net's Police section are found in the United Kingdom rather than the staid rural communities of Normal, Illinois, or Nowhere, Kansas, or Truro, Nova Scotia. Just check out Humberside's Lexus ISF and the Mitsubishi i MiEV in the West Midlands for proof.

MITSUBISHI TURNS i MiEV INTO A POLICE CAR

Is 81 miles per hour (130kmh) enough for a police car? The West Midlands Police, based around Birmingham, England, feel as though the Mitsubishi i MiEV's inability to chase down BMW M3s will be irrelevant given the electric car's role as an urban patrol car.

Of course, the other negative with the i MiEV is its limited range: just 100 miles before charging is required. Based on the semi-normal Mitsubishi i, the MiEV version will find its way to regular consumers in Japan, the UK, and other target markets by the end of the year. The government of Hong Kong will receive the first ten i MiEVs. The West Midlands police force will be the first law enforcement placement for the i MiEV before the little Mitsus find their way in urban centres across Britain.

Pontiac G8 kinda turns into the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle

Humberside UK Police take possession of Lexus ISF

Jaguar XF Police Car uses a wonderful diesel

Is the new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X slow?

Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport is quite a looker

WATCH OUT CARBON E7, GM HOPS BACK INTO POLICE ARENA WITH CHEVROLET CAPRICE

From Holden, GM's Australian outpost, comes this re-worked Pontiac G8 Police Package. No, wait a second.... It seems a little longer than the G8, that's not a twin-port grille; and that's a bow-tie badge; not an upside-down arrowhead.

Indeed, the police package General Motors will be offering fleets come 2011 isn't a Pontiac G8 but a Chevrolet Caprice, nee Holden Statesman/Caprice. Although very similar to the defunct Pontiac G8, the Caprice police car is actually based on a larger version of GM's rear-wheel drive Zeta platform.

Holden makes use of large variations of the Zeta platform in the Land Down Under. The Commodore (like our G8) is just the start: Calais, Ute, Caprice, Statesman, and Sportwagon form half of Holden's showroom. As in the Middle East, the larger sedan version of this Holden Zeta platform will be called the Chevrolet Caprice for North America. Ah, but only for fleets; not for private customers. At least not until police auctions show '11s with 180,000 miles and a severely dented rear bumper.

Read The Good Car Guy's call for a Pontiac G8 Police Package

Sadly, not only is the Pontiac G8 dead but its spiritual successor won't be available in Chevrolet showrooms. Take solace in a few simple facts. The Caprice is gigantic. (The G8 wasn't "small", after all.) Its wheelbase is stretched almost four inches and its overall length is about a half-foot beyond that of the Pontiac G8. This brings about a couple hundred more pounds in luxurious Holden formation and should do so anyway with all the extra riot gear. So if you don't like your cars 17-feet long there's no need to complain about the Caprice's absence in Chevy dealers.

Even with all that weight, 355 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque from a 6.0L V8 should give the Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle some scoot. Cops should be comfortable with more interior capacity than the Ford Crown Victoria offers in addition to specially contoured seats to allow space for a typical cop's belt.

Check out the full GoodCarBadCar.net POLICE section

Strangely, a "street-appearance" package code-named 9C3 will be available. One would assume that a supposedly "undercover" car ain't gonna appear to undercover when NOBODY ELSE IS ALLOWED TO DRIVE THAT MODEL OF CAR. That being said, the same accusation could be applied to the upcoming Carbon Motors police car, a vehicle which, in basic garb, will still be identifiable by its core.

Nevertheless, it is the diesel-powered Carbon Motors E7 that'll provide the stiffest fleet competition to the Chevrolet Caprice, not the antiquated Ford police package. As sales to consumers drop, will anybody else want to step in and play this game?

HUMBERSIDE POLICE TRADE IMPREZAS FOR LEXUS IS-F

Over time, automobile manufacturers have acquired to main theories when it comes to selling vehicles. First, there's the "poach". Hyundai loves to sell a Sonata to a former Toyota Camry buyer, for instance. Then there's the "up-sell". Grab a young customer who, for example, is interested in a smart fortwo. Over time, said customer upgrades to a B-Class, then a C-Class, and by the time he or she reaches retirement age, an SL63 AMG is in their grasp.

Check Out All Police-Related Posts @ GoodCarBadCar.net

The police in Humberside, England have given Lexus a strange helping of both the poach and the up-sell. Switching from their fleet of Subaru Imprezas to Lexus sedans seems odd enough. Add to that the fact that Humberside's choosers anted up for the Lexus IS-F, the fastest Lexus on the road. This is Toyota's BMW M3 equivalent; a V8-powered small 4-door with 416 horsepower and an 8-speed automatic.

Humberside took this decision seriously... allegedly. The vehicle had to be capable of carrying an extra £30,000 worth of gear. " The Lexus was tested during a 12 month period along with similar vehicles and proved itself to be ideally suited in providing a dynamically safe high performance chassis," Sergeant Mike Peck said.

In the United States the Lexus IS-F costs $56,760. A common U.S. police car like the Dodge Charger R/T has a base MSRP of $32,910. Lexus charges £53,381 for the IS-F in the UK.

DODGE CHARGER AND MAGNUM COP CARS RECALLED

Upon posting the Top 5 Vehicles the Police Should be Driving, The Good Car Guy quickly discovered that regular consumers are quite interested in the choices police departments make. It's true that the Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum weren't included in that Top 5, but that's only because cops had already taken a liking to their benefits above and beyond those offered by Ford's Crown Victoria. 

More recently, Chrysler announced that Kuwaiti officials would be purchasing 150 Dodge Chargers for their police service. That's basically a drop in the puddle - Dodge is recalling 20283 Chargers and Magnums that had been outfitted with the police package and column shifter. 

These Recalled vehicles are from model years 2006-2009. Column shifters, not a feature associated with regular Chargers and Magnums, "may become disengaged from the steering column mounting bracket and cause an incorrect transmission gearshift position display". Obviously the danger revolves around inadvertent vehicle movement. 

Dealers, NHTSA says, will add a locking mechanism to the gearshift cable to "ensure proper retention and shift linkage function". Apart from added weight and the (sometimes) lack of a V8, the Dodge Charger driven by The Good Car Guy was, to say the least,a  decent value. Check out that review here.

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP560-4 FOR ITALIAN POLIZIA - 20 PICTURES

I know exactly what you're thinking: apparently the Italian troopers were insatiable. The regular Gallardo wasn't good enough? In 2004, a Lamborghini Gallardo began a stint in the police service with tasks that - generally speaking - weren't related to tracking down high-octane speeders. Transporting organs for transplants was one of the Gallardo's more likely tasks, in theory. 

That first Gallardo has almost 88,000 miles on its odometer. A second Gallardo used in more northern areas since '05 has almost clocked almost 70,000 miles.

Check out the older Gallardo along with other wild police vehicles here 

and here along with police vehicle suggestions here

Apparently Lamborghini and the polizia believed more everything was required. The upgraded LP560-4 features 59 more horses than the original Gallardo with fewer pounds to propel. Thirty officers are trained in driving the Gallardo as well as in the use of its medical equipment. Thus, police personnel accustomed to Fiat Bravos won't be seen steering the LP560-4 off a cliff at 200mph.

TOYOTA CAMRY BACKS UP OVER POLICE CAR IN ILLINOIS

Here on GoodCarBadCar.net, The Good Car Guy makes a lot of recommendations. Most of them can be easily summed up in The Good 12. Some are listed in a Top 5 article on ugliness. More recommendations come amidst the daily run-of-the-mill posting completed in this very space.

Unfortunately, one Toyota Camry driver in Buffalo Grove, Illinois dismissed almost all advice ever offered to him or her in his or her entire life. GoodCarBadCar.net can accept some blame. One recommendation we failed to offer was the obligatory "Don't put your car in reverse and drive over a police car". Sorry, I missed that one.

Watch the video below from CNN.com. There's no need to rewind multiple times to check if that's what you really are seeing, because the video does it for you. Over and over.

CARBON MOTORS RELEASES DATA ON ITS POLICE CAR

She ain't pretty, but in relative comparison with the Dodge Charger and Ford Crown Victoria, pretty doesn't top the list of desirable characteristics. Carbon Motors has attacked this large segment of the automotive marketplace with a completely new approach.

With help from Lotus, says Carbon Motors, "this special purpose vehicle will provide a superior performing product with a much safer and more efficient operating environment for law enforcement officers, and offer a significantly lower total cost-of-ownership. A significant reduction in CO2 emissions is targeted in addition to a 30% - 50% fuel economy improvement."

The Carbon Motors police car should use a diesel engine that makes 300 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. Helped by a six-speed automatic, acceleration to 60mph should be brisk: around 6.5 seconds. Fuel economy of 29mpg would be a big help to every police department on the continent. On the inside, everything will be geared towards absolute usability, perfectly geared toward the clientele. 360-degree surveillance capability, video and audio surveillance of the rear seat area, fully-fitted law enforcement equipment up front, shotgun mounts, head-up display, backup camera - it all sounds great. It sounds terrific when you realize that all of that is integrated; a car designed from the outset to work with these systems.

Carbon Motors Corp. will develope, manufacture, distribute, and service these purpose-built patrol cars. Their mission goes as far as to offer a 24/7 call centre and a predictable end-of-life process. The Carbon Motors vehicle will be geared towards fleets, quite obviously, but most clearly to the public sector.

Find out more at www.carbonmotors.com.