RadarTest: Watch your mirrors: Chevy's new police car is coming.
The Caprice PPV rides on the excellent unibody Zeta platform from the Australian Holden Commodore, used by the discontinued Pontiac G8 sedan (also by the Camaro). It's slightly longer than the G8 and has a considerably longer wheelbase. Although Chevrolet offered no specifications, from walking around the car, the wheelbase appears to be at least four inches longer than the G8's 114.8 inches. It retains the G8's front MacPherson strut suspension and multi-link independent rear and will debut with an L76 6.0-liter V-8 tentatively rated at 355 hp, backed by a 6L80 six-speed automatic. A V-6 option will follow. The eight-cylinder will feature Active Fuel Management, Chevy's term for cylinder deactivation technology, and will run on E85 fuel. (For reference, the G8's L76 regular-gas engine is rated at 361 hp @ 5300 rpm and 385 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm.) The added wheelbase allows more legroom than in the Crown Victoria and vastly more than on Chevrolet's Impala, a smaller, FWD and V-6-powered sedan. Front seat tracks have an unusually long travel and even equipped with a cage—cop-speak for a protective partition—they can be substantially reclined, an impossible feat among other police sedans. In back, the high center tunnel also creates two-plus-two rear seating, meaning that adding a third prisoner may border on cruel and unusual punishment on longer trips. But back-seat prisoners similarly benefit from the stretched wheelbase. The only sedan ever used for prisoner transport with this much rear-seat legroom was the Monroe County (Florida) Sheriff's Checker Marathon I photographed in Key West nearly 20 years ago. The XXL-size trunk has a flat load floor and accommodates twin batteries—one dedicated to powering auxiliary equipment—as well as the full-size spare tire so prized by fleet managers. Provisions have been made to relocate the stock radio back there, allowing its dash space to be used instead for mounting a compact touch-screen computer. It's tough to get too...
Dealer Taking Deposits on Chevy VoltBut Chevy Hasn't Built it YetOne enterprising Columbus, Ohio Chevrolet dealer has started taking deposits. In its listing for the Volt, Jack Maxton Chevrolet explains, and more »
The Money TimesGM's Second Electric Car After Chevy Volt To Be Cadillac ConverjTo reduce exterior drag, rear-view mirrors were replaced by screens displaying images from video cameras. The concept car used an identical drivetrain to GM to put electric Cadillac Converj into productionall 91 news articles »
Package equipment included a blacked-out grille, dual sport mirrors, color-keyed lower body striping, black-accented taillight bezels (on coupes), and more »
