Category: Automotive

Today, CNN has an article about U.S. police cars, and how they are all domestic maker vehicles. For years, police departments have used the Ford Crown Victoria due to it’s space, power, and drive train. (Big truck, big front seat, large V8, rear wheel drive). In the last few years, police departments have shifted over to the Chevrolet Impala (smaller, V6, front-wheel drive).

For 2006, they tested two new RWD cars; The Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger. Both can be purchased with rear wheel drive, and both are very quick, with 5.8L V8’s producing 400+ hp. The problem is the trunk isn’t as big as in the Crown Victoria, and the “interior ergonomics” aren’t as good as the Crown Vic.

This all being said, aside from massive cultural resistance and backlash, what is the reasoning for using American cars? Surely it isn’t repair recordm build quality, or predominance of rear-wheel drive vehicles.

Most Japanese sedans are front-wheel drive, so we’ll leave the Japanese out of this.

Most German sedans are rear-wheel drive, or all wheel drive. Arguably, AWD is more expensive to maintain, so let’s reluctantly throw Audi out of the picture. That leaves BMW and MB producing large, spacious, rear wheel drive, powerful sedans.

Let’s do a little side by side comparison here. To keep things consistent, the source of the data will be Edmunds, and all prices will be based from invoice price. (Arguably, a police department buying 50-100 cars might get a decent discount straight from the factory.)

2006 Ford Crown Victoria:
Invoice: $28,282
Build Location: Canada
Weight: 4,129 lbs
Front Legroom (cubic inches): 42.50
Rear Legroom (cubic inches): 39.60
Engine/Drive-train: 4.6L V8 239hp, RWD

2006 BMW 550i:
Invoice: $52,415
Build Location: Germany
Weight: 3,803 lbs
Front Legroom (cubic inches): 41.50
Rear Legroom (cubic inches): 36.00
Engine/Drive-train: 4.8L V8 360hp, RWD

2006 Mercedes-Benz E500:
Invoice: $65,000 (approx)
Build Location: Germany
Weight: unknown
Front Legroom (cubic inches): 41.90
Rear Legroom (cubic inches): 35.60
Engine/Drive-train: 5.0L V8 302hp, RWD

So, why don’t US Police Departments buy a BMW or Mercedes? It looks like it’s due to price and room, for starters. The American car, which would be cheaper to buy and repair, is bigger and substantially cheaper. No Autobahns here in the U.S., but rarely does a criminal need to be tailed at 130+mph.

If you’re not a big fan of sportscars, you may not be aware of some of the finer pieces of automotive machinery in life. Even if you don’t care about fast cars, keep reading. You just might be suprised.

So, who is Bugatti? Bugatti is a European automaker, owned by Volkswagen (VW). VW’s main brands include Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, and Skoda. The latter two brands are not (as of this edit) sold in the United States. But, the Bugatti will be. If you have $1.5 Million (USD) to blow, this IS your car.

Bugatti engineers wanted to build the car that was deemed impossible to build. They wanted a super sports car, something street legal, but with qualities unlike any other sportscar ever produced in human history. They succeeded, and they have produced the Bugatti Veyron.

Unless you’re worth tens of millions of dollars, chances are you’ll never even see a Veyron except on the Internet or perhaps on TV. However, if you’re like me – love cars and someday hope to be worth a decent amount, one can hope, can’t they? Without further delay and random banter by myself, here are some of the specifications on the Veyron.

It has a top speed of about 400km/hr – thats over 250mph. Two Audi V8’s mated together to form a “W12” engine, with the addition of 4 turbo charges produces 1,001 brake horse power (bhp) to propel this car to that top speed, and also to get it from zero to 60mph in 2.5 seconds. My car, a 2004 Nissan Maxima will do zero to 60mph in about six and a half seconds and has a top speed 100mph less then the Bugatti. While there can not be any direct comparisons made between a Nissan and Bugatti, I just use the accelleration and top speed comparions as a simple point of reference.

The transmission, a 7-speed manual and auto together, took 50 engineers five years to perfect. That’s a lot of man hours. Fuel economy is a respectable (given its power) 11.7mpg. For the environment, that sort of sucks, but many American trucks produce that level of mpg and don’t come close to 150mph, much less 250mph.

The most amazing idea about this car is its cost vs its price. It reportedly costs Bugatti $5 million USD to make, but they sell it for $1.5 million USD. They produced this car because people said they couldn’t. It is a technological and engineering marvel, and it is the best super sportscar ever produced. It is the automobile equivalent of the Concorde–it won’t produce much profit, but it will have a legacy and they have produced an automobile that many said couldn’t be done.

If I ever have millions to blow, I’m picking one of these up.

Here’s two links that might interest you. The first link, is a two-page summary of the car. The second link is a one hour show called “Top Gear” from England, where the Bugatti Veyron was showcased for much of the show. (A 12-min chunk in the beginnning and middle deals with another sports car, so you’ll have to wait through that.) And one word of warning; Top Gear is a bit anti-American. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I sort of agree that the U.S. doesn’t really produce the best automobiles overall, but we do produce nice sports cars, reliable engines, and awesome trucks. That being said, Top Gear isn’t fond of many American products. So, Nationalistic and Patriotic feelings aside, it’s a good show. Enjoy.

London Times article on the Bugatti Veyron
Top Gear; Bugatti Veyron