Why no police 335d?
Discussion
He thing about "quick" emergency response cars is how quick do you really need? Traffic like big cars that'll happily do 140 fully loaded, but away from the motorways, it's just not needed, handling and brakes are more important. I'd guess the 335 is just a bit too much in the cost/benefit ratio. Isn't the 330 engine used in a few different vehicles as well (I'm not up to speed on BMW)
It's down to cost. That's the bottom line in everything. The 330d is more than quick enough for what it's needed for, and I expect there is a great bulk buy discount to be had from BMW on that model over the 335d.
I don't think engine reliability has much to do with it and I assume the 335d transmission is adequate for the strains of being a police car. In general, the engines on police cars don't cause the trouble, it's the rest of it that's knackered by the time they're done with.
Various police cars have their problems, but even the hated 1.3 CDTi Astra didn't typically suffer engine blowouts, despite being riddled with faults by the end of service.
I don't think engine reliability has much to do with it and I assume the 335d transmission is adequate for the strains of being a police car. In general, the engines on police cars don't cause the trouble, it's the rest of it that's knackered by the time they're done with.
Various police cars have their problems, but even the hated 1.3 CDTi Astra didn't typically suffer engine blowouts, despite being riddled with faults by the end of service.
jamesson said:
The ACPO limit on power is 300bhp, which the 335d exceeds.
ACPO no longer exists, and has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing. They, and ACPO before them could only issue guidelines. Hence why Forces such as Humberside and Essex had small fleets of Evos and the like. As a general rule forces can do what they like with fleets, but the Chief of said force may have to justify their decision to the NPCC. wiliferus said:
ACPO no longer exists, and has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing
Potato po-taht-oh. 
I should have been clearer. Suggested horsepower limit is 300. Most forces go along with this and as others have said, the 30d variant is fast enough for most situations.
jamesson said:
wiliferus said:
ACPO no longer exists, and has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing
Potato po-taht-oh. I should have been clearer. Suggested horsepower limit is 300. Most forces go along with this and as others have said, the 30d variant is fast enough for most situations.
or am I being unfair to potatoes? Yea, I'd suggest a x30d is useful in most situations. The problem is, high powered vehicles are much more popular and accessible to the masses than they used to be.
Going to back in the day when Police were smoking about in V8 Jags and Senators, only a handful of cars could outrun them in pursuit situations, and most crims were in Astra GTe's and XR3s. The Plod cars had a good shout and keeping up.
Fast forward to 2017 and average Joe is driving a 300bhp Golf R, RS3s, and 300bhp diesels... more than a match for a 530d, V70 D5 et al. The stakes have been raised and Police vehicles are no longer as fit for purpose as they used to be.
wiliferus said:
Fast forward to 2017 and average Joe is driving a 300bhp Golf R, RS3s, and 300bhp diesels... more than a match for a 530d, V70 D5 et al. The stakes have been raised and Police vehicles are no longer as fit for purpose as they used to be.
Police helicopters however are perfectly fit for purpose. BenjiS said:
wiliferus said:
Fast forward to 2017 and average Joe is driving a 300bhp Golf R, RS3s, and 300bhp diesels... more than a match for a 530d, V70 D5 et al. The stakes have been raised and Police vehicles are no longer as fit for purpose as they used to be.
Police helicopters however are perfectly fit for purpose. BenjiS said:
Police helicopters however are perfectly fit for purpose.
That, and whilst the criminal's cars are faster, they're no better at driving them. Escaping a chase is more about creating a risk so great it gets called off, or being in a position to disappear (like on a rat-run housing estate). A vanishingly small amount of chases end by simply being outpaced by the getaway car, and the ones that do tend to be concluded quickly, before backup and air support arrives. Chases are also relatively rare now, but the likelihood of traffic cars having to blue light over long distances has probably gone up due to shrinking shifts and centralisation of traffic hubs, in effort to respond to forcewide incidents.
BenjiS said:
wiliferus said:
Fast forward to 2017 and average Joe is driving a 300bhp Golf R, RS3s, and 300bhp diesels... more than a match for a 530d, V70 D5 et al. The stakes have been raised and Police vehicles are no longer as fit for purpose as they used to be.
Police helicopters however are perfectly fit for purpose. For clarity, I think x30d engine is pretty adequate for the modern day police service. I think the x35d would be overkill for 95% of police use.
wiliferus said:
jamesson said:
wiliferus said:
ACPO no longer exists, and has been replaced by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing
Potato po-taht-oh. I should have been clearer. Suggested horsepower limit is 300. Most forces go along with this and as others have said, the 30d variant is fast enough for most situations.
or am I being unfair to potatoes? Yea, I'd suggest a x30d is useful in most situations. The problem is, high powered vehicles are much more popular and accessible to the masses than they used to be.
Going to back in the day when Police were smoking about in V8 Jags and Senators, only a handful of cars could outrun them in pursuit situations, and most crims were in Astra GTe's and XR3s. The Plod cars had a good shout and keeping up.
Fast forward to 2017 and average Joe is driving a 300bhp Golf R, RS3s, and 300bhp diesels... more than a match for a 530d, V70 D5 et al. The stakes have been raised and Police vehicles are no longer as fit for purpose as they used to be.
Experienced and well trained Police drivers operate at a very high standard based on my experience.
Just out of interest but once you get to 300bhp, if you had spare budget would you prefer another 50hp or better brakes?
In a pursuit with a skilled driver I wonder if it is better being able to brake later (and/or carry more momentum knowing you can stop in a shorter distance if necessary) compared with a few fractions of a second quicker acceleration ...
In a pursuit with a skilled driver I wonder if it is better being able to brake later (and/or carry more momentum knowing you can stop in a shorter distance if necessary) compared with a few fractions of a second quicker acceleration ...
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