WILTS Police Patrol car lights - Woow...
Discussion
off_again said:
Ok, its not serious, but spotted Wiltshires finest in one of their new Lexus patrol cars this morning. Nice new lights.... not the rotating ones, but LED based ones. Really bright and they move too.... quite impressed and look great.
Any other police forces changing their lights?
Any other police forces changing their lights?
Others have have vehciles with LED lights on the fleet now.
I know this has been said before.....but why oh why do they use Lexus cars? Surely the police and all government bodies should be using vehicles which have some benefit to our economy - i.e. are manufactured here. So certain Fords, Hondas, Nissans etc. Not BMWs, Peugeots or Lexus' (Lexi??)!
Rant over!
Rant over!
They use Lexus cars (is it Lexii? - anyway nuff of that!) because they get a good deal. They tend to be a touch cheaper than the equivalent BMW / Mercs to start with. They are all silver and are very reliable - so selling them on is pretty easy. But the police forces rarely actually buy them anyway - they are leased. Because of the combined purchase, reliability and final resale prices are good - the total lease price is very competitive, if not cheaper than other cars anyway.
So, which is better? Cost effective and cheaper long-term Lexus cars, or more expensive in the long-run cars made here? Its a tough call to make and for some forces they have gone with the cheaper option. That said though - the police spend more money on the maintenance and equipment for a patrol car than the original purchase price anyway! All those tyres, brakes, lights, stickers, comms equipment, computers etc etc - over the life of the car they spend more money here.... so the price of the car really does pale into insignificance....
So, which is better? Cost effective and cheaper long-term Lexus cars, or more expensive in the long-run cars made here? Its a tough call to make and for some forces they have gone with the cheaper option. That said though - the police spend more money on the maintenance and equipment for a patrol car than the original purchase price anyway! All those tyres, brakes, lights, stickers, comms equipment, computers etc etc - over the life of the car they spend more money here.... so the price of the car really does pale into insignificance....
off_again said:
Ok, its not serious, but spotted Wiltshires finest in one of their new Lexus patrol cars this morning. Nice new lights.... not the rotating ones, but LED based ones. Really bright and they move too.... quite impressed and look great.
Any other police forces changing their lights?
Any other police forces changing their lights?
Yes have seen the RX running around with the LED bar lights. When switched off it isn't all that easy to spot the bar because of it's size. A couple of weeks ago I cam across a new black unmarked GS not far from the Windmill Hill business park in Swindon, so thats another one to keep an eye out for.
The cars police use are determined not only by resale value / leasing cost but by reliability and most importantly the ability of the car to do the job.
In the Met the biggest problem - for traffic at least - is getting cars that are big enough, can carry enough equipment for purpose, accelerate quickly enough, have a high enough top speed (with bar light) and MOST importantly stop quickly and repeatedly.
Most cars fail on some count or another with alot failing the brake test which for London is really strict due to the nature of emercall driving in the city.
Quite often there is little choice for the higher performance stuff once all the criteria have been met. The lower spec cars are not such a problem.
Sadly, says he, with a slightly biased view, it is not up to the officers which cars they have !
In the Met the biggest problem - for traffic at least - is getting cars that are big enough, can carry enough equipment for purpose, accelerate quickly enough, have a high enough top speed (with bar light) and MOST importantly stop quickly and repeatedly.
Most cars fail on some count or another with alot failing the brake test which for London is really strict due to the nature of emercall driving in the city.
Quite often there is little choice for the higher performance stuff once all the criteria have been met. The lower spec cars are not such a problem.
Sadly, says he, with a slightly biased view, it is not up to the officers which cars they have !
john57 said:
The cars police use are determined not only by resale value / leasing cost but by reliability and most importantly the ability of the car to do the job.
The trouble is, image should also be taken into account. Driving around in flashy expensive cars doesn't do anything for police/public relations, and many public feel aggrieved. Im amazed at how many of my friends comment on the "flashy police Lexus" they saw, and "that's where are taxes are going".
Btw, I hear they have a veyron on order
. john57 said:
Most cars fail on some count or another with alot failing the brake test which for London is really strict due to the nature of emercall driving in the city.
Just can't win guys.
That was the problem with the old SD1 Rovers in the Met. Every mod in the book was tried to get the braking up to spec, made worse perhaps by reduced engine braking as all Met vehicles automatics.
I remember driving, albeit briefly, a 2600 SD1 engineering development vehicle which had plumbing and pressure meters spurred from the twin brake circuits, meters mounted on the dash in front of observer seat.
In the end the cure was down to getting enough cooling air into the brakes, and a number of wheels and solutions were tried. Only one genuinely worked, fitting Minilites.
Of course what happened next was a flurry of complaints about the Met using Minilites which were the wheel of choice for works rally teams at the time on the basis that they were strongest and best able to withstand running on a flat.
Of course no credit given for the inordinate efforts spent trying to buy and operate British built motors. Typical!
deeps said:
john57 said:
The cars police use are determined not only by resale value / leasing cost but by reliability and most importantly the ability of the car to do the job.
In the Met the biggest problem - for traffic at least - is getting cars that are big enough, can carry enough equipment for purpose, accelerate quickly enough, have a high enough top speed (with bar light) and MOST importantly stop quickly and repeatedly.
Most cars fail on some count or another with alot failing the brake test which for London is really strict due to the nature of emercall driving in the city.
Quite often there is little choice for the higher performance stuff once all the criteria have been met. The lower spec cars are not such a problem.
Sadly, says he, with a slightly biased view, it is not up to the officers which cars they have !
In the Met the biggest problem - for traffic at least - is getting cars that are big enough, can carry enough equipment for purpose, accelerate quickly enough, have a high enough top speed (with bar light) and MOST importantly stop quickly and repeatedly.
Most cars fail on some count or another with alot failing the brake test which for London is really strict due to the nature of emercall driving in the city.
Quite often there is little choice for the higher performance stuff once all the criteria have been met. The lower spec cars are not such a problem.
Sadly, says he, with a slightly biased view, it is not up to the officers which cars they have !
The trouble is, image should also be taken into account. Driving around in flashy expensive cars doesn't do anything for police/public relations, and many public feel aggrieved. Im amazed at how many of my friends comment on the "flashy police Lexus" they saw, and "that's where are taxes are going".
I say again. Cayenne. It doesn't look particularly flash and I doubt the average numpty knows what it is, not thinking that Porsche make anything but 911s. And it fulfils the criteria of being a high-performance load-lugger with shit-hot brakes.
shuvitupya said:
I can clearly remember seeing smoke coming from the brakes of a Police Rover SD1, as it came to a halt in the West End many years ago. 
That's a normal run for me, hence why I got my nickname! It's not difficult to get smoke off the pads, or destroy the front shocks over speed humps (apparently)
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