Chevrolet Caprice PPV 2011 Review - International

Chevrolet Caprice PPV

Holden is again shipping cars to North America, two years after the Pontiac deal came to a premature end in the wake of the global financial crisis -- and we've driven the vehicle at the centre of the latest export bid.

The car Australians know as the Holden Caprice limousine has just gone on sale to US law enforcement agencies as the Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle).

Holden, through its sister brand Chevrolet, is vying for a slice of the US cop car business, said to be worth between 50,000 and 70,000 sales annually. It is the first time Chevrolet has had a rear-drive police car available since the old-generation Caprice was phased out in 1996.

Currently, the Ford Crown Victoria represents about 70 per cent of the police fleet, but it is going out of production in August this year after almost two decades as a favourite of the force.

GM isn't saying how many early orders it has for the PPV or what its sales forecast is. The company says it doesn't want to show its hand to competitors. Typically the take-up rate of an all-new police car is slow initially -- it's a once in 20-year event -- until a number of agencies have tested it in the field.

But Holden isn't going through all this effort for the fun of it. An extra 10,000 or 20,000 Caprice PPVs a year combined with 25,000 or so Cruze small cars, will certainly help Holden reach its manufacturing target of 100,000 vehicles annually from its factory in Elizabeth, near Adelaide.

The first batch of Caprice PPVs is due to be working the beat by the middle of this year, but we got to slip behind the wheel during a police fleet preview in Phoenix Arizona late last week, the 14th stop on a 20-city tour across America.

The PPV may look familiar but it's actually a purpose-built pursuit sedan, complete with bigger brakes, better cooling, and tougher, sports-tuned suspension that's also been designed to handle kerb strikes at up to 40mph (65km/h).

Inside, the plush Caprice interior has been replaced by a stripped down version of the grey cabin from the Commodore Omega. Anything that is not crucial to police work or everyday functionality of the vehicle has been removed. For example, there are no grab handles, no map pockets on the front-seat backs, even the silver rings around the speedo and tacho are gone.

There is no sound deadening under the bonnet and boot lid -- and the side mirrors and door handles are plain black, not body coloured. The fancy LED tail-lights on the Holden have been replaced by tail-lights with conventional bulbs.

All this adds up to why the PPV has a staggeringly cheap sticker price of $US30,995 -- less than half what we pay for a Caprice in Australia, and cheaper than the most basic Commodore V6. Taking into account currency parity over the past month or so, someone somewhere is getting a good deal, and it's not Holden. When the company locked in the export deal, one Australian dollar bought about 85 US cents. Now the currency is level, the deal is not so lucrative. Holden boss Mike Devereux says what the company loses in one pocket, it makes up for in the other. "We're in this for the long haul," he says.

What appears to be a bare bones proposition to Australian eyes will likely be a form of luxury to North American police. Every PPV comes with six airbags, touch screen audio system, dual zone climate control, and sports-style front seats (made from a harder wearing material than civilian models, and with a cut out either side of the lower seat back to make room for guns and ammo on each officer's utility belt).

There are two models, the 9C1 marked sedan and the 9C3 detective vehicle. They are near identical except the 9C1 comes with black 18-inch steel wheels and has a relocated automatic transmission shifter. It has been moved further forward and closer to the driver's knee to allow room for the large console that houses police radio and computer equipment -- and large drink holders. The front power window switches had to be moved to a new make-shift armrest on each door, made especially for the police pack. It also gets a foot-operated park brake (borrowed from the Impala).

Because they are kitted out differently, the 9C3 gets the Holden Caprice's usual transmission and power window switch layout in the centre console, and snazzy 18-inch wheel covers that look like upmarket alloy rims.

Apart from that, both cars are mechanically identical, right down to the 6.0-litre V8 and big brakes. A V6 is due to follow next year.

The Caprice PPV is not for sale to civilians but they will likely end up in the public's hands once they've served their time on the force. Incredibly, police cars in North America clock up 100,000 miles (160,000km) -- which takes five to six years to accumulate on average. (In Australia, police cars are retired at between 40,000km and 60,000km, typically after about 18 months of use. This way there is still some resale value left in the vehicles and police are driving newer, safer models.)

In North America, ex-police cars are sold off for next to nothing: $1800 to $2500 is the going rate for an old Crown Victoria. US cops literally drive their cars into the ground, which is why Holden had to send in reinforcements. The entire front suspension and steering knuckles were replaced by heavy duty components, parts of the body have extra welding. And all the fluid coolers -- power steering, transmission and engine oil -- are bigger than standard.

Some of these changes will make it onto the Commodore, so Australians will at least benefit in some small way -- even if you can't see it.

Holden said it used many of the parts from the export version of the Caprice sold in the Middle East, where the cars are designed to handle hard, high speed driving in sweltering conditions.

Holden and Chevrolet originally looked at exporting the Commodore as a police vehicle but it quickly became apparent that the Caprice's ample rear leg room and massive boot were better suited to the job. The Caprice's extra leg room means that a prisoner shield can be installed behind the front seats -- and the bad guys still have sufficient leg room.

There has been some conjecture about where the Caprice PPV is made. Representatives from Ford and Chrysler -- the two main rivals in the chase for police fleet business -- have attempted to cast doubt over the PPV's chances of sales success because it is not made in North America.

Last week, the boss of General Motors in North America, also the former boss of Holden, Mark Reuss, slammed critics of the "Police Caprice's" Made-In-Australia tag. He told the Carsales Network that the only people who asked about country of origin were Australian journalists.

Indeed, at the police fleet test drive in Phoenix, General Motors certainly didn't hide the car's origins. In fact "Australia" and a Holden logo made it on to the presentation screen.

The dozens of police fleet managers and police officers we spoke to said that country of origin was not an issue. "We just want the best vehicle," said Dale Bradshaw, a Lieutenant at the Marana police department. "Of course, it has to pass the price test and running costs and so on, and we need to be sure to be able to maintain it and have uninterrupted access to parts supply."

Police fleet operators we spoke to said there is an expectation that a percentage of vehicles on each county's fleets are locally made, but there was no mandate. The perennial cop car favourite, the Ford Crown Victoria, has been coming from Canada for two decades -- and the Dodge Charger is built over the border too.

Reuss said it was a "non issue", and pointed out that what's good for Holden is good for GM. "It's still an American company," he told the Carsales Network. "The dividends that come out of Holden come back to the home country, America, and then America gives the money back locally."

For the record, the only significant PPV parts made in America are the police-grade Goodyear tyres -- and the six-speed auto transmission. The 6.0 V8 is made in Mexico but paid for in US dollars.

So, what's it like to drive? I was among a small group of Australian journalists who got to join the group of police fleet operators in the Phoenix area invited to attend a briefing and sample several PPVs on two test courses. One layout was used for low speed manoeuvres while the race track was used to show how the PPV drives on the limit.

The sound and feel were instantly familiar, but in the first 100 metres I could already notice the first big difference: the brakes. The PPV has massive front discs and the pads themselves have a larger swept area -- at 345mm in diameter the discs are just 10mm shy of the race-bred Brembo brakes fitted to the Redline model.

The next change was felt in a series of switchback turns -- Holden has widened the track of the Caprice PPV by 4mm each side by changing the offset of the 18-inch steel wheel (similar to what HSV did with the GTS 20-inch rim at the E2 upgrade in 2009). It has a more responsive feel. The suspension and the chassis feels tight -- despite being raised 25mm to help the car handle unavoidable kerb strikes.

The only minor blot was some rear suspension shudder under extremely hard braking and cornering. The g-force was clearly so strong the bushes had their work cut out for them. Holden said they were doing their job by ensuring the tyre maintained contact with the pavement -- even when the car was lurching. The PPV certainly proved to be able to handle anything the police -- and other driving professionals on hand for the day -- could throw at it. For example, the brakes got smoking hot, but they never faded.

Overall, the PPV is best described as part Caprice, part Omega and part HSV. It's an incredible engineering feat and it shows that mass market car makers can build 'em tough when the stakes are high. It's just a pity all Holden V8s aren't made to the same standard.

The other pity of all this is that the Caprice PPV -- a high performance V8 pursuit sedan with a price cheaper than that of a basic Omega V6 -- is possibly the best value Holden ever built in the history of the company. But Australians can't buy one.

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