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Fancy robbing a bank or post office? Take your car.

Tony Lockhart said:
Ouch, the crims will love this.

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/19879428.bmw-responds-durham-polices-no-pursuit-policy/

I read somewhere months ago that the issue might stem from the way that these cars are sat with the engine idling for extended periods. Now the police are almost toothless for patrolling the main trunk roads.
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Aren't they fitted with stop/start eco systems? Seems odd to sit there with the engine running for no reason unless they're running the aircon to stay comfy.
 
Rack Kit said:
Aren't they fitted with stop/start eco systems? Seems odd to sit there with the engine running for no reason unless they're running the aircon to stay comfy.
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Their cars are fitted with all sorts of communications equipment, and at night they inevitably have lights on. My Merc turns the radio off after ten minutes if the engine is off, so all that gear in a police car will need the engine on.
 
All sat in BP petrol stations having their 50p coffees with the engines running.. called out in a pursuit and the engines so hot it catches fire.
 
Rug Doc said:
All sat in BP petrol stations having their 50p coffees with the engines running.. called out in a pursuit and the engines so hot it catches fire.
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But no other cars have ever done that, afaik. Certainly not in the last 40 years or so.
 
As you say it might well be the electrical system being too demanding. If the cables aren’t upto the ampage then they might fail, but I presume it’s the engines just getting too hot as it’s one specific engine type is that right??
 
Yep. Turbocharged, probably quite cramped under the bonnet. Designed to just be driven and occasionally held up in traffic for maybe an hour or so. But not then driven flat out chasing a nasty piece of work in a cloned Range Rover.
 
Is it an urban myth about the police cars being souped up special versions of the cars that sell to Joe Public? A mate reckons they have shorter ratio boxes fitted so street pursuits? BS?
 
The N57 is a (highly-boosted) turbodiesel.

Will be interesting to find out what the cause is ... lots of egr soot/clog, a thing the n57 is known for - and then an intense heat load could be a very good way to set the accumulated oily-carbon alight...

(that's pure speculation on my part, to be clear)
 
Interestingly, Northumbria Police just up the road from Durham, have recently seemed to swap from BMW to Volvo V90s. They had a large delivery of V90s anyway.

I wonder if the Durham BMW issue had a bearing on that decision.
 
Rack Kit said:
Is it an urban myth about the police cars being souped up special versions of the cars that sell to Joe Public? A mate reckons they have shorter ratio boxes fitted so street pursuits? BS?
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Short ratios would leave them struggling to keep up with a standard repmobile on the motorway, so I doubt it.
As far as I know, the engines are standard, otherwise with service use they turn into ticking time bombs.

Edit: @Andrew C! should be able to provide more info.
 
Friend had an ex flying squad(?) police Saab 9000 turbo back in the day, this thing was chipped and breathed on and went like a bloody rocket!
 
Stuart Frazer said:
Interestingly, Northumbria Police just up the road from Durham, have recently seemed to swap from BMW to Volvo V90s. They had a large delivery of V90s anyway.

I wonder if the Durham BMW issue had a bearing on that decision.
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A few Volvos here too but last week, early one morning, I was passed by a Mercedes E class, fully marked and doing around 130 I reckon.

I saw a picture today on Twitter of a Police Toyota hybrid estate though....
 
An aside

Rug Doc said:
Friend had an ex flying squad(?) police Saab 9000 turbo back in the day, this thing was chipped and breathed on and went like a bloody rocket!
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I had the same engine in a 900 turbo.
dead easy to wind-up a tad, no, a lot ... and it took it, and took it, and took it..
Bought as a stop-gap car but I actually ran it for five years /130Kmiles with >60% more boost than standard, and it still used no oil measurable on 10k mile changes at 210k when I gave it away.

With the Abbot front end steering rack fix & upgrades, and a Whiteline rear ARB upgrade - that thing was hilariously good fun, and fine handling (like a big Issigonis Mini) in the oppossite direction away from the standard NG900 had a poor rep for - for really, really simple reasons of too many rubber bushes poorly-locating things for NVH purposes.


Yet that total fix cost me only maybe 400quid and a couple of hours of effort with the one 10mm socket.... not my best car, but one fondly remembered.

Oh, esp. after breaking the orig 'turbo' gbox, and fitting a the standard one as a cheap drop-in replacement - 20% lower FD. Went like a stabbed rat after that. Ate front tyres on demand, too : D
 
martin clark said:
An aside



I had the same engine in a 900 turbo.
dead easy to wind-up a tad, no, a lot ... and it took it, and took it, and took it..
Bought as a stop-gap car but I actually ran it for five years /130Kmiles with >60% more boost than standard, and it still used no oil measurable on 10k mile changes at 210k when I gave it away.

With the Abbot front end steering rack fix & upgrades, and a Whiteline rear ARB upgrade - that thing was hilariously good fun, and fine handling (like a big Issigonis Mini) in the oppossite direction away from the standard NG900 had a poor rep for - for really, really simple reasons of too many rubber bushes poorly-locating things for NVH purposes.


Yet that total fix cost me only maybe 400quid and a couple of hours of effort with the one 10mm socket.... not my best car, but one fondly remembered.

Oh, esp. after breaking the orig 'turbo' gbox, and fitting a the standard one as a cheap drop-in replacement - 20% lower FD. Went like a stabbed rat after that. Ate front tyres on demand, too : D
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I liked Saab's. It's a pity they are no more.

I would love a Saab 9000 Turbo convertible as a classic.
 
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