Michigan test archive

1991 Michigan State Police Patrol Vehicle Test

The first Camaros in the books held here: the automatic reaches 150 mph and laps the road course in 1:21.08, recorded in a four-page federal bulletin that is all this file holds of the 1991 results.

No 1991 test book is held in this file. What it holds is the National Institute of Justice’s Technology Assessment Program Bulletin of November 1990, “Michigan State Police Tests 1991 Patrol Vehicles”, which opens: “Every year, the Michigan State Police (MSP) tests new patrol vehicles as part of its procurement policy. This year, from August 25 through 27, the MSP tested five special service package cars (two Mustangs, two Camaros, and one Caprice station wagon) and five police patrol package cars.” The bulletin gives no year with those dates; dated November 1990, the bulletin presumably reports a test run in August 1990. The five police patrol package cars were a Chevrolet Caprice with the 5.7 and with the 5.0, a Ford Crown Victoria with the 5.8 and with the 5.0, and a 3.8 Ford Taurus. The bulletin calls itself “a synopsis of the test results; a detailed report is also available.” That report is not held here.

The two Chevrolet Camaros are the first in the books held here. The 5.7-litre automatic ran 150.00 mph, reached 60 in 6.51 seconds and 100 in 17.31, and averaged 1:21.08 on the 1.635-mile road course. Each of those is the best in the books held here to that point. The previous best top speed was the 1987 Mustang’s 139.6. The previous quickest acceleration was the 1990 five-speed Mustang’s 6.64 and 18.66. The previous best lap average was the 1989 automatic Mustang’s 1:21.56. The 5.0-litre five-speed Camaro ran 149.10 mph, and the two 5.0 Mustangs 136.10 and 135.50.

Among the sedans, the Caprice 5.7 ran 130.00 mph and the Taurus 129.40, the highest sedan top speeds in the books held here since the 1978 Plymouth Fury’s 132.7. The 1990 Caprice 5.7 had run 122.1 mph, but it lapped quicker than the 1991 car: 1:26.75 against 1:28.07. The front-drive Taurus lapped in 1:27.05, ahead of every Caprice and Crown Victoria in the test. The Caprice station wagon, a special service car here, is the first station wagon tested in the books held here.

The bulletin prints the ergonomics scores, but no weighted or overall scores, no bids and no winner. The same file holds Chevrolet’s own engineering specification for the 1991 Caprice, including the police car, described below.

The 1991 qualification times. The bulletin gives the acceleration objective as “To determine the ability of each vehicle to accelerate from a standing start to 60 mph within 12.3 seconds, 80 mph within 20.8 seconds, and 100 mph within 37.4 seconds”, and the top-speed objective as “To determine the vehicle’s ability to reach 110 mph within 2 miles.” For braking: “Each vehicle is first required to make four decelerations at 22 feet per second squared from 90-to-0 mph, with the driver using a decelerometer to maintain the deceleration rate. The vehicle then makes a 60-to-0 mph impending skid.” After “a 4-minute cooling period, this sequence is repeated. The second sequence is followed by one 60-to-0 mph panic stop to determine the ability of the vehicle to stop in a straight line within its lane and to detect evidence of brake fade.” The times are tighter than the 1990 book’s 12.5, 22.2 and 39.3, and looser than the 1992 book’s 11.7, 20.3 and 35.1. The weights (Table 1) are vehicle dynamics 30, acceleration 20, top speed 20, braking 10, ergonomics and communications 10 and fuel economy 10.

All ten cars — acceleration, top speed and the road course

Source: NIJ Technology Assessment Program Bulletin, November 1990, Tables 2, 3 and 4 (PDF 394–395). Acceleration figures are the bulletin’s “4-run average in seconds”, from four runs “two northbound and two southbound to allow for wind direction”. Top speed is “The highest speed attained within the 14 miles”. Dynamics is the average lap on “The 1.635-mile road racing course”; the Table 3 footnote reads “Average time for fastest 12 laps”, while the text says “the average of the fastest of at least nine timed laps”. Engine as printed in Table 2. Grouped as the bulletin’s opening paragraph groups the cars. Gold row: the fastest car in the test. The bulletin names no winner.
Car	Engine	0–60 (s)	0–80 (s)	0–100 (s)	Top speed (mph)	Dynamics
Special service package cars
Chevrolet Camaro (automatic)	5.7L (350 cid) PFI	6.51	11.09	17.31	150.00	1:21.08
Chevrolet Camaro (5-speed)	5.0L (305 cid) PFI	7.58	12.48	19.98	149.10	1:22.45
Ford Mustang (5-speed)	5.0L (302 cid) PFI-HO	6.72	11.64	18.84	135.50	1:23.06
Ford Mustang (automatic)	5.0L (302 cid) PFI-HO	8.41	13.76	22.80	136.10	1:23.80
Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon	5.0L (305 cid) TBI	12.63	23.94	42.23	109.00	1:32.11
Police patrol package cars
Ford Taurus	3.8L (232 cid) PFI	9.88	17.76	29.62	129.40	1:27.05
Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L-TBI	5.7L (350 cid) TBI	9.88	17.69	29.24	130.00	1:28.07
Ford Crown Victoria 5.8L-VV	5.8L (351 cid) VV	11.40	19.27	34.54	121.30	1:29.20
Ford Crown Victoria 5.0L-PFI	5.0L (302 cid) PFI	11.70	21.65	40.98	107.60	1:30.56
Chevrolet Caprice 5.0L-TBI	5.0L (305 cid) TBI	12.86	22.96	41.84	124.10	1:30.66

The automatic Camaro was quickest at every step from 20 mph to 100, and lapped 1.37 seconds a lap quicker than the 5-speed Camaro and 1.98 quicker than the faster Mustang. Between the Mustangs the 5-speed was quicker to every speed and round the course (1:23.06 against 1:23.80), and the automatic 0.6 mph faster at the top. The Caprice 5.7 and the Taurus reached 60 in the same 9.88 seconds; the Caprice got to 100 0.38 seconds sooner.

Measured against the bulletin’s qualification times (60 in 12.3 seconds, 80 in 20.8, 100 in 37.4, and 110 mph within two miles), seven cars are inside all three acceleration times and above 110 mph. Three are not:

the 5.0 Caprice sedan is outside all three times, at 12.86, 22.96 and 41.84 seconds;
the Caprice station wagon is outside all three, at 12.63, 23.94 and 42.23, and its top speed of 109.00 is below 110;
the 5.0 Crown Victoria is inside the 60 mph time (11.70) but outside the 80 and 100 mph times, at 21.65 and 40.98, and topped out at 107.60.

The bulletin does not say that any car failed or was disqualified, and it prints no distance to 110 mph, so whether each car reached 110 within two miles cannot be checked.

See the original pages: Tables 4 and 3 in the 1991 bulletin

Scan of Table 4 from the 1991 NIJ bulletin: acceleration times from 0 to 20 through 0 to 100 mph and top speeds for ten cars — Table 4, “Results of acceleration and top-speed testing”, four-run averages in seconds. National Institute of Justice, *Michigan State Police Tests 1991 Patrol Vehicles*, Technology Assessment Program Bulletin, November 1990, PDF page 395 of the scan (printed page 2). Open full size.

Scan of Table 3 from the 1991 NIJ bulletin: vehicle dynamics average lap times for ten cars — Table 3, “Results of vehicle dynamics testing”, the average of each car’s fastest 12 laps. National Institute of Justice, *Michigan State Police Tests 1991 Patrol Vehicles*, Technology Assessment Program Bulletin, November 1990, PDF page 395 of the scan (printed page 2). Open full size.

Acceleration ladders — every 10-mph step for all ten cars

Source: Table 4 of the bulletin (PDF 395), “4-run average in seconds”. Columns in the bulletin’s order. The individual runs are not printed.
0 to…	Chevrolet Camaro (automatic)	Chevrolet Camaro (5-speed)	Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L-TBI	Chevrolet Caprice 5.0L-TBI	Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon	Ford Crown Victoria 5.8L-VV	Ford Crown Victoria 5.0L-PFI	Ford Mustang (automatic)	Ford Mustang (5-speed)	Ford Taurus
20 mph	1.49	1.82	1.96	2.52	2.29	2.48	2.14	1.97	1.70	2.10
30 mph	2.36	2.69	3.35	4.31	3.98	4.26	3.85	3.44	2.54	3.43
40 mph	3.54	3.99	5.01	6.37	6.27	6.20	5.93	4.91	3.70	5.10
50 mph	4.84	5.55	7.27	9.32	9.14	8.36	8.49	6.48	5.08	7.40
60 mph	6.51	7.58	9.88	12.86	12.63	11.40	11.70	8.41	6.72	9.88
70 mph	8.57	9.94	13.34	16.91	17.89	14.84	16.06	10.94	9.01	13.38
80 mph	11.09	12.48	17.69	22.96	23.94	19.27	21.65	13.76	11.64	17.76
90 mph	13.89	16.27	22.70	31.14	31.29	26.00	28.88	17.58	14.64	22.88
100 mph	17.31	19.98	29.24	41.84	42.23	34.54	40.98	22.80	18.84	29.62

The 5-speed Mustang was quicker than the 5-speed Camaro at every step to 100 (18.84 against 19.98), but the Camaro lapped 0.61 seconds quicker and ran 13.6 mph faster at the top. The station wagon and the 5.0 Caprice sedan share an engine; the wagon was quicker to 60 and the sedan to 70 and beyond. The port-injected 5.0 Crown Victoria led the 5.8 to 40 mph, then fell behind.

Brakes

Source: Table 5 of the bulletin (PDF 396). Each measured stop is a 60-to-0 impending-skid stop made after four decelerations from 90 mph at 22 ft/s²; Phase II repeats the sequence after a four-minute cooling period. Distances are as measured from the initial speed shown. The last column is the bulletin’s “Stopping distance from 60 mph based on average deceleration rate”. Every rate recomputes from (speed × 1.4667)² ÷ (2 × distance), and both averages and the 60 mph distances agree to within 0.01. “Only one of each model was tested since body sizes are essentially the same”, so the 5.0 Caprice sedan, the 5.0 Crown Victoria and the 5-speed Mustang have no brake figures. Rows by average rate.
Car	Phase I speed (mph)	60–0 Phase I (ft)	Phase I rate (ft/s²)	Phase II speed (mph)	60–0 Phase II (ft)	Phase II rate (ft/s²)	Avg decel (ft/s²)	60–0 at average rate (ft)
Chevrolet Camaro (automatic)	60.3	144.7	27.03	62.0	157.6	26.23	26.63	145.41
Chevrolet Camaro (5-speed)	60.4	156.0	25.15	60.7	157.3	25.19	25.17	153.84
Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon	60.4	159.8	24.56	59.7	149.7	25.61	25.09	154.33
Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L-TBI	59.2	145.3	25.94	60.8	166.9	23.82	24.88	155.63
Ford Crown Victoria 5.8L-VV	60.6	167.6	23.57	61.2	166.8	24.15	23.86	162.29
Ford Taurus	60.5	167.2	23.55	61.2	171.2	23.53	23.54	164.49
Ford Mustang (automatic)	60.8	185.4	21.45	59.6	174.4	21.91	21.68	178.61

The automatic Camaro stopped best, at 26.63 ft/s² (145.41 feet from 60 at that rate), and the automatic Mustang worst, at 21.68 (178.61 feet), a 33-foot difference between them. The Caprice 5.7’s second stop was 21.6 feet longer than its first, and its rate fell from 25.94 to 23.82, the largest drop between the two phases in the test; the wagon’s second stop was the shorter of its two. The bulletin does not report the panic-stop results.

See the original page: Table 5 in the 1991 bulletin

Scan of Table 5 from the 1991 NIJ bulletin: Phase I and Phase II stopping distances and deceleration rates for seven cars — Table 5, “Results of braking test”. National Institute of Justice, *Michigan State Police Tests 1991 Patrol Vehicles*, Technology Assessment Program Bulletin, November 1990, PDF page 396 of the scan (printed page 3). Open full size.

Ergonomics, communications and fuel

Source: Tables 6 and 7 of the bulletin (PDF 397). Ergonomics were scored per model: “Only one of each model was tested since the interior dimensions are essentially the same.” So each model’s total is repeated on every variant’s row. Table 6’s footnote: “Scores are the total points the automobile received for each of 29 attributes the MSP considers important in determining the acceptability of the vehicle as a patrol car—for example, front seat adjustability, clarity of instrumentation, and visibility front and back. The higher the number, the better the vehicle scored.” The 1990 and 1992 books, which print the items, both have 29. Fuel: Table 7 is headed “Combined city/highway EPA miles per gallon”, but the text says the cars “are scored based on estimates for city fuel economy to the nearest 1/10th mile per gallon”; the figures are printed as the table heads them. Taurus: “EPA figures unavailable at time of publication.”
Car	Ergonomics & communications (pts)	EPA combined (mpg)
Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L-TBI	204.15	16
Chevrolet Caprice 5.0L-TBI	204.15	20
Ford Crown Victoria 5.8L-VV	191.83	15
Ford Crown Victoria 5.0L-PFI	191.83	20
Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon	191.59	19
Ford Mustang (automatic)	167.32	20
Ford Mustang (5-speed)	167.32	20
Ford Taurus	162.19	—
Chevrolet Camaro (automatic)	146.03	19
Chevrolet Camaro (5-speed)	146.03	20

The Caprice sedan scored highest, 204.15, and the Camaro lowest, 146.03, so the fastest car in the test had the lowest score. The bulletin describes the method: “A minimum of four officers independently and individually score each vehicle on comfort and instrumentation. Personnel from the Motor Transport Division, Police Car Prep Section, conduct the communications portion of the evaluation based on the relative difficulty of the necessary installations.” The 5.8 Crown Victoria’s 15 mpg is the lowest figure in the fuel table, and the Caprice 5.7’s 16 the next.

What the bulletin does not hold

The bulletin is a summary of averages. It has no individual acceleration runs and no individual laps, no drivers’ names, no quarter-mile times and no distances to 110 mph. It prints no hardware beyond the engine, no weighted or total scores, no bid prices and no winner, and it does not name where the acceleration, top-speed and braking runs were made. All of that belongs to the “detailed report” the bulletin says “is also available”, which is not in this file and has not been found. The bulletin also carried an offer of AutoBid, the Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory’s program “based on the MSP patrol vehicle performance test data”, which “runs on an MS-DOS™ microcomputer with at least 512K of RAM”; the 1989 bulletin had asked for 384K.

What else this file holds: Chevrolet’s specification for the 1991 Caprice

Fifty pages of the file are a Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association specification form filled in by Chevrolet: “MANUFACTURERS MOTOR VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS / METRIC (U.S. Customary) / 1991”, manufacturer “CHEVROLET MOTOR DIVISION / GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION”, vehicle line “CHEVROLET CAPRICE SEDAN”, “Issued DECEMBER, 1989”, “Revised APRIL, 1990”. Its cover says what it is: “The information contained herein is prepared, distributed by, and is solely the responsibility of the vehicle manufacturing company to whose products it relates.” It is engineering data, not a brochure. It makes no performance claims, gives no prices, and leaves its EPA fuel economy column blank. It describes the 1991 Caprice range, not the cars Michigan tested; the bulletin does not say which axle or options those cars had.

The police car. The series table lists “CAPRICE (POLICE VEHICLES SEO 9C1) / 4-Dr. Notchback Sedan / 1BL19”, with power team A as standard and C as the option, and the police pages are headed “CAPRICE POLICE SEDAN (SEO 9C1)”. Design and development: “Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM of Canada”; where built: “U.S.A.”

Source: MVMA specification form, page 2, “Power Teams” (PDF 347), revised 4-90. “SAE J1349 Net bhp (brake hrspwr) and Net Torque”. The rows are labelled “Power kW (bhp)” and “Torque Newton meters (lb ft.)” but each cell holds one figure, as printed below. The final 0 of the L05’s “4400” is printed heavier than the rest.
Power team	Engine code	Displacement, L (cu. in.)	Induction	Compression	Power @ rpm	Torque @ rpm	Exhaust	Transmission	Axle (std. first)
A	L03	5.0 (305)	Electronic Fuel Injection	9.3:1	170 @ 4200	255 @ 2400	Single	MD8 Auto Transmission 4-Speed	2.56
B	L03	5.0 (305)	Electronic Fuel Injection	9.3:1	170 @ 4200	255 @ 2400	Single	MD8 Auto Transmission 4-Speed	3.08
C	L05	5.7 (350)	Electronic Fuel Injection	9.8:1	195 @ 4400	290 @ 2400	Single	MD8 Auto Transmission 4-Speed	3.42

Engines. “5.0 LITER V8 (305 CID) ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION RPO L03”, with “Fuel Injection At Throttle Body (2)”, and “5.7 LITER V8 (350 CID) ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION RPO L05”, injection point “Throttle Body”, both “AC/Rochester Products” (pages 3, 3.1, 6, 6.1). The option list carries the 5.7 as “L05 Engine – Gas, V8, 5.7L, EFI … 1BL19 – Police Only” (page 26.2). The 195 bhp rating sits between the 190 the 1990 book prints for its Caprice 5.7 and the 205 in the 1992 book.
Transmission and exhaust. “Hydra-Matic 700-R4 (4L60)”, “4-Speed Overdrive Automatic With Lock-Up Converter Clutch”, on the column; for the police 5.7, “Max. upshift speed” “1-2 [53 (33)] 2-3 [98 (61)] 3-4 [161 (100)]” km/h (mph) (page 9.1). No manual transmission is listed. Exhaust on both engines: “Single, With Cross-Over” (pages 7, 7.1).
Axles. “2.56 (1.79)” for the police L03 and “3.42 (2.38)” for the police L05 (pages 10.1, 10.2), the figure in brackets being the overall top-gear ratio; the sedan’s optional 3.08 is printed “3.08 (2.06)” (page 10), where 3.08 × 0.70 gives 2.16. “Limited slip differential (type)”: “Cone Clutch”.
Police and police/taxi options (pages 26.1–26.4): “GU6 Axle – Rear (3.42 Ratio) … 1BL19 – Police Only”; “G80 Axle – Rear (Limited Slip) … 1BL19 & GM8 – Police Only” (another G80 line, remark “1BA00”, carries no police restriction); “JA2 Brake System, Heavy Duty … 1BL19 – Police/Taxi Only”; “K09 Generator 120 Amp … 1BL19 – Police/Taxi Only”; and “9C1 Police Car”, listed at 19.4 kg (42.8 lb) in the optional equipment mass table.
Police hardware elsewhere in the form. A radiator column headed “Police” with “3.0 mm” against “2.5 mm” on a line headed “Fins per inch” (page 5.1), a millimetre figure under a per-inch heading, which page 5’s footnote defines as the “Distance Between Top Of Fins”; read that way, the police core’s fins are spaced wider, so there are fewer of them; rear drums “241mm (9.5 in.)/51mm (2 in.), Sedan: 279mm (11 in.)/51mm (2 in.), Police” (page 12); power steering gear “14.1, 12.7:1 (Police) & Trailering”, overall “16.07, 15.3 (Police)” (page 14).
Anti-lock brakes and air bag. The anti-lock device is “Standard”, “Robert Bosch Corporation”, “Electronic”, “Add-On”, with three sensors and three hydraulic circuits (page 12). The first seat’s left position has a passive restraint: “Supplemental Inflatable Restraint” (page 18).
Weight. “1BL19 & 9C1 / Caprice W/Police Pkg.”: curb mass “1030 (2271)” front, “792 (1746)” rear, “1822 (4017)” total, against “1772 (3907)” for the plain Caprice (page 25).
Body. “All Welded Heavy-Gage Steel Body. Full Perimeter Frame.” (page 17); “Separate Frame. Sedan: 2 Crossmembers” (page 18); wheelbase “2945 (115.9)”, length “5439 (214.1)” (page 21); EPA vehicle class “Large” (page 22).

The form lists three suspension codes, “FE2” (“Suspension System – Ride, Handling (Requires V92)”), “F41” (“Includes FE2 Suspension”) and “7B3”, without saying which is fitted to the police car. The standard tire is “P205/75R15 Base”; no police tire is listed.

What 1991 settled

The Camaro arrived a year earlier than these pages had shown, and it arrived at the top. On its first appearance the automatic Camaro was the quickest and fastest car in the books held here to that point, at 6.51 seconds to 60, 17.31 to 100, 150.00 mph and a 1:21.08 lap average. Its 1992 successor would beat the top speed, the 0–100 time and the lap, but not the 6.51.

Both Mustangs were beaten by both Camaros on top speed and on the road course. The Caprice 5.7 and the Taurus ran the highest sedan top speeds in these books since 1978, the front-drive Taurus out-lapped every Caprice and Crown Victoria, and three cars, two of them 5.0 Caprices, were outside the printed qualification times. How Michigan ranked the cars overall, and what it bought, the bulletin does not say.

Source. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice: Michigan State Police Tests 1991 Patrol Vehicles, a Technology Assessment Program Bulletin, November 1990 (four printed pages, the last with the mailing panel; the Technology Assessment Program was supported by Cooperative Agreement #85-IJ-CX-K040). With it, Chevrolet Motor Division’s MVMA specification form for the 1991 Caprice Sedan, issued December 1989 and revised April 1990. These are pages 344–397 of a scanned file of Michigan test books, specifications and evaluations for 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1994, which has no text layer. All figures were transcribed from the rendered pages. See how these videos are researched.