Michigan test archive
1996 Michigan State Police Patrol Vehicle Test
The Caprice’s last test, and it left running 139 mph — four miles an hour up on the year before, and the last of its line.
Eleven vehicles were evaluated on September 16, 1995 at the Chrysler Proving Grounds, with dynamics at the Michigan International Speedway road course. It was the twentieth annual evaluation, and it was the Caprice’s last. The B-body went out at the top of its own game: 8.02 seconds to 60 mph, 21.47 to 100, and a top speed of 139 — four miles an hour up on its 1995 self. It was not a lasting mark among sedans: the next year’s Volvo 850 Turbo ran 145 in the same police category, and the 2000 Volvo S-70 T5 sedan 153. Among American sedans, though, nothing in the books held went above 139 again until the 2006 Dodge Charger’s 150 — a figure the 2006 book records as electronically limited, like every top speed in it. It stopped from 60 in a computed 133.1 feet and lapped in 1:23.35. Then Chevrolet closed the line.
Ford’s Crown Victoria ran 135 mph and stopped in 133.4 feet — three tenths of a foot behind the Caprice. Twelve months later it would be the only full-size police sedan left in America.
Two other entries are worth a pause. Ford again submitted a non-ABS Crown Victoria for brake testing only — the 1995 test had run a Crown Victoria and a Taurus both ways — giving a direct comparison against its own anti-lock car on the same day. And Chevrolet entered a Geo Tracker — a 1.6-litre two-wheel-drive compact SUV that needed 16.29 seconds to reach 60 mph, could only reach 90 on two of its four runs, and recorded the lowest ergonomics total in this archive.
Acceleration, top speed, quarter mile and braking
| Vehicle | 0–60 (s) | 0–100 (s) | Top speed | ¼ mile | Dynamics | Brakes (ft/s²) | 60–0 (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L | 8.02 | 21.47 | 139 | 16.14 @ 88.00 | 1:23.35 | 29.10 | 133.1 |
| Chevrolet Camaro (automatic) | 6.51 | 16.65 | 159 | 14.98 @ 94.90 | 1:19.21 | 28.10 | 137.8 |
| Chevrolet Camaro (6-speed) | 6.59 | 15.99 | 157 | 14.99 @ 96.68 | 1:20.57 | ‡ | ‡ |
| Ford Crown Victoria | 9.10 | 25.18 | 135 ** | 16.89 @ 83.83 | 1:24.79 | 29.02 | 133.4 |
| Chevrolet Caprice 4.3L | 10.79 | 32.00 | 120 ** | 18.05 @ 80.18 | 1:27.20 | 28.41 | 136.3 |
| Chevrolet Lumina | 10.67 | 32.19 | 122 | 17.90 @ 79.25 | 1:28.03 | 25.03 | 154.7 |
| Jeep Cherokee (4×4) | 10.31 | 35.84 | 112 ** | 17.78 @ 77.53 | 1:26.35 | 25.97 | 149.1 |
| Ford Explorer (4×4) | 11.85 | 49.23 | 106 ** | 18.64 @ 74.30 | 1:31.28 | 25.17 | 153.8 |
| Ford Crown Victoria (CNG) | 12.07 | 37.59 | 107 ** | 18.93 @ 77.08 | 1:28.46 | 26.84 | 144.3 |
| Chevrolet Geo Tracker (2WD) | 16.29 | never reached | 99 | 21.21 @ 66.70 | 1:34.12 | 26.53 | 146.0 |
| Ford Crown Victoria (non-ABS) | submitted for brake testing only | 25.90 | 149.5 | ||||
Gold row: the last Caprice, and the fastest police-package sedan of the rear-drive era at 139 mph. Sedans did go faster in the books that follow — the Volvo 850 Turbo at 145 the very next year, the Volvo S-70 T5 at 153 in 2000 — but no American sedan did until the 2006 Dodge Charger’s electronically limited 150. The Caprice also cleared its own qualification gates by margins the later cars never approached — nearly two seconds under the 0–60 requirement and almost seven under the 0–100.
The Camaro’s 159 mph settles a long-standing question in this archive: the figure is real and it belongs to 1996, four miles an hour up on the 1995 car’s 155. Its 1:19.21 lap is one hundredth of a second off the 1995 Camaro’s 1:19.20 — over a 1.635-mile course, after a year of development, the two cars are indistinguishable.
The bottom row is the year’s quiet experiment. Ford entered a Crown Victoria without anti-lock brakes, for braking only, tested the same day on the same surface as its ABS twin. The ABS car averaged 29.02 ft/s² and a computed 133.4-foot stop; the non-ABS car managed 25.90 and 149.5 feet. Sixteen feet, on the same model, the same day. The 1995 test had made the same comparison with a Crown Victoria and a Taurus and found gaps of 5.7 and 13.0 feet; this is the widest of the three.
Complete acceleration ladders — every 10-mph increment
| 0 to… | Caprice 5.7 | Crown Vic | Crown Vic CNG | Caprice 4.3 | Lumina | Camaro auto | Camaro 6-spd | Geo Tracker | Cherokee | Explorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mph | 1.80 | 1.88 | 2.67 | 2.44 | 2.21 | 1.55 | 1.71 | 3.55 | 2.10 | 2.18 |
| 30 mph | 2.97 | 3.18 | 4.61 | 4.00 | 3.64 | 2.52 | 2.66 | 5.63 | 3.54 | 3.82 |
| 40 mph | 4.27 | 4.72 | 6.54 | 5.65 | 5.28 | 3.63 | 3.71 | 8.53 | 5.13 | 5.91 |
| 50 mph | 5.90 | 6.78 | 8.95 | 7.90 | 7.77 | 4.88 | 5.07 | 12.02 | 7.61 | 8.61 |
| 60 mph | 8.02 | 9.10 | 12.07 | 10.79 | 10.67 | 6.51 | 6.59 | 16.29 | 10.31 | 11.85 |
| 70 mph | 10.32 | 11.70 | 15.89 | 14.00 | 13.91 | 8.33 | 8.28 | 24.12 | 13.56 | 16.15 |
| 80 mph | 13.10 | 15.19 | 20.34 | 18.00 | 18.37 | 10.56 | 10.37 | 34.85 | 19.26 | 21.87 |
| 90 mph | 16.91 | 19.77 | 26.81 | 24.43 | 24.62 | 13.46 | 13.09 | 78.44 *** | 26.24 | 29.56 |
| 100 mph | 21.47 | 25.18 | 37.59 | 32.00 | 32.19 | 16.65 | 15.99 | — | 35.84 | 49.23 |
| Top speed | 139 | 135 ** | 107 ** | 120 ** | 122 | 159 | 157 | 99 | 112 ** | 106 ** |
The Geo Tracker’s 78.44 seconds to 90 mph is the strangest number in this archive, and the asterisk explains why: it is the average of the two runs out of four on which the vehicle got there at all. Beside it, the Lumina needed 5.38 miles to reach 120 mph — the longest distance the programme ever recorded for that measurement.
Vehicle dynamics at Michigan International Speedway — every lap, every driver
Sixteen timed laps per vehicle over the 1.635-mile road course, four drivers, scored on the fastest twelve. Note that six vehicles were run by three drivers rather than four: the 4.3L Caprice, the Lumina, the 6-speed Camaro, the Tracker, the Cherokee and the Explorer.
| Vehicle | Driver | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Lap 3 | Lap 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Camaro (automatic) | overall average 1:19.21 | ||||
| Ring | 1:18.96 | 1:19.47 | 1:20.34 | 1:19.67 | |
| Steendam | 1:20.06 | 1:19.81 | 1:20.15 | 1:19.77 | |
| Lubahn | 1:18.74 | 1:18.24 | 1:19.02 | 1:19.08 | |
| Reaves | 1:18.90 | 1:19.38 | 1:20.17 | 1:19.45 | |
| Chevrolet Camaro (6-speed manual) | overall average 1:20.57 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:21.17 | 1:21.22 | 1:23.18 | 1:20.59 | |
| Lubahn | 1:20.66 | 1:20.69 | 1:19.83 | 1:20.30 | |
| Reaves | 1:20.48 | 1:21.50 | 1:22.35 | 1:20.19 | |
| Chevrolet Caprice 5.7L | overall average 1:23.35 | ||||
| Ring | 1:23.67 | 1:23.73 | 1:23.63 | 1:23.21 | |
| Steendam | 1:23.55 | 1:23.88 | 1:22.80 | 1:23.46 | |
| Lubahn | 1:24.14 | 1:24.05 | 1:23.96 | 1:23.93 | |
| Reaves | 1:22.97 | 1:23.04 | 1:22.92 | 1:23.30 | |
| Ford Crown Victoria | overall average 1:24.79 | ||||
| Ring | 1:24.52 | 1:24.76 | 1:25.15 | 1:24.73 | |
| Steendam | 1:25.84 | 1:24.91 | 1:25.91 | 1:24.98 | |
| Lubahn | 1:24.59 | 1:25.29 | 1:24.52 | 1:23.97 | |
| Reaves | 1:24.98 | 1:25.40 | 1:25.19 | 1:25.14 | |
| Chevrolet Caprice 4.3L | overall average 1:27.20 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:27.15 | 1:27.10 | 1:27.43 | 1:28.05 | |
| Lubahn | 1:27.43 | 1:26.64 | 1:26.69 | 1:26.71 | |
| Reaves | 1:28.30 | 1:28.41 | 1:27.95 | 1:27.72 | |
| Jeep Cherokee (4×4) | overall average 1:26.35 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:26.39 | 1:26.55 | 1:26.45 | 1:26.59 | |
| Lubahn | 1:26.48 | 1:26.04 | 1:26.34 | 1:25.91 | |
| Reaves | 1:26.42 | 1:27.29 | 1:26.95 | 1:26.58 | |
| Chevrolet Lumina | overall average 1:28.03 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:28.72 | 1:28.14 | 1:27.53 | 1:28.65 | |
| Lubahn | 1:27.96 | 1:27.95 | 1:27.12 | 1:27.48 | |
| Reaves | 1:29.85 | 1:28.97 | 1:28.70 | 1:29.01 | |
| Ford Crown Victoria (CNG) | overall average 1:28.46 | ||||
| Ring | 1:27.77 | 1:27.44 | 1:27.89 | 1:27.54 | |
| Steendam | 1:29.25 | 1:28.75 | 1:30.13 | 1:29.15 | |
| Lubahn | 1:28.93 | 1:28.35 | 1:28.56 | 1:28.29 | |
| Reaves | 1:29.89 | 1:29.81 | 1:29.93 | 1:29.65 | |
| Ford Explorer (4×4) | overall average 1:31.28 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:31.79 | 1:30.91 | 1:31.38 | 1:31.20 | |
| Lubahn | 1:31.34 | 1:30.94 | 1:31.24 | 1:31.41 | |
| Reaves | 1:31.48 | 1:32.17 | 1:31.64 | 1:31.74 | |
| Chevrolet Geo Tracker (2WD) | overall average 1:34.12 | ||||
| Steendam | 1:33.49 | 1:33.47 | 1:33.97 | 1:33.86 | |
| Lubahn | 1:34.41 | 1:34.20 | 1:34.12 | 1:33.87 | |
| Reaves | 1:35.65 | 1:36.80 | 1:36.32 | 1:36.47 | |
The Jeep’s laps come with a footnote from the preface: during dynamics testing the Cherokee’s front brake rotors had to be replaced after four timed laps because of excessive rotor run-out — they had warped. Its published average therefore covers a car that was rebuilt partway through its own session.
Ergonomics, communications and fuel
| Vehicle | Ergonomics & communications | EPA city (mpg) |
|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Caprice | 217.19 | 16.8 (5.7) / 18.0 (4.3) |
| Ford Crown Victoria (CNG) | 206.67 | 17.3 |
| Ford Crown Victoria | 206.12 | 16.7 |
| Ford Explorer (4×4) | 198.91 | 14.9 |
| Chevrolet Lumina | 179.55 | 18.7 |
| Jeep Cherokee (4×4) | 178.43 | 15.0 |
| Chevrolet Camaro | 158.15 | 17.0 (auto) / 16.4 (6-speed) |
| Chevrolet Geo Tracker (2WD) | 132.16 | 22.0 |
The Geo Tracker’s 132.16 is the lowest ergonomics and communications total in this archive — below even the AM General Hummer’s 144.43 five years later. Three of its line items are blank rather than scored: power window switch, automatic door lock switch and outside mirror controls, because the vehicle did not have them. It also returned the best fuel economy in the test at 22 mpg city, which is the only column it won.
The Caprice took this category as well as the speed column, and its margin over the Crown Victoria — 11.07 points — came from three places: the front seat (4.15 points), the communications section (3.92, where the technicians who had to fit radios into it scored the Chevrolet 1.0 to 1.5 points higher on dashboard, trunk and engine-compartment access) and the rear seat (2.71). On instrumentation, controls and visibility the two cars were level.
Three things this book records that nothing else in the archive does
Who started the programme. The acknowledgments thank Sgt. Bill McFall, F/Lt. Curtis L. VanDenBerg (retired) and Sgt. David B. Storer (retired) for their continued assistance with the programme which they originated 20 years ago. Those are the three men who began the Michigan tests. VanDenBerg had by then become president of Independent Testing & Consulting, Inc., the firm that prepared this very report.
The programme’s own start date, a third time. This preface calls 1996 the 20th annual evaluation. The 1999 report says 23rd year and the 2001 report says 25th. All three agree: the first evaluation covered the 1977 model year, tested in the autumn of 1976. The NIJ’s own program description says Michigan has evaluated patrol vehicles every fall since 1975. Three independent statements by the department contradict the federal summary by one year.
You could order the video. In 1988 the MSP produced a short videotape of the evaluation programme, and this book explains how to get a copy: send Sgt. Bob Ring a good quality blank VHS cassette, at least T–30 in length, with a self-addressed return mailing label. The AutoBid selection software ran on MS-DOS with 512K of RAM and was free to any agency that wrote in on letterhead.
What 1996 settled
The last of the B-body Caprices was also its best in these books. The 1996 Caprice ran 139 mph, reached 100 in 21.47 seconds, stopped in 133 feet, and won the ergonomics column as well — a car that was simultaneously the fastest, one of the two best-braking, and the best-liked in its own test. Chevrolet then stopped building it, and no American police sedan in the books held went faster until the 2006 Dodge Charger — whose 150 the book records as electronically limited.
The rest of the entry list shows what was arriving instead: a front-drive Lumina that needed 5.38 miles to reach 120 mph, a Cherokee that warped its own brake rotors after four laps, an Explorer that took 49 seconds to reach 100, and a Geo Tracker with no power windows and a 78-second run to 90. Within two model years, four of the five vehicles in a Michigan test would be trucks.