Lil4X

Spotted last Sunday at church (my real-world new car showroom): a group of our security personnel ogling a new blacked-out 2011 Chevy Tahoe with suspicious amounts of attitude. The first thing that strikes you is that this thing has had the benefit of about a 3" drop, compared to other 2WD Tahoes you've seen. Muscular tires bulge from the wheel wells on blacked-out steel rims, and the window tint must have been developed for the State Department - it's that dark.

Outside, the vehicle is slick - no racks, antennas, light bars, or anything that would make it look like an "official vehicle" at all, except for that hunkering stance and perhaps a little heavier windows and a full set of skid plates (on a 2WD?), there's nothing immediately obvious to make it stand out from the other SUV's on the lot. If anything it looks like the up-armored Suburbans you see in a Presidential motorcade.

Then somebody fired it up. Big V8 sounds here, and a disturbing rumble that indicates something other than your daddy's 350 up front. Through the open driver's door, as I try to peer around the bulky bodies equipped with curious earphones and people talking to their left sleeves, I note an all-cloth interior and a console stack that could probably command a Death Star. This is more than your daddy's nav package, if you need to call in an air strike, I suspect there's an app for that.

Finally, I notice a small emblem on the front fender - in small letters it says "Defender", and it doesn't appear to be a parts callout. Dunno what it means exactly, but it's clearly a rather special vehicle and Chevrolet is not talking about it. I've put thousands of miles under the keel of a fleet of Suburbans, and this thing is a beast. The kind of beast that is not necessarily beautiful, but clearly and massively impressive. Chevrolet Division markets a police package for their SUVs, and I've seen a number of them on the road, driven by state troopers and our EMS services, but this thing is something different. Menacing, I'd call it. Jared Allen, your car is ready.

flipside909

Any pics at all?

D-Boi

iTrader: (5)

Ive seen these Tahoes make some maneuvers that an AWD lamborghini would have a hard time doing loll. They are beasts.

Lil4X

Video of Stabilitrak in action on "Pursuit" version Tahoe. http://www.policemag.com/Channel/Veh...Tahoe-PPV.aspx and scroll down to video. Pretty good for a vehicle that tips the scales at just under three tons empty.

Scaled down a photo that's close - imagine this without the police livery, dropped another inch or two, and with a much larger wheel/tire combination. It still wouldn't be too noticeable to the general public in any shopping mall.

jracerlmn

i saw a black one a month ago with a government license plate. I pulled up next to it at a stoplight and there was a paramilitary looking guy with an UMP45 w/ a collapsible stock sitting in the front passenger seat.

Scared the crap outta me.

IS-SV

Nicely done and purposeful.

whoster

these thing crawl the streets of my city like no other...

Lil4X

A little more research turns up not a whole lot in the spec department, but IF you could con GM into selling you one of these stealth vehicles, it would probably cost you a Porsche and some change. The "Defender" is what the company calls a Tahoe with a "PPV" (Police Pursuit Vehicle) package, but that seems to be only the beginning. A few out of the way websites begin to look like suppliers for survivalists or paramilitary groups and they are pretty cagey about their work. Basically, you can have whatever you are willing to pay for . . . and plan on paying a LOT, from big-block crate motors to diesels with such niceities as superchargers and propane injection. In short, if you can dream it, somebody will build it for you. That includes armor - sufficient to take handgun or even assault weapon fire - and IEDs, should your paranoia extend that far.

mmarshall

The Tahoe, of course, gives the cops a nice, tough body-on-frame designed vehicle (which they tend to prefer), but you can't totally beat the laws of physics, even with modified police-grade suspensions. I'm a little concerned that, with the relatively high center of gravity, they will be rolling or flipping more of them in high-speed chases and abrupt manuvers than they did Crown Vics.

flipside909

CVPI P71's are always going to be the bread and butter of law enforcement fleets. I think most law enforcement agencies will resort to their sedans or sports cars i.e. Charger, CVPI, Camaro or etc.

Turbinator

If it's a gov't vehicle on official business, why would an armed guy in the front passenger seat scare you?

Turby

Lil4X

At about $29K for the Tahoe/PPV, it's pretty basic. Cloth seats, rubber floormat, your basic taxicab with panda paint. The good stuff is in the brakes, suspension and Stabilitrak that lends a bit of capability to a tall, tippy wagon. Then you move up with some pretty standard hot-rod mods, bigger engine, re-valved transmission, 9-bolt rear end, maybe air bags and a little more aggressive drop to lower that CG a bit more.

Tires and rims are going to be expensive, but since you will paint them black, performance wins out over appearance. You can't worry about unsprung weight on a vehicle like this. You want bags of torque and the best way to get it to the asphalt, i.e., big meats - speed-rated of course. This isn't rocket science, it can be seen in the bullrings of the Midwest on any Saturday night.

Finally, something that to my mind gets left out of every pursuit vehicle at the operator's peril - seats, 5-point belts, and a good, solid roll cage. Just in case your stupidity exceeds your capability. I think I'd want a fire bottle in there too, thank you.

As for creature comforts, there won't be many. Good supportive seats, a primo AC that can reproduce the temperature of Nome, AK even in midsummer. Security calls for proper, stealthy security system that allows you to lock and unlock the front doors without announcing it to the neighborhood, a power liftgate to loose the hound on command, and a fair amount of polycarbonate and kevlar between you and the rest of the world out there.

At this point you've more than tripled the cost of the vehicle, and you still haven't added the electronics for communication, navigation, and database management. When you opt in the weapons bay, security, rear seat and cargo cages (you will be carrying a K-9 asset, won't you?), you have arrived in Carrera GT territory, maybe without the performance, but certainly with the intimidation factor. Extra points for training the dog to growl menacingly.

<VENOM>

Interesting vehicle, but even with all the safety equipment, cops are still severely injuring or killing themselves with to much speed, S-turns, P-turns combined with lose of where you are, low visibility and wet roads is all it takes.

I want to see what would happen where the tires leave the pavement and hit loose dirt/gravel, everything works great in a parking lot, but change that to anytown USA where a Tahoe slides off the road and the tires clip a curb

whoster

This is what they look like in my city.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I saw one like what the first post described a few days ago. It looked like a suped up Tahoe. It was lowered and blacked out on the side of the road. It was pretty intimidating to say the least.