Dodge in Hot Pursuit of Police Car Market

"We listened to what law enforcement officers asked for and paid attention to the details that are important to them," said

"We listened to what law enforcement officers asked for and paid attention to the details that are important to them." (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada)

Ray Fisher, Vice President - Sales, Service and Parts Operations, Chrysler Group. "By integrating features and functionality into the original design of the Dodge Charger, we can give our police customers an affordable, capable vehicle with industry-leading innovations."

One of those innovations is Chrysler Group's Multi-Displacement System (MDS), the first cylinder deactivation system sold in North America on large-volume vehicles. MDS is said to increase fuel economy by up to 20 percent while still delivering all the engine's power and torque when called upon.

New developments such as high-speed electronic controls, sophisticated algorithms controlling the systems and the integration of electronic throttle control have made the technology possible. As a result Chrysler Group reports a seamless deactivation and activation process, needing only 40 milliseconds

The police spec cars will feature Chrysler Group's Multi-Displacement System (MDS), the first cylinder deactivation system sold in North America on large-volume vehicles. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada)

(0.040 seconds) to transition from eight-cylinders to four or vice versa.

So how does it work? Essentially MDS deactivates the valve lifters in four of theV8's cylinders (1, 7, 4 and 6), resulting in four closed valves and zero combustion in half the cylinders. Fortunately the "dead" cylinders don't drag energy from the working four, due to air being pumped through those cylinders temporarily out of action.

HEMI-powered Charger and Magnum police cruisers will get Chrysler's Mercedes-Benz derived five-speed automatic transmission with an Electronically Modulated Converter Clutch (EMCC) offers, reported to respond to "a variety of driving styles, situations and road conditions."