Automakers love to boast about their police vehicles: last month we had Dodge tell us about the Charger Pursuit AWD setting the fastest lap for an all-wheel-drive test sedan at Grattan Raceway, now Ford has news regarding its police vehicles.
Ford says its EcoBoost-powered Police Interceptor sedan was faster than the Chevrolet Caprice V8 and Hemi-powered Dodge Charger Pursuit in Michigan State Police’s acceleration testing, while the Police Interceptor utility bested the Chevrolet Tahoe V8.
Preliminary results show the 365hp 2014 Ford Police Interceptor sedan with standard all-wheel drive posted a 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) time of 5.66 seconds, compared to 6.04 seconds for the Dodge Charger Hemi with optional all-wheel drive and 6.01 seconds for the Chevrolet Caprice V8.
The gap was even greater in 0-100 mph (161 km/h) testing: Ford Police Interceptor clocked 13.5 seconds, followed by the Caprice with 14.35 seconds and the Charger with 14.70 seconds.
Ford’s Police Interceptor utility vehicle powered by the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and fitted as standard with all-wheel drive sprinted from 0 to 60 mph in 6.28 seconds and to 100 mph in 15.51 seconds, compared to 8.22 seconds and 21.95 seconds respectively for the Chevrolet Tahoe powered by a 5.3-liter V8.
Michigan State Police also tested the base 3.7-liter V6 Interceptor utility, which was also faster than the Tahoe with 8.02 seconds and 21.0 seconds, respectively.
“Agencies tell us if the bad guys see the police vehicle quickly close in pursuit, they’re less likely to try to run,” said Bill Gubing, Ford chief engineer. “If this can help reduce the number of high-speed chases, then we could improve public safety on our nation’s roads.”
By Dan Mihalascu
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