Monday 1st December 2014

Ford Interceptors: Fastest cop cars in the US

Ain't no replacement? V6 Ecoboost beating V8 in police tests suggests different!

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As any motorsport pundit worth their salt will tell you, a real champion retains their title and proves their success at least a second time round. Congratulations then to Ford and its Ecoboost Police Interceptors, quickest accelerating pursuit vehicle in both Michigan and LA once more.

So this is your Interceptor Utility...

How do you get a job figuring police cars? Anyway, the testers found the Sedan and Utility Police Interceptors fitted with Ford's 3.5-litre V6 Ecoboost were quicker than comparable V8s both in a straight line and round a circuit. The numbers? For Michigan State Police the all-wheel drive Sedan recorded a 0-60mph time of 5.85 seconds against 6.31 for 'a competing 5.7-litre V8 sedan with all-wheel drive'. This is actually the Dodge Charger Pursuit, in case you were wondering. It was faster too a 6.0-litre V8 rival (Chevy Caprice PPV) as that recorded 6.17 seconds. To 100mph the Ford extended its lead, 14.19 seconds against 14.69 for the Caprice and 15.63 for the Charger. So there is a replacement for displacement. It's a really big turbo.

For the Interceptor Utility with the same engine, Michigan recorded 0-60 and 0-100 times of 6.55 seconds and 16.13 seconds. The listed 5.3-litre V8 rival (possibly the Chevy Tahoe)could only manage 7.31 seconds and 18.99.

... and the Sedan. Both quite quick it seems

For the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department the tests were conducted at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Again the Sedan was fastest overall and the Utility was in fact quicker than all V6 saloons.

Hopefully because of this swiftness, Ford Interceptor vehicles are apparently the most popular across US forces. Chief Engineer of the Interceptor vehicles Arie Groeneveld said of the results: "Quickly closing the distance between an officer and a target vehicle is key to safely avoiding high-speed pursuits. Our police vehicles are built around officer safety, and outstanding performance is yet another demonstration of that commitment". See, this is all important stuff for stopping the bad guys. And you thought it was an excuse to lark around in a police cars...

[N.B Because police cars are cool here's the link to each manufacturer's range of pursuit vehicles: Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. Law enforcement never looked so good. Apart from those police Lamborghinis...]

[TheAllSeeingPie]

I don't know why, but I quite like the Explorer the Utility is based off. Shame the original Explorer flopped so we can't have the new one in the UK anymore.

Edited by TheAllSeeingPie on Monday 1st December 11:42

[littlebasher]

Was i the only one who found that article difficult to read?

[R8VXF]

littlebasher said:

Was i the only one who found that article difficult to read?

Nope, I found it quite hard to read as well.

[-crookedtail-]

Didn't we have something very, very similar last year with the exact same cars. Is a Ford promo?

There should be an international version with all different types of 'cop cruisers' although we can leave out the silly sally Dubai specials.

[KTF]

The 75MPH rear end crash test sounds a lot more interesting than 0-60 times:

http://www.ford.com/fordpoliceinterceptor/features...

[Fire99]

Isn't the 3.5 V6 Ecoboost engine a twin-turbo configuration? So without wanting to sound too dismissive, smaller output turbo engines have been producing greater power than larger NA engines since the origins of turbo's..

I'm not sure where the surprise is here?

Also surely part of the appeal of the large capacity N/A engine was that it was a tough, reliable engine that was relatively easy to maintain? The modern Eco-boost with turbo's and direct injection etc will be a far more complex affair..

Just my slant on it..

[10b0b]

Kind of makes our officers Astra Diesel Estates look a bit 'limp'

Small capacity turbos... we kind of got it right back in the 90's then!

[thatdude]

R8VXF said:

littlebasher said:

Was i the only one who found that article difficult to read?

Nope, I found it quite hard to read as well.

Void of typical american hyperbole

void of woops, gunshots and butt-slaps

No use of "awesome" "good-god-damn" and "patriotic"

Lack of V8 praise

Article rating: 2/10. Did a god damn commie write this?

[EDIT]

I am joking, just being silly. I thought it was quite interesting but it did feel a bit like a press-release from Ford pushing how brilliant their new engine is (which it probably is)

Edited by thatdude on Monday 1st December 12:43

[Sheepshanks]

Colleague in the US told me these pursuit vehicles are capable of high speed but because of relatively soft suspension and the extra weight they carry, they're terrifying to drive at speed.

[Nors]

So, these Police cars can at best be descibed as 'brisk', not really that quick.

Plenty of off the shelve cars would out run them.

[Vacationboy]

0-100 in 13.6? Thats E36 M3 3.2 pace. You would have to drive like a madman to outrun these..

Not saying you cant but its hard bloody work.

[dukebox9reg]

Fire99 said:

Isn't the 3.5 V6 Ecoboost engine a twin-turbo configuration? So without wanting to sound too dismissive, smaller output turbo engines have been producing greater power than larger NA engines since the origins of turbo's..

I'm not sure where the surprise is here?

Also surely part of the appeal of the large capacity N/A engine was that it was a tough, reliable engine that was relatively easy to maintain? The modern Eco-boost with turbo's and direct injection etc will be a far more complex affair..

Just my slant on it..

I agree ref the complication. Just have to look on youtube from owners on cars with the V6 ecoboost winging about how they break all the time.

[KTF]

Nors said:

Plenty of off the shelve cars would out run them.

But can they outrun the radio

[Renovation]

Fire99 said:

The 3.5 V6 Ecoboost IS a twin-turbo

So without wanting to sound too dismissive, smaller output turbo engines have been producing greater power than larger NA engines since the origins of turbos.

I'm not sure where the surprise is here?

Also surely part of the appeal of the large capacity N/A engine was that it was a tough, reliable engine that was relatively easy to maintain? The modern Eco-boost with turbo's and direct injection etc will be a far more complex affair..

Yep.

And we've had 4WD 2.0 Turbo cars for probably 20 years that can do 0-60 sub 5.85 seconds

[ProBodge]

I presume the bull bars are there to splatter the hordes of protesters out of the way.

Surprised they haven't got roof mounted machine guns to really intimidate the population....


Oh yeah, the article. Yes turbo's are the future, welcome to the 1980's America.

[iloveboost]

A 3.5 Turbo V6 with AWD yet it's barely quicker to 100mph than a Focus ST!
I know the US Police like big vehicles as they're comfy for all day driving and can perform 'PIT' maneuvers more effectively, but it's ridiculous how much fuel all the V8/V6 US governments vehicles must be burning over their lifetime. All paid for by the taxpayers of course.
I think they should give them a car with a more economical turbo four to save cash on running the vehicle over hundreds of thousands of miles. Unless they are in a Corvette or something like that on a highway they aren't going to get away. Especially with support from other units for road blocks, spike strips, etc.

[belleair302]

I was chatting to a garage in Florida that looks after the Highway Patrol (state troopers) cars and they service some Corvette engined cars that can see well over 170mph and hit 100 in under 12 seconds fully loaded. They do however eat tyres and have a new set put on every 12 weeks or 10,000 miles.

[irocfan]

I hope I'm due a parrot here... try loading an ST with all the crap the cops have to carry and then carry out a similar test....


As regards performance - I wonder if they'll get the Hellcat Charger?

[pSyCoSiS]

They are pretty impressive stats for what they are.

On a different note, those SUVs like the Silverado are damn cheap in the States. $25k they start from. That's a lot of metal for your money!

Of all the Police cars, I think the Charger looks the best and the most menacing.

[jamespink]

belleair302 said:

I was chatting to a garage in Florida that looks after the Highway Patrol (state troopers) cars and they service some Corvette engined cars that can see well over 170mph and hit 100 in under 12 seconds fully loaded. They do however eat tyres and have a new set put on every 12 weeks or 10,000 miles.

Ahh Florida, home of exterior air conditioning, F350 pickups with two Harleys mounted in the bed with a 750 HP speed boat on the back... There is absolutely no correlation between fossil fuel consumption and the height of the sea. Just take a drive to key west to see how much room for error there is...