Police vehicles->ke2339 have to serve a number of purposes. They need to have enough space to facilitate transporting suspects and all of the gear officers use on a daily basis. They also need to be safe to protect suspects and officers, if an unfortunate accident happens. Just as important, however, is how well they can perform when an officer has to put his foot down and engage in pursuit of a suspect. For reasons like this, Police departments routinely test and compare their different police cruisers against each other.

Recently, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police took the time to do just that. What sounds like a routine police department exercise, actually looks more like a fun day at the track for some of the officers. They have tested 0 to 60 mph times, 0 to 100 mph times, vehicle to speed, and even braking times. It is interesting to see how police cruisers stacked up against one another, and we have the results, but the real question is: How do they compare against other cars on the road?

Some of the police cruisers tested include the Chevy Caprice Interceptor, and the Ford EcoBoost Interceptor Sedan and Utility Interceptors. The L.A.S.D. and the M.S.P. didn’t provide results outside of how the police cruisers performed amongst one another, but here at Topspeed, we’ve taken the time to compare them to some higher-end cars from the same manufacturers. So, now that the results are in, let's take a look.

Continue reading for more information

Cruiser Vs Cruiser

The most common police cruisers from Chevy,->ke199 Ford->ke31 and Dodge->ke28 were tested against one another, and as it turns out, Ford came out on top. The EcoBoost Police interceptors (Sedan and Utility) not only set records this year, but outperformed the competitors. It should be noted that the results shown below are a result of testing with a “key on and drive” policy, which means the cars were tested exactly as they are used during normal patrols – things like traction control and stability control systems are turned on by default.

0 to 60 MPH

0 to 100 MPH

Top Speed

Ford Sedan 3.5-liter FWD

7.83

19.79

132 MPH

Ford Sedan 3.5-liter AWD

7.58

19.15

132 MPH

Ford Sedan 3.7-liter AWD

6.17

14.58

150 MPH

Ford Sedan 2.0-liter FWD

8.58

21.86

121 MPH

Ford Utility 3.7-liter AWD

8.34

21.65

132 MPH

Ford Utility 3.5-liter AWD

6.63

16.66

132 MPH

Dodge Charger 3.6-liter RWD 2.62 final gear

8.04

20.65

141 MPH

Dodge Charger 3.6-liter RWD 3.08 final gear

8.26

21.10

142 MPH

Dodge Charger 5.7-liter RWD 2.62 final gear

6.48

15.55

150 MPH

Dodge Charger 5.7-liter AWD 3.08 final gear

6.27

15.48

150 MPH

Chevy Caprice 3.6-liter RWD

8.27

20.28

146 MPH

Chevy Caprice 6.0-liter RWD

6.26

14.83

155 MPH

Chevy Impala 3.6-liter FWD

7.81

19.45

150 MPH

Chevy Tahoe 5.3-liter RWD

7.94

19.78

137 MPH

Chevy Tahoe 5.3-liter 4WD

8.22

20.70

121 MPH


So, now we know that the fastest cop car to hit 60 MPH and 100 MPH is the 3.7-liter AWD Ford Interceptor Sedan. It’s 150 MPH top speed was matched by the 5.7-liter Chargers and the 3.6-liter, front-wheel drive Impala, but the winner of top speed goes to the 6.0-liter, rear-wheel drive Chevy Caprice->ke3664 at 155 MPH. So, can your daily driver outrun the boys in blue? Depends on what you drive, but it's not going to be your everyday Dodge Charger,->ke218 Ford Focus,->ke440 or Chevy Impala.->ke1792 Let’s take a look and find out.

High Speed Pursuit

So what does it take to outrun your everyday police car? Well first of all, you’ve got to have guts and some serious driving skills – we’ve all seen the TV show Cops and what happens when most people try to get away. Without some serious skill you’re going to end up with your face against the pavement or in jail, if not worse. Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to compare your everyday Caprice, Ford Sedan or Charger, because it’s just a given that you’re not going to win when going against an identical car (minus the police decals, red and blue lights and minor tuning advantages.) Even cars like the 2015 Ford Focus ST with a 5.9-second sprint to 60 and top speed of 155 mph can barely beat out the AWD 3.7-liter Ford Sedan. So the question is, what can overtake these police cruisers? Do you need to have an exotic or a German whip?. Truth is, you don’t need a 3-second Mercedes tuned by AMG – you can probably outrun them in some higher-end American cars, but which ones? Well I’ve taken one model from Ford, Chevy and Dodge to compare against the best police cruiser from each brand

Ford Sedan 3.7-liter AWD

Dodge Charger 5.7-liter AWD 3.08

Chevy Caprice 6.0-liter RWD

0 to 60 MPH

6.17

6.27

6.26

Top Speed

150 MPH

150 MPH

155 MPH


2016 Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang

2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

2016 Chevy Camaro SS

0 to 60 MPH

3.50

3.7

4.0

0 to 60 MPH

190 MPH

204 MPH

185 MPH


Why It Matters

Granted, the list of cars that can actually beat out the cruisers could go on forever. Originally I wanted to list more common cars like the Focus, Impala, even the Volkswagen Passat,->ke224 as opposed to cars like the GT350R and the Charger Hellcat. But, at the end of the day, your everyday drivers are all way to close or couldn’t compete with the police cars without some serious mods. Now of course, you could argue that you can push a Honda Civic or an Acura up to 150 or 160 MPH and top the speed of the police cruisers, but how long is it going to take you to get there? Long enough that smokey is going to get you. As far as the police go, Ford can have those bragging rights. They are pretty quick with those 6-second 0-60 times and 150-plus top speeds, but if you have a good driver behind something better than your everyday Mustang or Ford the boys are going to have a run for their money.

Ford Police Interceptor Utility

Read our full review of the Ford PIU here