{"id":8329,"date":"2018-03-16T07:28:18","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T21:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/?p=8329"},"modified":"2023-08-22T18:20:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T08:20:27","slug":"chrysler-bmw-and-kia-join-the-police-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/australia\/chrysler-bmw-and-kia-join-the-police-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Chrysler, BMW and Kia Join The Police Fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BMW 530d – confirmed as part of the Victoria Police fleet.<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know if they were actually putting bets on it anywhere (although I wouldn\u2019t be surprised) but when Holden and Ford Australia closed their factory doors, the big question for a lot of us who are interested in motoring and car news was what the cops were going to drive for their regular patrol and pursuit cars.\u00a0 You see, up until the closure of Ford and Holden\u2019s factories on these shores, the cops, being a wing of the government and hence keen on supporting local industry, drove Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores, to the point that wary drivers who like to push the limits a wee bit went on high alert at the mere sight of a white Dunny-Door (aka Commodore) in the distance. \u00a0As a matter of fact, the boys and girls in blue were required to drive locally built vehicles.<\/p>\n

But the rule that says the cops had to drive locally built vehicles was scrapped.\u00a0 Then the fun of the guessing game started.\u00a0 There were all sorts of speculations going on.\u00a0 Would we get the hot-looking new Kia Stinger on the roads in police livery?\u00a0 The more obscure Genesis G8 from Korea?\u00a0 Or something else?<\/p>\n

The speculations have now ended, and the police departments of various states have made their choices.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the list of vehicles that will be a welcome sight if you\u2019ve picked up the phone to report a burglary\u2026 or an unwelcome sight in the rear view mirror if it\u2019s got the disco lights going and you know you\u2019ve been driving naughtily.<\/p>\n

Chrysler 300 SRT: <\/strong><\/a>OK, one of the reasons why they picked this one is possibly because it\u2019s made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia, which still has a humming factory.\u00a0 The other reasons are because it\u2019s got a feisty 6.4-L naturally aspirated V8 engine (350 kW and 637 Nm) with a very snappy 0\u2013100 sprint time (4.5 seconds).\u00a0 It\u2019s also a nice, big sedan with lots of room for all the gear that cops need (and space for arrested suspects in the rear where they can\u2019t kick the driver through the back of the seat). \u00a0The NSW Police announced in December 2017 that they\u2019d be kitting out a bunch of these (the exact number is unknown but it\u2019s probably got three digits) as patrol and pursuit vehicles.\u00a0 The downside is that it\u2019s a thirsty brute.<\/p>\n

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BMW 530d:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>The Victorian Police confirmed that they\u2019d be getting at least some examples of the diesel-powered German mid-sized sedans for the highway patrol fleet, with 80 confirmed for about now.\u00a0 While the Beemer is a shade less powerful than the Chrysler (we need a nickname for Chrysler \u2013 any suggestions?), it\u2019s possible to get these straight from the factory with the police pack ready installed.\u00a0 Cops all through Europe drive the 5-series sedan so it\u2019s proved its worth in fighting crime.\u00a0 In fact, BMW is one of the few manufacturers that actually have vehicles rolling off the factory lines ready to go on patrol duty. \u00a0Apparently, they take out some of the luxurious bells and whistles that you get in the everyday civilian versions and replace them with the gadgets that a modern police force needs.\u00a0 The BMW 530d \u2013 at least the civilian version \u2013 is powered by a 3-litre V6 turbodiesel delivering 195 kW of power and 620 Nm.<\/p>\n

Kia Sorento:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>South Australia Police confirmed in January that they\u2019d be getting some of these popular Korean SUVs and giving them a try-out.\u00a0 Apparently, the safety record of the Sorento was one of the more appealing features motivating this choice, as the Sorento came through crash testing with very high marks.\u00a0 The seven-seater\u2019s got lots of room (great for K-9 teams) although it\u2019s not as peppy as the Chrysler and the Beemer, with the 2.2-litre 4 cylinder turbodiesel delivering 147 kW and 441 Nm.\u00a0 They say that the brakes are going to get an upgrade for patrol purposes because the cops are pretty hard on the old braking systems.<\/p>\n

Kia Stinger:<\/strong> <\/a>The very hot-looking new sedan has been spotted in the livery of the Queensland Police force.\u00a0 Apparently, it wasn\u2019t just the nippy 2-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged engine (182 kW and 353 Nm) that made it attractive: it\u2019s also great braking and cooling systems that passed the rather punishing tests that the Powers That Be put them through (a Ford Mustang from overseas failed these tests and was bumped off the shortlist).\u00a0 The fact that the Stinger looks great and is a newly unveiled model is also likely to help with police liaison activities with schools and the like.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early days and some of the vehicles are just being trialled for active duty in various states, and there are a few others that might be used, such as overseas-built Commodores.\u00a0 However, out of the list of what\u2019s been confirmed, which of these vehicles would be the one that gets your heart racing the most, whether it\u2019s the vehicle that appeals most to your inner small kid who hero-worships the cops, or the one you\u2019d least like to see bearing down on you with the disco lights going? http:\/\/credit-n.ru\/avtokredit.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know if they were actually putting bets on it anywhere (although I wouldn\u2019t be surprised) but when Holden and Ford Australia closed their factory doors, the big question for a lot of us who are interested in motoring and car news was what the cops were going to drive for their regular patrol […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8329"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14979,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8329\/revisions\/14979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}