While there are no major updates in the 2023 model year of law enforcement vehicles from the Big Three automakers, SUVs and pickup trucks continued to show their growing popularity at the annual Michigan State Police Precision Driving Unit’s Vehicle Evaluations held this fall.
This article appeared in the November/December issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to view the digital edition. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.
Since 1950, the Michigan State Police has been testing patrol vehicles and has become an internationally recognized resource for agencies purchasing new units for their fleets. This year, General Motors added two models of the Chevrolet Silverado for the first time, joining the Ford F-150 Police Responder as the only pick up trucks tested by the agency. Lt. Nicholas Darlington, who recently took the reigns of the Precision Driving Unit from newly retired Lt. Mike McCarthy, spoke to OFFICER Magazine about this year’s crop of law enforcement vehicles tested and talked about some of the trends he’s observed as he has watched the vehicles evolve.
Going big
Just five years ago, the Chevrolet Caprice, Ford Police Interceptor Sedan, Ford SSP Sedan and Dodge Charger Pursuit were all included in the annual testing. Today, the Charger Pursuit remains the only holdover as both GM and Ford have switched their focus to SUVs and pickup trucks. “I think a lot of it has to do with really the amount of equipment that police agencies throughout the country are required to carry now,” says Darlington. “I was just trying to do an inventory on what our troopers out in the field are carrying now and it’s really quite extensive. Not only are we carrying tire changing tools, car jacks and flares, but they are also carrying heavy vests and rifles and riot gear with them pretty much 24/7 … It’s a little difficult for a small sedan to be able to do that."
What has impressed Darlington the most is the variety of vehicles the automobile manufacturers have been able to produce, along with the consistency of the models. “There’s really a lot of choices for law enforcement agencies to look at. There are some larger SUVS like the Tahoe and then some slightly smaller like the Ford Utility and Dodge Durango,” he says. “Performance-wise, they’re all performing pretty consistently. There’s not a lot of difference.”
This year, GM submitted the Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4WD and the Silverado Z7X 4WD, which comes with an optional two-inch lift. Both models, along with the Ford F-150 Police Responder 3.5L EcoBoost, are pursuit capable. “Traditionally (GM) only offered the Silverado in an SSV and now they are saying that this pickup is certainly capable of performing the duties of law enforcement,” he says. “It did quite well. The top speed isn’t where the F-150 is, but just like their partner the Tahoe, it did impressive on braking.”
Darlington noted that this year, the braking of all of the larger vehicles was pretty consistent with what was seen last year. “Just to think that the amount of engineering that’s gone into the braking on these vehicles—that’s impressive for these larger vehicles to be pulling some of the stopping distances that they are. It’s really a testament to their hard work.”
Locally, he says that the Michigan Department of National Resources has used pickup trucks on patrol, but have traditionally purchased SSVs. “Now they have the ability to have a vehicle that we’ve tested and it’s passed the testing,” he says. “I’ll be curious to see if they migrate towards that pursuit-rated type of vehicle.”
Electric developments
For the second year in a row, Ford submitted the Ford Mustang Mach-E for testing. The model performed similarly to the one sent in last year when it came to acceleration, speed and braking statistics. This comes as both Ford and GM have this year announced future production of larger patrol EVs. The F-150 Lightning Pro SSV and the Chevrolet Blazer EV PPV weren’t submitted for testing this year, but Darlington says he expects them to possibly be added to the lineup in the near future and that the Michigan State Police has been in contact with several manufacturers who are interested in submitting additional electric vehicles.
“We anticipate seeing a big increase in electric vehicles next year. This year we were anticipating more electric vehicles other than just the Mach-E, but it never happened,” he says. “I think next year could be a big year for EVs for us as far as testing goes."
Testing results
This year the Precision Driving Unit tested 13 patrol vehicles and three motorcycles. Vehicle dynamics testing was performed at the Grattan Raceway in Belding, Michigan, while the acceleration and top speed testing were performed at Chrysler’s Chelsea Proving Grounds. While the average dynamics testing times were pretty similar across the board, the acceleration and top speed results were more varied.
The Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD and 5.3L 4WD went 0-60 mph an average of 7.38 seconds and 8.03 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph and 124 mph, along with and overall average deceleration rate of 30.32 ft/s² and 29.76 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 127.7 feet and 130.1 feet respectively. The Chevrolet Silverado Z7X 4WD and Z71 4WD went 0-60 mph an average of 7.43 seconds and 7.59 seconds along with an overall average deceleration rate of 27.63 ft/s² and 27.58 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 140.2 feet and 140.4 feet respectively with a top speed of 112 mph for each.
The Dodge Charger Pursuit 5.7L RWD and 3.6L AWD went 0-60 mph an average of 6.01 seconds and 7.57 seconds along with an overall average deceleration rate of 29.89 ft/s² and 29.85 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 129.6 feet and 129.7 feet respectively with a top speed of 140 mph for both. The Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD and 3.6L AWD went 0-60 mph an average of 7.27 seconds and 8.65 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph and 128 mph along with an overall average deceleration rate of 29.85 ft/s² and 28.12 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 129.7 feet and 137.7 feet respectively.
The Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3.0L EcoBoost AWD, Hybrid AWD and 3.3L AWD went 0-60 mph an average of 5.68 seconds, 7.28 seconds and 7.95 seconds with a top speed of 148 mph, 136 mph and 136 mph along with an overall average deceleration rate of 29.44 ft/s², 29.23 ft/s² and 29.40 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 131.5 feet,132.5 feet and 131.7 feet respectively.
The Ford F-150 Police Responder 3.5L EcoBoost went 0-60 mph an average of 5.72 seconds with a top speed of 120 mph and an overall average deceleration rate of 23.87 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 162.2 feet. The Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD went 0-60 mph an average of 3.93 with a top speed of 122 mph and an overall average deceleration rate of 31.54 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 122.8 feet
When it came to the motorcycles submitted for testing, the BMW R 1250 RT-P went 0-60 mph in 4.10 seconds with a top speed of 136 mph, an overall average deceleration rate of 28.95 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 133.8 feet; the Harley-Davidson FLHTP and FLHP went 0-60 mph in 5.31 seconds and 5.43 seconds respectively with a top speed of 110 seconds and an overall average deceleration rate of 27.42 ft/s² and a projected stopping distance from 60 mph of 141.2 feet for both.
View the full results of the 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluations at officer.com/21287574
This article appeared in the November/December issue of OFFICER Magazine.
