LANSING, Mich. — A gas-powered Ford utility and an electric Mustang split the top marks in the Michigan State Police review of next year’s patrol vehicles, according to preliminary 2027 model year results posted by the department’s Precision Driving Unit.
The annual evaluation, run since 1975, has become a benchmark that police agencies across the country use when they shop for cruisers. This round covered 13 patrol vehicles plus a group of police motorcycles, and MSP says the numbers will keep changing as more test data is entered.
Testing was split between two west and southeast Michigan sites. Top speed, acceleration and braking runs took place at the Chelsea Proving Ground, a Stellantis-owned facility, while handling laps were driven at Grattan Raceway near Belding, a roughly 2-mile road course with steep elevation changes and tight curves. Four troopers each drove every vehicle on the course.
The Ford Police Interceptor Utility with the optional 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 hit 148 mph, the best top speed in the group, and posted the strongest average lap at 1 minute, 34.69 seconds. That engine makes 400 horsepower.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT, one of two electric entries with the Chevrolet Blazer EV, was the quickest patrol vehicle off the line, reaching 60 mph in 4.01 seconds. It also stopped shortest from 60 mph, with a projected distance of 123.12 feet, and set the single fastest lap of the test.
Among pickups, Ford’s F-150 Police Responder with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost was the quickest gas-powered patrol vehicle to 60 mph at 5.94 seconds. Chevrolet’s Silverado Z71 and Z7X police pickups, added to the posted results in mid-October, stopped shorter than the Ford, and the Z71 edged it on lap average. The rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe, the only full-size utility tested, reached 130 mph.
Every vehicle in the program had its top speed capped electronically by the manufacturer. Questions about the test books go to the MSP Precision Driving Unit in Lansing.
Section: More Lansing MI crime news
Filed under: Lansing MI Public Safety News
