[rangaraj]

Just back from my trip to australia and noticed some of the newer cars that the cops are driving there (replacing the fords) are the Mitsubishi 380's (3.8-litre, SOHC, 24-valve, V6, 175 kW at 5250 rpm, 343 Nm at 4000 rpm). It is an australian developed performance car and is the last ditch effort by the australian subsidiary to survive (the ford sub is also bleeding badly). There seems to be some sort of similarity with the Indian sub..

Back to the topic.. Cops tend to drive cars to outpace the faster getaway cars - Fords, mercs, BMW, even Lamborgini's are used by cops. Indian cops of course dont have such a problem - any car they choose will keep pace with a getaway car with our traffic!

Here are some pointers to their latest performance car:
Mitsubishi 380 VRX manual - drive.com.au
380 a winner for Mitsubishi - Road tests and Car reviews - CARSguide
Mitsubishi 380 GT : Road Test : News & Reports : Motoring : Web Wombat

Will we see such cars used by Delhi/Mumbai police instead of the Mahindra jeeps/Gypsy in Hindi movies or off late free hyundai accents..

[extreme_torque]

Not in my lifetime atleast. The goverment is always short on "funds".

[theMAG]

Interesting topic. The answer would be yes and no.

Yes: due to the obvious reason of not wanting an escapee from the law get the better of them

No: Speed alone doesnt a police car make. They need it to be rugged, able to seat any arrests and reliable too

My guess is cops get some customization on their cars keepin the above factors, since no one car might have all the qualities required above

[ajmat]

In the UK and europe, cops used to drive the best local produce

UK - Range Rovers, JAgs and Rovers
France - Citroens and alpine renaults
Germany - mercs, BMW's and the odd Porsche etc.

The UK car industry got oblierated so now cops drive various cars?

Volvo V70 turbo's, BMW 530 d's and the odd X5, some Mercs, the occassional Range Rover and also quite a few Octy Rs's. It says something about durability and performance so a lot of manufacturers give the cars to the police for a nominal sum. Mind you, these cars are stripped of fancy luxury items like the AC etc.

[salilpawar1]

I think the present police vehicles (atleast in urban areas) like boleros, qualises, sumos, taveras are sufficient....

Our country cannot simply cannot allot a car to every single officer a la the US police cruisers.

India doesn't have the necessary road infrastructure like the great German autobahns... so apart from a handful of expressways (which lack basic patrolling in the first place) there are hardly any roads which lead to high-speed chases...

Our potholed roads are not good enough for police cruisers.

On average, around four-to-five police personnel travel in a police vehicle. So saloons are out of question...

Having said that, Chennai police have Hyundai Accents !!

[rahulmd]

Originally Posted by ajmat

In the UK and europe, cops used to drive the best local produce

UK - Range Rovers, JAgs and Rovers
France - Citroens and alpine renaults
Germany - mercs, BMW's and the odd Porsche etc.

The UK car industry got oblierated so now cops drive various cars?

To add to what Ajmat wrote, the UK cops mostly use BMW 5 series and Vauxhall Astras with higher engine specs. You also see the odd Saab/ Volvo etc.

In Italy its mostly Fiat Puntos and Alfa Romeo 156/159's

Slightly deviating from the topic... i was talking to someone who has a 750cc bike. I was asking him where he took it to stretch its legs. While discussing that he mentioned, that bikes have registration plates only at the rear in UK/ Europe. Now, speed cameras in France are front facing, while most of the speed cameras in the UK are rear facing. So what he had to say was this "if you are one a bike and come across a speed camera in UK you slow down, in France, you just wave into the camera, since there is nothing they can do!!!"
The reason I mention/ remembered this is because he was mentioning that the cops in Germany used 911's to keep up with fast getaway cars...

[sarath]

Originally Posted by rangaraj

Just back from my trip to australia and noticed some of the newer cars that the cops are driving there (replacing the fords) are the Mitsubishi 380's (3.8-litre, SOHC, 24-valve, V6, 175 kW at 5250 rpm, 343 Nm at 4000 rpm). It is an australian developed performance car and is the last ditch effort by the australian subsidiary to survive (the ford sub is also bleeding badly).

Well..thats a nice car. Also AU cops are using Commodores and Statemans too right?

[benbsb29]

In Dubai the cops use BMWs and Mercs.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

In Dubai the cops use BMWs and Mercs.

prepare to be surprised. bangalore cops got themselves a new white i20 for a cop car. it passed by me complete with dark sunfilm, 'POLICE' decals as well as a beacon.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Not in my lifetime atleast. The goverment is always short on "funds".

ET i am sure you havent had any exposure to the kinds of funds govt agencies have access to . and FYI there are fund available to the military and paramilitary forces that do not feature on the countires budget.

So its not about funds availablity.

Another number here in most indian states the Police department has more number of vehciles than the state transport department.

a disconnected but ample example here the budget for the library at trivandrum , VSSC ISRO space centre is approx 5 cores and that was 7 years back when i was dong my B Tech final year project there .

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

I think the present police vehicles (atleast in urban areas) like boleros, qualises, sumos, taveras are sufficient....

Our country cannot simply cannot allot a car to every single officer a la the US police cruisers.

India doesn't have the necessary road infrastructure like the great German autobahns... so apart from a handful of expressways (which lack basic patrolling in the first place) there are hardly any roads which lead to high-speed chases...

Our potholed roads are not good enough for police cruisers.

On average, around four-to-five police personnel travel in a police vehicle. So saloons are out of question...

Having said that, Chennai police have Hyundai Accents !!

guys we are all in india lets talk about whats ground reality whats happening in a coutry which has been free for hundreds of years cannot be compared to what happening in a country which has emergered out of its chains only 60 years back.

More over the police system in India and other countries work differnetly and thats here to stay for a while. period.

Ok lets get to the point at hand.

I have observed the criteria the police use for selection of vehicles

1. Ruggedness / reliability - (do you see skoda police cars in india
)

2. ease of repair
3. running costs ( fe+maintanence)
4. manufacturer's willingness to customise and deliver vehicles.
5. Not in all cases - kick back offered by the vehicle manufacturers i;ve herad that the tenth vehicle is always free of cost , dunno hwo true this is.
6. adherence to the objective of use .
7. Driver comfort.
8. the use of sedans as cruisers is just catching up and will catch on bigtime one the infrastructe supports its use.