Ford is the purveyor of police cars in the US. The latest addition to the range is the Ford F-150 Police Responder.
Unlike with us, the car manufacturer in question usually presents the police version in the US itself. Many automakers even have a long history with such cars. A well-known example from Ford history is the Ford Crown Victoria in Police Interceptor trim, which even simply carried that name on the tailgate as a nameplate. Nowadays, the SUV madness has also reached the police and Ford is doing good business with the Explorer.
However, such a large SUV is not up to every task. That’s why Ford is once again coming up with an F-150 in Police Responder trim. The car is of course based on the all-new F-150, although it remains astonishing how minimal the external differences with the previous generation are at first glance. The police version is less luxurious than the F-150s that we were presented with earlier from Ford. For example, we see simpler headlights without a striking LED signature, smaller wheels and a largely black finish.
The latter does contribute to the threatening appearance that seems to be a requirement for American police cars. The necessary sticker work, red-blue lighting and of course a gigantic ‘push bar’ complete the visible part.
Police F-150s have a 3.5-liter Ecoboost with 400 American horsepower on board, good for a top speed of 193 km / h. The latter is considered important, because it says something about the extent to which such a vehicle can be used for chases. The four-wheel drive has an automatic mode, so that maximum grip according to the manufacturer is guaranteed even under severe conditions. A special police feature is Police Engine Idle. This allows the driver to leave the vehicle with the engine running with the key absent and the doors locked, which can be useful if the car has to be left with the (flashing) lights switched on for an extended period of time.