THE customary police Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons that cruised the streets of Perth and other centres of Western Australia for decades are in the process of being replaced – by high performance Kia Stingers.
WA Police will get 50 bi-turbo V6 Stingers to replace the last of the Commodore and Falcon traffic patrol and pursuit vehicles in the course of the next 12 months.
WA is the second police jurisdiction in Australia, after Queensland, to favour the Stinger as the car of choice.
The decision follows an intensive six-month assessment program to measure key criteria in performance, safety, availability and cost effectiveness.
“These cars are fit for purpose and they are 5-star safety rated, which is important for our officer safety,” Police and Road Safety Minister Michelle Roberts said.
The new WA fleet will be similar in specification to the model adopted by the Queensland Police about three months ago: twin-turbo 3.3litre V6 generating 272kW of power and 510Nm of torque and acceleration of 4.9 seconds from standstill to 100km/h.
Queensland Police are said to be very pleased with the vehicle and likely to replace its entire fleet of about 200 highway patrol cars with Stingers.
“The Stinger performed very well in all areas and we had nothing but top reports from all the field officers,” Qld Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating said.
NSW Police opted for BMW 530d and Chrysler SRT sedans and Victoria Police have also taken on some 5-Series BMWs while South Australian Police have some Kia Sorentos and the latest imported Holden-badged (Opel) Commodores.
