Each year, the Michigan State Police evaluate the crop of new patrol cars, SUVs and motorcycles for law enforcement agencies. The vehicles are evaluated in categories such as acceleration, top speed, braking, ergonomics, communications and fuel economy. A "vehicle dynamics" evaluation is completed on a two-mile course to simulate pursuit and other emergency driving conditions.
For the 2009 model year, the driving unit tested eight vehicles in four models: Ford CVPI, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Tahoe and Dodge Charger. Also, five motorcycles were evaluated: Harley-Davidson's Road King and Electra Glide, BMW's R1200 RTP and G650 X Challenge, as well as the Buell Ulysses XB12XP.
Wondering how they performed?
The results of these tests, as well as archived results dating back to model year 2003, are available at the driving unit's website.