Skip to Content

How Fast Are Police Cars?

Police cars are thought of by most people to be extra fast for chasing criminals, but most police officers will tell a different story.

There are many police cars in the world, and every country has its police vehicle fleet that is designed for various purposes. However, many people still wonder how fast police cars are.

The fastest police cars in the world reach speeds of 180 – 270MPH (290 – 435KPH), but most police cars reach speeds of 120 – 155MPH (195 – 250KPH). The fastest police vehicles in the world are found in the UAE. Police cars need to be faster than regular road cars in most cities.

The speed of a police car is decided mainly by the type of car it is, but there are some other critical factors to consider regarding the performance of these vehicles.

Let’s explore police cars from different cities and countries to determine if these cars are generally faster than regular cars or if they are the same as any other car on the road.

How Fast Are Police Cars?

Police cars are usually made to be faster than civilian cars, but not all of them are as quick as you may expect them to be. Police cars are made to be as fast as necessary, and some police cars do not need to drive very fast.

With that said, some high-speed police vehicles are designed for high-speed highway chases. There are some fast police cars worldwide, but most are just regular cars with performance tuning.

Police CarTop Speed
Average Police Car155mph (250km/h)
Fastest Police Car250mph (400km/h
Slowest Police Car28mph (45km/h)

Most police cars are capable of speeds up to around 155MPH (250KPH). The fastest police cars in the world can reach speeds over 250MPH (400KPH). The slowest police cars are regular hatchbacks that are not modified at all. These cars are used for simple patrol work.

The speed of police cars is driven by necessity. If the area where the police vehicles are used never sees any fast cars, then the police do not need them either.

However, if the region or country has many high-performance cars, the police need to be equipped with vehicles that can match them, as is the case in countries such as the UAE and Japan.

Are All Police Cars Fast?

Most regular people assume that police cars are faster than standard cars. These cars are always depicted much faster in movies and television than other cars on the road, but most police cars are the same types of vehicles anyone can buy. Are police cars really that fast?

The truth is that some police cars are fast, and others are not. Most police cars in large cities and wealthy countries are faster than regular cars simply because they are tuned and upgraded with slightly higher performance components to gain an advantage over criminals on the road.

Some police cars are only faster than their civilian counterparts because they are not electronically speed-limited.

Most civilian vehicles with even semi-powerful engines are electronically limited to specific speeds, so the driver cannot accidentally overwork the engine.

Police cars are not limited in this way and can reach higher speeds than the regular versions of the same vehicles.

There are police cars in some places that are designed to be significantly faster than other cars, as they are made to deal with high-speed chases and criminals that use fast cars of their own.

However, with that said, some police are nothing more than stock-standard road cars with roof lights and extra paint. These cars are not for high-speed chases but simple patrols and light police work.

These cars are no faster than the civilian version but do not need to be. The fastest police cars are utilized in places where fast cars are easily accessible, and the police require high-speed vehicles to keep up with criminals.

What Is The Fastest Police Car?

There are some very fast police vehicles in the world, and the fastest are found in countries with an abundance of high-performance cars.

Countries such as Japan, the UAE, Italy, the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands have a thriving supercar industry or at least have a large number of high-performance road cars.

Many of these cars are used by criminals or are misused by their owners. Those who have access to incredibly fast cars want to drive them at these speeds and assume that the police will be unable to keep up.

For this reason, these countries have developed a fleet of very fast, high-performance police vehicles to keep the roads safe.

The fastest police car in the world is still the Bugatti Veyron, which has been in the service of the police in Dubai for several years. This vehicle is capable of almost 270MPH (435KPH) and accelerates from 0 – 62MPH (0 – 100KPH) in 2.6 seconds.

Some of the other fastest police cars in operation are the Nissan GTR used in Japan, The Ferrari 458 Italia used in Italy, The Ariel Atom and the BAC Mono used in the UK, and the Dodge Challenger Hellcats used in the USA.

Why Are Police Cars So Fast?

We have established that most police cars are at least a little faster than regular cars, but are these vehicles made faster intentionally, or are they just driven faster because police are trained to do so?

Police cars are so fast because they are made to be faster than regular road vehicles, which helps a lot when chasing down criminals. Police cars are not electronically speed-limited, and most production cars that are turned into police cars are tuned for higher performance.

These cars are fitted with performance components that increase the vehicle’s top speed, acceleration, and handling.

Some car manufacturers, such as Ford, produce cars designed from the start to be police vehicles and therefore made to be faster than regular cars.

Any car made for the police is faster than regular cars, but standard road cars converted into police cars are usually as slow as everyday cars, as they are not traditionally modified for higher performance.

Conclusion

Police cars are usually faster than regular cars because they are not electronically limited, and many of these vehicles are intentionally tuned for higher performance.

Some police cars are just standard road cars, but others are supercars capable of immense speeds, depending on what is required by the police.