They do things differently in America, don't they? No diesel-powered mid-sized hatchback for their law enforcement officers; instead, US cops get to play in the 370hp Dodge Charger Pursuit, now redesigned for 2015.
Exterior
The Charger Pursuit has a Coke-bottle body inspired by the 1960s muscle car. Dodge has changed the bonnet, wings, light clusters and front doors, as well as giving the car a new face and rear end. The company is happy to call the all-new 'crosshair' front grille 'sinister', and who are we to argue? The Charger is equipped with daytime running lights, projector beam headlights, a 'racetrack' LED tail lamp with continuous glowing light ribbon technology, and a relocated high-level brake light - it's now at the top of the rear windscreen, instead of on the boot lip. The C-pillar has also been shunted back to make the car look more like a fastback.
Interior
The Pursuit was designed and engineered alongside the 2015 Charger that perps... sorry, we mean members of the public, can buy, so it has the seven-inch digital instrument cluster and five-inch Uconnect 5.0 touchscreen system in the middle of the dash. Every Pursuit comes with hands-free Uconnect Phone as standard. Drivers from the thin blue line will enjoy holding on to a thick-rimmed, three-spoke sport steering wheel with multifunction buttons; these can be programmed to operate aftermarket police equipment, such as blues-and-twos, ED-209 and so on.
The car was also developed with Dodge's Police Advisory Board, so the Pursuit has a mobile-command interior with a new vehicle systems interface module for easy equipment integration, police-duty front seats with bolsters designed to better accommodate officers' belt-mounted gear, and a column-mounted shifter to leave the centre console free for other controls.
Mechanicals
While the police can get rear-wheel drive versions of the Pursuit, the V8 can also be equipped with all-wheel drive; probably better for officers in the colder north of the country, although it might cause a bit of an authenticity issue when it comes to cop cars slewing wildly round corners in Hollywood chase scenes.
The V8 is a 5.7-litre Hemi, making 370hp and 529Nm. This gives it a 0-97km/h time of less than six seconds, while it can apparently return 31.2mpg (9.0 litres/100km) if required, thanks in part to Fuel Saver Technology that puts the car into four-cylinder running according to power demand. In a brilliant piece of lap-time quoting that has nothing to do with the Nordschleife, the Charger Pursuit V8 set the fastest-ever time at the 2012 Model Year Michigan State Police Vehicle Evaluation event at Grattan Raceway - 1m 33.70s, if you're interested.
The V6 model has a 3.6-litre Pentastar engine with 292hp and 353Nm, and although it can run on E85 fuel, it only matches the V8's fuel consumption figure. So buy the V8, American police forces. The Charger Pursuit has performance-tuned suspension with self-levelling Nivomat shocks, heavy-duty anti-lock ventilated brakes (the discs are larger front and rear, at 368- and 351mm respectively, for pursuit duties), 18-inch performance tyres on steel wheels and two-stage electronic stability control.
Anything else?
Dodge's performance arm, Mopar, will - for the first time - offer the police the chance to customise their Pursuits. They can fit the obvious extra police accoutrements and wiring packs for lights and sirens (and also ballistic panels for the front doors), as well as various electronic components and slide-out trays in the boot to help an enforcement officer to uphold the law in the best possible way. Ah, if only Elwood had had one of these Dodge police cars back in 1980...