The NSW police highway patrol has just welcomed a new halo car to its fleet; a tweaked HSV Gen-F GTS. Although the car could potentially outrun quite a few would-be criminals, it will be used for demonstration purposes only.
Joining vehicles such as the Porsche Panamera police car and previously introduced FPV GT 400 and Lotus Elise, the HSV GTS will be used to connect with younger generation drivers. It features a slightly tuned engine, not that the factory unit needs any kind of tweaking.
In standard form the Gen-F GTS is powered by a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 producing 430kW and 740Nm. The police car is tuned to develop nearer to 500kW, making it quite easily Australia’s most powerful police car.
So, if the car won’t be used for highway patrol duties and chasing down criminals, the question has to be asked, is it worth the taxpayer’s money? Superintendent Stuart Smith, NSW Police Traffic Services headquarters, spoke about the car’s duties, saying,
“It’s designed to showcase our best police technology and also get people talking. This car is a conversation starter. Whether you’re a young hoon or just curious, this car is an opportunity for offices to engage with the public and educate them about road safety.”
Either way, it is one very cool police car. We’re sure all staff are clawing to get behind the wheel.
Disgusting waste if tax dollars go the communists spending big and having fun on our dollar
John, That’s one way of viewing this, for sure. However, think of it another way; the young hoons would see this as a ‘link’ or common ground for meaningful conversation with the cops (how often do those opportunities come along?!). Therefore you have the hoons witnessing ultimate power in a car (which they respect) being used wisely and with restraint. They get to appreciate that it can be ‘cool’ to have lots of power under the hood and use it well. In the great scheme of things it could be considered to be marketing budget spent wisely, differently of course. New thinking to address an old problem. Nothing the police have done, except for the 400 Kilowatt Falcon! recently) would attract as much tattention as a 500 Kw Commodore in such beautiful stand-out war paint!
I read some where else that this vehicle was NOT purchased by the NSW police but was loaned to the poilce by HSV similar to the a number of other vehicles the they have in their ranks,which are not used for police work but travel around to different events