The vehicle
Ford Police Interceptor Utility
Thirty-nine entries across twenty-three Michigan tests. The vehicle that lost for sixteen years, and then ended the police sedan.
The Ford Police Interceptor Utility begins as an Explorer, and for sixteen years it is the slowest thing in the test. In 2006 it records 97 mph. Two years earlier it had needed 172.8 feet to stop from sixty, which is worse than anything except a 1998 Tahoe.
In 2019 the same nameplate is the quickest and fastest vehicle in the entire evaluation, and laps Grattan faster than every Charger in the field. Six years later Michigan tests no police sedan at all.
Every test
The principal vehicle each year, with the best braking any Explorer or Utility recorded that year. Shaded rows are the Explorer era. Two-wheel-drive, E85 and hybrid variants are in every Utility and Explorer entry.
| Year | Vehicle | 0–60 s | Top mph | Best 60–0 ft | Lap s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Ford Explorer (4×4) limiter | 11.85 | 106 | 153.8 | 91.28old course |
| 1997 | Ford Explorer (4WD) | 10.6 | 113 | 151.1 | 89.35old course |
| 1998 | Ford Explorer (2WD) | 10.15 | 106 | 161.2 | – |
| 2000 | Ford Explorer (2WD) | 11.55 | 104 | 172.8 | – |
| 2002 | Ford Explorer (4WD) limiter | 11.07 | 105 | 140.9 | – |
| 2003 | Ford Explorer (2WD) | 11.75 | 101 | 145 | – |
| 2004 | Ford Explorer (2WD) | 8.9 | 107 | 141.8 | – |
| 2005 | Ford Explorer (2WD) | 9.01 | 107 | 148.1 | – |
| 2006 | Ford Explorer 4.6L (2WD) | 8.62 | 97 | 149.9 | – |
| 2007 | Ford Explorer 4.6L (2WD) | 8.84 | 101 | 154.4 | – |
| 2008 | Ford Explorer 4.6L (2WD) | 8.19 | 104 | 156.5 | – |
| 2012 | Police Interceptor Utility FWD 3.7L | 8.01 | 131 | 128.4 | – |
| 2013 | Ford Police Interceptor Utility AWD 3.7L | 7.96 | 132 | 132.6 | 100.68 |
| 2014 | 2014.5 Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.5L | 6.28 | 131 | 134.2 | 97.7 |
| 2015 | Ford PI Utility AWD 3.7L | 8.57 | 132 | 132.5 | 99.58 |
| 2016 | Ford PI Utility AWD 3.7L | 8.34 | 132 | 128.9 | 100.64 |
| 2017 | Ford PI Utility AWD 3.7L | 7.99 | 131 | 127.1 | 100.93 |
| 2018 | Ford PI Utility AWD 3.7L | 7.81 | 133 | 130.7 | 100.41 |
| 2019 | Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 5.77 | 150 | 131.5 | 96.47 |
| 2020 | Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 5.43 | 148 | 130.1 | 96.52 |
| 2025 | Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 6.17 | 148 | 135.3 | 95.97 |
| 2026 | Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 5.95 | 148 | 131.23 | 95.95 |
Sixteen years of losing
From 1996 to 2008 the Explorer never once exceeded 113 mph, and in three of those years it could not reach 105. Its braking ranged from 140 to 172.8 feet.
Ford knew. In 1998 the company declined to let its Expedition and both Explorers run the road course at all, stating they were not designed or intended for pursuit. The manufacturer was not claiming these were police vehicles. Michigan tested them anyway, and printed the numbers.
The most useful thing in this table is the sixteen years where the answer was plainly no. Without them, 2019 is just a fast truck.
2012, and a different vehicle
The Explorer becomes the Police Interceptor Utility and the figures move further in one year than they had in the previous sixteen.
| 2008 Explorer | 2012 PI Utility | |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed | 104 mph | 131 mph |
| 60–0 | 156.5 ft | 128.4 ft |
Twenty-seven miles an hour and twenty-eight feet. That is the year the sport utility stopped being a compromise — though not yet the year it won, because a Caprice ran 154 mph in that same test.
2019, and the argument ends
The 3.0-litre EcoBoost arrives and does something no sport utility had done:
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| 150 mph | the first sport utility to reach it |
| 5.77 s to 60 | quickest vehicle on four wheels; the Yamaha ran 3.78 |
| 1:36.47 at Grattan | faster than every Charger in the field |
Not roomier and nearly as quick. Quickest, fastest, and roomier. There was no trade left to make, and the sedan had nothing to offer that this did not also do.
By 2025 Michigan tested no police sedan of any kind, for the first time in the programme’s history. The Utility was still there.
Where it sits in the record
| Figure | Vehicle | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 150 mph — first sport utility to reach it | PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 2019 |
| 5.43 s — quickest to 60 | PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L | 2020 |
| 127.1 ft — shortest 60–0 | PI Utility AWD 3.7L | 2017 |
| 97 mph — slowest recorded | Explorer 4.6L (2WD) | 2006 |
Two entries carry the source’s own limiter footnote, in 1996 and 2002 — those figures report a setting rather than a capability.