Michigan test archive

2023 Michigan State Police Patrol Vehicle Test

The Mustang Mach-E returns, a tenth of a second quicker, and runs the quickest 0–60 time by a car in these books. Two Silverado pickups join the field, and the F-150 again stops long.

Thirteen vehicles and three motorcycles, published in November 2022. Acceleration, top speed and braking were run at the Chelsea Proving Grounds on 17 September 2022; the cars lapped Grattan Raceway on 19 September and the motorcycles on 20 September, in the rain. The 2022 field is back — two Tahoes, two Chargers, two Durangos, three Police Interceptor Utilities, an F-150 and the Mustang Mach-E, now a 2023 model — and Chevrolet adds two Silverado police pickups, the Z71 and the Z7X, which has a two-inch lift.

The Mach-E reached 60 mph in 3.93 seconds, a tenth quicker than the 2022 car and the quickest 0–60 time by a car in the books held here. It is 1.75 seconds clear of the next car, and quicker to 60 than the BMW motorcycle too (4.10). It stopped shortest, in 122.8 feet, and lapped slowest of the cars, at 1:41.63 — this year with four drivers, like every other car, and about forty minutes of charging agreed between runs.

Every specification page again prints a Manufacturer Limited Top Speed, and fifteen of the sixteen vehicles topped out exactly at it. The exception is the Mach-E, which reached 122 mph against its printed 124. The practical top speeds of the 2022 book are gone: both Chargers ran 140, and the BMW its printed 136.

And the F-150 misses the braking criterion again: 23.87 ft/s² against 25.79, and 162.2 feet from 60 — the longest stop of the year, and the second-longest under the twenty-stop procedure in the books held, after the 2026 Ram’s 170.13.

The police vehicles

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, MSP Precision Driving Unit. Acceleration, top speed and braking at the Chelsea Proving Grounds, 17 September 2022; dynamics at Grattan Raceway, 19 September 2022, 32 timed laps scored on each of four drivers’ five fastest. Braking is twenty 60-to-0 full-ABS stops; the rate is the overall average and the distance the projected stop, both as printed on each vehicle’s brake sheet (the Durango 3.6L’s sheet is printed under the EcoBoost Utility’s heading; see the note below). Communications and ergonomics are scored per model on a 1–10 scale, so both versions of a model carry the same score. Muted row: see the purchasing criteria.
Vehicle	0–60 (s)	0–100 (s)	Top speed	Top speed at	Dynamics	Brakes (ft/s²)	60–0 (ft)	Comms	Ergo
Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD (electric)	3.93	12.23	122	3.29 mi	1:41.63	31.54	122.8	5.33	7.92
Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L	5.68	14.74	148	1.27 mi	1:35.42	29.44	131.5	9.44	7.87
Ford F-150 Police Responder EcoBoost 3.5L	5.72	14.16	120	0.5 mi	1:38.65	23.87	162.2	8.71	8.40
Dodge Charger 5.7L RWD	6.01	14.10	140	0.95 mi	1:36.33	29.89	129.6	8.71	7.84
Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD	7.27	19.26	130	1.21 mi	1:38.68	28.12	137.7	9.78	7.92
Ford PI Utility Hybrid AWD	7.28	17.67	136	1.09 mi	1:38.99	29.23	132.5	9.44	7.87
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD	7.38	18.70	130	1.96 mi	1:38.30	30.32	127.7	8.84	8.33
Chevrolet Silverado Z7X 4WD	7.43	18.87	112	0.50 mi	1:41.27	27.63	140.2	9.73	8.16
Dodge Charger 3.6L AWD	7.57	19.06	140	5.33 mi	1:37.80	29.85	129.7	8.71	7.84
Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4WD	7.59	18.70	112	0.48 mi	1:40.53	27.58	140.4	9.73	8.16
Ford PI Utility AWD 3.3L	7.95	19.73	136	2.63 mi	1:38.20	29.40	131.7	9.44	7.87
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L 4WD	8.03	20.32	124	0.91 mi	1:38.62	29.76	130.1	8.84	8.33
Dodge Durango 3.6L AWD	8.65	24.11	128	5.33 mi	1:41.03	28.62	135.3	9.78	7.92

Gold row: the Mach-E is quickest to 60 by 1.75 seconds and to 100 by 1.87, and stops 4.9 feet shorter than anything else here. It is also last on the road course, 0.36 seconds a lap behind the Silverado Z7X and 6.21 behind the EcoBoost Utility, which had the best dynamics average, 1:35.42, and the highest top speed, 148 mph.

The Mach-E is a 2023 model this year (the 2022 book tested a 2021 car), with the same 480 horsepower and 600 lb-ft. Against the 2022 figures it is 0.10 seconds quicker to 60 but 0.29 slower to 100, laps 0.56 seconds quicker and stops 2.2 feet shorter. Its dynamics sheet again records battery charge. Four drivers ran one eight-lap series each, starting at 100, 80, 79 and 86 percent and finishing at 69, 49, 51 and 55 percent, with a 47 kW charger between runs; in every series the lap printed first is the quickest (unlike the 2022 book, this one does not say the laps are listed in the order run). The book says the Precision Driving Unit and the manufacturers had been discussing how to test battery-electric vehicles “for the past three years”.

The F-150 is a 2023 model. Against the 2022 truck it is 0.07 seconds quicker to 60, laps 0.42 seconds quicker and stops 1.3 feet longer. Its specification page again lists the drive system as “Front Wheel Drive”; its data and dynamics sheets call it the F-150 EcoBoost 4WD. Its data sheet gives its 120 mph top speed as reached at 0.5 mile but the 120 mph mark at 0.53 mile; both figures are shown as printed.

A brake sheet under the wrong name. The book prints two brake sheets headed “Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3.0L EcoBoost AWD”, on printed pages 68 and 69, and none for the Durango 3.6L. The summary chart on page 74 gives the V6 Durango 135.3 feet and the EcoBoost Utility 131.5, which are the projected stops of the two sheets in that order. The start times point the same way: every other car’s brake test in the book began 19 to 55 minutes after its acceleration runs began, and the first sheet began at 1:49 p.m., 34 minutes after the V6 Durango’s runs (1:15 p.m.), while the second began at 11:46 a.m., 35 minutes after the EcoBoost Utility’s (11:11 a.m.). So the first sheet is almost certainly the Durango’s, and the table uses it for the Durango and the second for the Utility.

See the original pages in the 2023 book: lap times

Scan from the 2023 Michigan State Police vehicle evaluation: every driver’s lap times at Grattan Raceway and each vehicle’s overall average — “Vehicle Dynamics Testing – September 19, 2022”. The book prints this over 3 pages; they are shown here one below the other. Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, *2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation Program*, PDF pages 38–40 (printed pages 37–39). Open full size.

Acceleration in detail

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, summary of acceleration and top speed, printed pages 51–54. Averages of four runs, two in each direction, in seconds; distances in miles. Neither Silverado reached 120 mph.
0 to…	Mach-E	PI Utility EcoBoost	F-150	Charger RWD	Durango 5.7L	PI Utility Hybrid	Tahoe RWD	Silverado Z7X	Charger AWD	Silverado Z71	PI Utility 3.3L	Tahoe 4WD	Durango 3.6L
20 mph	1.16	1.46	1.54	1.69	1.77	1.68	1.84	1.81	1.78	2.00	2.08	2.01	1.95
30 mph	1.75	2.22	2.25	2.47	2.72	2.83	2.84	2.83	2.89	3.02	3.21	3.09	3.08
40 mph	2.34	3.21	3.27	3.43	3.94	4.14	4.18	4.18	4.13	4.38	4.57	4.57	4.56
50 mph	3.05	4.33	4.31	4.50	5.38	5.61	5.63	5.64	5.65	5.82	6.16	6.13	6.27
60 mph	3.93	5.68	5.72	6.01	7.27	7.28	7.38	7.43	7.57	7.59	7.95	8.03	8.65
70 mph	4.98	7.23	7.19	7.64	9.37	9.27	9.40	9.48	9.83	9.62	10.08	10.22	11.30
80 mph	6.37	9.49	9.12	9.43	12.08	11.62	11.92	11.95	12.19	12.04	12.65	12.94	14.67
90 mph	8.66	11.90	11.22	11.70	15.10	14.40	14.96	14.92	15.53	14.93	15.77	16.18	18.90
100 mph	12.23	14.74	14.16	14.10	19.26	17.67	18.70	18.87	19.06	18.70	19.73	20.32	24.11
Miles to 100 mph	0.23	0.26	0.25	0.24	0.35	0.31	0.33	0.33	0.34	0.33	0.35	0.36	0.44
Miles to 120 mph	0.93	0.48	0.53	0.45	0.72	0.63	0.73	N/A	0.74	N/A	0.74	0.80	1.15

The Mach-E leads the cars at every speed up to 100 mph. Its margin over the next vehicle grows to 2.75 seconds at 80 mph, where the F-150 is second, and narrows to 1.87 at 100, where the V8 Charger is. By 120 mph nine of the cars are ahead of it on distance; only the V6 Durango, at 1.15 miles, is behind its 0.93. The F-150 is quicker than the EcoBoost Utility at 50 mph and from 70 to 100 mph; the Utility is back ahead on distance to 120 mph, 0.48 mile against 0.53.

See the original pages in the 2023 book: acceleration

Scan from the 2023 Michigan State Police vehicle evaluation: acceleration times from 0–20 to 0–100 mph, top speeds and distances to reach 100 mph, 120 mph and top speed — “Summary of Acceleration and Top Speed”. The book prints this over 4 pages; they are shown here one below the other. Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, *2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation Program*, PDF pages 52–55 (printed pages 51–54). Open full size.

The purchasing criteria: one braking miss, and two trucks that never reach 120

The book repeats the MSP’s purchasing criteria on printed page 5: 60 mph within 9.0 seconds, 80 within 14.9 and 100 within 24.6; 110 mph within 0.92 mile and 120 within 1.70 miles; an average of 25.79 ft/s² across twenty 60-to-0 stops; and all 32 Grattan laps without major component failure. Meeting them, it says, “does not certify a vehicle as being pursuit rated”.

The F-150 averaged 23.87 ft/s² across its twenty stops, against 25.79, as its predecessor did in the 2022 book. The book does not name it as failing, and it is muted in the table above for that reason only. The two Silverados are limited to 112 mph by their manufacturer, so neither reaches the 120 mph mark; the book prints the criterion and does not comment. The V6 Durango reached 100 in 24.11 seconds, 0.49 inside the limit. Every other car clears every criterion for which the book prints a figure; the distance to 110 mph is not printed for any of them.

The motorcycles

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, motorcycle section. Acceleration, top speed and braking at the Chelsea Proving Grounds, 17 September 2022; dynamics at Grattan Raceway, 20 September 2022, riders Rogers, Cupp, Tibaudo and Morris, under a rain schedule. Braking is twenty 60-to-0 stops, the overall rate and projected stop as printed, on the oval.
Machine	0–60 (s)	0–100 (s)	Top speed	Top speed at	Dynamics	Brakes (ft/s²)	60–0 (ft)
BMW R 1250 RT-P	4.10	9.41	136	2.58 mi	1:38.09	28.95	133.8
Harley-Davidson FLHTP	5.31	19.05	110	0.92 mi	1:49.52	27.42	141.2
Harley-Davidson FLHP	5.43	18.12	110	0.61 mi	1:50.82	27.32	141.7

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, summary of motorcycle acceleration and top speed, printed page 91. Seconds; distances in miles. Neither Harley-Davidson reached 120 mph.
0 to…	BMW	FLHTP	FLHP
20 mph	1.39	1.40	1.45
30 mph	2.00	2.06	2.08
40 mph	2.54	2.89	2.90
50 mph	3.11	3.98	4.14
60 mph	4.10	5.31	5.43
70 mph	4.95	7.02	7.19
80 mph	6.25	9.33	9.32
90 mph	7.48	12.75	12.77
100 mph	9.41	19.05	18.12
Miles to 100 mph	0.16	0.38	0.35
Miles to 120 mph	0.38	N/A	N/A

Gold row: the BMW is quickest to every speed, takes the fastest lap and stops shortest, and reaches its printed 136 mph. The Harley-Davidsons are the Electra Glide (FLHTP) and the Road King (FLHP), both limited to 110. This year the Electra Glide is the quicker of the two to 60 and, as in 2022, the faster on the road course, and stops 0.5 feet shorter; the Road King is quicker to 100 by 0.93 seconds. The Mach-E is quicker than all three to 60 mph; the BMW is 2.82 seconds quicker to 100.

Two notes from the book. Rain cut the last series of the motorcycle dynamics to four timed laps for each machine, and those four were used in the average. And the braking was again done on the oval, “to maintain consistency”; the book repeats the 2022 caution that its different coefficient of friction may have lengthened the stops “when compared to the 2021 model year motorcycles”, results that are not in the 2021 book held here. The book calls this the eighteenth year of police motorcycle testing; the 2022 book called its own the fourteenth, so the two counts do not agree.

Every specification page prints the limit

Every vehicle on this page had a speed limiter fitted, unless the book notes otherwise. The report states it for the whole field in its General Information section, printed page 4: “All vehicles listed in this report were equipped with electronic speed limiters unless otherwise noted.” The top-speed test for the cars is described, on printed page 42, as a test “to verify the electronically limited top speed reported by the manufacturer”.

All sixteen specification pages print a Manufacturer Limited Top Speed, as all fifteen did in the 2022 book.

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, individual vehicle specification pages, printed pages 10–34 and 80–84; measured top speeds from the data sheets.
Vehicle	Manufacturer limit	Measured	Spec page
Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L	148	148	p.26 (PDF 27)
Dodge Charger 3.6L AWD	140	140	p.20 (PDF 21)
Dodge Charger 5.7L RWD	140	140	p.18 (PDF 19)
Ford PI Utility Hybrid AWD	136	136	p.28 (PDF 29)
Ford PI Utility AWD 3.3L	136	136	p.30 (PDF 31)
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD	130	130	p.10 (PDF 11)
Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD	130	130	p.22 (PDF 23)
Dodge Durango 3.6L AWD	128	128	p.24 (PDF 25)
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L 4WD	124	124	p.12 (PDF 13)
Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD (electric)	124	122	p.34 (PDF 35)
Ford F-150 Police Responder EcoBoost 3.5L	120	120	p.32 (PDF 33)
Chevrolet Silverado Z7X 4WD	112	112	p.14 (PDF 15)
Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4WD	112	112	p.16 (PDF 17)
BMW R 1250 RT-P	136	136	p.80 (PDF 81)
Harley-Davidson FLHTP	110	110	p.82 (PDF 83)
Harley-Davidson FLHP	110	110	p.84 (PDF 85)

Fifteen of the sixteen topped out exactly at their printed limit. The Mach-E reached 122 against 124, after 3.29 miles and 104 seconds; the book makes no comment. The V6 Durango’s page prints 128 this year, against 130 in 2022, and it reached 128; it took 5.33 miles to get there, as did the V6 Charger to its 140. The BMW’s page prints 136, against 137 in 2022.

Ergonomics and communications

Five officers scored ergonomics this year (the method calls for at least four). The totals: F-150 8.40, Tahoe 8.33, Silverado 8.16, Durango and Mach-E 7.92, Police Interceptor Utility 7.87, Charger 7.84. Every model that also ran in 2022 scored lower than it did then except the Mach-E, which rose from 7.66. The lowest single mark on the sheet is the Charger’s rear-seat entry and exit, 6.40.

Communications installation is graded separately, by personnel from the Michigan Public Safety Communications System. The Silverado, new to the sheet, scored 9.73. The Mach-E again scored 5.33, with 3.67 for dashboard access. The five models that ran in 2021 and 2022 repeat their sub-scores from those books exactly, for a third year in succession; the book does not say whether the installations were re-assessed.

See the original pages in the 2023 book: ergonomics

Scan from the 2023 Michigan State Police vehicle evaluation: the communications scores and the ergonomics scores for each vehicle, item by item, with the total scores — “Ergonomics and Communications”. The communications table and the ergonomics table, as printed on consecutive pages. Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, *2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation Program*, PDF pages 76–77 (printed pages 75–76). Open full size.

Fuel economy

Source: 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation, printed page 77. EPA label figures, provided by the manufacturers and certified by the EPA; the Mach-E’s in MPGe.
Vehicle	City	Highway	Combined
Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD (electric)	90	77	84 MPGe
Ford PI Utility Hybrid AWD	23	24	24
Dodge Charger 3.6L AWD	18	26	21
Dodge Durango 3.6L AWD	18	25	21
Dodge Charger 5.7L RWD	16	25	19
Ford PI Utility AWD 3.3L	17	23	19
Ford PI Utility EcoBoost AWD 3.0L	17	22	19
Ford F-150 Police Responder EcoBoost 3.5L	16	20	18
Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD	14	22	17
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD	15	19	16
Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L 4WD	14	18	16
Chevrolet Silverado Z7X 4WD	14	17	15
Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4WD	14	17	15

This year the book prints city and highway figures for the Mach-E as well as the combined one. Its fuel line again gives a total range of 270 miles and 40 kWh per hundred miles, and its specification page an 88 kWh usable battery.

See the original page in the 2023 book: fuel economy

Scan from the 2023 Michigan State Police vehicle evaluation: EPA city, highway and combined miles per gallon for each vehicle, as printed — “Fuel Economy”. Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, *2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation Program*, PDF page 78 (printed page 77). Open full size.

What 2023 settled

The electric car was not a one-year visitor. The Mach-E came back as a 2023 model and ran the quickest 0–60 time by a car in the books held here, 3.93 seconds, quicker than the 2026 GT would manage. It stopped shortest again and lapped slowest of the cars again, and its communications score did not move.

Around it, the field turned further towards trucks. Two Silverado pickups joined the F-150, the only sedans left were the two Chargers, and the one vehicle to miss the braking criterion was a pickup that stopped from 60 in 162.2 feet.

Source. Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, 2023 Model Year Police Vehicle Evaluation Program, published by the MSP Precision Driving Unit, November 2022. Acceleration, top speed and braking at the Chelsea Proving Grounds, 17 September 2022; vehicle dynamics at Grattan Raceway, 19 September 2022, drivers Darlington, Agema, Looney and Mercer; motorcycle dynamics at Grattan, 20 September 2022. All figures transcribed directly from the report; 60–0 distances are the book’s own projected stopping distances. See how these videos are researched.