Kia shows off Aussie Highway Patrol Stinger at SEMA

KIA is attempting to woo American constabularies towards a potential US police car by exhibiting the Queensland Highway Patrol Stinger to SEMA in Las Vegas.

As part of a big showing at SEMA, which includes customised Tellurides, a widebody K900, a DUB-fettled Stinger on air suspension and a drift-spec Cerato, Kia brought along its pursuit-ready Stinger wearing Queensland Highway Patrol graphics.

3

Kia North America flew the car over intent on showing off the twin-turbo V6 sedan to prospective police departments of the United States, who have traditionally used American cars, much like our local police forces did until manufacturing ended last year.

Queensland Police has so far ordered 50 Stingers to replace both Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon pursuit cars, with more to follow in 2019.

Unlike the local, previously employed police cars, the imported police-spec Kia Stinger is almost unchanged from the everyday version, save for a special wiring loom for police electronics.

3

That means a twin-turbocharged V6 which produces 272kW and 510Nm of torque, with the same factory brakes and suspension tune.

After the selection process, Assistant Queensland Police Service Commissioner Mike Keating said “The Stinger performed very well in all areas and we had nothing but top reports from all the field officers.

“The result is a road-policing first for us, the first foreign car to perform these duties.”

Western Australia also has its eyes on the Stinger for police duties with a similar number on order, while New South Wales and Victoria have opted to go with the BMW 530d and Chrysler 300 SRT.

Kia hopes to catch the attention of other states that haven’t made up their minds as yet like Northern Territory and South Australia, who are currently considering a number of options including the ZB Holden Commodore.

Whether or not the Stinger ends up patrolling wider Australia, Kia sees a big opening in America’s huge police fleet – which will also need to migrate from the Australian-made Caprice soon.