Australian Cops Are Replacing Their Commodores And Falcons With The Kia Stinger GT

[AV8R]

Aarrgghh! Yes, maybe the LE versions have canvas seat covers.

Maybe they will reupholster with cane toad skin. The Aussies know what I’m talking about here! Lol

 

[Coast GT]

Agree unless they take the nice seats out, and rip the bolsters off or put their old Commodore seats in them. No way you can custom-set those seats to fit all the gear our cops carry. But then the Aussies don't carry firearms, do they?

Yes they do, Glock 22 in most States in either a thigh holster or a hip holster depending on officer preference. I agree it would be tight, that’s partly the reason NSW Police stopped using Subaru Impreza WRX years ago, but they also had issues with speedo calibration which was the main reason why they dumped them.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Are those headlights bigger? From the pics it looks like the nine LEDs beneath, the turn signals, are gone. Also, the DRL strips seem to be missing.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Maybe they will reupholster with cane toad skin. The Aussies know what I’m talking about here! Lol

Kangaroo scrotum sacks is a tougher material.

 

[Barple]

Just to clarify, these will be highway patrol cars and as it's name implies, meant to patrol the highways to enforce road rules and respond to accident scenes. The bulk of the workload will still be carried by their other vehicles, like Camry's and paddy wagons.

 

[Coast GT]

Are those headlights bigger? From the pics it looks like the nine LEDs beneath, the turn signals, are gone. Also, the DRL strips seem to be missing.

Yeah the headlights are different. The original article on the Kia Au website said they were buying the 330 V6 so it’ll probably be the base model V6, it’s not the GT. In Aus the base models have slightly different inclusions and different headlights. In the USA it looks like Kia calls every model GT and just adds a 1 or 2 to differentiate. Australia have 330s, 330si, GT. I’m guessing the cops got the 330s because Government always buys the cheapest option possible

 

[Coast GT]

Just to clarify, these will be highway patrol cars and as it's name implies, meant to patrol the highways to enforce road rules and respond to accident scenes. The bulk of the workload will still be carried by their other vehicles, like Camry's and paddy wagons.

Just to clarify your clarification Highway Patrol are not limited to just patrolling highways and also patrol city and suburban streets. Also Highway Patrol don’t have paddy wagons. So as they’re buying 50 Stingers for their Highway Patrol fleet then the bulk of the Highway Patrol work will be carried by the Stingers. The other vehicles you mention are part of the QPS fleet but not Highway Patrol

 

[bumble bee]

AV8R, bad ass unmarked you have.

 

[Registered Member]

Agree unless they take the nice seats out, and rip the bolsters off or put their old Commodore seats in them. No way you can custom-set those seats to fit all the gear our cops carry. But then the Aussies don't carry firearms, do they?

Yeah, they do.

 

[Coast GT]

Saw this on Twitter today from Kia Ireland. It’s obviously a mock up because it has NSW plates and at this point in time NSW Police don’t have the Stinger but it looks good and fits with the current coloured Highway Patrol vehicles in the NSW fleet rather than the standard white.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

View attachment 11311
Saw this on Twitter today from Kia Ireland. It’s obviously a mock up because it has NSW plates and at this point in time NSW Police don’t have the Stinger but it looks good and fits with the current coloured Highway Patrol vehicles in the NSW fleet rather than the standard white.

There’s actually more pictures of this, wife showed me on FB, it’s a NSW Police Force Car used for recruitment purposes only at this point in time.

 

[Coast GT]

There’s actually more pictures of this, wife showed me on FB, it’s a NSW Police Force Car used for recruitment purposes only at this point in time.

That’s interesting given NSWPF haven’t actually tested the Stinger yet. There was talk before their release that Kia were pushing it to them but they never actually tested it and went with the BMW and the Chrysler 300SRT for Highway Patrol. They may look at it again but it’s not listed to be part of the fleet at the moment. They’ve actually gone for the Hyundai Sonata to replace the general duties Commodore & Falcon, along with Toyota Camry which they were already using.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

That’s interesting given NSWPF haven’t actually tested the Stinger yet. There was talk before their release that Kia were pushing it to them but they never actually tested it and went with the BMW and the Chrysler 300SRT for Highway Patrol. They may look at it again but it’s not listed to be part of the fleet at the moment. They’ve actually gone for the Hyundai Sonata to replace the general duties Commodore & Falcon, along with Toyota Camry which they were already using.

Yes, I was told they are looking at the Stinger, probably waiting to see how it performs in QLD before they evaluate for service. But NSW are known for “tricking” up exotics for display & recruitment purposes only.

 

[Coast GT]

Yes, I was told they are looking at the Stinger, probably waiting to see how it performs in QLD before they evaluate for service. But NSW are known for “tricking” up exotics for display & recruitment purposes only.

Yeah it could be a sponsor vehicle from a local Kia dealership which is not uncommon. They may have tested but last I heard they hadn’t. Despite all departments doing basically the same thing they all have different requirements for their vehicle fleet and NSW has the most stringent specifications of all. QLD has been using the Toyota Aurion for Highway Patrol which didn’t even get a look in with NSW thankfully. It's not only driving performance it also comes down to how they can integrate their systems. Powering the equipment has always been an issue, the Commodore ran 2 batteries to accommodate it, the Fords had a bad habit of running flat when not in use. It will depend if Kia can adjust the wiring looms and possibly upgrade the power for the electrics.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Here’s the story on the recruitment Stinger being used by NSW Police.
Pimped-up cop cars are being rolled out to get young people to join the police force | Daily Mail Online

 

[Coast GT]

Here’s the story on the recruitment Stinger being used by NSW Police.
Pimped-up cop cars are being rolled out to get young people to join the police force | Daily Mail Online

Thanks for posting that. The Stinger looks good, so does the Ranger, even if it is a Ford sadly neither will be fitted like that if they use them operationally

 

[Fergalis]

No Stingers for Police in New Zealand. Holden still has another four and a half years of the contract to supply police vehicles here. I recently spotted a ZB Commodore Police car out on patrol.

 

[6172crew]

I went to a commodore/UTE/G8/GTO meet with my brother (He rigs his chevy SS into a clubsport) and a CA cop drove his caprice into the meeting area. Pretty neat stuff, the LE version are meant for business, they are not what you can buy in the showroom.

I used to own a 96 impala SS, the trick was to use some of the 9C1 parts to get them to ride better. My rig had a 383 and a T56 6 speed along with other bolt ons for a solid 400hp gun boat. I whipped up on a few STSs and Vettes, the owners would always want me to pull over afterwards to ask me what the hell I did to get it to run like it did.

 

[Coast GT]

Western Australia Police are now also using the Stinger. They’ve just ordered 48 for their fleet
WA Police add Kia Stingers to fleet

 

[Coast GT]