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Ford Police Interceptors dominate Michigan State Police testing

Once again, Ford Motor Company builds the fastest police vehicles. The Blue Oval touted the news in an official release following Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testing. Ford did very well. Except for one acceleration metric – zero to 10 miles per hour – the Blue Oval's Taurus and Explorer-based cop cars were the quickest, with particular praise coming for the EcoBoost-powered models, which bested Chevrolet and Dodge's V8-powered variants. Dearborn's products also posted the fastest average times around MSP's vehicle dynamics course. But it wasn't all positive for Ford. The only four-cylinder in the contest, the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost Ford SSP Sedan, had both the lowest top speed, 120 mph, and the slowest acceleration figures. It was also the slowest in track testing. Ford's products also failed to match the braking and top speeds of its rivals from Detroit and Auburn Hills – the rear-drive Charger Pursuit posted the best braking stats of the entire test, while the V8-powered Chevrolet Caprice hit the highest top speed, at 155 mph. Ford did score a top speed award, among SUVs, but at 132 mph, the naturally aspirated Police Interceptor Utility had to share its award with the equally fast, rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe. The LA County Sheriff's timing isn't publicly available, but according to Ford, the EcoBoost-powered police cars put on a similarly impressive show for cops on the West Coast. We've assembled a spreadsheet on Google Docs that offers an easy to browse comparison of the different stats assembled by the Michigan State Police, and divided the vehicles between standard V6-powered sedans, high-performance sedans (EcoBoost and V8 models), and SUVs. You can check it out here. Related Video:

2020 Chevy Corvette Stingray vs the world: How it compares on paper

The 2020 Chevy Corvette Stingray in its base form offers an astonishing amount of performance for the money. In fact, so impressive is the car's spec sheet that the Corvette kind of exists in two different competitive sets: one of cars priced similarly, and another with cars of similar performance and reputation. To get a feel for how it handles each of these segments, we've compiled specifications for those two sets of players. You can find the first set below, which looks at cars of roughly the same price point. Following that is a bit of analysis, and then there's a chart of cars with similar performance and reputation. And that chart will also have some analysis. Though final pricing for the Corvette hasn't been announced yet, we know the Corvette will start at less than $60,000. And as far as pricing goes, its closest competitor is the Porsche 718 Cayman, which also starts at just under $60,000. Both are mid-engined and rear-drive, but the Corvette offers an extra 195 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque. The Cayman does boast a curb weight of right around 3,000 pounds, so it weighs a few hundred pounds less than the Corvette, but it's likely not enough to make up for the power deficit. The Corvette's sub-3.0-second 0-60 time bears this out against the Cayman's best 4.5-second run. Impressively, though, the Cayman has more cargo space than the Corvette in a package that's nearly 10 inches shorter. The Cayman also still offers a manual option for those that prefer self-shifting. The 2020 Toyota Supra is on the cheap end of this sports car class, just crossing $50,000. It also boasts more power than the Cayman, though it's still down by 160 ponies and 105 pound-feet of torque to the C8. It's also about as roomy as the Corvette, despite being about the same size as the Cayman. Cargo space is a bit tighter. Its driving characteristics will likely differ, too as the Supra sits on a front-engine platform. It might even feel closer to a C7 Corvette in some ways. The other mid-engine entry in this price range is the 2019 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. Its small 1.7-liter turbo inline-4 only makes 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, but it's also far and away the lightest of this group at 2,487 pounds. That's roughly 1,000 pounds lighter than the Corvette. It isn't as fast as the Corvette in a straight line, but that lightness surely pays dividends in cornering and braking.

Helicopter crashes on Top Gear Korea set while chasing Corvette ZR1

The formula of Top Gear Korea is seemingly about the same as it is everywhere else in the world, including the flagship British original: involve interesting cars in fantastical situations with charismatic hosts. That prescription has proved to be pretty reliable over the years, and has lead to some truly memorable and exciting pieces of television.
Something like that was undoubtedly what the Korean producers were after when they lined up this segment - a drag race between a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and an AH1 Cobra military helicopter. The planners almost certainly did not expect the filming of the segment to go quite as wrong as it actually did, with the helicopter actually crashing into the dirt after the "drag race" had been completed. Thankfully, we're told that no one was seriously injured in the crash, but the footage, in the video below, is pretty damn chilling to watch, nevertheless.