Northern Territory Police Swap Stingers for Subarus

Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) is switching to warmed over Subaru WRXs for its new police fleet. With plenty of long straight roads, we imagine there’s a need for speed when it comes to chasing down fast felons. 

The Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services received a grant for 13 new Subaru WRXs for its Traffic Police Unit. The first has already arrived in Darwin with the others earmarked for the rest of the state arriving imminently.

Eva Lawler, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, said: “I’m …ensuring that Police have the resources and support they need to do the job.” 

The patrol cars are outfitted with emergency lights, a dual-battery system, a rifle mount with an electronic release, and automatic license plate recognition software. There’s also advanced speed radar, and a lightbar with a messaging board.

The WRXs can top out at almost 250km/h, somewhat quicker than a regular WRX. How they achieve this isn’t clear but perhaps the boost is wound up. Officials said each police WRX costs around $A12,500 more than a regular WRX. 

Brent Potter, Minister for Police, said “These vehicles have been designed to have everything an officer could want or need to do their job efficiently and safely.”

The NT covers over half a million square miles, making it the third-largest federal division in Australia. That said, over half of the territory’s population lives in Darwin.

The new WRXs will replace Kia Stingers and Volkswagen Passats, retiring from the high-performance fleet. The unit will have 29 vehicles when the Subarus are added.