Humberside Police made automotive headlines today in the UK after the department announced that it has taken delivery of its first Lexus IS-F police car. The 168mph (270km/h) rear-wheel drive sports sedan that is powered by a 417HP 5.0-liter V8 engine will replace the current Subarus employed by the Roads Crime Section. Special decals and LEDs aside, the police version of the IS-F is equipped with £30,000 (about $50k or €34k) worth of on-board computers and communications equipment.

The department, which is responsible for policing the area covering the East Riding of Yorkshire, the city of Kingston, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, said that specially trained officers spent 12 months evaluating a number of high performance vehicles before reaching a decision.

Sergeant Mike Peck of the Humberside Police Roads Crime Section said: "The purchase of the vehicle was far from an easy decision and involved research and advice from the force fleet manager, financial managers and a vehicle dynamics expert."

"The Lexus was tested during a 12 month period along with similar vehicles and proved itself to be ideally suited in providing a dynamically safe high performance chassis along with an electronically stable platform for the computer equipment. In the past this equipment has placed huge demands on vehicles but the Lexus IS-F easily met with our requirements," Peck concluded.

Via Carscoop