Police departments across America have proudly utilized the Ford Crown Victoria for decades as the cornerstone of their patrol fleets. But the Crown Vic has been replaced by the Taurus-based Police Interceptor and the Explorer-Based Police Interceptor Utility Vehicle, both of which go faster, burn less fuel, and are designed with officers in mind.

Police forces now have two turbocharged pursuit options from Ford.

Ford already offers an EcoBoost version of the Taurus Police Interceptor, and this week announced that an EcoBoost-powered version of the Interceptor Utility Vehicle. Bad guys who think they can outrun a police SUV had better think again.

No doubt Ford planned this from the start, much like they planned to unleash the Ford Explorer Sport, which shares the 365 horsepower EcoBoost V6 engine with the Police Interceptor Utility. Even before announcing the EcoBoost option though, Ford says that the SUV model made up about half of all Police Interceptor sales, showing an increasing preference for larger, more utilitarian cop cars. Previously the Explorer based interceptor had only been available with a 3.7 liter V6 making 300 hp. This was an interceptor only option, and not available on the standard civilian version of the SUV.

It should lead to even more EcoBoost engine sales for Ford, which has seen 40% of F-150 buyers opting for the 3.5 liter turbocharged V6 over the larger 5.0 V8.The Ford Interceptor Utility with the EcoBoost engine promises to offer the best performance and fuel economy out of available police SUVs, and Ford seems poised to continue its domination of the cop car market segment. The ghost of the Crown Vic must be proud.