Tested: How Fast Your Truck Or Car Needs to Be to Outrun a Cop.

When I read the title of this video from Car and Driver, I was indignant. These guys can’t actually be serious, right? When I watched the video and actually found it very entertaining and well thought out. The premise is simple: how fast a car is needed to outrun the cops. Or in this case, a single cop. As is mentioned in the video, this isn’t exactly something you can use if you decide to run from the police, because if you flee the cops in real life, there is more than one and they have radios, plus choppers they can use, so don’t think that just because you have a horsepower or handling advantage over the cruiser that you’re going to get away.

Of the four cars tested, two of them have pretty obvious outcomes. The Toyota Yaris fails miserably, running off the course almost immediately, resulting in a win for the Charger Pursuit. There’s a Ferrari on hand too, and it flips the script on the cruiser, leaving it far behind after just one lap around the 2.3 mile road course.

The other two cars, however, are both more likely to end up in a pursuit and a little harder to guess the outcome. The Camaro SS 1LE puts up a solid quarter mile lead on the cop, a definite win for the Chevy faithful out there, and the wild car Volkswagen actually manages to walk away from the Charger as well despite being way down on power. The lighter, more nimble GTi makes up for the horsepower deficit in the corners, where the hefty cruiser reels it in down the straightaways.

Those of you out there with Ferraris, Camaros and VW’s, we better not hear of you trying anything stupid because of this. You’ve been warned, they do have radios and those signals travel far faster than any car. Just enjoy this win, and make sure you share this video with every Yaris owner you know.