Prodrive teaches police Impreza drivers new tricks

A Subaru Impreza GB270 couldn’t plod about if its life depended on it, it’s just not in its DNA, as the 270bhp four wheel drive rally-bred car has proven one of the slippiest customers to escape the long arm of the law’s control, as high-performance driving skilled traffic officers offered high performance driving pursuit technique at the hands of motorsport wide-boys Prodrive.

Not quite having the big screen presence of the ‘Transformers’, Essex Police’s rapid response traffic officers operating under the code name ‘Interceptors’ sound a bit closer to the small screen stars of Sky One’s ‘Gladiators’. So in order to improve their public image, they’ve called in the boys in blue and white overalls over at Prodrive to give them some more PR clout. Or controlled driving muscle anyway.

21 members of the Inteceptor team were followed by Channel Five cameras being put through their behind-the-wheel skill paces by Prodrive’s crack team of high-octane driving commandos.

And what better car to get to grips with when attempting to hone your fast driving techniques than the rule-breaking Subaru Impreza GB270?

Corner-approaching best practice, braking methodology and traction control deployment were highest up the power agenda in the afternoon track sessions, with the emphasis placed firmly on how the Interceptors should maintain control of the high-performance vehicles in the most demanding conditions.

Prodrive will now be training the police driver training instructors in these additional techniques so that they can be included as part of future training where appropriate.