More:Grand Theft Auto 4: Vehicles

From GameWinners

Contents 1 Taxis 1.1 Calling a taxi 1.2 Fast taxi travel 1.3 Free taxi ride 2 Emergency vehicles 2.1 Calling emergency vehicles 2.2 Shoot fire truck water cannon 2.3 Self-healing fire truck 2.4 Change police siren 3 Driving 3.1 Burnout 3.2 Easy 360s 3.3 Turn off vehicle 3.4 Faster motorcycles 4 Specific models 4.1 Specific models 5 More... 5.1 Tug Boat 5.2 No helmet on motorcycle 5.3 Staying on trucks 5.4 Mid-air cars 5.5 Avoid paying tolls 5.6 Honking traffic jam 5.7 Funny GPS 5.8 License plate messages 5.9 Quick repair 5.10 Free re-paint 5.11 Roadside assistance 5.12 Extinguish your own vehicle fire 5.13 High beam headlights 5.14 Keeping more cars 5.15 Vehicle list

Taxis

Calling a taxi

In order to call a taxi, position Niko near traffic, preferably somewhere on the sidewalk. Spot a cab and press L1  PlayStation3  or LB  Xbox 360  . Niko will automatically call out for a taxi. It is also possible to order a taxi with the cell phone if you have problems spotting one. Additionally, Niko can eventually earn the ability to call a limo as you progress in the game.

You can also approach a taxi that already has a fare from the passenger side, then pull out the passenger and get in.

Fast taxi travel

To avoid wasting time driving all the way across the city, call a taxi. They will take you to your destination for your mission, stores, safehouses, or even a waypoint marker. You can skip through the taxi ride, allowing you to travel across the entire city in about ten seconds. This can also be done during missions.

Free taxi ride

Get in a taxi. Do not skip the ride after choosing your destination. Just before reaching your destination, hold [Fire] to start a drive-by shooting. The driver will abandon the taxi, and your ride will be free. You can also kill the fleeing driver to actually get money for the ride.
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Emergency vehicles

Calling emergency vehicles

Dial "911" on your cellphone. You will reach a voice menu that will allow you to call the police by dialing "1", an ambulance by dialing "2", or a fire truck by dialing "3". Select the vehicle of your choice and wait for them to arrive. The will stop and look around for the emergency, allowing you to easily steal their vehicle.

Shoot fire truck water cannon

Steal a fire truck. Press [Shoot] while driving it to fire the water cannon at the pedestrians.

Self-healing fire truck

If your fire truck catches on fire, use its water cannon to put out the flames and prevent it from exploding.

Change police siren

Get in a police car and turn on your sirens. Hold [Horn] and it will cycle through alternate siren sounds until released.

Driving

Burnout

Hold [Accelerate] + [Brake] to do a burnout. If you keep doing this, the smoke will change color and eventually your tires will burst.

Easy 360s

Gain some speed in a car and hold [Handbrake] until you have completed a full 180. Just before you complete the 180, release [Handbrake] and hold [Brake], which will spin you the next 180 degrees. Obviously you will end up facing the direction you were before the attempt. However, some vehicles cannot do this. Also with some vehicles holding [Brake] will spin you back the way you came while using the handbrake, resulting in back-to-back 180s.

Turn off vehicle

Simply pressing Triangle  PlayStation3  or Y  Xbox 360   when in a vehicle will cause Niko to immediately exit it. However when your vehicle is stopped you can hold Triangle  PlayStation3  or Y  Xbox 360   to turn off your car before Niko gets out of it.

Faster motorcycles

Note: A PCJ600 or NRG900 is recommended for this trick. To drive it faster, accelerate. Just as your bike is about to shift into third gear, tap the Left Analog-stick repeatedly about every second. Do not tap it too fast or you will lose rear tire grip. If done correctly, the engine will gradually get near to the end of its last gear. When it gets to the end of its last gear, the revs will jump to indicate that you are travelling at the bike's top speed.

Specific models

Specific models

More...

Tug Boat

Get in a boat and search along the water between Alderny and Industrial island to find a tug boat parked in front of two barges. Get near it, then jump on it and press [Enter Vehicle] to steal it.

No helmet on motorcycle

Use the following trick to ride a motorcycle without Niko wearing a helmet. Tap the Triangle  PlayStation3  or Y  Xbox 360   at any point during the animation where he puts the helmet on, but before the helmet actually appears. Doing this cancels the animation and Niko will not wear his helmet. If you wait too long and press that button after the helmet has appeared in Niko's hand it will still cancel the animation, but the helmet will immediately appear on Niko's head.

Hold R2  PlayStation3  or RT  Xbox 360   when you are getting on a motorcycle. You will drive once Niko has started the motorcycle, and "forget" to wear a helmet.

Staying on trucks

Once you jump on a truck keep tapping the [Jump] and Niko will stay on. Note this does not work all the time, and if he falls he loses a small amount of health.

Mid-air cars

When in a helicopter, preferably the police one, enable a code to spawn a car. The car will either float in the air motionless, fall at high speeds, or hit your rotor and spin off.

Avoid paying tolls

Use any emergency vehicle, turn on the sirens, and drive through the toll booth at any speed. The booth attendant will open the gate and you will have saved $5.

Ride a motorcycle to the side of the pay toll wall. You will not pay a toll if you can drive through the small gap on the sides.

When in a car or a motorcycle, drive up to toll booth. Stay on the far side of the booth. Niko will stick his arm out, but not put money in the basket. The gate will still open.

Honking traffic jam

Drive up to an intersection and start honking your horn. Other cars will join in the fun and honk as well. Get close to a police car and honk your horn. They will run their siren to honk with you.

When stopped in a car in a large traffic jam, tap out the rhythm of the musical phrase "Shave and a haircut" on your horn. Another car in the traffic jam will answer it with the standard two beep "two bits" response.

Funny GPS

Steal a luxury car with a GPS with a female voice. She sometimes makes the "bing bong" notification sound herself while giving directions. For example, "At 100 yards, turn left." At the junction, she would say "bing bong" instead of an actual beep.

License plate messages

Certain vehicles have funny notes on their license plates cover or broder. For instance the "Ruiner" 1980's Camaro clone has the saying "Ruining Imports Since '67".

Quick repair

While in a vehicle, if you drive over a health pack, your health will be restored and any damage to your car will fully repaired. This is very useful while playing online in a car that has caught fire.

Free re-paint

Use the following trick to get your vehicle painted to the color of your choice. Go to any Pay 'n' Spray and have them fix your car. It costs $100, but if you drive back out then back in without hitting anything, they will give you a free paint job. Repeat this until you get your favorite color.

Roadside assistance

If your vehicle breaks down and cannot start, call any number saved in your cellphone or 911. Your engine should start again.

Extinguish your own vehicle fire

If your vehicle catches on fire, run over a fire hydrant. Position your vehicle over the spouting water to extinguish the flames before it explodes.

High beam headlights

To turn on the brights in a car, hold L2  PlayStation3  or LT  Xbox 360  for a moment. The bright lights turn on, even in daytime.

Keeping more cars

At the start of the game it would appear that you can only save two cars parked in the "Residents Parking Only" parking spaces in front of your safe house. However if you can find other "Residents Parking Only" places around the city, you can also save cars there even if you do not have a safe house at those locations yet.

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Outside your first safehouse is a small parking area marked with "Residents Parking Only" signs to park your vehicles and save them. Do not park your vehicles fully within the lines. You can park vehicles partially within those lines to have more vehicles parked and saved there.

If you attempt to use the trick to keep more than two cars in any one parking space, it will only work up until you leave the current game session. If you shut off your system, play a multiplayer game, or load your most recent save, all but two of your cars will have disappeared. It seems to either save the two cars closest to the center of the parking space, or save two at random.

Vehicle list

The following vehicles can be found in the game.

Cars

Admiral

Albany

Banshee

Blista Compact

Blista

Bucanneer

Chavos

Cognoscenti

Comet

Coquette

DF8-90

Dilettante

Dukes

Emperor

Esperanto

Faction

Feltzer

Feroci

Fortune

Futo

Infernus

Intruder

Lokus

Manana

Marbelle

Merit

Oracle

PMP 600

Phantom

Premier

Presidente

Primo

Roman's Taxi

Romero

Ruiner

Sabre GT

Sabre

Schafter

Sentinel

Stallion

Stratum

Sultan

Sultan RS

Super GT

Turismo

Uranus

Vigero

Vincent

Virgo

Voodoo

Washington

Willard

SUVs, vans, and trucks

Biff

Bobcat

Boxville

Cavalcade

Cavalcade FXT

Contender

Flatbed

Habanero

Huntley Sport

Landstalker

Minivan

Mr. Tasty

Moonbeam

Noose Patriot

Packer

Patriot

Perennial

Rancher

Rebla

Ripley

Securicar

Speedo

Steed

Motorcycles

Faggio

Freeway

Hellfury

NRG 900

PCJ 600

Sanchez

Zombie

Boats

Dinghy

Jetmax

Marquis

Tropic

Aircraft

Annihilator

Helitours Maverick

Maverick

Commercial and emergency vehicles

Ambulance

Brute

Bus

Cabbie

Enforcer

FIB Buffalo

Firetruck

Forklift

Police Cruiser

Police Patrol

Police Stockade

Predator

Sky Tram

Subway Tram

SWAT Van

Taxi

Trashmaster