Cars in GTA 6: the WAINK app, key cloners, trackers and fuel

Car theft in GTA 6 works in tiers: expensive models are much harder to get into than old ones, and some stay out of reach until the story gives you the right tool. In late August, Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson played GTA 6 for journalists and YouTube creators at the studio. Here is what they learned about cars.

Scan first

Before touching a parked car, you scan it with the WAINK phone app. It shows the car’s value, the cost of registering it as your own, whether it’s locked or alarmed and whether it has a tracker (IGN). El País mentions hacking with the phone as one way past a car’s security.

The right tool

An old car opens with a slim jim; a modern prestige car needs a key cloner (IGN). Rob Nelson told Famitsu the same thing: key cloners for luxury cars, lock picks for older ones. A car with a driver inside can be carjacked as before (IGN).

Trackers, damage and fences

Some cars carry trackers that alert the police if you drive too slowly, so you either keep your speed up or ditch the car. A stolen car loses value if it arrives damaged, and the narrower streets and denser traffic make a clean delivery harder. Stolen cars go to a fence, and a car fence may tip you off about a police impound full of cars to take (IGN).

Edge adds that some drivers are armed and fight back, and that almost any owner can report the theft after you drive off (Edge preview).

Driving

Handling is heavier than in GTA 5, and each model behaves differently, Nelson told Flow Games. The channel also reports that an overturned car can’t simply be flipped back, and that damage affects both how a car drives and what it’s worth.

Nelson put the goal more precisely for the TGG channel: keep the weight and the feel of GTA 4 while staying as easy to drive as GTA 5. Drivetrain, tyres, suspension and steering are tuned separately and all feed one physics model. The Extended Look shows the result: a car that loses its tyres can roll over several times before it stops, or simply go where it wants.

Fuel

Cars and motorcycles use fuel. Nelson told Flow Games that a full tank lasts a long time, so the game doesn’t turn into a refueling simulator, and the gauge appears only when you’re running low. Electric cars charge at stations around the map. Kinda Funny also mentions the fuel system.

At a gas station you can repair or refuel, and refuelling is a short quick-time event (details).

Your own cars

Each character can own several cars and keep them at safehouses; their trunks hold weapons and clothes (IGN). Early on, the garage fits three vehicles, and Pay ’n’ Spray repairs and repaints cars (Famitsu). Nelson told Flow Games about a Scooter Bros service in the phone that brings your car to you. According to Kinda Funny, a personal car left behind during a crime can end up in the impound, and tuning at specialized shops goes into great detail.

IGN’s full interview with Rob Nelson adds that you can call your personal vehicle at any time and that every weapon you have bought is in the back (what is new in the interview).