Banshee
The Banshee is a two-seater sports car. As of the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the car has appeared in the following games:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto Advance
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Design
GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories
The Banshee is front-engine, rear-drive, with a 10-cylinder engine.
In Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas it resembles a 1992-1995 Dodge Viper RT/10, with its curvilinear design and dual single-exhaust ports, although the Banshee is narrower in width and has a different headlight design. This version of the Banshee is the only top-down convertible that the player cannot jump into without opening the driver door. In GTA San Andreas, it can only be modified in TransFender.
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the Banshee resembles a 1984-1996 Corvette C4, with a more angular design and dual double-exhaust ports.
The GTA Advance rendition, which mimics the design of GTA III's Banshee, is also comparable to GTA 2's Rumbler, but is generally sleeker, sports the same single stripe as other Banshees, and comes with a covered top.
The vehicle is one of the speediest sports cars in the games, but suffers from poor cornering due to its rear wheel drive, making it prone to fishtailing and spinouts in sharp turns (including handbrake turns). These traits remained unchanged throughout the GTA III era, however in GTA IV its performance received significant tweaks.
GTA IV
In Grand Theft Auto IV, the Bravado Banshee resembles a 2003-2006 Dodge Viper Coupe, but has a unique front end, and has taillights resembling those of the Aston Martin DB9. Unlike the real-life Viper's V10 engine, the GTA IV Banshee has a 300ci twin-turbocharged V8, according to the AutoEroticar website.
Banshees in GTA IV are present as convertibles with rollbars, or as hardtops. Similar to its real-life counterpart, the Banshee bears its own logo, resembling a screaming mouth with fangs, on the side panels, steering wheel, and upholstery. The standard Bravado logo is used on the front and rear of the car. The Banshee can be seen with an allover paintjob, or with a racing stripe down the middle; the stripe is usually colored yellow, grey or bright orange.
The Banshee in GTA IV is powered by a 300ci Twin-Turbo V8, coupled to a 5 speed gearbox in a RWD configuration. The Banshee is the third fastest accelerating sports car, with a top speed just shy of the Turismo and Super GT sports cars. Handling is superb, with a slight hint of oversteer that complements the very torque-y engine. The suspension is firm, which often causes the Banshee to hop about on uneven streets at higher speeds. Braking is very good; the Banshee outbrakes every other vehicle in the game, and ABS is standard on all models. Crash deformation is acceptable, however, due to its front-mounted engine it is much less resistant to frontal damage than rear- amd mid-engined sports cars such as the Comet and Infernus. Overall, the Banshee is one of the more fun vehicles to drive, and well suited towards high-speed applications such as online multiplayer racing.
For whatever reason, the Banshee is not recognized as a sports car by the game, as friends and dates that normally like or dislike sports cars in particular (as opposed to e.g. all expensive cars) will not have the same reaction to a Banshee. This doesn't appear to have any other effect on gameplay.
In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the Banshee appears similar to the Phoenix, or alternatively GTA Vice City's rendition of Banshee.
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Grand Theft Auto IV; with a hardtop roof (Rear quarter view without roof).
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GTA IV; the Banshee's unique badge.
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GTA IV; interior as seen from a convertible variant.
Locations
GTA III
- Capital Autos in Harwood, Portland Island
- Outside Asuka Kasen's apartment in Newport, Staunton Island
- Kenji's Casino, Torrington, Staunton Island
- Parking lot west of Wichita Gardens, Shoreside Vale
GTA Vice City
- Next to a mansion with a Rockstar swimming pool in Starfish Island.
- Under a blue building north of the Pay 'n' Spray in Washington Beach.
GTA San Andreas
- Next to Cobra Marital Arts Gym in Garcia, San Fierro, after completion of the Driving School. The car is consistently colored blue with a black stripe. It also has a custom license plate spelling "DBP".
- In the Come-A-Lot Casino parking lot
- Spawn around Rodeo, Los Santos
- Spawn around The Strip and the Old Venturas Strip in Las Venturas
- Importable from Easter Basin (San Fierro) after completing export lists. Import cost: $36,000 (Thursday only)
GTA Liberty City Stories
- Spawn around Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale
- Behind the Big Shot Casino, Torrington, Staunton Island
- In an underground parking lot in Bedford Point, Staunton Island
- In the Liberty Tree offices parking lot
- In the Newport Multistory Car Park
GTA Vice City Stories
- West of the Empire in north Downtown
- Parked in front of a mansion in the middle of Starfish Island
GTA IV
- Often spawn around Alderney City (Alderney), Middle Park, City Hall, Castle Gardens, The Exchange, Castle Garden City (Algonquin), and Rotterdam Hill (Broker)
- Sometimes spawn around Francis International Airport (Dukes), Beachgate (Broker), Middle Park East, Hatton Gardens, Lancaster and Lancet (Algonquin)
- Occasionally spawn around Varsity Heights, Westminster, The Meat Quarter, Suffolk (Algonquin), and South Slopes (Broker)
- Spawn in traffic in GTA IV Multiplayer
- In Mikhail Faustin's mission Final Destination, Lenny Petrovic will attempt to escape in a Banshee upon fleeing the Guantanamo Avenue train station; if the player can kill Petrovic without destroying the Banshee, he/she can take the car.
- Brucie asks Niko to steal a Banshee from an alleyway in Schottler for one of his Exotic Exports side missions. This Banshee has a unique paint job (blue with a white stripe) not found anywhere else in the game.
- Stevie asks Niko to steal a Banshee from Middle Park West for one of his Stevie's Car Thefts side missions. This Banshee has a unique paint job (red-orange with a yellow stripe) not found anywhere else in the game.
- In the mission Meltdown, Niko will chase Luca with a Banshee. This Banshee has a unique paintjob, grey with a blue-green racing stripe.
GTA Chinatown Wars
- In BOABO Merchant
- Usually seen in south and middle Algonquin
Modifications (GTA San Andreas)
- Colors (two exterior areas)
- Nitro (all)
- Wheels (ten varieties)
- Hydraulics
Trivia
- The Banshee plays the following radio stations by default when entered:
- Radio X in GTA San Andreas.
- The Vibe 98.8 in GTA IV.
- The Banshee in GTA San Andreas is one a handful of vehicles where Carl Johnson kicks the driver instead of punching or slamming the head of the driver.
- Roman Bellic has a poster of a blue Banshee on the wall of his apartment in Hove Beach.