Cheetah

For the stripper in Grand Theft Auto V, see Cheetah (GTA V).

Vehicle

Cheetah
A Cheetah in GTA III. (Rear quarter view) A Cheetah in GTA III.
Appearance(s)	GTA III GTA Vice City GTA San Andreas GTA Liberty City Stories GTA Vice City Stories GTA V
Vehicle type	Civilian car
Body style	2-door sports car (3D Universe) 2-door supercar (HD Universe)
Capacity	2 (driver and passenger)
Manufacturer	Grotti (GTA V)
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The Cheetah is a two-door sports car in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It takes the form of a supercar in Grand Theft Auto V.

Description

Design

3D Universe

In all its iterations the vehicle closely resembles a Ferrari Testarossa, with each game's version following the design of the corresponding era:

• In Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (1998), the Cheetah looks like a slightly generic-ized and modernized F512 M with oval taillights and headlights strangely bearing some similarity to those of a fourth-generation Ford Mustang, except curved and without turn signals. Being front-engined, it could be vaguely based on a Ferrari 550 Maranello as well. Upon close inspection of the engine, 12 cylinders can be seen, implying the Cheetah has a V12 engine, much like the 550 Maranello.
• In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (1986) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (1984), it resembles a mid-80s Testarossa with the triple taillights of pre-1990s Ferrari models.
• In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (1992), a 512 TR Testarossa (but without the hidden headlamps) with the rear lights of a F512 M. A hood scoop is also present on these renditions.

Looking at the shape of the car, it is clear to see that it is mid-engined. However, when the hood is removed, in GTA III and GTA Vice City, the engine appears to be at the front, possibly due to programming limitations. This is in stark contrast to the design of the Testarossa in general, which has the engine placed behind the passenger compartment, just in front of the rear axle (mid-engine). However, in GTA San Andreas, the design is more faithful to the real-life counterpart, with the engine being evidently placed at the rear of the chassis, while the front is empty; this creates a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The engine of the Cheetah in GTA San Andreas sounds and looks like a V10, contrary to the flat-12 engine used by the Testarossa.

During one point of game development of GTA III, the Cheetah was known as the Rocket.

HD Universe

After a noticeable absence in Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the Cheetah was reintroduced in GTA V with a completely redesigned and modernized appearance. The car now resembles the one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfaria, with elements of the SSC Tuatara, Pagani Zonda R, and bits of the Enzo Ferrari. The rear fascia is heavily influenced by those of the GTA Spano and Cizeta V16T. Though it looks very new in design, Legendarymotorsport.net claims it is a prototype sports car manufactured by Grotti in the 1970s, possibly a reference to the Ferrari P series race cars in the 1960s and 1970s.

• 

  The "Rocket", an early iteration of the Cheetah in GTA III.

• 

  GTA III (Rear quarter view).

• 

  GTA Vice City (Rear quarter view; no rear mirrors).

• 

  GTA San Andreas (Rear quarter view).

• 

  GTA Liberty City Stories (Rear quarter view).

• 

  GTA Vice City Stories artwork of a purported Cheetah. The car's design is more adherent to that of the Ferrari Testarossa.

• 

  GTA Vice City Stories (Rear quarter view).

• 

  GTA V rendition in a prerelease screenshot. (Rear quarter view).

• 

  GTA V (Rear quarter view).

Performance

3D Universe

The Cheetah's acceleration and speed are good compared to other sports cars in the game, and handling and braking are far superior to all others. Due to its low suspension, it hugs the road and is not prone to rolling over or spinning out of control when cornering at high speeds. Like with the real-life Testarossa, the Cheetah is a rear-wheel-drive car. However, GTA III's Cheetah has stiffer suspensions than those of the Banshee, Stinger, and Infernus, making it incapable of handling bumps and curbs without compromising stability. The Cheetah has a top speed of 132 mph (213 km/h) in GTA San Andreas.

GTA V

In Grand Theft Auto V, the Cheetah has a somewhat slow acceleration compared to other supercars in the game: 4 seconds to 60 mph (97 km/h) - this is even slower than most of its real-life visual inspirations; the real-life Enzo can perform the same acceleration within 3.6 seconds. Braking power is also moderate, giving somewhat long braking distances. However, the Cheetah now sees an improved top speed from its GTA III Era renditions: 217 mph (350 km/h); this only falls behind the Osiris' 230 mph (370 km/h), Entity XF's 240 mph (386 km/h), and Adder's 250 mph (403 km/h). Its traction is also very good. Being a mid-engined vehicle, the Cheetah does not break down very easily, as neither frontal collisions nor rear-end collisions will damage the engine in any way unless the engine has been exposed.

Variant

The police variant of the Cheetah appears in both GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, being a deliberate reference to the Ferrari Testarossa's appearance as Sonny Crockett's car of choice in the later half Miami Vice, a 1980s police series set in Miami.

They appear from a 3-star wanted level onwards, driven by casually but tastefully dressed Vice Squad agents armed with Micro-SMGs. Given the identical performance of this vehicle to its civilian counterpart, it is nearly impossible to evade this car in this case.

Customization in GTA San Andreas

The Cheetah in GTA San Andreas can be modified at a TransFender, which offers a modest range of customizations for the car:

Italicized pricing denotes prices at the Las Venturas TransFender, which charges 20% more except Colors.

Colors Car Color 1 (primary body color): $150 Exhausts Twin Exhaust: $300 ($360) Upswept Exhaust: $350 ($420) Nitro 2x Nitrous: $200 ($240) 5x Nitrous: $500 ($600) 10x Nitrous: $1,000 ($1,200) Spoilers: Win: $550 ($660) Fury: $350 ($420) Alpha $250 ($300)

Side Skirt: $500 ($600) Wheels Import: $820 ($984) Atomic: $770 ($924) Ahab: $1,000 ($1,200) Virtual: $620 ($744) Access: $1,140 ($1,368) Off Road Wheel: $1,000 ($1,200) Mega: $1,030 ($1,236) Grove: $1,230 ($1,476) Twist: $1,200 ($1,440) Wires: $1,560 ($1,872) Hydraulics: $1,500 ($1,800)

Locations

GTA III

• Mansion west of Cartel Mansion in Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City.
• In the parking lot of the Francis International Airport near the entrance and across the fire station.
• Can be seen during the missions Chaperone, Turismo, Last Requests (albeit armed with a Car Bomb that can kill the player), and Grand Theft Auto.

GTA Vice City

• Parking area near Juan Cortez' yacht in Ocean Beach/Viceport.
• North of the Vercetti Estate, Starfish Island.
• One of the competitors for Sunshine Autos' races.

GTA San Andreas

• Spawns in Market, Los Santos.
• Spawns while driving a PCJ-600 in Rodeo, Los Santos (Wednesday).
• Spawns sometimes in Doherty, San Fierro, and its surrounding areas.
• Spawns in Old Venturas Strip, Las Venturas.
• Spawns while driving a Euros on The Strip, Las Venturas, or in Queens, San Fierro (Thursday).
• May spawn during other days/conditions on the Strip, Las Venturas.
• Found parked in front of a house in Prickle Pine, Las Venturas when wanted for export. May be locked or equipped with an alarm.
• Importable from Easter Basin, San Fierro for $84,000 after exporting the car.

GTA Liberty City Stories

• Donald Love's mansion, Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale.
• In the Francis International Airport parking lot across the fire station.

GTA Vice City Stories

• Northernmost road on Starfish Island.
• Ricardo Diaz' mansion on Starfish Island.
• In front of Lance Vance's hotel in Downtown.
• In the parking lot behind the hospital in Downtown.

GTA V

• Purchasable from legendarymotorsport.net for $650,000.
• Can be obtained from the mission I Fought the Law by killing Henry Smith IV.

Trivia

The Cheetah's four wing mirror configurations in GTA Vice City, including a "black strobe light" variant of the wing mirror-less Cheetah, which does not exist in other games.

• The GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas renditions feature variations of wing mirrors, either featuring two on both sides, one on the driver's side or none. Unusually, for some Cheetahs without rear mirrors in GTA Vice City, a blacked-out dashboard strobe light used by the VCPD Cheetah may be seen; this variety of side mirrors is also seen on the VCPD Cheetah. Despite sharing the same vehicle design as in GTA Vice City, the GTA Vice City Stories rendition is only available with two side mirrors.
• When first entered in GTA San Andreas, it may play SF-UR as its default radio station.
• In GTA Vice City Stories, which is set in 1984, the Cheetah was based from the first generation Ferrari Testarossa, which started selling in 1984. The first "red head" did not sell enough until late 1985. For the sake of having no irregularities about the comparison of the two cars, the developers of the game made the Cheetah scarce in the game by only spawning them in parking lots, in order to address this anachronism.
• In GTA V, the Cheetah makes the same horn sound as the JB 700 and Entity XF.
  • Its engine sound is shared with the Zentorno, Vacca, and Infernus.

See also

• Turismo and F-19, more Ferrari-based sports cars.
• Turismo R, a modernized version of the Grand Theft Auto V rendition of the Cheetah based on the LaFerrari (the Enzo Ferrari's successor).