Cheetah

File:VCCheetah.jpg

The Cheetah, as depicted in Vice City

The Cheetah is a two-door sportscar that has appeared in all GTA III era games except for Grand Theft Auto Advance and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Overview

The Cheetah's acceleration and speed are slightly inferior to other sports cars in the game, but 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 the Infernus. Looking at the shape of the car, its clear to see that it is mid-engined, however when the hood is removed, in GTA III and 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 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the design is more faithful to the real-life counterpart, with the engine being evidently placed at the rear of the chassis. Now, when its front hood breaks free, the inside is empty, mainly because it has been successfully fixed the problem. In Vice City, the Cheetah is said to be one of the fastest cars there is, except its speed makes turns harder to control (most likely because it favors straight roads only), which is one of the reasons some prefer the Infernus.

In all it's iterations the vehicle closely resembles a Ferrari Testarossa, with each game's version following the design of the corresponding era. For example, in Grand Theft Auto III, it looks like a slightly generic-ized F512 M, while in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, it resembles a mid-80s Testarossa, and in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a 512 TR Testarossa (but without the hidden headlamps) with the rear lights of a F512 M.

The engine of the Cheetah sounds and looks like a V10. Sometimes it has both side rear-view mirrors and on others it only has the one on the driver's side.

Pedestrian Cheetah Limitations in Vice City Stories

In 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" didn't sell enough until late 1985. For the sake of having no irregularities about the comparison of the two cars, Rockstar Games made the Cheetah scarce in Vice City Stories, spawning only on parking lots and is not used and driven by pedestrians of Vice City.

Locations

GTA III

• Cartel Mansion in Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City.

GTA Vice City

• Parking area near Colonel Cortez's yacht in Ocean Beach.
• Outside hotel near The Well Stacked Pizza store in Downtown.
• North of Ricardo Diaz's Mansion, Starfish Island.

GTA San Andreas

• Spawns in Rodeo, Los Santos.
• Spawns in The Strip, Las Venturas.
• Spawns in Old Venturas Strip, Las Venturas.
• Importable from Easter Basin (San Fierro) after completing export lists. Import cost: $84,000 (Thursday only)

GTA Liberty City Stories

• Donald Love's Mansion/Cartel Mansion in Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City.

GTA Vice City Stories

• Most northerly road on Starfish Island.
• Diaz's Mansion on Starfish Island.
• In front of Lance's hotel in Downtown.
• In the parking lot behind the hospital in Downtown.

Variants

• VCPD Cheetah : The police version of the normal Cheetah.

Gallery

• The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA III.

  The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA III.

• The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: San Andreas, front view.

  The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: San Andreas, front view.

• The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: San Andreas, rear view.

  The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: San Andreas, rear view.

• The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: Liberty City Stories.

  The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: Liberty City Stories.

• The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: Vice City Stories.

  The Cheetah, as depicted in GTA: Vice City Stories.