GTA 5 vehicles: the fastest cars, the tank and where to find rare rides

GTA 5 has hundreds of vehicle models, from the BMX bike to a fighter jet. Most are fictional, but with recognizable real-world inspirations. The game splits them into classes, which you can see in the garage and on the dealership websites:

We use the in-game model names, so they are easy to find in the menus.

Rockstar does not publish top speeds, and the bars in the game menu are relative scales. So players measure speed themselves. The best-known tests were done by YouTuber Broughy1322 on a long straight with fully upgraded cars; GTABase builds on them, and GTABoom and Sportskeeda give a similar order. The figures are approximate: depending on upgrades they vary by a few km/h. The Z-Type, Adder and Pißwasser Dominator form a top three separated by 1–2 mph, and different guides rank them in different orders. The full ranking with prices is on the fastest cars in GTA 5 page.

The best car is not always the fastest. For city racing, players value the acceleration and handling of the supercars (Adder, Zentorno, T20); for the back roads of Blaine County, dirt bikes and off-roaders. For chases in missions, Franklin is your man: he can slow down time behind the wheel. The leads' abilities are covered on the GTA 5 characters page.

• Steal. Classic GTA: most cars drive around the streets, and rare supercars turn up more often in wealthy neighborhoods.
• Buy. Your character's phone and computer have the in-game internet: Legendary Motorsport (expensive cars), Southern San Andreas Super Autos (regular cars and motorcycles), Elitas Travel (planes and helicopters), Docktease (boats), Warstock Cache & Carry (military and industrial vehicles). According to player wikis, planes, helicopters and boats need somewhere to be stored: a hangar, a helipad or a dock.
• Keep. Park a car you bought or stole in your character's garage, or it may disappear.
• Spawn with a cheat. Codes can get you, for example, the Comet, Rapid GT, PCJ-600, Sanchez, BMX, the Buzzard helicopter or the Duster plane. The full table is on the GTA 5 cheats page.

The Rhino tank. In Story Mode you can buy it on the Warstock Cache & Carry website for about $3,000,000; according to player wikis, you need a hangar for it. At the Fort Zancudo military base, tanks show up as army backup when your wanted level is high, but the base itself gives you four stars straight away.

Kraken, Dodo and Duke O'Death. These vehicles have to be unlocked first (according to GTABase, through side tasks and random events), after which they can be spawned with a cheat: the Kraken submarine with BUBBLES, the Dodo seaplane with EXTINCT, the armored Duke O'Death muscle car with DEATHCAR (phone numbers are on the cheats page). The Duke O'Death is only in the PS4, Xbox One, PC and newer versions.

Yachts. The luxury Galaxy Super Yachts arrived in GTA Online in December 2015 and can only be bought there. Story Mode has boats from Docktease, but not yachts you can live on.

The salvage yard. The salvage yard business that people often search for together with GTA 5 is also GTA Online content, not part of the story.

Plenty of story missions are built around vehicles: early on, Franklin repossesses cars from people behind on payments (the mission Repossession), and many missions have you fleeing the police or chasing a target. During heists, your choice of driver and vehicle decides how easy the getaway will be.

Vehicles in the next game are covered on the GTA 6 vehicles page.