Taxi

Unreleased

The Taxi is a four-door sedan-based taxi featured, in some form or other, in nearly all of the games in the Grand Theft Auto series (one exception being Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, where the Cabbie is the only taxi).

Distinguishable by its yellow livery, it is often one of the most common vehicles on the road. Between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories, the Taxi can be used to perform taxi side-missions.

GTA 1 — GTA 2
In Grand Theft Auto 1, there are three versions of the Taxi; the Liberty City version is based on the Portsmouth, the San Andreas version is based on the Vulture, and the Vice City version is based on the Flamer. The Taxi in Grand Theft Auto 2 is similar to a rounded Checker Taxi. with the checkered stripe crossing the roof horizontally.

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories
From Grand Theft Auto III onwards, the Taxi is usually based on the same model as the police car from its respective game:


 * In GTA III, the Taxi resembles a cross between a late model Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria. There are minor variants available, with darker bumpers, and different taxi lights.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the Taxi is a Ford LTD look-alike.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the Taxi is based on the Premier, designed after the 1991-96 Chevrolet Caprice with boxy style
 * The Taxi in GTA Advance has little indication of which car it is based on, but is generally more boxy in design when compared to the game's Police vehicle.
 * The taxis in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories are largely identical to the GTA III and GTA Vice City renditions, respectively. The GTA Liberty City Stories rendition may appear with yellow, black or grey bumpers.
 * Entering a taxi in any of these games will give the player $12.

GTA IV
There are two different taxi sedans in Grand Theft Auto IV; one built by Declasse, based on the Merit, which is the 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala, and the other built by Vapid, influenced strongly by the 1992–1997 Ford Crown Victoria P72, with frontal design cues more similar to a 1998–present model. The Vapid taxi shares the same body design as the LCPD Police and NOOSE Cruisers, and its chassis is not used in any non-fleet car. The taxis shares the same rim design as the LCPD cars and Noose trucks.

While the Taxis come standard with regular taxi lights, some have rooftop advertisements for "WTF", "Banging Trash Can Lids for an Hour", Conjoined Twins, "The Science Of Crime", and Weazel News, both of which can detach in collisions. Both models contain a medallion on the front hood, which is used to indicate that New York City Taxi are licensed to pick up passengers; they also have a red marker on the back left. Vapid Taxis may also have yellow, grey or black bumpers.

Players can enter Taxis in GTA IV and take taxi rides to destinations.

GTA V


According to a pre-release screenshot of the game in gaming magazine GameInformer's Grand Theft Auto V preview in their December 2012 issue, taxis in Los Santos appear to be yellow and blue in colour, which are based on Checker Taxi company. There will probably be more than one variant of the taxi though, and the colours may differ between them. However, even though Vapid police cars are present, there is no Vapid taxi, instead, all the taxis are the same model as the Declasse police cars seen in another screenshot.

GTA 1 — GTA 2
Early renditions of the Taxi are generally undesirable due to their mediocre performance. While differing between cities and partially based on muscle vehicles, GTA 1's taxis are generally slow, but compensate with good steering. In GTA 2 the opposite is the case, with moderate speed but sluggish controls, inferior to the Taxi Xpress. Both games' renditions have moderate crash endurance.

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories
Although the appearance of the Taxi between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories varies drastically, the Taxi's performance in all the games of this era may be described as all-round average. With moderate speed, moderate acceleration, light construction, moderate endurance, capable steering and stable cornering (all traits which are helpful during Taxi Driver missions), the Taxi is generally an acceptable vehicle to drive. The vehicle is also front wheel drive, reducing the chances of tailspins when cornering and allowing the vehicle to perform 180-degree turns backwards or forward with ease.

GTA IV
The Declasse Merit-based taxi in GTA IV is powered by a V6, coupled to a 5 speed gearbox in a RWD layout. Acceleration is very good, and the top speed is above average. The brakes have been upgraded over the regular Merit, requiring a shorter stopping distance. The suspension has also had an upgrade, making this vehicle corner more effectively at speed. Crash deformation is acceptable, and the cab can survive a few frontal hits before failing.

The Vapid Police Cruiser-based Taxi is powered by a 4.6L V8, coupled to a 5 speed gearbox in a RWD layout. Acceleration is good, and the top speed is above average. Its braking and suspension are very good, identical to that of the Police Cruiser; ABS is standard, and the suspension easily handles cornering and smooths out the bumpy roads of Liberty City. Crash deformation is good, and the vehicle can sustain multiple frontal impacts before failing.

Modifications (GTA San Andreas)
The Taxi is one of only a handful of public vehicles that could be customized at a modification workshop, specially, at Transfender.

The modification options (see Transfender article for pricing) of the vehicle include:
 * 1 color: For the body.
 * 2 scoops: Champ and Fury.
 * 2 exhausts: Medium and Twin.
 * 3 types of nitrous boasts: 2x, 5x and 10x.
 * 2 spoilers: Win and Alpha.
 * 10 wheels: Import, Atomic, Ahab, Virtual, Access, Off Road Wheel, Mega, Grove, Twist and Wires.
 * Bass boost on car stereo.
 * Hydraulics.

Variants

 * Bickle '76

Taxi companies

 * Borgnine Taxis
 * Kaufman Cabs
 * Mean Street Taxis
 * Sunnyside Taxis
 * Vice City Cabs
 * Express Car Service
 * L.C.C. Taxis

Trivia

 * In some of the games in the series, Taxis' radios default to certain stations. They are as follows:
 * GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories: Espantoso or VCPR
 * GTA San Andreas: CSR 103.9
 * GTA Liberty City Stories: Radio Del Mundo
 * GTA IV: San Juan Sounds,The Beat 102.7 (Declasse Taxi); WKTT, PLR, Integrity 2.0,The Beat 102.7 (Vapid Taxi).


 * In GTA Vice City, Taxis have white spots on the windshield due to an error in applying the vehicle's reflection map.
 * In GTA III and GTA Vice City, Taxis may spawn without their lights on top. In GTA IV, the taxi light can be broken off by impacts.
 * In GTA III, if you look carefully to the front grille of Taxi, you will see a manufacturer badge, which resembles the one that real-life car company Ford uses.
 * Taxi drivers tend to be vengeful, exiting their vehicle and assaulting the player if he or she damages their vehicle; they may pull the player out of their own vehicles, or throw punches if they meet the player on foot. In GTA IV, they hold onto the player's car door while he or she attempts to escape, until the gaining speed forces them to let go or they get knocked off by an object.
 * The GTA IV rendition of the Taxi originally had a black variant, as seen in the Vladimir Glebov trailer. The reason for removing that texture was probably for one of Niko's lines for calling taxis while drunk;Yellow Car!.
 * In GTA IV, most taxi drivers are men, however, you can usually find a woman taxi driver in Hove Beach. This is probably a glitch, as the female taxi drivers have no taxi driver dialogue.
 * In Grand Theft Auto IV, the Vapid and Declasse Taxis have six different horns, differing in pitch with some with a high pitched, medium pitched, and lower pitched horns. The pitch determines how well and strong the horn sounds. The higher ranges usually are weak, mid-ranges usually have a somewhat over-blown or out of tune horn, while the lower pitches have healthy and loud horns. Five of the horns used can be traced back to civilian vehicles of different brands (such as Intruder, PMP 600, DF8-90, Primo, Patriot, etc).
 * In Grand Theft Auto IV, the lighted advertisment/"TAXI" signs on the roof of the taxis are very fragile as a minor collision is most cases is all it takes to dislodge the sign and have it break off the vehicle's roof.
 * In Grand Theft Auto IV, most of the taxi drivers are Greek. If a gun is pointed to them, they will say "I'm Greek, you know". They also can be heard cursing traffic in front of them with the Greek phrase "malaka", which is slang for numerous derogatory remarks.
 * Oddly if you slam into the rear of a taxi with a passenger in the backseat and kill the driver in the front seat, the passenger will climb out of the backseat and flee unharmed.
 * The turn signal in the Vapid Taxi is combined with the brake light, making it the only car in the game with a red turning light.
 * If you're taking a taxi ride in GTA IV and shoot outside the car, the driver will stop the car, make a comment and then run away, leaving Niko in the back seat of the stationary vehicle. This will also happen if the LCPD are chasing the player.
 * A Taxi can be seen in a screenshot for Grand Theft Auto V
 * Oddly, The Taxi is FWD, unlike its counterpart, the Police, which is RWD. However, in GTA 4, it's changed to RWD.
 * There is a glitch in GTA 4 when you read an email after exiting a taxi, the taxi drives off and the taxi driver disappears, the camera will follow the taxi as if you were driving it.

Locations
GTA III GTA Vice City
 * Parked in the parking lot of Francis International Airport.
 * Parked in an alley north-west from the entrace of Salvatore's Gentlemen's Club.
 * Occasionally spawns in the parking lot next to the North Point Mall.
 * Spawns Occasionally in the Parking lot near the Washington Mall.

GTA Liberty City Stories GTA Vice City Stories GTA IV GTA San Andreas
 * At the Mean Street Taxis' depot
 * Sometimes spawns in the North Point Mall parking garage.
 * A Declasse Merit Taxi may occasionally be parked on Asparagus Avenue in front of the LTA Headquarters,
 * A Vapid Taxi can be found parked in an alley near Manganese Street and Burlesque in Star Junction, Algonquin.
 * Taxis are the the most commonly spawning vehicles in Liberty City, and are particularly common in Downtown, Broker, Francis International Airport and throughout Algonquin, especially The Triangle and Star Junction where Taxis make up the majority of road traffic. Taxis are less common in peripheral, industrial and suburban areas of the city; notably, taxis will rarely spawn in eastern Dukes and northern Alderney and never spawn in Acter Industrial Park (Alderney), and in parts of Bohan.
 * A Vapid taxi is seen parked near the construction barrier in the mission Bang Bang.
 * Commonly Spawn near Las Venturas Airport, Los Santos International Airport, and Easter Bay International Airport.
 * Spawn in areas of Bone County, like The Strip and around the Verdant Meadows area.
 * Can be seen driving all over in Los Santos, Las Venturas, and San Fierro.
 * Can be found around Verona Beach. The Taxi is one of the most seen Public Service vehicles.