Asterope

"Promoted by Karin as an "attainable luxury vehicle", the Asterope is the perfect car for the middle manager who knows deep down he'll never be a senior executive but can't quite bring himself to admit it yet."

- Southernsanandreassuperautos.com description.

The Karin Asterope is a four-door sedan featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. It appears to be the cousin of the Sultan, as both cars are similar in build and have the same manufacturer.

Design
The design of this car appears to be inspired by Japanese styling featured on the XV40 Toyota Aurion at the front. The sides and rear are inspired by the XV40 Toyota Camry as well as the fourth and fifth generation variants of the Nissan Altima, with further design cues taken from the second generation Lexus IS. The front end of the car features typical Japanese geometric formations. The dominant feature of the front bumper is a slatted, trapezium-shaped duct, occupying a third of the car's width. Either side of the duct are smaller, inset quadrilateral ducts which house circular foglamps. License plates are mounted centrally on the main bumper duct. A short distane above the main bumper duct, a sharp curve separates the bumper from the hood/bonnet. A short distance above the curve is the main grille. The grille is a large chrome-edged trapezium, with curved edges and horizontal chrome strips. A short distance away from the grille are headlamp units that are similar in height to the grille. The headlamp units house two clear circular lamps closer to the grille and a small amber turn indicator lamp further away. The headlamp unit's outline feature a small bump in the lower edge, contoured to the larger clear lamp. The manufacturer emblem is placed centrally just behind the grille. The car's hood/bonnet lacks any formations.

The sides of the car are fairly simple, lacking any extra formations. At about a fifth of the car's height there are chrome horizontal trim strips. The wheel arches feature light flaring. The door handles are also trimmed with chrome. The greenhouse area features windows with polymer-covered B pillars. The roof is an entirely curved element, with a long and fairly smooth C pillar. An antenna is mounted centrally just in front of the rear windscreen. The car has seven spoke wheels wrapped in medium profile tires.

At the rear, the rear Altezza lamp units are chrome-backed apart from an amber strip at their base. In between these there is an equally-tall, impressed license plate area. The area has a horizontal chrome strip at its top and side edges parallel to the nearest rear lamp unit. The rear bumper is slightly elevated and is flat, at its base there are two small circular exhaust tips, one towards either edge of the bumper.

GTA V
The Asterope utilizes a 3.5-liter V6 and features rear wheel drive. Despite its soft suspension, handling is quite respectable for a vehicle of this size. The top speed is surprisingly good, and can keep up with more luxurious and expensive cars such as the Zion and Jackal. The soft suspension may lead to excess body roll, and this may make the vehicle unstable at high speeds and may lead to some oversteer. Acceleration is decent. Braking is fair. Durability is average, as the car can take several strong head-on crashes before the engine fails.

Locations

 * Very common in East Vinewood and East Los Santos.
 * Spawns at Big House Storage Inc. on Autopia Parkway from the district of Los Santos International Airport.

Special variants

 * In the mission Cleaning out the Bureau, a unique Asterope with a blue and pink two-tone paint scheme can be seen leaving the parking complex. This paintjob is similar to those found on cars in TBoGT's Drug Wars. This unique example of the car cannot be obtained, however.

Trivia

 * The name "Asterope" is also the name given to one of the stars of the Pleiades. The stars of the Pleiades are represented in the logo for Subaru, which is partly (16.1%) owned by Toyota.
 * Also, the Asterope star is part of the constellation Taurus, which may be an allusion to the Ford Taurus, a long-time competitor to the Camry.
 * "Asterope" was also a trim level of the fourth generation Subaru Legacy - a car the Asterope takes inspiration for its headlight design from.
 * The real-life Toyota Camry, which the Asterope is based on, is the most sold Japanese sedan in the United States, which could explain its common appearance on the streets.
 * Its 3.5L V6 engine correctly resembles Toyota Camry's 3.5L V6 engine (2GR-FE), however, its RWD drivetrain is incorrect, as present day Toyota Camry is front wheel drive. The RWD drivetrain is likely to be derived from the Lexus IS, rather than the Camry.
 * The default radio station in the Asterope is Non-Stop-Pop FM.
 * The badging on the trunk lid reads FWD, however the handling configuration does not match this texture file.