Benson

The Benson is a sports car which first appeared in Grand Theft Auto 2, and also a cube van/truck in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and later games.

In all, the Benson has appeared in the following games:


 * Grand Theft Auto 2
 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
 * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
 * Grand Theft Auto IV
 * Grand Theft Auto V

GTA 2


In Grand Theft Auto 2, the Benson is a sports car. It is suggestively based on the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, evidenced by the Benson's similar body design, as well as its gull-wing doors and its name being similar to the Mercedes-Benz car brand. The only difference is the 300SL does not feature split frontal and rear windscreens, as the Benson has.

GTA Vice City — GTA Vice City Stories
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the Benson name was applied to a very different type of vehicle: a van. This version of the Benson resembles a 1978 or 1979 Ford (E-Series) cube van with a "luton" cargo compartment. In San Andreas, it is available in several different designs, and appears in red and blue body in Vice City Stories.

The Benson in GTA San Andreas has the wrong engine sound, as it makes a heavy truck sound but should make the light/medium truck sound, which the Yankee incorrectly has. In the PC version (v1.00), this can be fixed by swapping the shape and texture files with the Yankee in IMG Tool 2.0, and then doing the same for the handling (in handling.cfg), colors (in carcols.dat), names, and other files. Unlike missing wheel in DFT-30 and Beagle in Fort Carson, it can't downloaded in Xbox version.

GTA IV


Manufactured by Vapid in Grand Theft Auto IV, the Benson is much larger (the heaviest car in the game, according to the game files). The GTA IV version also has less tendency to roll over. It has a bottler truck body-style, though certain versions (such as the mail truck) don't emphasize its function. The cab resembles an 1989-2001 International 4000 Series; the design, however, is much different than the Brute Securicar, which is based on the same truck series. The Benson's engine is an intercooled V8. Unlike previous versions, the GTA IV Benson has a massive grille guard. Company logos appearing on the Benson include those of Burger Shot, Cluckin' Bell, Sprunk, Mr. Wong's Laundrette, Post Op, and Truck You!.

In GTA IV same as Mule, Benson does not power with air-brake but instead, it powers with disc/disk-brake and/or drum brake which is rather odd for a heavy vehicle.

GTA 2
The Benson in GTA 2 is noted for its substantial top speed, but at the same time it suffers from delayed acceleration due to slow gear-shifting as the car speeds up. And while the car features good braking, the Benson suffers from occasional tailspins when cornering at high speeds.

When crushed, the vehicle awards the player ElectroFingers.

GTA Vice City — GTA Vice City Stories
Being the smallest cube van between GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, the Benson has a decent top speed and quick acceleration, and has room for 2 people including the driver and is the in the GTA III era games. However, it is prone to flipping over easily on rough terrain and when turning around corners at high speeds. It has no special features. The Benson is quite vulnerable to bullet damage in GTA San Andreas although it can withstand a lot of damage before catching fire.

Players can even do doughnuts in it by steering it in the slightest possible angle (almost straight) and, naturally, putting the virtual foot to the floor. This can be done on the PC by using an analog controller (such as a PS2 controller through a USB converter), but not with the keyboard due to a cap on the number of simultaneous key strokes that can be accepted.

GTA IV
Being an enlarged truck in GTA IV, the Benson obviously suffers from poor steering, as well as a slow acceleration, but far from the worst in the game. However, the truck can achieve fairly moderate top speeds at 126 mph, but it will take ages to get there due to the poor acceleration. In addition, its weight does not help when the player needs to stop the vehicle while it is going high speeds. Also it's ability to soak up bullets is an advantage for when the player is attempting to escape gang members or police. Being extremely heavy, the Benson can shove traffic out of its way and keep going with ease.

GTA V
As not much has emerged yet, we have seen the Benson in Trailer 2 and Franklin's Trailer. The design has not changed from GTA IV.

Trivia

 * The Benson plays the following radio stations when entered:
 * V-Rock in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories.
 * K-Rose in GTA San Andreas.
 * The Beat 102.7 or The Classics 104.1 in GTA IV.
 * A vehicle resembling the Benson can be found in Rockstar North's Manhunt.
 * If the player drives a Benson, Securicars may eventually appear. This occurs most likely in Bohan.
 * In GTA IV, you can walk through the front wheels of the Benson.
 * In GTA Vice City, if the player finds a way to get up and stand on the hood of a Benson that is being driven by an NPC, and the Benson moves forward, Tommy will fall down into the cab. When he gets up, he will be stuck halfway inside the cab, with his head portruding from the roof. He will not be able to get out unless the Benson crashes, where he will pop out and appear standing on its roof.
 * In GTA IV, like the Bus and Yankee, as well as the APC (TBOGT), it will fall into blue hell and spin for a while before landing back on the street when the Swingset Glitch is executed in a Benson.
 * The change of the Benson from a sports car to a truck is similar to that of the Perennial, which was a '60s station wagon in older games and a futuristic minivan in GTA IV.

Locations

 * GTA 2
 * Spawns only in the Residential District of Anywhere City.


 * GTA Vice City
 * Parked next to the Pay 'n' Spray in Viceport.
 * Commonly spawns in Viceport and Escobar International.


 * GTA San Andreas
 * Commonly spawns in the industrial areas of Los Santos.


 * GTA Vice City Stories
 * Parked next to the Pay 'n' Spray in Viceport.


 * GTA IV
 * Found in the Acter Industrial Park and Tudor areas in Alderney.
 * Sometimes seen in BOABO, Broker.
 * Can be spotted in the Industrial area in Bohan.
 * A Benson is seen blocking the road at the end of the chase between Ivan and Niko in the mission Ivan The Not So Terrible. The player is able to take it if he can get to it before the driver leaves.

Additional images

 * Variations