Phoenix

The Imponte Phoenix is a two-door muscle car that appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto V.

Design
In every rendition, the Phoenix is based on the 1979-1981 Pontiac Firebird and 1982-1992 Chevrolet Camaro but the round taillights are similar to 1970-1973 Chevrolet Camaros. The front portion was resembling 1973-1975 Vauxhall Firenza, especially the Droopsnoot version. It has varied slightly throughout the games, with a rear deck lid blackout panel in GTA San Andreas, and a thinner stripe in GTA Vice City Stories. It returns in GTA V, having a near-identical appearance from GTA III era versions, although it now takes up resemblance as the 1970 Pontiac Firebird.

3D Universe
The Phoenix is one of the fastest cars in the game, and has excellent torque, and handling. The Phoenix drives and sounds as if powered by a large V8 engine, and also features a large air scoop for the carburetor. It can also be modified in TransFender in GTA: San Andreas with nearly all of the available options for customization, but most of the categories have only one option as with most car customization in San Andreas. The Phoenix in GTA San Andreas is an excellent vehicle off-road and the best sports car for off-roading in the game and it is better at off-roading than some of the SUVs in the game. Like most muscle cars, it has a two person capacity. On the downside, the brakes are not as good as the other sports cars in GTA San Andreas.

HD Universe
The Phoenix is powered by a high-output V8 engine, and it has a high top speed and decent acceleration. It also has excellent torque and can climb steep hills with ease. Unfortunately, it suffers from poor handling. Its poor weight distribution and light rear end leads to severe oversteer, especially at high speeds. Its back end is prone to fishtailing, and crashes and spin-outs may occur more often than usual in this car. The durability is below-par, and it is prone to frame loss (fenders, bumpers, hoods, etc.) in event of a rollover accident.

It's one of the cars that can be highly benefited by the performance customizations, as its acceleration can be topped with the right modifications.

Notable Owners

 * Big Poppa
 * Aztecas
 * Unnamed Vagos leader

Locations
While common on the streets of GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, the Phoenix is a significantly rarer car in GTA San Andreas.

GTA Vice City

 * Commonly driven all around Vice Beach.
 * Parked at the north-western mansion on Starfish Island.
 * Common on Starfish Island.

GTA San Andreas

 * For unknown reasons, the Phoenix is an extremely rare car, like the Hotknife and the Euros and will only spawn if the "Fast cars" cheat is activated.
 * In San Fierro, the Phoenix can be found by entering the San Fierro Hills street race located at the checkered flag behind Wang Cars. Take the Phoenix to the Doherty Garage instead of racing it to keep it.
 * In A Home In The Hills, It is the escape vehicle of Big Poppa who seized Madd Dogg's mansion. You can kill him and retrieve the car, although its quite hard since he will constantly try to drive away, and isn't stopped easily. You must headshoot him while he drives so the door will open (the door is locked so you can't block him and carjack him).
 * Can be obtained inside of the San Fierro Police Headquarters but for that you may need a police car or use stealth or you will get a 3 stars wanted level.

GTA Vice City Stories

 * Parked along the road that extends along the beach on Ocean Beach.
 * Parked behind Malibu Club in Washington Beach.
 * Parked on the side of the road in front of a building, northwest of the Vice Point Mall in Vice Point.

GTA V

 * The Phoenix makes a return to the series as the Imponte Phoenix. It is quite a rare car to find and can be found in the Rockford Hills area.
 * Spawns noticably more when driving a Fusilade.
 * One can be obtained at Trevor's Liquor Ace meth lab after the mission Trevor Philips Industries, unless it is blown up during the firefight.
 * The Phoenix can spawn in the Paleto Bay area at the Clucking Bell Farms.
 * May spawn in the near vicinity of Vinewood Racetrack.
 * May possibly spawn in Little Seoul.
 * Can spawn in Grapeseed and Harmony.
 * Spawns more frequently when driving a Sandking XL.
 * Can be obtained from the Eastern Motel in Harmony during the police shootout random encounter.
 * May spawn in South Los Santos around the Vanilla Unicorn.

GTA Online

 * The Phoenix may occasionally spawn around the docks, near the drop-off point for Simeon's missions.
 * May spawn near the Maze Bank Arena area.
 * May spawn in and near the Cypress Flats area.
 * Frequently spawns in the parking spaces near the East Vinewood soccer field area (where the gang attack is located) when driving a Dominator.
 * One can also be obtained online by playing the No Hay Bronca mission given by Gerald. The unnamed gang leader of the Los Santos Vagos flees in a Phoenix and is chased into the LS River and gets out at the end. Once he is out, distract him, get in the car, end the mission, and go to freemode. You will be in the Phoenix and are now free to do what you please. Note that the car can be stolen before triggering the chase, forcing the leader to find another car and making the chase much easier.
 * You can also get one by playing the mission Gentry Does It by Simeon Yetarian. It's in the same car-park as the cars you are supposed to steal.

Modifications
Phoenix can be modified at TransFender garages in San Andreas Colors: Vents Exhausts Lights Nitro Roof Spoilers Side Skirts Wheels Car Stereo Hydraulics
 * Car Color 1 (body) – $150
 * Car Color 2 (stripe) – $150
 * Oval Hood Vent – $150
 * Square Hood Vent – $100
 * Large exhaust – $250
 * Twin exhaust – $300
 * Upswept exhaust – $350
 * Square Fog Lamp – $50
 * 2× Nitrous – $200
 * 5× Nitrous – $500
 * 10× Nitrous – $1000
 * Roof Scoop – $80
 * Win – $550
 * Fury – $350
 * Side Skirt – $500
 * Import – $820
 * Atomic – $770
 * Ahab – $1000
 * Virtual – $620
 * Access – $1140
 * Off Road Wheel – $1000
 * Mega – $1030
 * Grove – $1230
 * Twist – $1200
 * Wires – $1560
 * Bass Boost – $100
 * Hydraulics – $1500

Trivia

 * The default radio stations for the Phoenix are:
 * GTA San Andreas: Playback FM.
 * GTA V: Channel X.
 * In GTA San Andreas, the two storyline missions which involve the use of the Phoenix have the word "Hills" in it (A Home in the Hills and San Fierro Hills. Note that these two missions are the only missions in GTA San Andreas wherein "Hills" is part of the mission name. However, this is most likely pure coincidence.
 * In GTA Vice City, the butterflies in the hood scoop open when accelerating; however in GTA San Andreas they are stationary, and in GTA VCS the butterflies are eliminated altogether. It is also noteworthy that the GTA SA version of the Phoenix is the only one with three-dimensional butterflies in the scoop: the ones in Vice City were 2-D (flat), despite the fact that they moved.
 * When the health cheat is activated or the car is taken to a garage the butterflies will be stuck open due to a glitch.
 * In GTA San Andreas, it is one of the rarest cars in the game along with the Hotknife and the Euros.
 * A Phoenix is a legendary mythical bird said to set fire to itself and arise from its ashes in a new form. It is also one of four vehicles in San Andreas to be named after a mythical creature, the other 3 being the Hydra, Leviathan and Banshee.
 * Pontiac had actually sold a compact car called the Phoenix from 1977 to 1984.
 * Phoenix is a possible play on Firebird, the car it is based off, as phoenix's are "firebirds" due to setting fire to itself.
 * Even though Phoenix is a muscle car, its engine sound is similar to a sports car except in GTA San Andreas where it sounds more like a luxury car than a muscle car.
 * The Phoenix was originally going to be called the "Roadblazer."
 * Once all of the customization options have been unlocked in GTA V for Los Santos customs, it has an option for a high level spoiler, albeit being much higher than other cars spoilers. Possibly a reference to Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird.
 * In the GTA Series, the Phoenix is a predecessor of the Ruiner, since both cars are based off different generations of the Pontiac Firebird and the Chevrolet Camaro.

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