Buffalo

The Buffalo is a muscle car and sports sedan which appears in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Ballad of Gay Tony and Grand Theft Auto V.

GTA San Andreas
The Buffalo in GTA San Andreas appears to be based on the third-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Even though it is clearly based on a 1982-1992 Camaro, it has been changed quite a bit. The headlights are circular, coincidentally similar to a 1982-88 Opel Manta and a 1993–2001 Acura Integra; a C-pillar has been added, bearing somewhat of a resemblance to 1984–1993 Dodge Daytonas; and the shape taillights look closer to some third-generation Pontiac Firebird models. The Buffalo also has a ram air hood, similar to the ones seen on the 1993 - 2002 Chevrolet Camaro SS and Pontiac Trans Am. Surprisingly, the Buffalo handles well off-road. It is one of the most common high end sports cars in the game and the fastest muscle car in the game.

GTA IV — The Ballad of Gay Tony
In GTA IV and its DLCs, the Bravado Buffalo is a sports sedan based on the 2006—2010 Dodge Charger SRT-8 with headlight units from the second generation Charger. The front end also bears subtle similarities to a 2005–2009 Ford Mustang GT. When GTA IV was originally released, the game's rendition of the Buffalo had not been made available as a consumer model, despite numerous billboards advertising the car in Liberty City (most prominently at the end of the Dukes Boulevard Station line in Steinway, Dukes). Rather, the vehicle is initially depicted as a law enforcement vehicle for the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB), dubbed the FIB Buffalo. The retail model is featured as an added vehicle in The Ballad of Gay Tony, the second downloadable episode for GTA IV.

The law enforcement model is taken from the Police Package Charger as it is powered by what sounds like a small V8 engine (5.7L in real counterpart). Both variants have a stock body kit and plain black wheels with chrome centercaps. The FIB variant is only available in black and features 2 sets of emergency lights mounted on its grille and rear windshield whereas the LCPD variant is similar to its Declasse and Vapid counterparts.

In The Ballad of Gay Tony, the Buffalo's consumer model features a performance body kit that includes larger exhaust ports, sport rims, bumpers, and side skirts, suggesting that it is based on the Charger's SRT-8 model; however, the Buffalo lacks the rear spoiler and hood scoop found on the SRT-8 model. Apart from the FIB Buffalo's engine sound of a smaller, less powerful engine, the civilian Buffalo has a more powerful-sounding, larger V8 (6.1L in real counterpart) engine.

Grand Theft Auto V
The Buffalo will possible make a return appearance in GTA V. It can be seen in the trailer here at 0:41.

GTA San Andreas
In GTA San Andreas, the car is front-engine, rear-drive, and sports a 5.7 liter V8 engine that delivers great acceleration and speed, but comes at the cost of limited control at top speeds and unstable cornering. However despite being a sports car, the Buffalo handles very well off road, making it a stellar off roading vehicle. It is also a two-door vehicle, making it unsuitable for drive-bys as the player can only have one recruit to go along with him. It has about 305 HP and it is RWD like a Camaro.

The Ballad of Gay Tony
The Buffalo's raw performance in TBOGT is considerably good for a four-door sedan, courtesy of its high displacement supercharged 3.6L V6 engine, and may even be superior to its law enforcement variants. As expected, the car is capable of good acceleration and an excellent top speed of 323km/h (201mph), but is also lighter than the law enforcement Buffalo's, allowing the car to corner and brake better. While the car is still prone to burnouts after certain moments of cornering, the car grip on the road is equally excellent. And, like the Infernus, Banshee, F620, Sultan RS and Bullet GT, the Buffalo lets out quick bursts of flames from its exhaust when shifting gears. Due to it being a front-engined car, the Buffalo is highly vulnerable to frontal and engine damage.

Buffalo with Nitrous in TBoGT
So far found only in the mission for Mori (This Ain't Checkers), this red Buffalo, along with the other cars available, is equipped with Nitrous to help Luis Lopez win the vehicular triathalon set up by Mori. To activate the Nitrous, the Caps Lock, "B" or "circle" button is used. It is best to only use the speed boost on straightaways, as it provides an enormous amount of speed in a short amount of time but it makes the vehicle much more difficult to bring to a stop for the sharp corners. A little pink canister icon is displayed on the hub next to the mini map during the race. It empties as you use the Nitrous and is refilled as the player drives along at excessive speeds.

Possible Second Variant
In carcols.dat in the car list, a car known, internally, as the "buffal2" is supposed to be a faster, more stable Buffalo that is found in Drug Wars as transportation of drugs. They both look exactly the same, but the "buffal2" has an upgraded V8 engine, acceleration is quicker, and the handling is much more firm. Also, like most gang related upgraded cars, the "buffal2" locks into two colors, gray and light gray. The second variant can also be obtained by calling Henrique and and sometimes, he may bring the variant, with or without the locked colors, gray and light gray.

Modifications (GTA San Andreas)
Colors: Nitro: Wheels: Hydraulics ($1500)
 * The Buffalo can be modified at TransFender:
 * Car Color 1 ($150)
 * 2x Nitrous ($200)
 * 10x Nitrous ($1000)
 * Import ($820)
 * Atomic ($770)
 * Ahab ($1000)
 * Virtual ($620)
 * Acess ($1140)
 * Off Road Wheel ($1000)
 * Mega ($1030)
 * Grove ($1230)
 * Twist ($1200)
 * Wires ($1560)
 * The Transfender in Las Venturas has charges 20% more for each modification except colours.

Trivia

 * The Buffalo plays the following radio stations by default when entered:
 * Radio X in GTA San Andreas.
 * San Juan Sounds in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 * In GTA IV, the Buffalo shown in billboards has a large Bravado logo within its grille, unlike the FIB Buffalo or the civilian Buffalo which have a small logo above the grille. Interestingly, the billboard Buffalo also retains the police lights found on the FIB variant.
 * In The Ballad of Gay Tony, the most notable time you can find one is during the mission Bang Bang.
 * In The Ballad of Gay Tony, Mori has a unique red Buffalo.
 * It is believed that Gay Tony's boyfriend, Evan, drives a Buffalo, as in the mission Bang Bang's opening cutscene Evan is at Tony's loft, and a the beginning of the mission, the player can choose between driving the Buffalo or Tony's Schafter.
 * If the player takes a Buffalo in The Ballad of Gay Tony to a Pay 'n' Spray too many times it will turn a unique, dark brown colour and for the second variant, it will recycle in to a gray and light gray color. This color will then be permanent, and no amount of subsequent resprays will change it. This is most likely a glitch, as almost every other car in the game will continually cycle through its available colours each time you visit a Pay 'n' Spray. The exceptions are the Dukes, the Infernus, the Banshee, the Serrano (second variant) and the PMP 600, which all suffer from similar glitches.
 * The Buffalo appears in the Drug Wars where it is used to escort drugs, These have special paintjobs at some times. They also appear after a Boat Drug War Mission, as it appears in front of the player after the mission is over.
 * Like Alpha, the Buffalo has a very loud engine sound in GTA San Andreas.
 * The Buffalo share the same color palette as the Rebla, and they both color-lock into a blackish-brown color. However, unlike the Rebla, there is no gang variant of the Buffalo.
 * In The Ballad of Gay Tony, one of the Buffalo's default colors is Black, causing it to strongly resemble the FIB Buffalo, only without the emergency lights.
 * The car's name is a reference to the Ford Taurus. both the names are a reference to cattle (in the Buffalo's case, a type of Bison).
 * The player can bring back the consumer Buffalo back in GTA IV with the use of mods.
 * Cars similar to Buffalos appear in the GTA V trailer.BuffaloGTAV.jpg
 * The Buffalo in GTA IV shares the same rim design with the Rebla.
 * In GTA San Andreas, despite being one of the fastest cars in the game, it is fairly common.
 * The billboard that advertises the Buffalo in GTA IV shows the manufacturer's logo on the grill and bigger, while in both GTA IV and TBOGT the logo is on the hood and is smaller.

Locations
GTA San Andreas
 * Catalina owns a Buffalo, located beside her hideout at Fern Ridge, Red County, even after she left for Liberty City with Claude.
 * Sometimes can spawn at the Xoomer Gas Station in Easter Basin (only when wanted for export)
 * 2 Buffalos are found during the mission Misappropriation, one is everything-proof and one is normal.
 * Available to export the Import/Export dock in Easter Basin, San Fierro every Friday after completing export lists/ Cost: $28,000
 * A white Buffalo with a license plate reading "PULASKI" is driven by Eddie Pulaski in the mission High Noon. If the player destroys it during the mission, it re-appears when they get the "mission passed" message, undamaged and available to be driven away.
 * In traffic at Juniper Hill, San Fierro.

The Ballad of Gay Tony
 * If the player is hijacking a boat during the Drug Wars he will be required to bring it to the docks in the northernmost part of Algonquin (in Northwood). The Buffalo will be right in front of the player after he delivers the boat and he is at the top of the stairs. It is also found there when you have to steal a helicopter and bring it to the same location.
 * It can mostly be found anywhere as it is a common car, but it is most common in Algonquin and Alderney.
 * A phone call to Henrique.
 * During the mission Bang Bang, a blue Buffalo spawns outside Tony's apartment readily available for use in the mission in front of Tony's custom Schafter. This Buffalo is presumably Evan Moss' car as he is the only person in the apartment other than Tony and this is the only time the Buffalo is given to be used in a mission.