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."

- Southern San Andreas Super Autos description.

The Karin Asterope is a four-door sedan featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The design of this car appears to be inspired by Japanese styling featured on the at the front, with the headlights being inspired by the. The tailights bear a close resemblance to the ' headlights. The sides and rear are inspired by the as well as the fourth and fifth generation variants of the, with further design cues taken from the.

The car appears as the 'cousin' of the Sultan, as both have a similar build and are manufactured by Karin. The front end of the car features typical Japanese geometric formations, with the dominant feature being a sharp curve separating the bumper area from the upper area. The bumper area has a slatted, trapezium-shaped duct occupying a third of the car's width, with a license plate mounted centrally over it. On either side of the main duct there are smaller, inset quadrilateral ducts, which house circular fog-lamps. On the upper area, the grille is a large chrome-edged trapezium with curved edges and horizontal chrome strips, while the headlamp units are similar in height to the grille and 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 above the grille. The car's hood/bonnet lacks any formations.

The sides of the car are fairly simple, with the wheel arches featuring light flaring. At about a fifth of the car's height there are chrome horizontal trim strips, while the door handles are also trimmed with chrome. The greenhouse area features windows with polymer-covered, polymer-covered rear window separations and long, fairly smooth C pillars, while the roof is entirely curved and features a sunroof over the front row of seat. An antenna is mounted centrally just in front of the rear windscreen.

At the rear, the rear 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, with an horizontal chrome strip at its top and side edges parallel to the nearest rear lamp unit. There are silver badging displaying its name and manufacturer, almost above the tail lamps. 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.

The interior of the car is the same one from cars like the Schafter and the Tailgater, sharing the same dial set, dashboard details and interior extras. It is seen in a variety of single colours for the body and the stitches of the interior, and uses seven-spoke wheels wrapped in medium-profile tires, also shared with the Stratum.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The Asterope is a rather well-performing car in comparison to most other vehicles in its class. Its top speed is surprisingly high, and can hold its own against more expensive, luxurious cars such as the Zion and Jackal. Acceleration and conversely braking are both comparable to other sedans. Despite its soft suspension, handling is quite respectable for a vehicle of this size. However, said suspension may cause excess body roll, making the vehicle unstable at high speeds and potentially leading to some oversteer. Durability is decent, as the car can take several strong head-on crashes before the engine fails.

The Asterope is claimed by the badges to utilize a 3.5L V6 powering the front wheels, yet in-game, it utilizes a turbocharged, twin-cam 4-cylinder engine powering the rear wheels, through a 5-speed gearbox. Its engine sound is mid to high revving, shared with cars like the Premier and the Romero Hearse.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * 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.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * 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.

Grand Theft Auto Online

 * Spawn very often near the player after a job, if there is not any active Personal Vehicle.
 * Can be purchased from Southern San Andreas Super Autos for $26,000.

General

 * The name "Asterope" is also the name given to one of the stars of the . The stars of the Pleiades are represented in the logo for, 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, a long-time competitor to the Camry.
 * "Asterope" was also a trim level of the - a car the Asterope takes inspiration for its headlight design from.
 * The real-life, 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 the Toyota Camry's 3.5L V6 engine (2GR-FE).

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online

 * The default radio station in the Asterope is East Los FM.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online

 * The left-rear wheel is inverted when viewing the vehicle in the Rockstar Editor.

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