Nightmare Imperator

"You know what doesn't biodegrade? Cluckin' Bell chicken strips and Seventies cool. With those as your design template, you'll be driving something that'll stay classy and trashy all the way till the end of time."

- Arena War description.

The Vapid Nightmare Imperator is a custom muscle car featured in Grand Theft Auto Online as part of the Arena War update.

Grand Theft Auto Online
The vehicle is essentially identical to its Apocalypse variant, but sports bright colors for the bodywork. Unlike most "Nightmare" vehicles, the Nightmare Imperator does not have any randomly-coloured parts by default.

The primary colour of the vehicle is applied on the bodywork and the engine cam covers, while the secondary colour is applied on the surroundings of the headlamp housings, the trimmings around the cabin, the mirrors, the door handles, the rear bumper, the interior stitching and the tyres. The rims can also support a dedicated colour, which is set to yellow on purchased examples.

The vehicle can be equipped with two top-mounted machine guns on the bonnet, which resemble either or short-barreled  machine guns. It can be also equipped with two rear-facing mortar cannons that are identical to the ones available on the Weaponized Tampa.

Grand Theft Auto Online
The Imperator possesses excellent acceleration and decent speed thanks to its single-cam V8 engine, but has relatively low braking capabilities. The vehicle also has a tendency to slide out when turning at certain speeds and can spin out if the driver is not careful, most of these shortfalls can be mitigated by upgrading the brakes at Los Santos Customs and through skillful driving. Also despite the high acceleration, the vehicle's rear wheels spin before the vehicle can take off due to the high torque, unless the player slightly presses the accelerator button.
 * Vehicle

During certain events in the Maze Bank Arena, the vehicle stats change. In race events such as "Wreck It", the acceleration is high, while the braking is low and the vehicle's habit of spinning out is also increased, but in the events such as "Bomb Ball", the acceleration is greatly decreased while the braking becomes more effective. However, this doesn't seem to be the case for custom variations of the vehicle, as the stats will be the same as they are in free mode.

The vehicle is powered by a single-cam V8 engine that can be modified with a supercharger/bug catcher, coupled to a 4-speed gearbox in a front engine, rear wheel drive layout. The same engine has fully-animated timing belt and pulleys, and appears to use an edited variation of the engine sound from cars like the Drift Tampa and the Hotring Sabre, with a supercharged sound effect also used on the Tampa and its Weaponized variant.


 * Abilities


 * The vehicle can be installed with both "Jump" mods and "Shunt" mods. The Jump modifications come in three levels of effectiveness and can be activated using the horn button. When activated, the vehicle will be launched into the air, in a similar way to the Ruiner 2000 and Scramjet. The Shunt modifications allow the vehicle to shunt to the side.
 * The vehicle can be installed with Boost upgrades. This can be used to significantly speed up the vehicle. It can be used repeatedly while driving the vehicle, but it is better to let it fully recharge for maximum efficiency.

Like other similar Arena vehicles, the occupants are vulnerable to gunfire due to the exposed cabin. However, this issue can be reduced with the Heavy Armor upgrade installed, as it adds armour plating around the vehicle, having the windshield partially protected by metal bars and the sides with window plating with a small weak spot. The rear remains unarmoured in that aspect, due to the rear louvres on it. Depending on the armour level, it can take at least three missiles from an Oppressor before being destroyed by a fourth, making it one of the more decent weaponized vehicles due to its balance between weapons, abilities and durability.
 * Armor


 * Weaponry


 * The vehicle can be fitted with a Ram Weapon, namely scoops and blades. The ram weapon behaves in a similar way to the updated scoops and ramming bars of the RCV and Armored Boxville, causing a large amount of damage to other vehicles and often sending them flying into mid-air with little to no disadvantage against the vehicle itself, and no damage to the vehicle's engine whatsoever. The reinforced scoop, however, is one of the options that will not lift or otherwise send vehicles flying, likely due to its size and shape. It should be noted that the effectiveness against other players is significantly reduced compared to its effectiveness against NPCs and their vehicles.
 * Dual .50 Cal: The Imperator can be modified to have two machine guns, which behave similarly to other front-mounted machine guns from various armed land vehicles. While having good damage against most targets, it struggles to defeat heavily-armored vehicles.
 * Kinetic Mortar: The Imperator can be also modified to have two rear-firing kinetic mortars. These weapons behave similarly to the ones from the Weaponized Tampa, but fire kinetic rounds that deal little damage, though they can send players and vehicles away with considerable force.
 * The vehicle has the option for installing Proximity Mines. Unlike Weaponized Vehicles added in the Gunrunning update, the Imperator, along with all Arena Cars in the Arena War update, has five different Proximity Mine choices: Kinetic, Spike, EMP, Slick and Sticky;
 * The Kinetic option (orange flashing light) creates a small impulse spreading several meters around the area, sending players and vehicles into the air. The impulse deals little damage to both players and vehicles. However, in arena events it can kill motorcycle riders.
 * The Spike option (dark blue flashing light) bursts the tires of vehicles passing over or near it, as well as dealing a small amount of damage to the vehicle, mainly effecting the vehicle's windows, but otherwise dealing no damage or force. The mine does not burst vehicles with Bulletproof Tires installed.
 * The EMP option (light blue flashing light) disables the vehicle's electronics when passing over it. The accelerator, brakes and steering, as well as the radio and other features are disabled for around 5 seconds before reactivating. It also deals a small amount of damage to players. The player will be notified by whom their vehicle was disabled by in a small notification above the radar.
 * The Slick option (green flashing light) bursts a large amount of oil on the surface, causing vehicles passing over it to lose control. This deals no damage to both vehicles or players.
 * The Sticky option (purple flashing light) bursts a large amount of sticky substance on the surface, causing vehicles passing over it to slow down. This deals no damage to both vehicles or players.
 * The car can also be installed with both bodywork Spikes and Saw Blades. The spikes deal damage to NPCs and players, contact with the spikes can instantly kill them, while the saw blades can pop vehicle tyres and damage NPCs as well.

Grand Theft Auto Online
The Nightmare Imperator can be modified at Los Santos Customs and other mod shops, although special upgrades are only available at the Arena Workshop.


 * (AW) Unlock this item for purchase via the Arena War Career.

Grand Theft Auto Online

 * Can be purchased at the Arena War website for $2,284,940 or $1,718,000 (trade price as a Sponsorship Tier reward in the Arena War Career).
 * The vehicle comes with the "Wabi-Sabi" Livery and a Light Scoop Ram Weapon as standard when purchased.