Dukes (car)

You may be looking for Dukes, a borough in Liberty City.



The Imponte Dukes is a two-door muscle car featured in Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

Design
The Dukes is the quintessential American muscle car: aggressive 1970s styling, a large engine, and a low, roaring exhaust note. It appears to be chiefly modeled after the 1968–1970 Dodge Charger; the front bumper appears based on a 1968 Pontiac LeMans (and less likely the 1968/1969 Pontiac GTO since it is done in chrome) but the middle does not bulge as much; the taillights resemble those of a '69 Pontiac GTO. The backs of the rear fenders appear to modeled on those of the '64 Pontiac GTO/'64 LeMans, or possibly the '66/'67 Charger. Overall, it looks much like a 1969 Dodge Charger (thanks to the split grille) and the name most likely refers to TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard, which features a 1969 Dodge Charger.

Dukes' are found with either a small hood scoop, a hood bulge with the words "supercharged" written on it, or a large roots-type supercharger/blower with a bug catcher, all with "750 HP" written on each side - referring to its powerful 750 bhp V8. In addition, a Dukes may also be found with a small rear spoiler on the trunk and/or louvers on the rear window. As a possible parody of Dodge's Super Bee, a "Highway Reaper" decal, found on the rear quarter panels, is also present on any version of the Dukes with a bug catcher. Any Dukes with a bug catcher also has a chin spoiler mounted under the front bumper, and [nonfunctional] hood pins, and wire mesh covers over the headlight configurations. All Dukes appear with side exhaust pipes. One interesting color it shows up in is orange, a further reference to The Dukes of Hazzard (however it is a yellower hue) with black chrome.

The GTA Chinatown rendition is very similar to that of GTA IV, but varies in the manner in which they appear. Like in GTA IV, the game features two variants; however, they consist of a regular Dukes, which commonly appears all over the city, and a Spanish Lords Dukes, which is most distinguishable by its hood blower and neon underglow (see ).

Performance
The Dukes has a 450ci supercharged V-8 engine producing 750bhp. Unfortunately, a lot of this is wasted because the engine is producing more power than can be transferred to the wheels, which results in wheel slip under full throttle in the low gears; acceleration is thus well below average, but the Dukes has a refreshing top speed of 145 km/h (90 mph). Lending to its design generation (Early-to mid 1960/70s), the Dukes has one of the softest suspensions in GTA IV, making it flop heavily in turns and giving it massive oversteer that inexperienced drivers may find hard to control; with effort, the oversteer can be transferred to drifting, making the Dukes one of the most impressive driftable vehicles in-game. The Dukes' handling results in a "flamboyant" driving style of constant fishtails, burnouts, 180s and power slides. Braking on the Dukes is, as expected, poor. The large rear drum brakes, coupled with the weak and undersized front discs make for extended stopping distances and front wheel lockup. Unsurprisingly, considering its age, ABS is not available on the Dukes.

Crash deformation is acceptable, and thanks to its very heavy chassis, the Dukes can take many direct hits before failing/catching fire, making this vehicle good for long-distance travel or dangerous driving. However, using the Dukes as a get away vehicle can be difficult at times due it ease of fishtailing which leaves a opportunity for higher level law enforcement to push the vehicle off the road and quickly disable it.

The regular Dukes in GTA Chinatown Wars is generally somewhat above average in speed, handling and braking. Grip is quite poor, and the car often drifts out of control at high speeds, but not as bad as the Stallion.

Variants
In GTA IV, a regular Dukes is requested as part of Stevie's Car Thefts, appearing across the intersection from Modo in East Holland, Algonquin with a uniquely bright red body with dark metallic red trims. As a new Dukes will respawn at the same spot until the player delivers one to S&M Auto Sales, the player can save one at their safehouse before delivering another.

In GTA Chinatown Wars, a Spanish Lords "gang" variant of the car exists as a derivative of GTA Chinatown Wars' Dukes, featuring a yellow body with red undersides, an engine blower, and red neon underglows that light up at night. The gang variant also sports slightly improved speed, and superior handling and braking.

Trivia

 * In Grand Theft Auto IV, the Dukes' default radio station is Liberty Rock Radio 97.8.
 * There are many different variations of the Dukes. Some have Louvres, a small bonnet bulge, a spoiler or a Highway Reaper engine. However, no Dukes have all four on the same vehicle.
 * If the player takes a Dukes to a Pay 'n' Spray too many times it will turn a unique, dark (almost black) green colour. This colour 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 Buffalo from The Ballad of Gay Tony, the Infernus and the PMP 600, which all suffer from similar glitches.
 * In GTA Chinatown Wars, Wade Heston drives a matte-black Dukes. In one mission you have to rescue it from FIB.
 * The Dukes is one of the few cars that come without a license plate, the others being the Condentor, beater variant of the Vigero, and most notably on most supercars such as the Comet, Super GT, Turismo, and the Infernus

Locations

 * GTA IV
 * Parked in the small parking lot behind the abandoned Sprunk factory, Argus Street, Tudor, Alderney
 * In the mission Lure for Francis McReary, a red iridescent paint job that can not be seen on the streets can be found outside the target's apartment in Denver Avenue, East Holland, Algonquin.
 * Commonly spawn in Acter, Tudor (Alderney), East Holland, Northwood, Purgatory, Star Junction (Algonquin), South Bohan, Boulevard, Fortside (Bohan), Cerveza Heights, Steinway, Willis (Dukes), and Schottler (Broker)
 * Sometimes spawn in Firefly Island, Firefly Projects, Beechwood City (Broker), and East Island City (Dukes).
 * Spawn in traffic during Multiplayer.


 * GTA Chinatown Wars
 * Regular Dukes are commonly available throughout the city.
 * Spanish Lords Dukes only spawn within Spanish Lords turf in southwestern Bohan and northeastern Algonquin.