Premier

"In production from 2004 to 2010, the Declasse Premier never gained traction in the US market but was insanely popular in Canada. Why? Nobody knows... It's a national psyche that defies analysis."

- Southern San Andreas Super Autos description.

The Premier is a four-door sedan featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. It is manufactured by Declasse in the HD Universe.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, it is the civilian version of the Taxi and the Police Car, it also appears to be a "cousin" of the bulkier Elegant, while the more compact HD Universe rendition seems to be the older brother of the Asea.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The Premier strongly resembles a, meaning it was likely a brand new model (the game is set in 1992, model years are generally one year ahead). The grille is lined with chrome and is split down the middle vertically, similar to the. The tail lights, which are rectangular in shape as opposed to the Caprice's rounder tail lights, might have some influence from 's. Its very boxy greenhouse looks closer to the Australian, but this may be to conserve graphics. In fact, graphics are likely to blame for the car's resemblance to the facelifted Caprice; a beta Police Car had a much closer resemblance to the 1991 model.

The car assumes a relatively simple design, with a wide grille, wide lights, large bumpers and ample room for four occupants. The Premier is the base car for San Andreas' Taxi, and the San Fierro Police Department and Los Santos Police Department's Police cars. The Premier is available in a variety of single-tone colors.

Grand Theft Auto IV
In Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, the Declasse-manufactured Premier is redesigned as a more modernized compact design, which is more suited for urban city streets. It is resembling a cross between the and, with some details that resembles a  sedan (obviously for its four-door design but also for its tail light design). The front of the car appears similar to Chevrolet Cobalt sedan and the. With its enlarged grille located in the bumper region, the car bears an eerie resemblance to the. The tail lights appear similar to the 2005-2011 Chevrolet Aveo tail lights, and are reminiscent of the tail lights of the and the. Its front and rear are also similar to the, As well as having some resemblance of the , mainly with the chrome tail lights and muffled engine sound, as was the case with the 2002-2006 Altima 3.5 SE.

Compared to the 3D Universe iteration, the car has a sleeker and more compact design, where the front bumper sports a lower grille that spans about half the car's width and a license plate in the center, followed by circular fog lamps beside the grille and inset formations with thin intakes on the outer edges of the bumper, whose upper lines coincide with the upper border of the grille. Above the bumper region, there is a rectangular upper grille with a slightly narrower width compared to the lower grille, a silver finish and five horizontal separations, while the outer sections have silver rounded headlight housings with sharp inner edges and black trim. Each one of the housings contains large circular headlights in the center, smaller ones on the inner edges and tiny amber indicators on the outer edges. The hood has distinctive lines that appear to start from around the headlight housings and almost reach the lower corners of the windshield, while the Declasse logo can be seen just above the upper grille.

The sides of the car make use of flared wheel arches and thin ridges separating the side skirts from the rest of the car, while additional ridges are seen passing through the doors and body lines that run parallel to the waist lines, starting from the upper edges of the headlight housings and leading towards the upper edges of the tail lights. The greenhouse area bears plastic/polymer trim around the windows and wide gaps for the front and rear doors, while the painted mirror shells are seen near the A-pillars, and an aerial sits on the roof. Silver horizontal door handles are fitted as standard.

The rear of the car consists of the trunk lid with a protruding lip on the upper border, a dedicated section for the license plate, and additional badges on the lower corners that diplay the car's name and manufacturer. Next to the trunk are rounded housings with similar features to the frontal ones, where each housing contains large circular red lights on the outer/central sections, small reverse lights on the inner sides, and wide amber indicator bars on the bottom edges. Below the upper region, there is the large rear bumper with a slightly impressed formation in the middle, while the bottom area features a vented section that is about two-thirds of the car's width and has two mouldings for the exhaust pipes.

The Premier is only available in a variety of single-tone colors and uses a set of six-spoke rims with a circular center, using medium-profile tires with standard tread pattern.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The Premier in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online retains the same design and features as in GTA IV, though with slight tweaks on the model; the upper grille has three gaps instead of five, and the ridges passing through the doors are no longer present. It also has less visible lines on the bodywork, giving it a smoothened appearance. In the enhanced version, it uses the same interior and dial set as the Stanier and the Taxi.

The description on Southern San Andreas Super Autos mentions that it was popular in Canada but not in the United States, likely as the compact car category makes up a bigger proportion of Canadian auto sales, and also as the Daewoo Lacetti was sold under a mainstream brand in Canada (as the Chevrolet Optra), as opposed to an obscure brand in the US (as the Suzuki Reno/Forenza). It is also mentioned that the Premier stopped production in 2010, after six years on the market.

Again, the Premier is only available in a variety of single-tone colors, and uses the same wheel design as before.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Its acceleration, speed, and handling are all quite impressive, while the sturdiness and bulk of the chassis render the Premier capable of withstanding heavy damage, making this front-engine, rear-wheel-drive beast simply one of the best passenger vehicles in the game. The strong engine, responsive handling, and sturdy frame also make the Premier an ideal car for performing the PIT maneuver and for ramming other vehicles, hence its use as a police car. The only downside is its below average grip on road.

The Premier is likely to be powered by a large V6, with a 5-speed gearbox and rear-wheel-drive layout. Premier's Drag Multiplier is 1.8, which is more aerodynamic than any other top end supercar, except for the Infernus where the Drag Multiplier is 1. It is officially the third most aerodynamic car in the game.

Grand Theft Auto IV
The Premier in GTA IV has a 4.0L V8 engine according to the badges, coupled to a 5-speed gearbox in a rear-wheel drive layout. The engine itself is responsive, propelling the vehicle off the line quickly, and giving it an outstanding top speed for an everyday sedan, but its gear ratio kills acceleration, since the gears are apparently very far apart, accurately representing the stereotypical of an automatic transmission in most compact cars. Handling is rather good for a car in the compact 4 door class, keeping the Premier stable in most turns, though some oversteer can be felt. The suspension is rather soft however, giving way to body roll. Braking is adequate, though not as good as other, larger sedans. Crash deformation is below average, with the Premier stalling after only a few collisions. Overall, the Premier's performance traits are similar to that of its mid-sized counterpart, the Merit.

The vehicle shares its sound with the Uranus, the Esperanto and Roman's Taxi.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The Premier seems to have had a power upgrade as the car has a lot more get up and go than the previous rendition. Handling has also been improved thanks to the more realistic FWD like its real-life counterpart. It is responsive and quick, and handles very well on tight corners, making the Premier a rather fun and exciting car to drive while being on par with more expensive, larger sedans in the game. Braking is good, and ABS is standard on all models.

The Premier's engine sounds to be a mid to high revving V6, and the beefy engine and 5-speed transmission work together in propelling the vehicle off the line quickly, resulting in a long burnout from the front wheels and yielding an impressive 0-60 time as well as a fantastic top speed for its class. For being a smaller compact sedan, the engine can be overpowering at some times, considering the Premier's lighter total weight and economy themed instead of performance themed drive train layout, but nevertheless the Premier is a good getaway vehicle in terms of performance.

Damage deformation, however, is quite poor, as crashing headlong in the front even at moderate speeds can significantly degrade its overall performance, resulting it in becoming sluggish. Further collisions mean lower speeds which can make evading the police a challenge.

The engine sound seems more high-revving and smoother compared to the GTA IV iteration, being also shared with the Asterope and the Romero Hearse.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * The Premier can only be modified in a TransFender garage.

Notable Owners

 * T-Bone Mendez owns a Premier, as seen in the mission Mike Toreno.
 * After his son takes his original car, Michael De Santa temporarily drives a red Premier (registration no. 880HS955) as his new primary vehicle. The vehicle (possibly a rental vehicle) can be customized and will retain these modifications while Michael owns it. Following Monkey Business, Michael regains his Tailgater and will lose this car permanently; any modifications to the car will be reset. Furthermore, this vehicle cannot be stored without exchanging the car with Franklin or Trevor.
 * In Something Sensible, Michael steals and commandeers a blue Premier to ram into Trevor's truck. It is destroyed after Trevor's truck explodes.
 * Nigel owns a light blue Premier (registration no. 28BNT310), as seen in Vinewood Souvenirs - Al Di Napoli and (possibly destroyed in) Vinewood Souvenirs - The Last Act. After this mission (provided the player let Al Di Napoli leave), the player can keep and store it.
 * During the opening cutscene of Complications, a man named Kenneth is seen test-driving a Premier at Premium Deluxe Motorsport, though it is unknown if he purchases it.
 * Tao Cheng and his translator hitches a ride in a Premier after the mission Trevor Philips Industries.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * Mike Toreno - A Premier is given after the cutscene, although the player can use any vehicle to reach the airport.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * The Multi Target Assassination - A grey Premier spawns at the gas station.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * Spawns commonly at Market and Commerce.
 * Spawns commonly at the southern and western areas of San Fierro.
 * Rarely seen at Jefferson.

Grand Theft Auto IV
The Premier is rare vehicle, seldom spawning throughout the entire state.
 * Might spawn whilst driving a Banshee around Alderney.
 * Most common around Dukes and areas all over Alderney.
 * Sometimes appears as a target vehicle in the Vigilante missions.
 * The Premier tends to spawn normally earlier in the game, mostly in Hove Beach.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * Very common in Los Santos and can be found in parking garages around the city.
 * Spawns at Michael's house after Did Somebody Say Yoga? until Caida Libre, then at Trevor's trailer between Minor Turbulence and Monkey Business.

General

 * The Premier plays the following radio stations by default when entered:
 * GTA San Andreas: CSR 103.9.
 * GTA IV: Electro-Choc or Radio Broker.
 * GTA V: Rebel Radio.
 * Coincidentally, the car shares its name with the, which was a full-size four-door sedan produced in Australia by General Motors subsidiary Holden from the 1960s to 1980. It was the slightly higher spec version of the . However, due to the in-game Premier being based on the Chevrolet Caprice (3D Universe) and Cobalt (HD Universe), it has no connection to the real world vehicle at all.
 * It also shares its name with the, a full-size executive sedan sold in the United States in the late 1980's; though it also shares little in common with the in-game renditions.
 * Premier is a title for the in some countries, states and sub-national governments. (e.g. Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Premier of the Soviet Union).

Grand Theft Auto IV

 * One of the badges, labeled "PRM", resembles the Pontiac GTO's side badges.
 * The Premier features the door-ajar chime, which can be heard with the driver's door open in quiet areas.
 * The Premier in GTA IV features dual exhaust tips, however, there is a glitch, that the left pipe spews out fumes, while the right one does not.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online

 * When stationary, holding the accelerator and pressing the handbrake locks the front wheels, and pressing the brake locks the rear wheels, unlike other front wheel drive cars and all other rear/four wheel drive cars. However, when moving, the handbrake will lock the rear wheels, and the brake will lock the front wheels. This behavior matches that of the Blista, and does not conform with any other front wheel drive car nor rear wheel drive cars.
 * This is likely because the GTA IV iteration of the Premier is rear wheel drive, code was likely shared from the original Premier, causing compatibility issues. Given the Blista's performance is very similar to the Premier, the Blista likely suffers from this bug as it shares code from the Premier.

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