GTA Wiki:Manual of Style/Vehicles/Variants

After 01 Feb 2015, a very simple rule applies to variants of vehicles in the GTA series; a vehicle with an altered or new name has a new article. Therefore any variants of vehicles must have a new article, regardless of differences. (E.g. Baller and its variants are to be all separated each other; Baller, Baller LE, Baller LE (Armored), Baller LE LWB and Baller LE LWB (Armored))
 * Variants are to be mentioned under a  heading, including a short description, an image, and a link to its main article if possible (  (unless of course the variant isn't named in-game or shares the same name as the standard vehicle, where it should simply remain as a description and image in this section - E.g. Snow variants of cars in GTA V).

Organization
STEP 1: Verify if the variant has any different in-game name or separated wiki page (main rule). This separates "named" from "unnamed variants" ("unnamed" here means that the vehicle will have the same name as the standard version);

STEP 2: When there is only the "unnamed variants", this step should be followed in order to identify a "special variant" among them:
 * 1) They should be minor appearances, e. g. only during missions, and cannot be found anywhere else in game (they cannot even be available to purchase online, in the case of GTA V). Most of them only appear once or even twice in-game. However, if their mission appearances is more than 3, they cannot be considered a special variant (but they can still go in variants section).
 * 2) Don't have any spawn location (presumably), making them even rarer to obtain;
 * 3) Are unobtainable in normal means (only through glitches, save editor, etc).

For example, "unnamed" "Snowy" vehicles in GTA V meet all three requirements and are considered special variants by default. However, to be considered a special variant, it is necessary to meet only one requirement above;

STEP 3: This can only be applied when the variant doesn't meet any of the above rules (from STEP 1 and STEP 2):
 * 1) "Gang variants", should have its own subsection. To be considered a gang variant, vehicles must have unique modifications (paintjobs and other visual differences) according to their respective gangs, should be found exclusively in some gang turfs or are driven only by gang members.
 * 2) Pre-modified vehicles (enhanced version of GTA V) and company variants must not be included in "variants" section. If they appear randomly in freeroam and/or in different spawn locations, they go in the Image Gallery, even if they have unique modifications.
 * 3) Variants used for a special missions are to be included in "variants", under a separate subsection, even if they do appear frequently in-game and/or have spawn locations. Examples for this are Burglary Boxville and Toyz variant of Pony.

After following these steps, the main structure of a variant section should be separated in three parts:
 * "Named Variants" (From STEP 1), each one under a separate heading (, followed by a template, if possible). The sequence should reflect the order of appearances (from older to newer games);
 * "Gang Variants" (From STEP 3, if any), under a separate heading:, or if there is only gang using the variant it is possible to use   instead. Different game appearances of Gang variants should be internally separated by a bulletpoint list. Note that a gang variant is only included here if it doesn't have any different in-game name.
 * "Special Variants" (from STEP 2), under a separate heading . Different special variants appearances should be internally separated by a bulletpoint list. The sequence should reflect the order of appearances (from older to newer games).

Why Separate?
The latest rule of having separate articles for vehicles with new names was proposed after multiple discussions, arguments and fall-outs began to spread across the GTA Wiki as to what constitutes as a Variant. Users believed that minor differences found on vehicles such as the Baller LE do not deserve new articles, regardless of the new name, however other users saw this as inconsistent with what pages were currently split. This lead to further disagreements, wherein more and more pages were constantly being combined, split or destroyed.

Multiple suggestions were also carried out, such as laying out a table and users decide what variables should be measured in order to designate a new article, differences such as configuration, drivetrain, engine type, body work changes, entry name and model names. While these were effective, it became problematic when numerous vehicles popped up on the list that were already split and were way too large to combine, or vehicles that had an equal amount of "Yes" and "No" listings on such variables. Another suggestion was to simply merge everything. As such, pages such as all variants of the Buffalo, including the Buffalo S, Police Buffalo and FIB Buffalo were merged. While this was effective, it was once again making articles way too large. This particular suggestion also brought confusion on whether to use combined infoboxes (which would be problematic for things such as related vehicles, body style, manufacturer, games and prices) or to separate infoboxes across the page (which, in turn, made pages more cluttered and confusing). Another suggestion was to have all variants in a special "Variants" sub page of vehicles. This saw results similar to the previous suggestion, in that it was cluttered, and some vehicles did not seem to fit in this list.

With all discussions resulting in nothing but fall outs, arguments and inconsistencies, several users, including Monkeypolice188, WildBrick142 and Thegtaseeker96 came to the agreement of splitting all named vehicles. Other, unnamed vehicles remained in the Variants section, wherein new rules (which are listed above) were complied to cater for the many situations of having gang variants, modification variants, pre-modified vehicles and alternate models.

Unfortunately some users did not agree and claimed it was unfair to make such decisions without proper discussion. In defense, the users in agreement with the split claimed that, as proved, discussions had brought nothing but chaos and did not come to any actual, efficient conclusions. As such, the GTA Wiki has come to an official agreement to follow the new system. It will NOT be changed in future.

Determining which vehicles act as bases of "variants"
There are numerous strict circumstances which constitute vehicles as "base" models - vehicles which are seen as the original model to which a variant is built on top of. In the Grand Theft Auto series, due to the lack of consistency with vehicle names, vehicle designs and generations, numerous factors can evidence vehicles as being and not being variants.


 * If the vehicle has vehicle(s) which expand upon its existing name, for example, Sabre Turbo and Sabre Turbo Custom, Cognoscenti and Cognoscenti 55, Tampa and Drift Tampa, and Baller LE and Baller LE (Armored), these are its variants, and can be classed as such in the Variants section of the base vehicle's article.
 * If the vehicle has vehicle(s) which develop or expand upon its current design, and are introduced later in the GTA series (and strictly share the same design), for example, Phantom and Rubble, Biff and Mixer, and Securicar and Utility Truck, these are also its variants.
 * If a vehicle has vehicle(s) which share the base design and are introduced later to the player within the same game, and cannot be found before the base vehicle, for example, Dune Buggy and Space Docker (as Space Docker is unlocked later in the game), these are also its variants.

Important notes:
 * If two vehicles share designs and are released in the original version of the same game, neither of these vehicles can be considered a variant of the other, as it cannot be proven that one vehicle was built upon the other. Examples of this include the GTA IV Securicar and the Enforcer and Police Stockade, as the GTA IV rendition of the Securicar was released alongside the Enforcer and Police Stockade's designs; it is unknown which came first.
 * This can also apply to specific generations and models of vehicles too, for example, one variant of the Tipper shares the cab design with the Mixer, but as these specific models were released in the same game at the same time, it cannot be said which is or isn't the variant of the other.
 * Note this doesn't apply to vehicles which feature both a civilian and emergency/service counterpart, or other obvious old/new vehicles, such as Merit in GTA IV, and Stanier in GTA IV and GTA V, Vigero and beater Vigero, Wolfsbane and Rat Bike.
 * If file data reveals that a similar vehicle is indeed a variant, such as the Avarus and Sanctus, this may also count depending on vehicle design/performance relation.
 * "Classic" vehicles are not variants, as Classic denotes a generation - a development of design, rather than an upgrade or change in a vehicle's pre-existing design or performance. This applies to vehicles such as the Coquette and Coquette Classic, and consequently the Coquette BlackFin* (see below), as well as the Youga and Youga Classic.
 * The Virgo and Virgo Classic, while still being completely separate vehicles, are still affected by this rule, even if they were related in design. In such a case where they were related in design, it would follow the rule of generations rather than variants, as would the two other pairs of examples mentioned above.
 * Vehicles must have some kind of design relation to be considered variants. There must be some kind of design feature that is shared overwhelmingly across vehicles. Vehicles which do not share such things, for example, cab designs, body designs, manufacturers or names, cannot be considered variants. Examples include the Turismo and Turismo R, Coquette and Coquette BlackFin and Sabre and Sabre Turbo (HD Universe renditions only).
 * This is another reason why vehicles that change through renditions are not classed as variants of each other.