GTA 6 driving 'built up from scratch,' says Rob Nelson
Asked whether GTA 6 cars feel as heavy as GTA 4's, Rob Nelson says the driving model was rebuilt from scratch for current consoles. Drivetrain, tires, suspension and steering now feed the physics, and supercars struggle off-road.
GTA6 LIFE
GTA 6 driving and vehicle physics were rebuilt from scratch, according to Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson, quoted by GamesRadar+ on September 4, 2026. Drivetrain, tires, suspension, steering and power now set how each car behaves, powerful rear-wheel-drive cars need throttle control, and taking a supercar off-road gets much harder. Rockstar Games has published no vehicle stats at all.
Driving and vehicle physics in Grand Theft Auto VI were rebuilt from scratch. Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, said so to Australian creator TGG, who had asked him whether GTA 6 cars carry the weight of GTA 4. GamesRadar+ published the exchange on September 4, 2026.
“Only in the best way possible. The team has worked hard to maintain some of the best parts of the weightiness and feel of GTA 4, but have the accessibility of GTA 5. It has all been built up from scratch on this hardware, and they have much more control tuning drivetrain, tires, suspension, steering, all of that is getting applied to the physics model.”
Vice spelled out the consequences on September 5, 2026, working from the long thread TGG posted on X after his visit to Rockstar North. Two cars no longer drive alike: drivetrain, tires, suspension, steering and power set the behaviour. A powerful rear-wheel-drive car asks for throttle control. And taking a supercar off the tarmac gets considerably harder.
The getaway car is a decision made before the robbery
Trunk space counts too, per the same Vice breakdown: a bike adds almost nothing, while cars, vans and trucks hold progressively more duffel bags. Shooting tires can send a driver into a spin or flip the car, and crash cameras trigger on major collisions, with an option to switch them off. On a PlayStation pad the handbrake moves to X, because L1 and R1 are now used to shoot while driving. Getting the car in the first place is its own problem, in a game where theft runs on tiers of tools.
The city does as much work as the mechanics. On August 27, 2026, Rob Nelson told Insider Gaming that narrower streets and denser traffic in Leonida make driving “slightly more challenging” and require “a bit of skill”.
All of it comes from a guided demo: the July 2026 sessions were held without a controller according to MP1st, and nobody outside Rockstar has driven in GTA 6 yet. The studio has published no vehicle stats, no top speed and no acceleration figure, and the fastest car in the game is still unknown with 74 days left to November 19, 2026.
