- "Sentinal" redirects here. For the other car, see Sentinel.
Template:Infobox vehicles The Karin Kuruma is a Japanese four-door sedan featured in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and featured in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto Online Heists Update. It is also a sedan cut during the development of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV, assumed by some to be replaced by the Admiral (GTA VC/VCS) and the Feroci (GTA IV).
It is also featured as a car brand in another Rockstar Games title, Midnight Club Street Racing, with 3 different models.
Overview
Design
3D Universe
The word "kuruma" means "car" in Japanese (車, くるま), which may suggest that the car is of Japanese origin. "Kuruma" may also be a reference to the Toyota Camry, the bestselling midsize sedan in the United States, with "Camry" being an Anglicized phonetic transcription of the Japanese word kanmuri (冠, かんむり) for "crown". (Toyota has a naming tradition of using the word "crown" for primary models, starting with the Toyota Crown in 1955, continuing with the Toyota Corona and Toyota Corolla, the Latin words for "crown" and "small crown", respectively.)
The GTA III rendition of the car is strongly based on a 2001-2006 Chrysler Sebring sedan or a 1998-2004 Dodge Intrepid (both the design and the fact that the car has a longitudinally mounted engine in Xbox version), and it comes with uncolored (gray) bumpers and trims, giving it the appearance of a base model. The Kuruma in GTA III is also said to bear some resemblance to a 1997-2001 Honda Accord. For GTA Liberty City Stories, the Kuruma has slight cosmetic changes to make it look like a generic Japanese sedan during the late 90's, the front appearing to resemble a 1992-1995 European Toyota Corona or a 1997-2000 Nissan Altima, the taillights from an Opel/Vauxhall/Holden/Chevrolet Vectra C and its bumpers and trim are body-colored to give it a more upscale look, although there still are base Kurumas with unpainted trims and bumpers, especially if the car is sprayed white or grey. It has styling cues from the 1995-2000 Hyundai Elantra.
The Kuruma is the first car made available to the player in both GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories, in the missions "Give Me Liberty" and "Home Sweet Home", respectively, probably due to the fact that it handles relatively neutrally. When originally introduced in GTA III, the car is not seen driven on the streets of Portland Island, but is parked in various locations in the island; in GTA Liberty City Stories, the car is present in Portland traffic.
During development of GTA III, the Kuruma was originally known as the "Sentinal", not to be confused by the Sentinel which is another sedan in the final version of the same game that was previously known as the "Beamer" during development.
Gallery
 The Kuruma as the "Sentinal" during development of GTA III.  GTA III (Rear quarter view).  GTA Liberty City Stories (Rear quarter view, with grey bumpers).  The unique Teal coloured Kuruma from Give Me Liberty. |
HD Universe
The Karin Kuruma comes back in the Heists Update. The overall shape and front fascia of the car seems to be based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X while the rear end is based on a 2015 Subaru Impreza. It appears in an armoured variant, modified with metal cages in the front and side windows.
Performance
In GTA III, the Kuruma has a turbocharged four cylinder engine and a FWD powertrain. Whilst the engine is powerful enough to propel the light Kuruma to high straight line speeds, the front wheel drive layout causes understeer. Players may therefore favor using the handbrake to swing around turns at high speed. In GTA Liberty City Stories, its engine is naturally-aspirated and emits a same engine sound as the Manana, Idaho and the Perennial.
Nonetheless, the car's firm handling makes it a good choice for the first LCS car race in the mission Grease Sucho.
The Kuruma possesses almost identical handling properties to the GTA III rendition of the Taxi.
Variants
- During Home Sweet Home, the player drives Vincenzo to the safehouse with a unique black Kuruma.
- During Give Me Liberty, the player drives a unique teal Kuruma, having a different shade than the usual ones. To save it, park it in the garage after the mission Luigi's Girls.
- FBI Car
- Forelli Exsess, the modified gang variant used by the Forelli Family in GTA Liberty City Stories.
- A unique blue Kuruma appears in the mission Salvatore's Salvation. It can be obtained by parking it in the garage of the Portland Safehouse and shooting at the trunk.
Locations
- GTA III
- Head Radio Studio, Hepburn Heights, Portland Island.
- Greasy Joe's Café, Callahan Point, Portland Island.
- Docks, Portland Harbor, Portland Island.
- Momma's Restaurant, Saint Mark's, Portland Island.
- Capital Autos, Harwood, Portland Island.
- Liberty Tree parking lot, Bedford Point, Staunton Island.
- In a car park, near the apartments, in Wichita Gardens, Shoreside Vale.
- GTA Liberty City Stories
- Parked outside Vincenzo's warehouse in Atlantic Quays, Portland Island. The car is uniquely black.
- In Saint Mark's, parked where you dropped off the drugs for Salvatore from the Cartel in the mission Contra-Banned.
- Spawns regularly on all three islands.
- Capital Autos, Harwood, Portland Island (only before completing Car Salesman to level 4).
- A few blocks from Momma's Restaurante.
Trivia
Manhunt's rendition of the Kuruma.
The working Kuruma featured in Manhunt 2
- The Kuruma has appeared as both a wreck and a working car in Manhunt and Manhunt 2, respectively (see also Kuruma article at Wikihunt).
- The Kuruma was meant to appear in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but cut during development. This is evidenced in the handling files and it is probably replaced by the Admiral, probably a leftover from GTA III.
- Kuruma also exists as a car manufacturer in another popular Rockstar game Midnight Club. It has one model called the Faasuto (based on a Mazda RX-7 and a Nissan 240SX) with 3 variants: The GR, GS, and GT. It should also be noted that this is a hidden car and in order to unlock it and its versions, you have to find 3 hidden markers in the city of London.
- The Kuruma is referenced in an episode of crime drama NCIS where a witness tells Agent McGee that a getaway car was a "Kuruma", and later explains to his confused superiors: "Kuruma is the name of a car in Grand Theft Auto III. It’s a Chrysler Sebring sedan." A video of the exchange can be found here.
- The GTA Liberty City Stories rendition has 3-speed transmission. This can be heard when driving at straight line, and the engine makes three shifts.
- Some players may consider that the Kuruma resembles Toyota Yaris Sedan, however this is coincidental, as Toyota Yaris (both the sedan and hatchback variant) was introduced circa 2002-2003, well after the events of both GTA III and GTA LCS.
- The Kuruma in GTA III has more spawn locations in Portland then anywhere else in the city, despite never appearing in traffic.
See also
- Admiral, Washington and Greenwood, possible predecessors of the Kuruma.
- Merit, Intruder, Premier, Primo, and Vincent, GTA San Andreas counterparts.
- Sentinel, mid-size counterpart.
- Chavos, Feroci, and Premier, Grand Theft Auto IV counterparts.