Driving School
Type
Driving School
Appears in
Location
Mission Objectives
Conditions of Mission Failure
- Wasted
- Vehicle stops
- Time runs out
Rewards
Rewards
- Driving Skill increased
- Super GT(all bronze)
- Bullet(all silver)
- Hotknife(all gold)
- Wang Cars available to purchase(ifYay Ka-Boom-Boom is also completed)
- Banshee spawns next to theCobra Marital Arts Gym
- Bullet spawns at theBurger Shot inJuniper Hollow
Unlock Requirements
Unlocked by
Unlocks
Technical Information
Time of day
TheDriving School, identified in-game asTurning Tricks Advanced Motoring, is a motoring educational establishment inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas whereCarl Johnson learns advanced driving maneuvers and tactics of handling a vehicle.
Description[]
It is located inDoherty,San Fierro, two blocks south of theDoherty Garage and right across theDoherty Safehouse. It is marked by a red "S" on the map, and is unlocked after completing the missionDeconstruction,Jethro will phone and tell Carl about the driving school. Walking to the red marker inside the Driving School leads to the missionBack to School, which is simply a cutscene where thetutor introduces Carl to the driving tests, after which Carl can go to the red marker in front of the TV to start taking tests.
Spending more and more time there will increase the player's driving skill and, once the meter is full, handling for all cars will become much better, more controllable while sliding. While completing the school in general is quite difficult, getting all gold medals in particular is notoriously tough even for the most skilled players. The challenging points here are time limits and damage penalties. In addition, coming to a complete stop, even if only for an instant, will often end a test prematurely (especially during the Burn and Lap and City Slicking tests).
Passing the Driving School, along with completing the missionYay Ka-Boom-Boom, is required to unlock theWang Carsfor purchase and its asset missions. However, while necessary for 100% completion of the game, the Wang Cars strand is not mandatory for completing the main storyline of the game.
Also, inside the Driving School is where the player could first discoverMichelle Cannes, one of the six possiblegirlfriends Carl can date.
Tests[]
The 360[]
- Time limit: 10 seconds
- Given vehicle:Infernus
- The player is required to perform a burnout and turn the car 360 degrees without moving the car forward or backward.
- Press and hold Accelerate and Reverse at the same time, then turn Left or Right until the car makes a full circle.
The 180[]
- Time limit: 10 seconds
- Given vehicle:Blista Compact
- The player is required to drive forward and make a U-turn around a cone lane from either side without hitting any cones.
- Drive towards the cone lane and, after about half the car has passed the frontmost inner cone, press and hold the Handbrake while turning.
Whip and Terminate[]
- Time limit: 5 seconds
- Given vehicle:Banshee
- The player is required to drive through a cone lane, then make a 90-degree turn around a corner and accelerate towards the end area.
- The player can choose whether to turn left or right.
- Drive towards the turn and, after about half the car has passed the frontmost inner cone, press and hold the Handbrake while turning.
Pop and Control[]
- Time limit: 5 seconds
- Given vehicle:SFPDPolice Car
- The player is required to drive over aSpike Strip and maneuver the car through a small section of cones forming a chicane towards the end area.
- Get as much momentum as possible while driving towards the strip, then let go of the acceleration after the tires get punctured to focus on maneuvering through the cones.
- Remember that flat-tired vehicles are easier to control at slower speeds, so try not to accelerate too much.
Burn and Lap[]
- Time limit: 40 seconds
- Given vehicle: Banshee
- The player is required to drive 5 laps, making 180 turns at both ends of a rectangular course in under 40 seconds.
- The player can choose whether to go clockwise or counter-clockwise.
- Drive towards the turns and, after about half the car has passed the frontmost inner cone, press and hold the Handbrake while turning.
- To attain silver and gold medals, this test must be completed within 38 and 36 seconds respectively without destroying any cones.
Cone Coil[]
- Time limit: 10 seconds
- Given vehicle: Banshee
- The player is required to navigate through rows of cones with openings on the left and right sides, then perform a 180-degree turn and return to the starting point.
- The player can choose whether to enter from the left or the right.
- The player must stay within the boundaries at all times.
The '90'[]
- Time limit: 5 seconds
- Given vehicle: Banshee
- The player is required to perform aparallel parking by sliding the car sideways and stopping in between two parked cars, facing in the same direction as those cars without causing too much damage to the player's car.
- Drive towards the parked cars, then press and hold the Handbrake while turning Left upon approaching them.
Wheelie Weave[]
- Time limit: None
- Given vehicle: Banshee
- The player is required to go into a double wheelie by driving through a ramp, moving towards the designated area while still on two wheels.
- Try to keep the car on two wheels after leaving the ramp.
- If playing on a PC, it is recommended to turn on the "Frame Limiter" before attempting this test.
Spin and Go[]
- Time limit: 5 seconds
- Given vehicle:Taxi
- The player is required to reverse, then quickly turn and accelerate towards the end area without hitting any cones.
- The player can choose whether to spin left or right.
- Try to look behind while reversing for a better view of where to do a 180-degree spin.
PIT Maneuver[]
- Time limit: None
- Given vehicle: SFPD Police Car
- The player is required to perform aPIT maneuver on the other SFPD Police Car from either side without causing too much damage to either of the cars, while also getting both cars as close to each other as possible.
- Both cars must stay within the boundaries at all times.
Alley Oop[]
- Time limit: 5 seconds
- Given vehicle: Banshee
- The player is required to jump off the ramp at an angle from either side, then complete a full barrel roll while jumping over a row of cars in front of the ramp and land perfectly on four wheels.
- While in the air, let go of the accelerator and use the directional buttons or analog stick to control the car's pitch.
- Try not to cause the car to flip over the ground.
- If playing on a PC, it is recommended to turn on the "Frame Limiter" before attempting this test.
City Slicking[]
- Time limit: 120 seconds
- Given vehicle:Super GT
- The player is required to navigate around the city towards Otto's Autos car showroom across town, then return to the Driving School, all in under 120 seconds without causing any actual damage to the player's car.
- Unlike all of the other driving tests, this test takes place on the streets of San Fierro instead of the walled boundaries of the Driving School. This test also contains all of the features of the game on the streets, including road traffic and pedestrians.
- The player's car will not take any damage if landed perfectly after being airborne. Ramming non-solid posts and pedestrians at high speed will also not cause actual damage, but may merely cause visual damage.
- To attain a gold medal, this test must be completed within 100 seconds without taking any damage.
Scoring[]
The scoring is based on the final heading and position of the player's car. This is the formula of the scoring (goes for all other schools):
(Final Heading + Final Position) / 2 - Damage Penalty = Final Score
For the Burn and Lap and City Slicking tests, the scoring is simply based on time instead, therefore the formula is:
([Gold Medal Time * 2 - Overall Time] / Gold Medal Time) * 100 - Damage Penalty = Final Score'
Rewards[]
The reward for completing all tests is aSuper GT for Bronze, aBullet for Silver, and aHotknife for Gold. These three will be parked outside of the school. Additionally, a unique navy blue colored and black stripedBanshee spawns next to theCobra Marital Arts Gym inGarcia, and a unique grey colored and brown striped Bullet spawns in the parking lot ofBurger Shot inJuniper Hollow.
It is worth noting that the Hotknife spawned outside of the school as a reward for passing all tests with a gold medal comes with a custom license plate reading "GOLD".
Ironically, although it is considered the "lesser" of the three car awards, the Super GT is the only one of the three to qualify for the laterExports and Imports mission, making it easier to export as it is located closer toEaster Basin docks.
Video Walkthroughs[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In thePC version, it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to progress through the driving school with the Frame Limiter turned off. The physics and handling effects that occur at higher framerates (instant peel-out on accelerate, automatic braking instead of coasting when letting up off acceleration, etc.) can break the player's ability to perform certain maneuvers. It is recommended to have the Frame Limiter enabled.
- The phrase "turning tricks" is a slang term for prostitution.
- This is the only one of the four schools in the game with its own unique interior (all the others have their offices in the "exterior world", albeit there is an unused interior forBike School).
- A very strange glitch occurs on the grounds of the driving school. If Carl isn't datingMichelle Cannes, then he will find her inside the office, talking to a random pedestrian. If Carl enters the office, then leaves it and climbs up onto the roof of the building, then the pedestrian that was talking to Michelle Cannes in the office will fall from the sky and land on the roof of the office. Although it could be possibly because of theHidden Interiors Universe.
- In the mobile edition ofGTA San Andreas, the "Spin and Go" test is omitted, presumably due to difficulties that may arise from attempting to perform the said maneuver with the limited controls on a mobile device. Despite this change, at the beginning of the tests, it will still say that there are twelve tests.
- Also in the mobile edition, as well as the Xbox 360 edition of the game, the "Burn and Lap" test only requires 3 laps instead of 5.
- The music which plays during the results screen when a course is completed is a version ofReview the Scores made by Westar Music, a company which offers royalty-free sound effects and music.
- According to theCarrec file in the paths folder, there is an unused driving school test.
- The medal awarded after passing a contest is different in the mobile version. In PC versions, it shows a flag; in the mobile it shows a car drifting (The car model is probably used from theSuper GT'sGTA IV design).
- The wheel rims seen on the posters depicting theFeltzer andHustler, placed on the walls of the school building, are reused fromGrand Theft Auto III.[ref?]
- The respective posters were changed inThe Definitive Edition.[ref?]
