Saints Row All Vehicle Special Upgrades Guide

Saints Row (2022 Reboot) has 10 Vehicle Special Upgrades. Unlocking all Vehicle Special Upgrades is needed for the Heard You Like Wheels trophy or achievement. They are called “Signature Abilities” in-game. You can see them in the garage, when scrolling over a vehicle, in the bottom right corner. It will say the ability name and what you must do to unlock it. They require doing little challenges like backflips or barrel rolls. One garage can be found at your Headquarters and one is at JimRob’s venture in West Providencia.

For the Heard You Like Wheels trophy / achievement you only need to unlock each unique ability once, for one car. You don’t need to unlock them for every single car in the game, the same Signature Abilities are shared between multiple cars. In other words: you must only unlock the Signature Ability for 10 cars, one of each ability type.

The best method would be to finish the story and do 100% district completion first (see 100% Guide). After this you will automatically have access to a vehicle of each ability class, they all come as rewards from main missions and side activities. You could also steal random vehicles from the street and park them in your garage until you get one that has the abilities you are missing, but this would be more random. It doesn’t matter for which specific car you unlock the ability, you only need it for one car. Any car that has the ability will do. This guide is based on the cars that you automatically unlock on your way to 100% completion because they are guaranteed rewards and don’t require any additional searching.

1. Jump

How to Unlock: Perform 3 Barrel Rolls
Drive up a ramp at full speed, as you jump off hold + / + / Drift Key + Right. This will make you spin in the air and do a barrel roll. A great place for it is East Providencia district, in the north of the district around the graveyard, there are many ramps and dirt hills you can jump from. Alternatively, see the spot for “Super Air Control” for another good spot. You need to keep holding the left stick to the side until a full barrel roll is complete, if done correctly you will see the counter go up in the bottom right corner of the screen.

 

Vehicle: Ridgelord
Automatic story unlock, it’s the first vehicle you start the game with.

2. Crab Steering

How to Unlock: Sideswipe 8 Enemy Vehicles
You must press the left stick to the side ( / ) + to sideswipe vehicles. This only counts on ENEMY vehicles, not on civilian cars. Easiest option is to get yourself into a chase with the police or an enemy gang, sideswipe their vehicles.

Vehicle: Ride
Automatic story unlock, from 7th Main Mission “Be Your Own Boss“.

3. Super Air Control

How to Unlock: Do 2 Double Back Flips
You must jump off a ramp and hold . This will make a backflip in the air, but you must do 2 in one go. They don’t need to be 2 full rotations, only 1.5 rotations and it will count. A good place to do it is in Monte Vista, in the west of the district is a ramp on a mountain for a very long jump. If you have trouble, upgrade the vehicle you’re using at the garage for faster speed.

Vehicle: Ant (aka “RS Gas Buggy”)
Unlocked from finishing the “ Pony Express” Side Hustle in Smelterville West.

 

4. Air Boost

How to Unlock: Do 3x 360 Degree Spins
Jump off a ramp, in midair pull the left stick to the side to do a 360° Spin ( or ). Don’t hold other buttons while in midair. You must do a full sideways rotation. Can do 1 per jump for 3 total. The ramps around the graveyard in East Providencia work well, same place as the “Jump” ability.

Vehicle: Shield (aka “The Kingmobile”)
Unlocked from a “ Pony Express” Side Hustle in Rojas Desert South. Complete other Pony Express Side Hustles to make it appear. Scrolling over the map icon says the reward is “The Kingmobile” but in your garage it’s actually called “Shield”.
 

5. Infinite Boost

How to Unlock: Do 3 Full Nitrous Burns
In the garage select a vehicle that can unlock this special upgrade, click “Customize” > “Equipment” > “Nitrous” > Buy and equip for $7500. While driving hold down / to burn a full Nitrous bar, shown in the bottom right corner of the screen. It automatically refills. Repeat this a total of 3 times. A good place is the long bridge in the middle of the map that connects the left and right side of the city. There you have a long straight road.

Vehicle: Attrazione
Found driving around Lakeshore North & Lakeshore South. Drive it back to the garage to save the vehicle. Alternatively, complete all of JimRob’s Venture jobs (the garage marked purple in West Providencia) to unlock his special golden Attrazione permanently.

6. Ball & Chain

How to Unlock: Towing Payload Smashes x100
At the garage, customize your vehicle and buy the equipment “Towing Cable” for $7500. Press / to attach the cable from the back of your vehicle to another car. Then tow the car and smash it into objects on the sides of roads, like traffic cones, trees, bushes etc. On the right side it will show a notification “Payload Smashing” each time it counts.

Vehicle: Dustrider
Unlocked from completing “Castle Kraken” Venture (do all venture missions for it).

7. Kneecappers

How to Unlock: Near-Miss Streak x8
Drive on the wrong side of the road and drive very close to the oncoming traffic to get a “near miss”. Do this 8 times in one go. Can be done anywhere. The bridge in the middle of the map is easiest because it’s a long straight road without any turns.

Vehicle: Shifty (Go-Kart)
Found in the south-west corner of El Dorado, at the Go-Kart race track. Check for Go-Karts inside the shed on the west-side of the race track, there are usually 1-3 Go-Karts parked there, if not drive away and come back to make vehicles spawn.

8. Bowelrod Roar

How to Unlock: Finish “The Rod Warrior”
You get the Bowelrod from finishing the 17th Main Mission “The Rod Warrior“. The special ability should automatically be unlocked when you finish the mission. You can check it afterward at the garage.

Vehicle: Bowelrod
Unlocked from finishing 17th Main Mission “The Rod Warrior“. Found at your garage.

9. Tank Gun

How to Unlock: Finish “Severance Package”
You get the MDI-344T tank from finishing the 30th Main Mission “Severance Package“. The special ability should automatically be unlocked when you finish the mission. You can check it afterward at the garage.

Vehicle: MDI-344T tank
Unlocked from finishing 30th Main Mission “Severance Package” Found at your garage.

10. Ejector Seats

How to Unlock: Car to Wingsuit x1
Drive the car at high speed, hold / to get on the rooftop, then press / when it says “jump to wingsuit”. If your car isn’t driving fast enough it might not work, must go at a high speed.

Vehicle: Saguaro
Unlocked from completing “First Strike Dojo” venture (Empire Tier 4).

That’s all 10 Vehicle Special Upgrades in Saints Row (2022 Reboot). After getting 1 of each you will earn the Heard You Like Wheels trophy or achievement.

For everything needed to obtain 100% completion check out the Saints Row Wiki & Strategy Guide.