Vehicular mayhem is back and bigger than ever in Borderlands 3! Forget just catching a ride – in this installment, you become a gearhead, hijacking enemy vehicles, stripping them for parts, and building your ultimate ride at Ellie’s Catch-a-Ride stations. Let’s dive deep into the world of Bl3 Car Parts and explore how you can customize your vehicles to rule the Borderlands.
Revving Up the Engine: Borderlands 3 Vehicle Combat Overhaul
Borderlands 3 marks a significant leap forward in vehicle gameplay. Gearbox Software recognized the clunky driving experience in previous titles and brought in some serious horsepower to fix it. They outsourced vehicle control development to their Quebec studio, a team with veterans from racing game franchises like Need for Speed. This strategic move paid off, resulting in tighter, more responsive vehicle handling.
My first experience behind the wheel in Borderlands 3 was at the gameplay reveal event. The difference was immediately noticeable. The controls felt intuitive, and maneuvering vehicles was smooth and satisfying. The initial driving area in the demo was quite open, allowing for easy cruising and getting a feel for the mechanics. Even at higher speeds, collisions felt realistic, without the frustration of bumping into invisible walls or glitchy objects.
Later in the demo, the action shifted to the narrow, winding streets of Meridian Metroplex. This urban environment put the vehicle handling to a real test. Lorelei pointed me towards the new Cyclone bike, and this is where the enhanced vehicle controls truly shined. Despite the Cyclone’s speed and the confined city streets, navigation was surprisingly fluid. Weaving through tight corners and dodging obstacles felt natural, even when I was still getting my bearings in the new environment.
Another welcome change in Borderlands 3 is the increased availability of Catch-A-Ride stations. They seem to be strategically placed throughout the maps, making it much easier to access vehicles. Long gone are the days of trekking across vast distances just to reach your ride. Adding to the convenience, you can now fast travel directly to your vehicle, streamlining gameplay and getting you back into the action faster.
Building Your Beast: Deep Dive into Vehicle Customization with BL3 Car Parts
Borderlands 3 elevates vehicle customization to a whole new level. Hijacking enemy vehicles isn’t just about getting a temporary ride; it’s about expanding your garage and upgrading your personal fleet. When you commandeer an enemy vehicle and bring it to a Catch-a-Ride station, you can scan its unique parts. These scanned parts are then added to your collection, allowing you to Digi-Struct them onto any vehicle you spawn in the future.
Ellie’s Catch-a-Ride stations offer three distinct vehicle chassis to start with: the Outrunner, the Technical, and the Cyclone. Each vehicle type boasts a wide array of customizable components, letting you tailor your ride to your playstyle and the challenges ahead. The customization options are extensive, ranging from Body Type (vehicle chassis) to Driver Weapons, Turret Weapons, Mods, Wheels, Armor, Material (skins), and color palettes. Let’s break down each vehicle and the bl3 car parts available:
Outrunner: Speed and Agility on Wheels
The Outrunner is your go-to for speed and nimble handling. Marketed by one of the “big five” corporations in the Borderlands universe, this vehicle is built for outpacing anything else on land – except, of course, another Outrunner.
Outrunner Stats:
- Speed: 14
- Armor: 4
Outrunner Driver Weapons:
- Machine Gun: (Default) A reliable, high-fire-rate machine gun for laying down consistent damage.
- Tesla Coil: (Maliwan Outrunners, Promethea/Pandora) Unleashes a beam of shock damage that arcs between multiple enemies, perfect for crowd control.
- Flame Thrower: (Outrunners, Pandora) Incinerates enemies with a short-range burst of flames, ideal for quickly clearing vehicle occupants.
Outrunner Turret Weapons:
- Heavy Missile: (Default) Delivers significant damage, with a 50% damage boost on direct hits. Gunners can zoom for precision targeting.
- Shotgun Missile: (COV Outrunners, Pandora) Fires a spread of missiles, offering wide area coverage. Gunners can adjust the firing pattern for tactical flexibility.
- Swarmer Missile: (Outrunner/Maliwan Outrunners, Pandora/Nekrotafeyo) Launches a volley of guided missiles that the gunner can steer with a laser sight for pinpoint accuracy.
Outrunner Wheels:
- Dune Buggy Wheels: (Default) Balanced wheels offering a good mix of speed and handling for all-around performance.
- Zip Wheels: (Zippy Outrunner, Pandora) Harnesses the e-brake to generate energy, unleashing a flaming boost for bursts of speed and style.
- Omni Wheels: (Maliwan Hover Outrunners, Promethea/Nekrotafeyo) Replaces the e-brake with a hover mode, enabling temporary levitation for navigating tricky terrain or evading enemies.
- Twitchy Wheels: (Twitchy Outrunner, Promethea/Pandora) Adds steerable rear wheels for enhanced maneuverability and tighter turns, perfect for navigating crowded environments.
Outrunner Armor:
- Stripped Armor: (Default) Lightweight armor with no durability bonus, prioritizing speed and agility.
- Heavy Armor: (Heavy Outrunner, Pandora) Heavier plated armor significantly increases durability but slightly reduces vehicle speed.
Outrunner Mods:
- Booster Canisters: (Default) A balanced boost mod optimized for both speed and duration, providing a reliable performance enhancement.
- Energy Cells: (Pulsing Outrunner, Nekrotafeyo) Provides three charges of energy that deliver a short boost and emit a pulse of shock damage, offering both mobility and offensive utility.
- Blaze Booster: (COV Outrunners, Promethea/Pandora) A fast-burning booster that delivers a powerful initial burst of speed, best used in short bursts for quick maneuvers.
- Laser Wings: (Razor Outrunner, Eden-6) Redirects boost energy to deploy laser blades around the vehicle, dealing damage to nearby enemies while boosting.
Technical: The Rugged and Explosive Brawler
The Technical is the vehicle of choice for the Children of the Vault (COV). Don’t let its rough-around-the-edges appearance fool you – this truck is surprisingly tough, packs a serious punch, and is incredibly fun to drive. It’s all about brute force and explosive power.
The Technical is the go-to COV vehicle in Borderlands 3
Alt text: Borderlands 3 Technical Vehicle: A rugged, COV-designed truck ready for explosive action, showcasing its machine gun and sturdy frame.
Technical Stats:
- Speed: 12
- Armor: 7
Technical Driver Weapons:
- Machine Gun: (Default) A classic and dependable machine gun, providing consistent firepower for engaging enemies at medium range.
- Flak Cannon: (COV Technical, Promethea/Pandora) A devastating shotgun that fires scrap projectiles, extremely effective at close range for shredding enemies and vehicles.
Technical Turret Weapons:
- Barrel Launcher: (Default) Launches explosive barrels that can be detonated mid-air, creating cluster bombs for widespread destruction.
- Sticky Bombs: (Hijack Target, Promethea) Fires bombs that adhere to any surface – vehicles, walls, or enemies – and detonate after a timer or manual trigger, offering tactical versatility.
- Tire Bombs: (Spare Tire Technical, Pandora) Launches tire-shaped bombs that can be remotely steered, allowing for precise targeting and maneuvering around obstacles.
Technical Wheels:
- All-Terrain Wheels: (Default) The fastest wheels available for the Technical, providing good speed and grip on various surfaces.
- Monster Wheels: (Angels and Speed Demons quest, Pandora) Large wheels that significantly improve handling and durability, allowing the Technical to plow through obstacles and absorb more damage.
- Barbed Wheels: (Spiked Technical, Pandora) Ignore terrain penalties and deal 50% bonus ramming damage against flesh, turning the Technical into a brutal melee weapon against organic enemies.
- Hover Wheels: (Hover Technical, Promethea) Replaces the e-brake with a hover mode, enabling temporary levitation for navigating obstacles or escaping tight spots.
Technical Armor:
- Stripped Armor: (Default) Lightweight armor with no durability bonus, prioritizing speed and maneuverability.
- Heavy Armor: (COV Technical, Promethea/Eden-6) Heavy plated armor that greatly increases durability, making the Technical a tougher opponent, although slightly reducing speed.
- Meat Grinder: (No specific source listed) Massively increases ramming damage, dealing 100% more damage to vehicles and a staggering 200% more damage against flesh, transforming the Technical into a devastating ramming machine.
Technical Mods:
- Passenger Seats: (Default) Equips the Technical with passenger seats and a boost module, allowing you to bring your squad along for the ride.
- Fuel Barrels: (COV Technical, Eden-6) Provides unlimited boost fuel, sacrificing burst speed for sustained mobility.
- Toxic Booster: (COV Technical, Promethea/Eden-6) A slower boost that leaves behind clouds of corrosive gas, damaging enemies in your wake.
- Jet Booster: (Carnivora Technicals, Pandora – Quest Specific) A powerful jet engine boost that requires a charge-up time but delivers exceptional speed, found exclusively during the Carnivora chase sequence.
Cyclone: Lightning-Fast and Maneuverable
The Cyclone is the speed demon of Borderlands 3 vehicles. While it sacrifices armor for agility, its unmatched speed and 360-degree weapon aiming make it a formidable choice for skilled drivers. If you value speed and precision, the Cyclone is your ride.
Cyclone Stats:
- Speed: 17
- Armor: 2
Cyclone Driver Weapons:
- Machine Gun: (Default) A reliable machine gun, offering consistent damage output for mobile combat.
- Explosive Needle Launcher: (Maliwan Cyclones, Nekrotafeyo/Promethea) Fires volleys of explosive needles that detonate after a short delay, providing area-of-effect damage.
- Sawblade Launcher: (COV Cyclones, Eden-6/Pandora) Launches powerful, explosive sawblades that deal massive damage on impact, perfect for taking down tougher enemies and vehicles.
Cyclone Wheels:
- Monowheel: (Default) The fastest wheel option for the Cyclone, maximizing its already impressive speed.
- Blade Wheel: (Blade Cyclone, Promethea/Eden-6/Pandora) Offers improved traction on varied terrain and significant bonus ramming damage against flesh, adding melee capability.
- Wide Wheel: (Fat Cyclone, Eden-6) Improves handling and durability, making the Cyclone more stable and resilient in combat.
- Hover Wheel: (Maliwan Hover Cyclone, Promethea) Enables hover mode with the e-brake, allowing for temporary levitation and bypassing ground obstacles.
Cyclone Armor:
- Stripped Armor: (Default) Lightweight armor with no durability bonus, prioritizing speed and agility.
- Heavy Armor: (Heavy Cyclone, Promethea/Eden-6) Heavier plated armor that increases durability, providing some added protection at the cost of slight speed reduction.
Cyclone Mods:
- Heavy Booster: (Default) An extremely powerful boost that unleashes maximum speed, perfect for rapid escapes or aggressive maneuvers.
Personalize Your Ride: BL3 Car Skins and Themes
Beyond performance parts, Borderlands 3 lets you customize the visual style of your vehicles with a variety of paint job themes and color adjustments. You can find different skin themes as loot drops throughout the game, just like weapons and other gear.
BL3 Car Skin Themes:
| Skin Name | Skin Description |
|---|---|
| Default | Classic Look |
| Atlas | You are now sponsored by the Atlas Corporation! |
| Magic Number | “Illusion, Michael” |
| Blue Angels | Who’s the star? You’re the star! |
| Bubblegum | Let’s face it, this paint job would exist anyway. Chew on this! |
| Children of the Vault | The Calypsos probably wouldn’t like us rocking their color, but who cares? |
| Dahl | You are now sponsored by the Dahl Corporation! |
| Ellie | Ain’t that a beauty? Feel free to change it even though it would break my heart. |
| Follow-Me | Fancy a game of checkers? |
| Forest Camo | Forest Camo? Anyone happen to remember we’re invading a desert planet? |
| Golden Ticket | Big Donny gave his life so you could have this … well you took it from him. |
| Gearbox | Now where have I seen this before …? |
| Halftone | Want this one? Sign here on the dotted line. |
| Hyperion | You are now sponsored by the Hyperion Corporation! |
| Jakobs | You are now sponsored by the Jakobs Corporation! |
| I like dinosaurs | Life huh … finds a way. |
| Leather | A tough leather finish. |
| Maliwan | You are now sponsored by the Maliwan Corporation … wait what? |
| Plaid | So warm and fuzzy |
| Roadkill | Look at this beauty, just like new! Wait, is that blood? |
| Skag | We love Skags. Don’t you? |
| Stealth | For stealthy night operations. Not sure how it works with all these explosives. |
| Thunderbird | Instead of soaring through the sky, you will ram through skags. |
| Torgue | You are now sponsored by the Torgue Corporation! |
| Vaughn’s | Vaughn is serious with this Sunsmasher business. |
| Vladof | You are now sponsored by the Vladof Corporation! |
| Woodland Camo | Ideal for chasing those pesky CoVs on Pandora. |
Once you select a theme, you can further personalize your vehicle by adjusting the three base colors, allowing for a truly unique look.
Scanning for Success: How to Acquire BL3 Car Parts
To expand your collection of bl3 car parts, you need to scan hijacked vehicles at a Catch-a-Ride station. Here’s how:
- Hijack an Enemy Vehicle: Take control of an enemy vehicle in the open world.
- Drive to a Catch-a-Ride Station: Locate the nearest Catch-a-Ride station (marked on your map).
- Park on the Digi-Struct Spot: Drive your hijacked vehicle onto the highlighted platform at the station.
- Exit the Vehicle: Get out of the vehicle while it’s parked on the platform.
- Automatic Scan: The station will automatically deconstruct the vehicle, scanning any new parts and adding them to your available customization options.
By actively hijacking vehicles and scanning their parts, you’ll unlock a vast library of bl3 car parts, enabling you to create the ultimate customized vehicles to conquer the Borderlands in style. So get out there, start collecting, and build your dream machine!
