After all these years, GTA V still has little quirks that make you stop and go, "Wait, what?" One that's stuck around forever hits the moment you try to be slick with a suppressed drive-by. You kit out your AP Pistol or Micro SMG with a silencer, think you're sorted, and then you hop into a car. Suddenly the can's gone from the model like it was never there. If you're chasing GTA 5 Money and doing jobs on repeat, you'll notice it fast because you're in vehicles nonstop, and it keeps messing with your head.

What you see and what you hear

The visual part is weird enough, but the sound is what really sells the bug. Fire from the driver's seat and the audio kicks out the full, loud crack of an unsuppressed gun. In first-person it feels even worse, because the weapon's right there and your brain is screaming that you've just blown stealth to bits. Step out of the car, though, and the suppressor pops back like nothing happened. Same gun, same attachments, just a totally different vibe depending on whether you're inside a vehicle or not.

The AI doesn't buy it

Here's the bit that throws most people the first time. Even when it sounds like you're setting off fireworks, NPCs often don't react the way they should. Guards that'd normally spin around and go hostile just carry on. Cops don't instantly light you up. It's like the game is running two versions of the truth: one for your ears and eyes, and one for the stealth logic. Under the hood, the weapon is still flagged as suppressed, so detection stays closer to "quiet" than "panic." It's not a free pass in every situation, but it's absolutely not the loud disaster it pretends to be.

Why it only happens in cars

The giveaway is that bikes don't really do this. Hop on a motorcycle with the same suppressed SMG and the suppressor model usually behaves, and the whole setup feels normal. That points to a practical reason: cars have tight interiors, lots of animation constraints, and not much room for a long barrel extension. A suppressor sticking through a window frame or clipping into the dash would look ridiculous in third-person, so hiding the model inside enclosed vehicles probably became the quick fix. The audio bug feels like the leftover part nobody ever circled back to tidy up.

A Cayo Perico money tip most people miss

While you're thinking about stealth, there's a simple way to avoid wasting cash on the Cayo Perico prep screen. The game offers suppressors as a purchase, and loads of players pay for them out of habit. Don't. If you commit to a stealth-style finale, the loadout shows up suppressed anyway, so that spend is basically a donation. Save the money for the stuff that actually matters, and if you're determined to speed up the grind, it's the same logic as choosing when to buy GTA 5 Money instead of throwing funds at upgrades the game hands you for free.