PC Gamer Adds Car Refueling to GTA 5 With a Mod

PC Gamer has added a working fuel system to GTA 5 as part of its daily game-modding series. The outlet installed Fumes – Animated Persistent Fuel, a mod that makes cars consume petrol while traveling across Los Santos. Once the tank runs dry, the vehicle can no longer continue its journey.

The mod gives vanilla and GTA Online vehicles available in GTA 5 their own fuel tanks. According to the description reproduced by PC Gamer, the remaining fuel persists even after the player leaves a car and returns to it later. A new meter on the minimap displays how much petrol is left while driving.

Refueling is not handled through a simple menu either. The player must leave the vehicle, walk to the pump and remove the nozzle, which is attached to a hose with its own physics. The system turns a stop at the gas station into an action performed directly within the game world.

The test took place in a GTA 5 installation already filled with several other mods. The author described struggling to secure a car because of frictionless vehicles, hitman attacks and ambient gang violence introduced by previous modifications. Franklin could also teleport in this altered version, an ability used to finally obtain a vehicle and reach a gas station.

Despite error messages generated by other mods, the fuel system worked during the test. PC Gamer was able to monitor the tank through the minimap and reach a station to try the hands-on refueling process. The experiment is part of a series attempting to turn GTA 5 into an improvised vision of GTA 6 on PC—or break the game in the process.

For GTA 5 players on PC, the report presents a mod option designed to make driving more demanding. It adds planning to trips because running out of fuel ends the journey and makes gas stations relevant. The source does not provide technical requirements, compatibility details or installation instructions.

The experiment does not confirm that GTA 6 will require players to refuel cars. PC Gamer itself notes that official sources have not presented such a mechanic, so Fumes should only be treated as a GTA 5 modification. The source also provides no information about an official PC version of GTA 6.

For now, the concrete result is a version of Los Santos where cars have persistent tanks and must stop at the pump. The test shows how mods can introduce new routines into GTA 5, but it is not a demonstration of features from the next game. PC Gamer published its account of the experiment on September 2, 2026.