Best vehicles in Project Zomboid

Build 42 has well over 100 vehicle scripts, but most are paint jobs and trade liveries on about 18 base models. The vehicle list covers every one. This page ranks the base models. Figures are script values from fan databases built on 42.19 to 42.22 data.

• Trunk capacity. From 30 on the Chevalier Cossette to 160 on the Chevalier Step Van, at full trunk condition. A damaged trunk holds less. Empty seats hold about 20 each (one source).
• Seats. Two, four, or six on the passenger Franklin Valuline.
• Engine force. The script value behind the horsepower readout, which is force divided by 10. A spawned engine delivers 60 to 100 percent of it depending on the engine quality it rolled (one source).
• Protection and off-road. One database lists a protection multiplier (0.80x to 1.30x) and an off-road multiplier (0.80x to 1.30x) for each model (one source). We could not confirm exactly how the game applies them.
• Parts class. Standard, Heavy-Duty or Sport. Parts do not cross classes, and each class has its own recipe magazine: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Mechanics. See mechanics and skill books.
• Noise. Engine loudness runs from 55 to 120. Louder engines pull zombies from farther away, and a damaged muffler makes it worse. See stealth.
• Fuel use. No Build 42 source we read publishes a per-model consumption rate. Typical tanks are about 45 for Sport, 49 for Standard and 65 for Heavy-Duty (one source), and heavy vehicles are described as thirstier. See fuel.

Opinion This order is our judgment for a long survival run on default settings. It weighs trunk, protection and seats above top speed. The numbers in the table are data. The order is not.

Top speed is the script cap in km/h. Trunk, seats, force, speed and noise each appear in at least two Build 42 sources and those sources agree. The protection and off-road multipliers in the last column come from one database.

Opinion The Franklin All-Terrain is the best all-round vehicle because nothing else combines four seats with heavy-duty protection. Its costs are noise 100 and Heavy-Duty parts. One database puts it in 20 percent of spawns in wealthy areas and about 5 percent in ordinary suburbs (one source), so check upscale driveways. The map helps with that.

Opinion For hauling, the Step Van wins on trunk alone. Sources give it 160 in the trunk and 210 in total once seats and glove box are counted. Trailers and covered trailers add a 100 trunk each (one source), and since 42.20 a trailer can detach in sharp turns or at speed. See storage.

The passenger Valuline is a separate model from the cargo van. Two sources give it six seats, a 50 trunk and 2,600 engine force, the weakest of any vehicle listed here. It suits multiplayer groups and little else.

No Build 42 source we read gives collision damage numbers. What they agree on is that hitting zombies damages the car quickly, wears tires faster, and that slow speed reduces the damage without removing it.

The sources differ on which end to use. One warns against ramming with the hood, because a ruined engine strands you. Another points out that reversing into zombies damages the trunk, which cuts its capacity, and says the trunk cannot be replaced.

Opinion If you have to push through a crowd, use a Chevalier D6 or Dash Bulldriver, keep the speed low, and stop as soon as the road is clear. Do not make it a routine way to kill zombies. A Chevalier Dart, Chevalier Cossette or Dash Rancher, all listed at 0.80x protection, is the wrong tool for it.

Opinion Take the first Chevalier Nyala that starts. One database has it in about 32 percent of suburban spawns (one source), which makes it the car you are most likely to find with a key in your first week. It seats four, carries 55, and its 4,000 engine force matches the Chevalier D6 at 800 mass against 1,030.

Standard cars are also the easiest to keep running. Their work needs only the Basic Mechanics magazine, and common sedans are everywhere to strip for parts. Heavy-Duty work needs Intermediate Mechanics and Sport work needs Advanced. One database also shows higher skill gates on heavy vehicles: brakes and suspension at Mechanics 6 and the gas tank at 7 on the Franklin All-Terrain, against 3 and 5 on the Masterson Horizon (one source).

Opinion Among Heavy-Duty vehicles the Franklin Valuline is the easiest to supply, because the Valuline and Step Van together account for dozens of trade liveries and donor vans are common. Sport parts are the hardest to find. The vehicles guide covers hotwiring.

Opinion These are poor choices as a main vehicle. Each still has one use.

• Chevalier Dart. Trunk 40, engine force 3,600, baseline engine quality 60, and 0.80x for both protection and off-road. Its one strength is noise 55.
• Chevalier Cossette. The 120 top speed is rarely usable on wrecked roads. Trunk 30, two seats, and Advanced Mechanics for repairs.
• LBMW Radio Van. A 130 trunk, but only 2,700 engine force at 956 mass (one source). A cargo Valuline carries the same with 3,700.
• Race Car. One database finds no spawn zone for it on the current map (one source), so do not plan around it.
• Dash Bulldriver in towns. Noise 120 is the highest listed, and the 60 top speed is the lowest. Keep it for farm and highway work.

Engine quality is rolled when the vehicle spawns and cannot normally be raised, so two cars of the same model can differ. Check the engine in the mechanics window before you commit.