The more players look at the GTA 6 gameplay footage, the more small details they keep finding, and Rockstar appears to have gone much further with its vehicles than many fans expected.

This time, the attention is on something that most players probably would not notice at first: daytime running lights, or DRLs.

A new discussion on the GTA 6 subreddit was sparked after gaming and car creator Digital Car Addict pointed out that modern vehicles in GTA 6 now feature much more detailed DRL lighting compared with GTA 5.

The difference may sound small, but car fans immediately noticed how much more realistic the lighting looks.

And there is an even cooler detail.

Some of the modern cars appear to use switchback LED lighting, meaning the same light can work as a white daytime running light and then change to an amber color when the turn signal is activated.

That is the kind of tiny detail that shows just how much work Rockstar has put into GTA 6’s vehicles.

The Reddit post specifically points to the Vapid Caracara, which appears to have amber DRLs similar to the lighting found on the real-world Ford Raptor.

Fans quickly started discussing the detail, with several people surprised that Rockstar is paying attention to something that most players would probably never notice.

For car fans, however, these details matter.

Grand Theft Auto has always had a huge selection of vehicles, but Rockstar has been pushing its car designs further with every new game.

GTA 5 already had plenty of impressive vehicles when it launched in 2013.

But more than a decade later, GTA 6 is being built for much newer hardware, and Rockstar appears to be using that extra power to make vehicles look far more detailed.

The difference is especially noticeable in the lighting.

Modern cars use complicated LED headlights and daytime running lights, and GTA 6 appears to be recreating some of those designs instead of giving every vehicle a basic headlight setup.

That makes the cars look much more believable when they are driving around Leonida.

And the lighting is not just there for screenshots.

It can also change depending on what the vehicle is doing.

The switchback effect is a great example.

Normally, the DRL appears white.

When the driver activates the turn signal, the light changes to an amber or yellow color.

That is how some modern cars work in real life, and seeing Rockstar recreate the same behavior in GTA 6 is another sign of how much attention the studio is giving to its vehicles.

One Reddit commenter explained that the impressive part is not simply that the cars have turn signals, since GTA vehicles have used them before.

The interesting part is that the DRL and turn signal can appear to use the same light setup, with the white LED switching to amber when the indicator is activated.

That is a very small feature.

But GTA 6 is full of small features like this.

And when all of those details come together, the entire world starts looking much more believable.

This is also why the reaction from fans has been so positive.

Several Reddit users said that GTA 6 is reaching a level of visual detail that makes GTA 5 suddenly look much older.

One fan joked about how strange it will be to eventually look back at GTA 6 the same way players now look at GTA 5.

Another compared the game’s visual quality to Red Dead Redemption 2 and suggested that GTA 6 could remain impressive for many years after launch.

That comparison is interesting because Rockstar has already shown that it cares about making its games age well.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in 2018, but its visuals still hold up extremely well today.

Rockstar does not simply try to make everything look realistic.

The studio also gives its games a specific visual style, which helps them avoid looking outdated too quickly.

GTA 6 appears to be following the same idea.

The cars do not just have more polygons.

They have more realistic lighting.

More detailed interiors.

Better reflections.

More believable materials.

And now fans are noticing small features such as DRLs and switchback indicators.

These details could become even more impressive once players see the vehicles during different times of day.

Imagine driving through Vice City at night with dozens of modern cars around you.

Headlights are reflecting off wet roads.

White DRLs are glowing on vehicles in traffic.

Turn signals are changing from white to amber.

Police lights are flashing in the distance.

Neon signs are reflecting across the cars.

All of those small details can make the city feel much more alive.

And GTA 6 is clearly designed around that idea.

Rockstar is not just building a map where players can drive from one mission to another.

It is trying to create a world that looks believable even when nothing important is happening.

You could simply sit in traffic and watch the cars around you.

You could stop at a gas station and look at the vehicles in the parking lot.

You could take a sports car out at night and see how the headlights and body reflections look under different lighting.

These moments may not matter to the story, but they can make the world feel much more real.

The attention to car lighting is also important because vehicles are going to be a huge part of the GTA 6 experience.

Players will spend countless hours driving around Leonida.

Some will spend most of their time collecting cars.

Others will modify vehicles and take them to races.

Some will simply steal whatever car looks interesting and drive around the map.

That means even small vehicle improvements could have a major effect on how the game feels.

And Rockstar seems to know this.

The studio has already shown a huge variety of vehicles in GTA 6, from sports cars and SUVs to trucks, motorcycles, boats and aircraft.

The latest footage gives players a much better look at how those vehicles behave and how detailed they are.

But the DRL discovery shows that there may be even more details hiding in plain sight.

That is probably the most exciting part.

Every time Rockstar releases more footage, fans start slowing it down and looking at things that were never meant to be the main focus.

A car’s lights.

An NPC’s behavior.

A building in the background.

A small animation.

A vehicle’s interior.

A tiny UI detail.

And sometimes those small discoveries reveal just how much work Rockstar has put into the game.

The DRLs are a perfect example.

Nobody needs realistic daytime running lights to enjoy GTA 6.

They are not going to change the story.

They are not going to make a mission more exciting.

But they add another layer of detail to the world.

And when a game has thousands of these tiny details working together, the result can feel very different.

This is also why GTA 6 is getting so much attention from car fans.

The game is not simply using cars as a way to move around the map.

Rockstar appears to be treating them as an important part of the world itself.

Modern vehicle designs, detailed lights, realistic interiors and different lighting effects can make the streets of Vice City feel much closer to a real modern city.

The Vapid Caracara’s lighting is a great example of this.

Its amber DRL setup appears to take inspiration from the real Ford Raptor, showing how Rockstar continues to borrow ideas from real-world vehicles while creating its own fictional brands.

That has always been part of GTA’s car culture.

Rockstar cannot simply use every real-world vehicle brand, so it creates fictional versions that clearly take inspiration from real cars.

But GTA 6 appears to be pushing those designs much further.

The result is a game where players may recognize the inspiration behind a vehicle immediately, while still getting something that fits the GTA universe.

And the more realistic the small details become, the easier it is to make that connection.

It is also worth remembering that these lighting details are only one part of the larger vehicle upgrade in GTA 6.

Rockstar has shown cars with much more detailed interiors, improved reflections, better body shapes and more realistic animations.

The game’s modern cars also appear to have much more detailed lights than many of the vehicles in GTA 5.

That is exactly what you would expect from a game arriving more than a decade after GTA 5.

GTA 5 was already impressive when it launched.

But technology has moved forward.

GTA 6 is being built for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, giving Rockstar much more room to create detailed environments and vehicles.

And judging by what fans are finding in the footage, Rockstar is using that extra power.

The funny thing is that most players probably will not consciously notice the DRLs when playing.

You will be busy driving.

You will be listening to the radio.

You will be avoiding traffic.

You will be trying to escape the police.

But somewhere in the background, all those small details will be making the world feel more believable.

That is what good visual design does.

You do not always notice it.

You simply feel that the world looks right.

And that may be exactly what Rockstar is trying to achieve with GTA 6.

The community is still finding new details in the latest footage, and there are likely plenty more waiting to be discovered.

If Rockstar has put this much effort into something as small as daytime running lights, it makes you wonder what other vehicle details players have not noticed yet.

GTA 6 is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, and players will finally be able to explore Leonida for themselves.

Until then, fans will probably keep zooming into every frame of Rockstar’s footage looking for another small detail that proves just how much work has gone into the game.

And honestly, if the cars already look this detailed, GTA 6 could make GTA 5’s vehicles feel seriously outdated the moment players jump into Leonida.