Rhino Van

Rhinos are giant armored S.W.A.T. Vans deployed by the Eden Shores Police Department that are used to pin and and ram into a suspect at full speed on hopes of wrecking their vehicle.

They appear at heat level 4 and up and are only deployed by the Eden Shores Police Department at night. Their intervals will be shorted towards the end of heat level 4, but once they reach heat level 5, they will appear a lot more than normal.

They are fictional vehicles, but it appears to be based on a 1999 generation Lenco B.E.A.R and even B.E.A.R.C.A.T. vehicles as well. Which is a popular brand of American armored cars usually used for S.W.A.T. Team, Military, and for transporting money or valuable goods.

As their role in the game, they aren’t that much of a threat and more of a nuisance since they deplete only 20% of the player’s health, but this can add up very quickly as the player will be going at very high speeds during the times they will be deployed, and eventually the Heat Level 5 Chevrolet Corvettes may potentially will take down the suspect sooner due to their speed and with thier cars having catch-up enabled.

They are possible to avoid them by making abrupt turns but they will follow the player’s path so it may be difficult especially at high speeds, similar to the SUV Heavy’s in Need For Speed: Most Wanted 2005 and the 2012 remake, which is what they bear the same purpose of.

They will only spawn on the roads, and when the player continues straight for 500 yards or more and will not attempt to go into the woods or go anywhere off-road to ram the player, making this one of the many ways of avoiding them unlike in the game Payback.

It is possible to use the auxiliary upgrade, repair kit of either one of the two types to avoid being severely damaged by them when in pursuits where they are deployed, although they can be unpredictable as you may need to go straight and then quickly dodge, or just dodge and hope they wont make it to you as you are avoiding them.

Trivia

 * According to the files for Payback, Ford Explorer's were supposed to be used as Rhino units before being repurposed for Frank Mercer's vehicle in Heat.
 * This is the same vehicle as the one from Payback just with the license plate changed, and being slightly smaller in size too.
 * This is the 3rd Need For Speed title to feature a S.W.A.T. Van as a pursuit unit. First being Most Wanted 2012, second being Payback.
 * According to the files, the name for this vehicle is, "GENERIC_RHINO_2009." Even though this is based on a 1999 Lenco BEAR or BEARCAT models, and no S.W.A.T. Vehicles were manufactured during 2009 either.