Roadkill

Press Up, Down, Up, Down, Y, A, A, A, X, B, B, X.

If a gang of cops or rival gangs are coming after you, learn to drive and shoot in reverse. Back away from the cars that are about to explode or the explosion will take off a tremendous amount of armor.

Listen for the weather report on the radio. When you hear the report for the tornado warning, find the tornado and follow it from about a block back. You can pick up all the scavenger parts from the vehicles that the tornado destroys. For extra cash, try to induce a RIOT near the tornado. The increased traffic and constant stream of cops will give the tornado more toys to toss around and give you more cash.

If you are getting beat up by the swarm of cops that come out in full RIOT, go to the garage and park. The RIOT will be turned off. To save your progress, you will have to pull into the garage again.

Stay by your garage and induce a RIOT by killing the civilians and other gangs on the street. To get the RIOT factor up faster, blast away the street cops. When your armor is running low, drop by the garage and pick up a repair kit. Keep repeating this until you get enough money for the upgrades. If you 'fail' the RIOT, do not restart by loading the previous save. This allows you keep all the money, no game penalties will be levied, and you will keep all of your upgrades. The only thing you will lose are all of your weapons.