The MW Automotive Thread Quattro SpecV

[David Hingtgen]

Eh, I blame the new electronic throttles. My current car SUCKS HARD in the "throttle control" category. I can't hold speed worth a damn any more, I just gave up after oh, 18 months of trying---electronic throttles just suck---no response, then when they do respond, it's with a big "jump" even if you just barely moved a toe... My last car---I could hold speed and accelerate ever-so-perfectly. Because it had a real, actual throttle.

[Beltane70]

Ha ha.

I've been dealing with the lack of speed control in other drivers for as long as I've been driving. 22 years to be exact.

[Bri]

My main annoyance are people who slow down the traffic in the left lane. If you not prepared to do at least 130 (80mph) stay to the right.

David, I think you should add speed control to your test! I really hate when I get behind a driver that can't keep a consistent speed. Is it really that hard to maintain a nice steady 65 mph speed instead of going between 60 and 70?

Just curious, I've driven a few times in the states but why is this so annoying? Roads do not allow to overtake them?

[David Hingtgen]

You can overtake them---but then as they speed up, they overtake you. Then they slow down, and you go past them again. And it repeats. Annoying.

Or, in traffic--you have to constantly adjust to match their changes, as there's no room to avoid them.

[Bri]

Thanks for explaining, makes sense. Over here traffic in the right lane is not allowed to overtake the left lanes so that problem doesn't really happen.

[areaseven]

Fast & Furious

Relativity Media/One Race Films/Universal Pictures, 2009

Directed by Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)

Based upon characters created by Gary Scott Thompson (Hollow Man, 88 Minutes)

Running Time: 107 minutes

Rated PG-13 for violence, some HLA and profanity.

Cast

Vin Diesel (Chris in Boiler Room, Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan) as Dominic Toretto

Paul Walker (Hank in Flags of Our Fathers, Skip in Pleasantville) as Brian O'Connor

Jordana Brewster (Lucy in D.E.B.S., Ali in Annapolis) as Mia Toretto

Michelle Rodriguez (Trudy in Avatar, Rain in Resident Evil) as Letty Ortiz

John Ortiz as Campos

Laz Alonso as Fenix Rise

Gal Gadot (Miss Israel 2004) as Gisele Harabo

Don Omar (some Reggaeton singer) as Rico

Tego Calderón (some Reggaeton rapper) as Tego

T.I. (some rapper) as Troy

Sung Kang as Han

Brian: "You know, I was thinking about when you blew up your car. You blew up my car too"

Dom: "Yeah."

Brian: "So now you owe me a 10-second car."

Dom: "Is that right?"

Synopsis

After a successful run at hijacking fuel tanks on the highways of the Dominican Republic, Dominic Toretto leaves his girlfriend Letty and his gang to keep the authorities away from them while he's on the run. One day, in Panama, Dominic receives a phone call from his sister Mia, who tells him that Letty was just murdered.

Dominic returns to Los Angeles, California, to find out who murdered Letty. Meanwhile, Brian O'Connor - now an FBI agent, is assigned to track down a notorious drug lord named Antonio Braga. Dominic and Brian once again cross paths when an illegal street racer's name is linked between Braga's operation and Letty's murder.

Lowdown

I know what you're thinking. There are a lot of questions you have in mind after watching the first three Fast and Furious movies. Brian's an FBI agent? Wasn't he in Miami the last time we saw him? And what's Han doing when he was killed in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift? Well, it seems that Fast & Furious is not just the fourth installment of the multi-million dollar film franchise, it's a complete rewrite of the 2003 disaster 2 Fast 2 Furious. Plus, the events of this film take place years before Tokyo Drift and clearly explains Han's association with Dom.

Now that we've got that straightened out, how's the movie, you ask? With the original cast of the first film reuniting for this installment, you'd expect this to be better than the last two films. Unfortunately, it's not as good as Tokyo Drift. (Of course, it's better than 2 Fast 2 Furious, but that film's already been pretty much declared non-canon.) The problem here is that there really isn't much of character interaction outside of Dom and Brian. Letty - who was an integral character in the first film - is killed off all of a sudden after the first five or so minutes of the movie. And while Jordana Brewster is still eye candy on the big screen (is it me, or does she look like a young Demi Moore?), her acting is still flat as it was eight years ago. Israeli supermodel Gal Gadot is also hot, but she doesn't do much, either. Vin Diesel, as always, requires subtitles on his dialogue. And Paul Walker is still the surfer dork that he is.

Well, it's a car movie, which doesn't require much acting; so how were the car scenes?

As with the previous installments, F&F is loaded with tons of high-performance cars. However, in contrast to the first three films, imports practically take a backseat to American Muscle. There were rumors of the new Nissan GT-R appearing on the film, but guess what? A picture of the GT-R appears on the movie, and that's about it. Meanwhile, Walker wrecks yet another Skyline GT-R R34, while Diesel thrashes a Chevrolet Chevelle before reuniting with the Dodge Charger he wrecked on the first film. The Ford Gran Torino - which gained attention in Clint Eastwood's last film Gran Torino, appears as the villain car. And for this film, Subaru supplied several modified units of their Impreza WRX STi as the new hero car piloted by Walker.

The racing and chase scenes, however, are disappointing. Both the first film and Tokyo Drift were exceptional due to their minimal use of CG. This one, however, goes overboard with the CG effects and tons of impossible stunt driving that makes Die Another Day look like Bullitt. Because of all the shaky camera work (even worse than all of the Bourne movies), it's nearly impossible to keep up with the action.

Overall, while a much better effort than the second film, Fast & Furious does little to capture the excitement of the first. Still, if you just want a popcorn action flick, it's worth a matinee ticket.

Rating: B-

Links

Official Fast & Furious Homepage

Fast & Furious at MySpace

References

The Internet Movie Database

Edited April 29, 2009 by areaseven

[reddsun1]

Hmm, it will be interesting to see what this movie does for values on 72-76 Gran Torinos--wonder if there will be a "gold rush" of schmoes going out trying to snatch up any of the relatively few rust heaps left lying about, and bling-em-up?

Pretty much universally regarded as: overweight; underpowered; dog-sh*t handling--the 72-and-up Torino can be considered a product of Detroit's "dark ages" when it comes to performance cars.

Edited April 3, 2009 by reddsun1

[myk]

Thanks for the review, 7. Meanwhile, looking at the Charger on the screen I might finally have an idea as to what wheels to put on mine, although no larger than 16", of course...

[David Hingtgen]

Wheels don't matter, so long as you get redline tires. (that said--Cragar mags, only wheel that's right)

[Vostok 7]

Wheels don't matter, so long as you get redline tires. (that said--Cragar mags, only wheel that's right)

Redlines are only "right" on cars from the late '60s and older. On a Charger, they only really look right on the '68.

As far as wheels, you can never go wrong with Dodge/Chrysler "Rallye" rims from the era.

Vostok 7

[Beltane70]

Hmm, it will be interesting to see what this movie does for values on 72-76 Gran Torinos--wonder if there will be a "gold rush" of schmoes going out trying to snatch up any of the relatively few rust heaps left lying about, and bling-em-up?

Pretty much universally regarded as: overweight; underpowered; dog-sh*t handling--the 72-and-up Torino can be considered a product of Detroit's "dark ages" when it comes to performance cars.

Funny, my first car was a 1976 Ford Gran Torino sedan. Too bad they were no where near as popular as the coupe.

[areaseven]

Edited April 4, 2009 by areaseven

[David Hingtgen]

Redlines are only "right" on cars from the late '60s and older. On a Charger, they only really look right on the '68.

As far as wheels, you can never go wrong with Dodge/Chrysler "Rallye" rims from the era.

Vostok 7

I haven't been able to find the "good sideview" photo for a couple years now, but I believe my dad's 69 Charger had redline tires. Could have been aftermarket though, I know his wheels, glasspacks, and bumblebee striping were.

[Vince]

Thanks for explaining, makes sense. Over here traffic in the right lane is not allowed to overtake the left lanes so that problem doesn't really happen.

I generally don't let people pass me from the right, I usually see them coming and move in the right to let them go.

[emajnthis]

Funny, my first car was a 1976 Ford Gran Torino sedan. Too bad they were no where near as popular as the coupe.

That was my dads first (real) car, but his used the 428SCJ, so it was pretty fast out the gate. Unfortunately for him, he grew up in a home with 5 other brothers (and three sisters) and his younger brother wrecked it while my dad was traveling in the military.

[Beltane70]

That was my dads first (real) car, but his used the 428SCJ, so it was pretty fast out the gate. Unfortunately for him, he grew up in a home with 5 other brothers (and three sisters) and his younger brother wrecked it while my dad was traveling in the military.

Mine only had the 351 Cleveland engine in it, nothing fancy at all. By the time I got the car, it looked like it had been to Hell and back. I paid $200 for it and it lasted me about a year and a half. Strange as it may seem, I sometimes actually miss that car!

[areaseven]

Has anyone noticed how The Fast and the Furious movie franchise has followed the car trends over the past decade? The first film brought about the ricer generation while the second signaled its slow decline. The third one focused mainly on drift machines and less on rice than the first two, but the use of a Mustang on the final race signaled the next trend for the new film - which is American Muscle. What'll they focus on for the next movie - hybrids?

[Beltane70]

I never saw the last F & F movie, but was that Mustang the one that supposedly had the Skyline GT-R engine in it?

[areaseven]

I never saw the last F & F movie, but was that Mustang the one that supposedly had the Skyline GT-R engine in it?

Yup, that's the one.

[Beltane70]

Yup, that's the one.

That's actually kind of funny when mentioning F & F going to American muscle trend when the Musting has a Japanese car engine in it.

[emajnthis]

That's actually kind of funny when mentioning F & F going to American muscle trend when the Musting has a Japanese car engine in it.

What is more funny is that the Mustang with the Japanese motor in it outperforms that same Mustang with its genuine muscle motor in it. I still dont' understand the arguments of "blasphemy" against putting a japanese motor in an American car (not here, but on other car forums). Germans have helped the Japanese build motors (Porsche helped Subaru get their H4's off the ground for example) and the Japanese have helped Americans with motors for a long time (Honda lent GM their 3.5L V6 is another example). A motor is a motor, and if one has better power to weight than the other then it's obviously worth dropping it into something that's worth the effort.

Edited April 5, 2009 by emajnthis

[Shadow]

Haven't seen it yet. I plan to though maybe when it reaches the cheap theaters. Thats alittle surprising to hear they didn't show the new R35 GT-R except for a picture of it. I think the only thing that really interested me though from the trailers was the site of the Ford RS200 lined up with a Corolla.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Shadow

[areaseven]

Haven't seen it yet. I plan to though maybe when it reaches the cheap theaters. Thats alittle surprising to hear they didn't show the new R35 GT-R except for a picture of it. I think the only thing that really interested me though from the trailers was the site of the Ford RS200 lined up with a Corolla.

Yeah, where did they get that Ford? I was watching a documentary on British cars by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, which mentioned the RS200. That car's a very rare gem.

[Agent ONE]

@ A7: way too hard on that movie man. I loved it. Tons of action.

You are being comic book guy. Nitpicking the car details and the timeline issues. Come on. It's a goofy action movie.

[VFTF1]

Comic Book guy was classic

Nitpicking is fun, but only while eating Doritos. There are no Doritos in Poland.

Maybe somebody can send me a case?

Pete

[myk]

What is more funny is that the Mustang with the Japanese motor in it outperforms that same Mustang with its genuine muscle motor in it. I still dont' understand the arguments of "blasphemy" against putting a japanese motor in an American car (not here, but on other car forums).

The dumbest group of people on the planet are muscle car people/purists. They'd have us driving heavy boat-like cars on drum brakes, bias-ply tires, no safety equipment and electrical 'tech that can be beaten by any Radio Shack. "I can go in a straight line reaaaaaaally fast! Wheeeeee! The ONLY good thing to come out of the 60's and 70's are the designs of the cars, and even then the majority of those styles are ass-ugly anyway, IMO. If there's a chance to upgrade one of these things with modern technology then it should be embraced. I love my 440 cubic-inch V8 but if you could give me a better power plant that would improve my '69 Charger that much more I'd take it in a hearbeat.

In regards to Fast and Furious, I finally got the gf to see it with me, only problem is she's not gonna' lay off of me for liking this s**t any time soon. Although seeing a Charger and a Trans-Am running free together almost made it worthwhile, lol...

Edited April 6, 2009 by myk

[reddsun1]

OOPSIE!

There's a shorter, high-quality clip elsewhere with a bit more audio....I'm guessing: the guy driving is NOT the owner.

[emajnthis]

what a retard, horrible waste of an excellent car.

[DJ Loe Kee]

Ronin, while not a racing movie, had good car scenes. None of that 'shift-16-times-during-a-drag-race' crap.

I really, really hate the Fast n' Furious series.

there's also legend of speed. it came out before f&f. nos had JUST came out and they used it at the end of the movie (nobody know what nos what yet). it's alot better than f&f, they break your leg if you lose the race. my friend had it on dvd and i borrowed it from him.

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Speed-Ekin-Ch...5947&sr=8-1

[Hiriyu]

there's also legend of speed. it came out before f&f. nos had JUST came out and they used it at the end of the movie (nobody know what nos what yet). [/url]

N2O has been around in automotive circles for quite a lot longer than 11 years... And ANYTHING is better than the utter lameness that is Fast & Furious.

[DJ Loe Kee]

I can certainly appreciate and respect the amount of skill and car control it takes to drift a car the way some of those guys can.

Here's a good example of superb car control:

But take it with a grain of salt. Mind you, this guy obviously got MULTIPLE takes to get such awesome results. Pay attention to the mounted camera on the car, and position of the sun/daylight at various points in the vid... 1:35s - "the world's fastest/loudest weed eater!"

But yes, it is kinda silly to try to create a sport that flies in the face of all conventional wisdom and practice about how to make a car navigate a closed course as quickly as possible. Everything I'd learned in my brief exposure to motorsports was about how to get a car to NOT do things like that, in order to go quicker. I know, I know; it's not about who's the "fastest."

Formula Drift...the WWE of motor sports...

remember that drifting started out as racing down a mountain in japan. they would try to get down the mountain as fast as they could without losing traction. later on, it became acceptable to lose grip for a little while and regain grip while taking a corner. then somebody found out that if they lost total grip than they could multiple turns with no grip.

drifting is not like a monster truck show, it is more like olympic diving, gymanstics or any other sport where judges "give you score". it's about style, not how fast you can "swim" (diving vs. michael phelps [diving is cool to watch lol]).

i do both, i'll race my car in gran turismo 4 but then i'll drift it when i get bored. i finally bought some drifting games... but i have to relearn how to drift. driftin' aimlessly like i did in gt4 is not cuttin' it.

Edited April 14, 2009 by DJ Loe Kee

[reddsun1]

what a retard, horrible waste of an excellent car.

Well, I'd say: if it has to happen, much better it be at a track-day event than out on public roads with everyone else. It's sh*theads that go rocketing up and down the highways and boulevards in regular traffic that are truly retarded.

That track is notorious for catching out the unwary, especially in the benign looking of spots, like "snake's back."

[DJ Loe Kee]

N2O has been around in automotive circles for quite a lot longer than 11 years... And ANYTHING is better than the utter lameness that is Fast & Furious.

ok, let me correct myself. this was before nos was being used by street racers (i don't know when they started usin' nos, my friend was pointing out cars that had nos in them and tellin' me not to race 2-3 years before the first f&f movie came out [like an eclipse gs-x that had nos but they guy put a eclipse rs sticker on it to lure racers, lol]).

nos wasn't "mainstream" when legend of speed was released (nos was mainstream by the time fast and furious came out, imho).

[areaseven]

N2O has been around in automotive circles for quite a lot longer than 11 years... And ANYTHING is better than the utter lameness that is Fast & Furious.

I take it you haven't seen Redline yet, then. Yes, it had lots of exotics to drool over, but the story sucked, the acting was flat and a Porsche Carrera GT was intentionally totaled for the film. Oh yeah, and Eddie Griffin wrecked an Enzo as a publicity stunt for the box-office bomb.

I went to see Fast & Furious for a second time, and Agent ONE has a point. I took the movie too seriously and it's much more fun to watch than I had perceived. Tokyo Drift is still a better film, though.

[reddsun1]

I absolutely LOVE this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFQDTHBVe1o...feature=related

note the utter disregard for pedestrians in the street. stupid f'er gets exactly what he deserves. karma at work.

dum sum beyatch!!!