Fast and the Curious

With all the hubbub over Furious 7, I started watching these movies. The first one shows these guys breaking 100mph, then they hit the NOS and go beyond 140 and nails start shooting through their floorboards... I bring this up, because I friggan got a Ford Focus up to 120mph before. This was an "off the lot" car, and I did it for shits 'n' giggles only once over a bridge with my cousins in the car...

These movies are acting like 140-160 is car breaking. They have to hit this "magical" NOS to get to those speeds. So I'm wondering. Is me getting my unmodified Ford Focus up to 120 without it exploding a fluke, or what?

As someone who isn't a mechanic or car nut or whatever, I would assume the cars they're using in the F+F films are set up for acceleration, and not top speed, hence them needing nitrous to get it. Also it's a film.

Oh... That actually explains it perfectly. I didn't think about that at all. Welp... Shows how simple my mind is. I immediately go to "top number means everything."

(Also, I get it's a "movie" part. Was trying to go beyond that. Everything can be made "ok" by the saying "it's a film" ;P)

@alexw00d:

120mph over 5 minutes is way less than 120mph over 3 seconds or something? I know nothing about cars. They fly, right?

They get crazier as the films go on.

Sir. Flexing out of a cast is not "crazy". This is bigotry. You should be ashamed of yourself!

@ottoman673:

I KID! PLZ DON'T SPOIL THE MOVIE FOR ME!

Remember, the first one came out in 2001. Also, the higher the speed, the more difference a few mph makes. Goin from 140 to 150 is more impressive than 50 to 60.

Huh. MORE CAR TALK! I find it fascinating! Maybe I should listen to that Alt-F1 stuff.

But I like this... More engine/car Fast and the Furious talk! Seriously, any facts will greatly boost my enjoyment of these films. I know nothing about cars...

"Clipped his bumper and put him into the wall at 120MPH"

Really? I got up to 120 in my Ford Focus, and didn't feel "out of control." Dom Is "scared" of his Charger because his Dad got killed at 120 MPH. Seriously? I feel like this is common speeds that happen even with the most basic of people. These movies are like when a future movie says 2001, and we are beyond all that. Yet. I got above 100 mph in a Ford Focus 10 years ago, without much effort...

What the hell is with these movies? Their only defense is that their "speed" happens over the course of 6 seconds as opposed to 20 seconds. But this DOM guy is so scared about 120+...............

COME.........ON................ GUYS..........................

I would bet damn near anything that the vast majority of people do not touch 120 mph and the vast majority of those that do are rarely in a situation where such speeds are life-threatening. There's a world of difference between speeding down a wide open road and driving on a track (or wherever) in the middle of a race. When you're on a track in the middle of a race packed with other drivers also doing 120+, you generally have little to no time to react. Average Joe trying to show off speeding down a wide open road has little to nothing to worry about and since he's probably driving down a straight open road, he can see most if not all dangers long before any serous shit goes down.

Also, it's a 1970 Dodge Charger. I'm no car expert myself, but I would imagine that a Ford Focus, even one that's 10 years old, is infinitely safer to drive compared to that.

Also also, you're putting too much thought into these movies.

Is that going to be the name of the porn parody?

Really? I got up to 120 in my Ford Focus, and didn't feel "out of control." Dom Is "scared" of his Charger because his Dad got killed at 120 MPH. Seriously? I feel like this is common speeds that happen even with the most basic of people. These movies are like when a future movie says 2001, and we are beyond all that. Yet. I got above 100 mph in a Ford Focus 10 years ago, without much effort...

I got over 110 in a 1999 Nissan Altima a few months ago. Sunday morning, empty interstate, long straight stretch of road. I haven't done it again and won't.

120 is a speed you should be scared of, in any car. You have no time to react, and if you get out of such a wreck alive, you'll be a very lucky man.

Also, 120 is not a common speed anywhere in the world. Sure, it's not hard to find people who have made it up to those speeds on a long stretch of empty road, but it's not a speed that anybody reaches on a regular basis. It will also get you arrested if a cop pulls you over going that fast.

Dom: [pointing to a picture] That's my dad. He was coming up in the pro-stock circuit. Last race of the season, he was coming into the final turn when a driver named Kenny Linder tapped his bumper and put him into the wall at a hundred and twenty miles an hour. I watched my father burn to death. I can still remember him screaming. The people who were there said my father died long before the tanks blew. They said it was me that was screaming.

He heard his dad's screams while he watched him slowly burn to death in his car...

@babychoochoo:

Well. I'll have to take a picture of the stretch... I think maybe you guys have disbelief... It was over a bridge with very tall concrete in the middle. An extemely long bridge that has very little traffic (this isn't the Golden Gate or something). I did it there so that I "knew" a cop couldn't gun me. I didn't have a souped up car. It was the most basic car ever, and I reach 120. Thus, these "Fast and Furious" speeds make me giggle. Actually, they make me balk. I know it's just a movie, but at least name speeds that matter. I, as an average nobody, that has no car knowledge, am reaching these speeds without these infamous "nitrous" that they seem to NEED to reach the speed that a Ford Taurus can reach........

I'm not denying it was reckless, and that the speed I attained didn't take a minute or more, as opposed to "5-20" seconds or something. But still. It's not hard to "change" the numbers so that these movies are more realistic. Especially if I, as an average white guy with no experience, can hit the numbers that these movies tout in a friggan compact car. I mean really...............

What are these movies? Lawl!

As an avid car nut, these movies are hilarious and great. The movies are too be taken with a grain of salt and are usually more comedy than documentary. These movies are like the Mighty Ducks or Slap Shot for hockey players. It's all a joke. No point of getting all wrapped up in the physics of the movie. It's like playing with Hot Wheel cars.

All the "Technical Talk" in the fast and furious movies are completely BS and car folks love spewing the stuff at car meets. They are essentially memes at this point. "Fried Piston Rings" after a drag race, flames coming out of the exhaust during NO2 injections, Tuna sandwiches, RACE WARS, SR20's are premium before race wars, granny shifting not double clutching like you should, etc.

I originally thought this thread was about this parody trailer:

O_O

Were you towing a giant ass vault behind you?

Well, I guess that's what I was curious about. I know this is a movie of movies. I wasn't trying to 'demand' realism or anything... Ultimately I was curious what a "car nut" had to say. Some of the "speeds" just seemed like such a joke. In the end, can't like 30-50mph kill you? Above that just seemed like they were trying to make things seem "scary". /shrug

I had a response written out but then realized we're probably talking about miles per hour while I was thinking kilometers.

Looking at the translation, 120mph is about 193kmph. Which, to me, is crazy fast.

I'm driving in Alberta on highways quite often and I've never gotten close to that speed (although I've never actually tried or think I actually want to).

I haven't seen the first film in a while but it was my understanding that it's probably not crazy to get to that speed on its own but when you're racing around Los Angeles I'd assume the tighter streets and such would make the number more impactful?

Reaching higher and higher speeds takes exponential amounts of power (exertion). Going 140 is a lot harder than 120. Going 160 is far far harder than 120.

But no, nails won't shoot through your floorboards anyway. The car just will cease to go faster after a bit. If it's a newish car, what will happen next it it'll basically overheat.

If it's an older car, you run some risk of your wheels, tires or bearings breaking down due to the speeds they're going at that they've never been at before and aren't really safe for. This could be catastrophic or it might just make a bad noise/vibration and slow you down.

The biggest risk at those speeds in a modern car is really that the driver and the road typically aren't designed for it. Bump that would just make a whump noise at 70mph might put you into the air for a small bit. And a road that curves lightly with a helpful camber at 70mph now leaves your car straining its grip and wandering toward the outside guardrail. And in that kind of situation hitting the brakes may cause even more trouble.

So be careful.

Also, don't know if this matters or not, but the first one came out in 2001. Cars might've changed a bit since then.

@quarters:

Yeah, that's a good point. For one, I was probably being wildly reckless back then. I just know, several years later, I listen to the "speeds" of these movies and think "yeah ok, whatever." This is coming from a person that doesn't even own a "speed" car...