Johnny Tran’s Fast & Furious Engine Wasn't Worth $100K, After All

Behind the Scenes

Over the years, the Fast & Furious mega movie franchise has provided us with all sorts of memorable scenes. One of the most famous, of course, was the showdown between Brian and Johnny Tran during the "Race Wars" segment. And this fascinating clip from F&F producer Craig Lieberman reveals all of the cool little details behind that iconic scene.  

Stretching the Truth

Just prior to lining up his Jetta against Tran's S2000, Brian famously tells Jesse "I bet you he’s got more than $100,000 under the hood of that car." Which would obviously be quite the investment in the car's powerplant. But in reality, that little fact was clearly a bit of a stretch. 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

No Brakes

"The line about $100,000 being under the hood of Johnny Tran's S2000 was utter bull****," Lieberman admits. "But that was the least of the gaffes to be made in that scene. The most egregious was, of course, the no brake caliper on the Jetta." 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

Little Known Fact

Most everyone is aware of that hilarious tidbit, as it's been the butt of a lot of jokes (and memes) over the years. But little did we know, the car did have a caliper after all. "It did, in fact, have a brake caliper behind the fake disc," Lieberman said. "Since this was a stunt car, it didn't have big brakes. So the fake discs were used during the race." 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

Rigged Up

And that isn't the only trickery going on in this scene. "If you look closely," you'll see that we actually used two Honda Civic rigged for interior close-ups for both Jesse and Johnny Tran's cars," Lieberman said. "We simply didn't have the budget to build a rig Jetta or S2000." 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

Lots of Extras

The entire scene for Race Wars was shot in 2000 at the San Bernadino Airport. Interestingly, roughly 1,000 extras were needed to film the scene, along with 35 cars and drivers. Those lucky participants were paid a mere $15 per day for their services, many of them coming from a car club called ArtNMotion. 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

Little Excitement

At least those folks got to make pretty much-unlimited passes all day long, as producers told them to keep racing no matter what. But we imagine that it might get a little bit boring after a while. That is until the fight scene between Johnny Tran and Dominic Toretto breaks out. According to Lieberman, the actors performed most of their own stunts in that particular segment. 

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.

Can't Miss TV

As always, Lieberman's latest video is packed with all sorts of cool little tidbits of info on some of Fast & Furious' most famous moments. And if that's the kind of stuff you consider can't miss TV, perhaps consider heading over here and subscribing to his YouTube channel.  

>>Join the conversation about Johnny Tran's S2000 right here in S2Ki.com.