3 Ways ‘Fast and the Furious’ Has Changed Cars
The Fast and The Furious film franchise doesn’t just make a strong statement about American car culture. It also reminds us why the Ford Fiesta is still available in Lime-colored paint. The Fast and The Furious films have soaked their way into almost every part of American car culture.
Auto enthusiasts now get excited about customizing a 1995 Honda Civic, and many people have added cool features to their automobiles. The Fast and The Furious movies have changed cars forever, and we’re pleased they did. Here are 3 ways they did it.
Customization
Do you think the highly customizable Scion marque would have been released byToyota if The Fast and The Furious didn’t hit theatres two years earlier? It’s hard to tell. Scion’s first versions were introduced in California, and Kia also introduced the Kia Soul there. Why? It’s the same reason The Fast and The Furious did well on the West Coast.
The custom car scene in California was already popular, and the state’s Special Equipment Market Association had been giving car owners options car makers hadn’t. The custom scene and tuner scene in California is huge, and many car makers attend the association’s shows to discover new trends to pick up on–like how customers now prefer an online virtual showroom to a physical one.
When offered individually, custom features can help automakers to earn a lot of money, and many were quick to catch on. When the Mini was introduced to the U.S. back in 2002, it came with a combination of features that made the average buyer spend about $4,000 on additions.
Small Cars, Big Horsepower
The Fast and The Furious made the idea of a small car putting on a big show not seem foreign, creating demand for horsepower and performance. These days, more cars have 200 horsepower or more. Back in 1998, the fastest car on the road was the Dodge Viper GTS with 450 horsepower. It could go from 0 to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds. The average car horsepower is 200 these days, and the average car can go from 0 to 60 in between 3 to 4 seconds.
Amazing Tech
The Fast and Furious films have always featured remarkable tech, helping make the ongoing adventures a wild ride. 2 Fast 2 Furious featured a police-deployed harpoon launcher, Furious 7 had a state-of-the-art God’s Eye, and many cars in the films have had center consoles that can multitask. As fans keep asking for more, it doesn’t look like this trend will stop anytime soon.
The films made auto manufacturers understand that customers love cars with advanced tech–they can’t get enough of it. Ford partnered with Microsoft and introduced an entertainment system that linked audio, GPS, and Bluetooth. Toyota followed suit with its Enform Safety system that was installed in the Lexus brand. Car manufacturers are now leveraging tech every day to create cars of the future, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store.