With the Fast and Furious franchise’s Fast X now in production, it seems that the tenth movie might return to the car-focused roots of the OG movie from 2001 (more on this below). Meanwhile, the automotive community on social media seems to be falling in love with the said motion picture all over again. And this 2JZ-powered Ford F-150 vs. Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX dyno battle is a high-horsepower tribute to the production.
In the red corner, we have Hoonigan’s 2000 Ford F-150, which is nicknamed Lord Frightening. And while this isn’t introduced as an SVT Lightning, the hot truck from the original Fast and Furious, it packs quite a surprise under the hood. That’s because the pickup sports a pretty standard 2JZ, with the 3.0L straight-six packing a Garrett G-Series turbo and sipping on E85. And the motor is mated to a Tremec T56 six-speed manual.
As for the green corner, this is occupied by a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse run by throtl, a performance parts supplier who’s also keen on social media builds.
And while the motion picture vehicle was an FWD model powered by a N/A 2.0L four-cylinder making 140 hp, this is a GSX. And, as those who remember what the Mitsubishi range was like before the carmaker lost its way can tell you, that means AWD and the stellar 4G63 engine many enthusiasts know thanks to all-mighty Evo.
In addition, this is a built turbo-four featuring goodies like custom cams and an Fp Red turbo, while running on E85 racing fuel.
As a bonus, the late Paul Walker drove both these cars over two decades ago, so seeing them duking it out on the dyno makes for a great way to honor his legacy.
Where is the Fast and Furious series headed?
After the first three movies, the Fast & Furious series started getting wilder and wilder, eventually touching the space travel theme in Fast 9. In the process, the dominant presence of various builds and street racing from the first motion picture faded, with the mass-market appeal involving ludicrous stunts taking its place.
However, F&F producer Neal Moritz dropped a bit of a bomb last month while discussing the journey of the franchise with Matt Belloni on The Town podcast. Moritz hinted that the said pathway may be reversed for the future of the franchise: “Honestly, I think going forward I’d like to actually go smaller. And I’d like to kind of start to go back to where we started,”
The tentative timeline for the release of Fast X involves the summer of 2023, but the production isn’t without its hurdles. For one, director Justin Lin took everybody by surprise this Tuesday when he announced he would give up on the said role, albeit continuing as a producer. It’s worth mentioning that Lin is the only filmmaker who has directed more than one Fast & Furious movie, while Vin Diesel has called him an “architect” of the series.
In its 20+ years on the silver screen, the F&F franchise has, unfortunately, had to deal with multiple such problems and eventually overcame them all, which is why our hopes for the future of the series are still high.
PS: If you’re in a rush and wish to skip the presentation of the vehicles, the dyno pulls start at the 7:20 point of the clip below.
