The Fast and the Furious series is back again, but this time around it actually includes most, if not all, the characters from the original. You remember Dom Torretto, right? That psycho yet super cool bald dude played by none other than Vin Diesel and, of course, Brian the undercover cop played by Paul Walker, or in simpler terms “the blonde dude that all chicks pretty much dig”? Also returning is Jordana Brewster who plays Toretto’s sister Mia, and Michelle Rodriquez who plays Toretto’s mean streak girlfriend.

This time, however, it seems as though the actors are not the main stars in the movie. The autos are.

The main races involve video game-esque scenes, such as a highway race, an urban city street race, a cool mountain tunnel race almost like you would see in a Bond movie, and an all-terrain race ending with a nice big finale. Yes, I did say race at least five times in that last sentence, but what did you expect? This is an article on a Fast and Furious movie.

The movie was released in theaters on Friday April 5, and in its first night alone it brought in a little over $30 million at the box office (The original Fast and the Furious only made $15 million total during its opening).

The action packed movie starts out with Torreto racing in a car with his girlfriend alongside a large oil tanker in cahoots with some other nearby drivers attempting to steal, you guessed it, gas! In the original they did pretty much the same thing, only the trucks they were ripping off were carrying name brand electronics.

The beginning scene itself ends when Diesel’s emotionless character Toretto plows towards an oncoming fireball of destruction. For you guys out there who love intense action sequences, need I say more?

The movie itself features a long list of stars (cars):

• a 1970 Chevelle SS454
• a fixed up 67′ Chevy pickup
• an 89′ Chevy crew cab with 6 wheels
• an 87′ Buick Grand National GNX
• a 73′ Camaro F bomb
• a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner (nicknamed Hammer)
• a 1972 Ford Gran Torino
• a 2009 Subaru WRX STI
• a custom BMW M5

As you can see the list is long and in total nearly 240 cars were built for the movie (including those completely destroyed during stunt scenes), and they merely represent 12 on screen vehicles. Doesn’t that leave a nice taste in your stomach?

Just imagine the vehicles that were destroyed while making this film.

*Shivers

The Nissan GT-R is definitely a newer car and has not been around long; most would consider it brand new. An Ohio-based performance garage has redesigned the car and made it new again.

The Nissan GT-R has a stock 480 horsepower rating, which still makes for a decent ride. However, Switzer Performance Innovation (located in Oberlin, Ohio), felt that 480hp wasn’t nearly enough and boosted the rating up to 700hp.

Switzer tuned the car by adding new turbochargers, custom compressor wheels, a Monster inter-cooler and a completely remapped engine control device. The new customization options actually enhance the GT-R from stock ratings (480 hp and 434 lb-ft of torque) up to 626 hp and 583 lb-ft of torque, which is more emphasized on the wheels.

The new P700 GT-Rs are designed to run on 93 octane fuel, which also helps provide both a performance and a reliability boost.

Switzer has deemed their new creation the P700 GT-R, and currently is selling the performance package for GT-Rs under the same name. The entire kit costs a total of $16,650 and can be done at Switzer Performance.

Switzer performance has been in business for over 15 years, which means they are not newbies to automotive sports tuning. Their last project introduced the Sledgehammer 997, based on stock Porsche models, which tops out at 1,000 total horsepower. In fact, Switzer’s entire product line includes performance kits for Porsche autos, including the 997 TT, 996 TT, Cayenne, and Carrera GT. All available packages can be purchased directly on site at Switzer Performance.

Switzer also will tune any car users deem necesary through “Dyno tuning” which uses an enhanced testing machine to both measure and improve “baseline” or stock horsepower.

Customizing different cars is an awesome pastime, and it’s a great way to make a vehicle your own. Who doesn’t love to throw in some different headlamp covers, mount on a sweet body kit for the frame, and even tune up some of the engine parts? I believe that in some cases, a car should just be left alone, particularly a very expensive and already sexy auto.

Hamann has just released a tune-up/style kit for the 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Hamann reports that the custom kit gives the, already beautiful, sports car more power, a better aerodynamic frame and better airflow. What exactly is added to the car you ask? Hamann has plastered on a new front lip spoiler with a new front skirt, and some new side skirts. A newly designed spoiler also has been added to match the custom body kit along with a three piece rear defuser. The body kit comes made in two completely different materials: fiber glass or carbon fiber. Not to mention the stylish 21″ glossy black rims, which are wedged between the Vantage sport tires.

The new body kit is nice and all, but it makes the Vantage look more like some street racing car. Personally I think it degrades what Aston Martin was going for, an auto designed to reflect comfort, luxury and power in a very sophisticated manner. The new kit looks almost like some spoiled rich teenager took a $115,000 car and slapped on some cheap body pieces to fit in with the local scene. You be the judge; take a look at this photo of the Vantage before and after the body kit is installed. Then answer the poll and let us know if you think Hamann went too far with its new body kit?

Aston Martin before

Aston Martin after

If you love working on your car and like doing any maintenance and enhancements yourself, you know that the key thing is to find a great resource for your parts. Finding a reliable, knowledgeable parts vendor is not an easy thing to do. But luckily we at Gas Pedal Addicts have found one online in Discount Part Center.

Since 1996, Discount Part Center has been selling high quality inexpensive tires , wheels, and parts from the world’s top manufacturers. Their award winning Web site has been around since 2001 and enables you to find the parts that you want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The backbone of Discount Part Center‘s offering is its discount tire selection where they cover every type of tire. From passenger vehicle tires to high performance tires. And from snow tires to all season truck and van tires. They also only carry new tires that have the complete manufacturer warranty.

But Discount Part Center is more than just tires, wheels and parts. They also have an unbelievable resource of articles and info about how to maintain and enhance your car. They have an entire library of resources about tread life, tire maintenance, and general auto safety.

They also run a wonderful sister site called DPC Cars. DPCars is the place to find the best and most popular car videos, car pictures, motorcycle videos, and RC videos from all over the Web. You can also find information for street racing, hot rods, and fast cars.

No matter if you are looking for great tires, wheels or parts or if you are looking for the coolest car videos, you need to check out Discount Part Center and DPC Cars.

Looking to find out more about the history of BMWs, Bentleys (like the MTM Bentley Continental), or other car brands? Trying to find out why people love Fiats or what six models Acura has? Car Tuning Central will have the perfect articles for you!

Everything that you wanted to know about tuning cars can be found on Car Tuning Central. There are even featured recent articles about virtual car tuning! To “fix” or tune your car to look exactly how you want it to be, Car Tuning Central provides links to companies who can help you. They also have articles about ways that you can self-tune your car. For example, one article is about car lifts. Looking for information about 2 post car lift kits? 4 post? Scissor car lift systems? Another type of car lift? Car Tuning Central has information for you in their article!

Perhaps you would like to make your car more fuel efficient. Car Tuning Central has a lengthy article about clean gas induction, which is a technology that results in your car being more fuel efficient and it reduces the amount of pollutants going into the air by your vehicles’ exhaust.

Many people dream of having a good looking car. At Car Tuning Central, they publish articles about the nicest cars and their latest tune-ups. You can read, see pictures, and learn from every article on the page. What makes it even easier, is that the site provides related links at the top of the page when you are browsing a certain article. This will make it faster to look for what you want. Of course, you are welcome to search the entire site with their search bar.

Car Tuning Central is the site to go to for information about car tuning or the nicest cars.

Discount Tire Company/America’s Tire Company (a great place to find Goodyear Tires) announced today the release of an innovative new application on their website, www.tires.com. Known as the “Interactive Wheel System,” this progression in eCommerce provides customers with a cutting-edge method of previewing wheels. The Interactive Wheel System can be accessed directly at http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/interactive.do

We recently had the opportunity to interview Discount Tire Company about the launch of their new system. Look at the answers to our questions from Mike Bolland, eBusiness Manager at Discount Tires:
Q: How long was the Interactive Wheel System in development?

A: The development time was roughly three months. The short turnaround can be attributed to the fact we already had the vehicle illustrations. Those were created for a legacy system we no longer use.

Q: What future enhancements are envisioned to the Interactive Wheel System?

A: Future enhancements may include the ability to raise or lower the vehicle. But we are hoping the next phase of enhancements will be powered by user feedback. We look at feedback on all items on our site and create enhancements based on user recommendations.

Read The Entire Press Release Here

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Everyone has a hobby. Some people collect baseball memorabilia, others collect stamps. Some people fish, while other people knit. But people are always passionate about cars, a thirst which can never be quenched. We are crazy about cars. Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes (the Brabus s v12)are the most beloved cars, and we always need modifications. Performance and car tuning are hot issues, which are as important as purchasing a car.

It used to be almost impossible to get desired information without wandering in auto markets, but now we can get information about tuning, performance and modifications without much hassle. The term Tuning videos, like Audi Tuning Videos, will lead you to many related sites and blogs through Google. If you need information about “BMW modifying”, you can browse several BMW blogs easily. Lamborghini Tuning, Porsche Performance and Ferrari Tuning (like the brabus rocket) will also be your desired search terms, if you are looking for information about Porsche or Mercedes (check out the Project Khan McLaren SLR) .

Useful resources

Car videos, Review sites, consumer blogs, and auto sites are the best sources of information. You can watch tuning videos on YouTube or on thousands of available blogs. From purchasing a car online to technical information, nothing is impossible in the Internet world. Online magazines and e-zines are a big support and help. There is no need to pay a consultant, and you can easily share your questions with other experienced people. How easy it is! While sitting in front of your computer, you can get videos about modifying a Mercedes, tips to boost the performance of a Porsche, or receive information about Mercedes performance parts.

Audi owners

Racing and Consumer models are two categories of Audi. You can simply search for your category to save time. A3, A4, A5, A6, A8, Q7, Allroad Quattro, RS4, R8, S3, S4, S6, and S8 all are models of Audi. You can buy or sell Audi.

Modifying BMW

BMW has several different models which include 1 series, 3 series, 5 series, 6 series, X series, Z series and many prototypes. Cars need a lot of modifications after purchasing. You can get useful tips about accessories or other related items on different blogs. EBay is another cool place for accessories and you can get some of the cheapest parts and accessories there.

Porsche Performance and Mercedes Tuning Magazines

Boxster roadster, the 911, Cayman and many more are models of Porsche which are considered some of the more expensive cars on this planet. Porsche is always popular for its performance because it is a car which is being made for passion and speed. There are several blogs about Porsche where owners of Porsche share their thoughts. That will be the best place to get tons of tips.

Different online magazines and e-zines are digital sources of information, such as Cayman tuning. Mercedes Tuning Magazine is an example of an e-zine that allows you to get the latest information about Mercedes-Benz.