[FoxFour]

I saw the movie the other night and enjoyed it for what it was, a good popcorn movie. The cars were certainly more realistic- no neon or goofy stickered cars, no multi-colored exhaust flames. These cars were representative of the actual cars that you would see in that area of the world.
I saw no CG effects as far as how the cars performed, what you saw is what the drivers actually did. Remember the scene in the commercial when you see the 350Z drift up that very narrow lane that circles up to the top of the garage? The director thought that the scene could not be done by actually drifting, they were talking about using cables and such to give the impression that the car was actually drifting. Rys Millen told the director that he thought that he could do it, and he did without touching the walls at all.
The only time that I suspected that they used CG was when the two drift cars touge' down the mountain in the movie's climax. It was a distant shot of the two cars racing and then the camera zooms out as the cars rush by.
From what I understand, over 120 cars were modified for this film. The main cars had extensive engine and suspension upgrades. The main 350Z that the 'baddie' drives was a twin-turbo powered car that put out 450 hp to the wheels. That Chevelle that we see in the beginning of the movie racing the Viper had a 500+ cubic inch big block with some serious suspension work. And that '67 Mustang with the Skyline engine- Me likey!