Despite being massive BO draws, The Fast & Furious franchise has pushed the envelope, countless times, of what is real and what is simply not. Of course, it still made a legend out of Paul Walker, and his death, in a car crash no less, turned the franchise into a cult, one that shall be remembered for years and years to come. The good thing is that it also kickstarted the JDM and rice car craze in the US.

The bad thing is that “danger to manifold” is now a defined slang in the English language. And it came birthed from a scene that was so out there, there is now a danger to our manifolds.

See now, this is what we mean!

So what is the truth behind the scene and what really went down? Also, is there ever a “danger to manifold” when it comes to cars, and how exactly, are floorboards related to the manifold in the first place?

So many questions and such few answers. Let’s try and get to the truth behind the "danger to manifold" scene from The Fast and The Furious

Paul Walker & Danger To Manifold

This Is The Truth Behind The Danger To Manifold Scene From The Fast And The Furious
via YouTube

So it's 2001 and you’re in the theatre, against your better judgment, watching a movie ostensibly about cars but something that fudges so much about them, you might as well watch a cartoon.

Brian (aka Paul Walker, bless his soul) is racing Dominic (Vin Diesel) in an Eclipse, one of the coolest sports cars from Mitsubishi. He’s in a hurry and wants to prove his macho is bigger macho than Vin’s, although his head full of blonde curls have already given him an advantage over the egg-rockness of Diesel.

He gasses the NOS, as in the Nitrous Oxide to zap his rice car from a sleeper to a dust-feeder. His laptop computer flashes a warning: Danger To Manifold. Brian is angry, snarls at his laptop and shuts it down, and powers up the next level of NOS.

Inexplicably, the bolts from under his car begin to pop out like missiles, and the floorboard just falls out. It's thrilling, and for someone who does not know much about cars, it sounded exotic. There is so much power, the floorboard fell out. That’s some crazy driving and one insane car.

So what’s the problem with the scene?

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The Manifold Mistakes

For A While Though, Most Of The Viewers Did Not Know Better And The “Danger To Manifold” Became The Urban Slang Of Something That Was Hard To Swallow Or Could Make You Blow Your Gasket
via YouTube

Let’s begin with the car itself. When Brian brings in the car, Jessie (Chad Lindberg) examines the car. He says the car has a cool air intake and a NOS fogger kit, both of which are true. Then he also says it has a T4 Turbo, which is pretty much a lie because Brian’s Eclipse isn’t the GSX model but a base version.

Anyways, one can attribute this to generic movie fudging, and at least in The Fast & The Furious, they did use an Eclipse, unlike many other movies or series where the car is different and made to look like another model.

What gets our goat is the relation between the manifold and the floorboards. Which isn’t one. If and when the laptop flashed “danger to manifold”, it meant the intake manifold, the part of the engine that supplies the correct air and fuel mixture, was being flooded. In a long stretch, it could also mean the exhaust manifold was being overworked, meaning the one part where all the pipes come together to coalesce into the exhaust pipe was being overloaded.

Either which of the two does not have a relation with the floorboard and as far as we know, the Eclipse did not even have floor panels.

For a while though, most of the viewers did not know better, and “danger to manifold” became the urban slang that came to indicate something hard to swallow or could make you blow your gasket. Literally.

How to best use it? Well, the next time your friend, who happens to be an F&F fan talks a baker’s dozen about the “danger to manifold”, you could warn him that if he continued, there would be actual “danger to manifold”. Add in a death stare for effect.

RELATED: What People Don't Know About Paul Walker's Supra In Fast And Furious

How Did The Scene Come To Be?

According to Craig Leiberman, one of the technical advisors on the show, the phrase "danger to manifold" made no sense
via Pinterest

According to Craig Leiberman, one of the technical advisors on the show, the phrase made no sense. He did advise the director Rob Cohen to instead show a pressure gauge or temperature meter to redline to show rising pressure and heat. But Cohen insisted that the audience would know no better and carried on.

Leiberman also doesn’t want to “get started” on the floor panels falling off or how, even after all the danger to manifold damage, Brian was able to drive his Eclipse away from the cops. Of course, the movie was a runaway success, and "danger to manifold" is now slang, so all’s well that end’s well, right? Even if there is continued to danger to manifold...

Sources: UrbanDictionary, YouTube

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