Better Gas Mileage

‘Pick a car that has a good e-brake, you’ll need it for this sequence.’ It was early evening, around 7:00 pm and I’d just arrived at work. Hearing these words of advice from the stunt coordinator I had two things pass quickly through my mind. My first thought was “Great!” I was sure it was going to be a good evening. My second thought was that I hoped the cars did indeed have strong e-brakes.

Picking up my bag with my driving gear I walked toward the picture cars that were lined up at the rear of the location area. A number of various shaped and sized cars were to appear in the shoot that evening and my eyes were drawn to the Crown Victorias parked there. The cars were set up with all the police lights and I was excited to be playing a ‘goodie’ that evening.

Checking each car to see how the e-brake responded, I decided that there were two that were a little squashy, but two were ok. I wasn’t entirely happy with any of them, but felt that while they weren’t as firm as I’d like, at least they didn’t slide to the floor. Selecting the one that I believed had the strongest e-brake I turned the key in the ignition and reversed out of the park.

Thinking it would be best to give the e-brake a test run, I asked a friend to help me check the brakes. While my friend stood back to watch the tire on the passenger side, I revved the car and hit the e-brake when I reached 30km per hour. By leaning out the driver’s window I was able to check the rear tire and could see it lock, which my friend confirmed the other rear tire did as well. I was set to go! The initial challenge was behind me.

Pulling up in my car, I double checked the air pressure in the tires. Deciding that it was on the low side, I took out a transportable compressor that plugs into the car cigarette lighter hooking the remote end to the tire. As the tires were being pumped up, I set up the e-brake release handle to ensure it stayed out, using a length of hose pipe and some duct tape. This was important to ensure that the e-brake wouldn’t lock up when I depressed it during the stunt sequence.

After making sure the e-brake and tires were acceptable, I put my seat in the correct place and took out some rubbish lying on the floor; the last thing you need during stunt driving is to have some bits of junk roll under your feet and creating unforeseen problems.

I double-checked that the tire pressure was set to an appropriate 38 lbs. in the rear tires and 32 in the front. Proper air pressure was essential for the precision slow speed sequences, especially with the featured 90 and 180 degree turns that where to be shot. The correct tire pressure would be a key factor in making sure the car would come to a stop at the right angle.

With checks of the first car out of the way I then went through the whole routine on the second best car, just to be sure I had a fall-back option if the car I was in encountered any problems. By the time I finished it was getting dark and I went to get ‘breakfast’. My ‘work day’ on set was only just beginning.

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