The cars Brain races against at the beginning are the same models that won the major races in The Fast and the Furious and they reach the bridge in reverse order of their appearance in the first movie. The stunt crew actually reused some of the stunt cars from the original (they were, of course, modified to resemble the cars in the sequel).
The scene near the end of the movie where the blue car is driven onto the boat was filmed at Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne. A new fishing pier was built by the movie crew to provide the ramp and a car was prepared with the engine and all fuel and brake lines removed and the vehicle steam cleaned so no oil or gas would pollute Biscayne Bay. The plan was to film the shot several times but the first one went so well that the additional takes were cancelled.
The first car you see Paul Walker drive in the movie, is in fact his own racing car in real life. He has a love for street racing. Also he personally handpicked all of the racing cars in the movie.
The Yellow Dodge Viper driven by one of the goons was the first of the new shape "production" Dodge Vipers, Universal pictures got hold of the first four of these cars to use for filming on the understanding that none of them would be damaged, this is why we don't see it crash in the actual film.
Most of the cars were heavily reinforced with roll cages for the bridge jump. However, the roll cage would have been all too obvious in the convertible S2000. So, the stunt crew rigged up a remote control version for the jump with a dummy in the driver's seat.
The part where the Corvette crashes into the Mustang on the freeway was not planned. Yet the stuntman walked away unscathed. Some parts of the ending were not scripted either, so the actors just improvised.
Slap Jack's Toyota Supra was modified from the remaining copies of the orange Supra driven by Brian O'Conner in the first film. To make the car stand out from the rest, the production team designed a lexan panel on the center of the hood that made the engine visible while letting hot air out at the same time. To save the production staff thousands of dollars, the engine of the "hero" car (unit used mainly for photography, not for stunts) was photographed and sent to a local printing press in Miami, FL, where the image was blown up to actual size. The engine pictures were placed directly below the lexan panels of the stunt cars.
Brian O'Conner's Nissan Skyline sustained a ruptured oil pan and severe damage on all four rims from the bridge jump, but in a matter of hours, the car was in good running condition with the parts replaced.
Universal Studios had two different scripts commissioned. The first script featured Vin Diesel's character while the second script did not in case he decided not to return.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII driven by Paul Walker is not available in the USA, the cars used were actually current US models, modified to look like the Evo VII. All mods done by EP Industries in El Segundo, CA.
When Brian wins the the first race, he powerslides toward the crowd. Paul Walker actually performed this stunt himself, among many other in this film and the prequel, as he is a big fan of street race and a good driver.
To keep the feel of the movie interesting, Director John Singleton often encouraged the actors to improvise during filming. Many of the humorous moments on screen are ad libbed.
The electrical device used by the police throughout the film to disable the cars is non-existent in reality. It was just made up by the creators of the film to add more excitement.
Before the first race there is a deep-focus shot of three of the drivers in their cars turning one by one to look at Brian. The slightly unnatural motion of the head and eye movements of the actors reveals that this shot is running in reverse. As actually filmed, the action begins with Brian and then moves down the line of actors, finishing with Suki.