There’s no question that the Fast and Furious franchise has become a bonafide pop culture juggernaut, but that doesn’t change the fact that the early days were not quite as well sorted out as the films are now. And while some of the unintentional silliness of the first few installments can be forgiven (or embraced) since they were in the process of forging new cinematic territory, that hasn’t stopped the film’s creators from continuing to test the boundaries of believability whenever they get a chance to do so, even if they’ve tossed the CGI in favor of real stuntwork. And we can’t help but love them for that.

Let’s look back at some of the more absurd scenarios offered from the first six installments of the series – we’re keeping Furious 7 off the list to prevent spoilers for any of you stragglers out there that somehow haven’t managed to see the newest installment in the series yet.

10. The “Ejecto Seato” in 2 Fast 2 Furious –

When it comes to ditching unwanted passengers, the ejector seat is really the way to go. This one’s got a bit of an unusual design though, sending the hapless victim out the door rather than using what we’d consider the traditional roof-based exit. Fortunately for our bad guy, this curious setup lands him safely in a watery riverbed cushion rather than on the tarmac.

9. Jesse forgets who Johnny Tran is in The Fast and the Furious –

Jesse really just wasn’t cut out for the kind of work that’s required when getting involved with a street racing criminal empire. Despite having been assigned as a lookout for Johnny Tran and his goons while Dom and Brian snooped around the gang’s garage earlier in the film, he later appears oblivious to the fact that Tran is the driver when he decides to race this “fool running a Honda 2000” for pink slips. Even worse, he still doesn’t seem to recognize Tran once they meet at the starting line either. Things don’t really get better for Jesse from there.

8. Flying off a cliff is no big deal in Fast Five –

The fifth movie in the series is really where the franchise stepped things up in terms of production. Despite the film’s newfound “sophistication”, there’s still no shortage of ridiculous scenes, like this one where Dom and Brian fly off a cliff in a custom convertible Stingray, plunging hundreds of feet into a river without parachutes or any other aid that would justify the fact that the pair emerge unharmed seconds later.

7. The yacht interception in 2 Fast 2 Furious –

“What are you doing Brian? You’re crazy!” Roman yells just before a serendipitously placed ramp launches their ’69 Camaro into the air – and onto a fast-moving yacht. After they land, Brian spends the next few precious seconds facepalming, though it’s not totally clear if it’s from the pain or just the absurdity of it all.

6. All of the tunnel chases in Fast & Furious –

There’s no shortage of scenes across the franchise that look, shall we say, a bit unrealistic, but the tunnel chases from the fourth film in the series are some of the least convincing scenes in the franchise’s history, with heavy-handed doses of CGI replacing actual stunt work throughout most of these chases. And that’s of course besides the fact that those Mexican copper mines seem strangely ideal for high speed car chases unlike, say, every other copper mine on the planet.

5. The Dodge Charger wheelstand in The Fast and the Furious –

In what has become perhaps the most iconic scene in series history, Brian and his “10 second” Toyota Supra square off against Dom in his 1970 Dodge Charger, a car which Dom admits earlier in the film that he has never driven before. Perhaps for that reason we should cut him a bit of slack for his overly enthusiastic launch technique, but it’s still pretty remarkable that a Charger with a fake blower can do such an authoritative wheelstand on an unprepped surface even while the tires are clearly fighting for traction. Guess we know why he was scared of it – that thing defies the laws of physics, man.

4. Dom catches Letty in Fast and Furious 6 –

Wow, where to begin with this one? Let’s assume for a moment that the weight of a Mustang and the strength of its winch cable are enough to violently flip a tank at speed. Once Letty is conveniently vaulted into the air, Dom uses his car as a springboard to catch her in mid-flight, sending both of them hurtling into a stationary Mercedes-Benz at what can only be assumed is at least 50 miles per hour. But that’s OK because they land on the windshield, which is basically the same thing as a giant pillow.

3. A bus is no match for a Dodge Charger in Fast Five –

In another fairly liberal interpretation of physics the crew springs Dom from incarceration by causing the prison bus he’s on to flip end over end, freeing Dom and killing absolutely no one in the process. So how’d they pull it off, you ask? Bulldozer? Armored car? Another bus? Of course not – they just slowed down in front of it with a Charger. Mopars are built pretty tough you guys.

2. The only 18 mile runway in the world is in Fast and Furious 6 –

This scene is so long that you literally forget that the action is taking place as both the plane and the cars around it are racing down a runway at what we can assume is at least a sixty mile per hour average speed. Eggheads at the BBC did some calculations and conservatively estimated that the theoretical tarmac used in this 13 minute sequence would have had to have been about 18.4 miles long to provide enough space for the action to unfold. That’s approximately five times the length of the largest paved runway in the world, which is 3.5 miles long and can be found at Qamdo Bamda airport in China.

1. Danger To Manifold! in The Fast and the Furious –

More than any other scene in Fast and Furious franchise history, this one established almost every hallmark trope for races in the series – quarter mile drags that take two or three minutes to complete, cars with what appear to be nine-speed gearboxes, nitrous used as the great equalizer and so on.

But without a doubt, our favorite moment in this particular race scene is Brian’s 140 mile per hour argument with his Mitsubishi Eclipse’s on-board laptop computer, which screams Danger to Manifold! at him. Since Brian chooses to ignore the computer’s warning, the passenger side floor board spits bolts at him before flying off the car in a shower of sparks because, well, who the hell knows why. But hey, on the bright side – now it’s a cold-air intake! You can never have enough of those.

Surprisingly, none of the moments from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift made our list, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its own fair share of ridiculous moments. Chalk it up to the fact that Tokyo Drift is a bit of an odd duck among the other entries in the series, not only because of the thematic detour but the change in cast as well.

Did we miss any of your favorite scenes? Let us know in the comments section below!