Super Pursuit Mode!

[Trekker4747]

I recently (finally) bought the final season of Knight Rider and watching through it. Sigh.

I forgot how silly SPM was. Ok, fine, it (somehow) makes KITT faster than he already is, ok, fine, for some reason this extra speed comes at an efficency cost that makes it inefficent to have it on all of the time. But... why does the car need to extend its nose, lift the rear deck and have all the greebles come out?

And, sheesh. Michael uses it in this season's first episode like a 13-year-old-boy who just discovered masturbation! Every chase scene Michael uses it, turns it off, and uses it again.

And, okay, the EBS was kind-of cool in the way it was shown.

And I still have no idea what went where, what came from where and how it fits in with the SPM on the convertible option.

Whatever, KITT still rocks.

 

[captcalhoun]

yeah, me dad was watching a re-run a few months back and i pointed out how ridiculous SPM is when it'd actually increase the car's drag and therefore slow it down...

 

[cardinal biggles]

And I still have no idea what went where, what came from where and how it fits in with the SPM on the convertible option.

yeah, me dad was watching a re-run a few months back and i pointed out how ridiculous SPM is when it'd actually increase the car's drag and therefore slow it down...

It's one of those things you aren't supposed to put that much thought into.

Here's an article written by the guy who designed the SPM and convertible conversions. Pretty interesting insights on the behind-the-scenes stuff.

 

[Caliburn24]

We're talking about a show where a talking car fights crime and exchanges jokes with his human driver and you guys want to rag on the aerodynamics of the car?

Really?

 

[T'Baio]

I remember when I was a kid in the playground, for God knows what reason there was a rumour that K.I.T.T. in Super Pursuit Mode was no longer a Firebird, but that they had used some sort of Porsche to build that car. Hey, I was like 7 years old. I have no idea where that rumour came from amongst a bunch of 7/8 year olds, but whatever.

Later that year, David Hasselhoff came to my town to open the new Toys R Us they had just built. He came dressed as Michael Knight, the jeans and the leather jacket, but no K.I.T.T. They lined up everyone around the outside walls of the store, and Hasselhoff started walking around, shaking hands, taking picture and stuff. When he got to me, I shook his hand and I asked; "Is it true in Super Pursuit Mode, they don't use a Firebird but K.I.T.T. is actually a Porsche?" Hasselhoff smiled, shit you not gave me the wink and the gun and said; "Nope, still the same old K.I.T.T." And he walked off.

Greatest moment of my life.

Well...not really, but it was pretty fuckin' cool for a 7 year old.

 

[davejames]

Yeah SPM was cheesy and unnecessary, and from an objective viewpoint it makes the car look dorky as hell... but I have to admit I still find the transformation scene a thrill to watch. It's just hard not to geek out a bit at watching all these panels and things slide out of KITT.

It doesn't hurt that SPM is pretty much the only worthwhile thing to come out of the entire 4th season. lol

 

[Owain Taggart]

It was better than Transformer KITT (transforming into a truck, are you kidding me?) from the recent series. That stunk lol.

 

[Admiral2]

It was better than Transformer KITT (transforming into a truck, are you kidding me?) from the recent series. That stunk lol.

Ditto.

 

[davejames]

It was better than Transformer KITT (transforming into a truck, are you kidding me?) from the recent series. That stunk lol.

The thing that bugged me the most about that wasn't the ridiculousness of the idea (although it was pretty bad), but the fact we were denied seeing the Mustang itself go off-road.

One of my favorite parts of the original series was seeing KITT dirtied up on some rough mountain road or in some kind of off-road race. You could tell the stunt drivers were REALLY putting that car through it's paces, and it was fun as hell to watch.

The Mustang on the other hand always seemed to be treated with kid gloves, like they were scared of even getting a scratch on it. So everytime KITT went off-road, he had to turn into a stupid truck first.

 

[Samurai8472]

It doesn't hurt that SPM is pretty much the only worthwhile thing to come out of the entire 4th season. lol

They started dwelving into more crazy (at the time) 1980's scifi stories

-Perfect facial/vocal copy of Devon

It was better than Transformer KITT (transforming into a truck, are you kidding me?) from the recent series. That stunk lol.

The thing that bugged me the most about that wasn't the ridiculousness of the idea (although it was pretty bad), but the fact we were denied seeing the Mustang itself go off-road.

One of my favorite parts of the original series was seeing KITT dirtied up on some rough mountain road or in some kind of off-road race. You could tell the stunt drivers were REALLY putting that car through it's paces, and it was fun as hell to watch.

The Mustang on the other hand always seemed to be treated with kid gloves, like they were scared of even getting a scratch on it. So everytime KITT went off-road, he had to turn into a stupid truck first.

I hated the blue screen crap. It's like they had two mustangs and that was it. The normal mode and it's battle mode.

They couldn't mount a camera to a car while someone was driving? or use a frame and have a truck pull the car making it look like someone driving it.

God their budget must have been pennies. Even when they axed half the cast it wasn't enought

 

[Owain Taggart]

It was better than Transformer KITT (transforming into a truck, are you kidding me?) from the recent series. That stunk lol.

The thing that bugged me the most about that wasn't the ridiculousness of the idea (although it was pretty bad), but the fact we were denied seeing the Mustang itself go off-road.

One of my favorite parts of the original series was seeing KITT dirtied up on some rough mountain road or in some kind of off-road race. You could tell the stunt drivers were REALLY putting that car through it's paces, and it was fun as hell to watch.

The Mustang on the other hand always seemed to be treated with kid gloves, like they were scared of even getting a scratch on it. So everytime KITT went off-road, he had to turn into a stupid truck first.

Hah yeah, that too. I forgot about that. It made it even sillier. What I liked about the original was how they seemed to make it realistic within the boundaries of what was possible on the show, so you could suspend disbelief. Yet, the new one just threw that out the window and seemed to bring in the kitchen sink in terms of preposterousness.

I didn't even think KITT as a Mustang worked well. It just didn't seem to be the kind of car with a fierce enough attitude. And come on, Val Kilmer sounded stoned as the voice of KITT. They should of dug in deeper in the repertoire of american muscle cars/sport cars to find a car that suited the concept better. Or better yet, revive the Firebird with updated styling to be sold alongside the show. They dropped the ball, I find.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I loved super pursuit mode and thought it was the coolest thing ever. The only thing that didn't work for me was when KITT was in regular mode, there were no seams for the stuff that popped out. The convertible mode was also a problem. Where did the roof and the rear windshield go? And where did the back cover come from?

I hated the blue screen crap.

They couldn't mount a camera to a car while someone was driving?

I liked the blue screen look when they were driving. It added to the campy feel. The new Knight Rider really felt like a 90s syndicated action show and that's one of the things I liked about it. It was just pure escape.

 

[davejames]

I have to admit it DID become a lot more fun and watchable in the last 4 or 5 episodes, once they started embracing the spirit and style of the original show more. And once they gave KITT more of a personality and sense of humor.

It's just a shame they waited so long to get there.

 

[Holdfast]

I remember when I was a kid in the playground, for God knows what reason there was a rumour that K.I.T.T. in Super Pursuit Mode was no longer a Firebird, but that they had used some sort of Porsche to build that car. Hey, I was like 7 years old. I have no idea where that rumour came from amongst a bunch of 7/8 year olds, but whatever.

Later that year, David Hasselhoff came to my town to open the new Toys R Us they had just built. He came dressed as Michael Knight, the jeans and the leather jacket, but no K.I.T.T. They lined up everyone around the outside walls of the store, and Hasselhoff started walking around, shaking hands, taking picture and stuff. When he got to me, I shook his hand and I asked; "Is it true in Super Pursuit Mode, they don't use a Firebird but K.I.T.T. is actually a Porsche?" Hasselhoff smiled, shit you not gave me the wink and the gun and said; "Nope, still the same old K.I.T.T." And he walked off.

Greatest moment of my life.

Well...not really, but it was pretty fuckin' cool for a 7 year old.

Super Pursuit Mode was awesome. KITT transformed! To a Transformers nut of a kid, this was a dream come true!

 

[Trekker4747]

Aww geeze. This final season is like some of the worst moments ot the Reboot.

Like when KITT is "dressed" as some sort of rare racing car. It's supposed to be some-kind-of shell that fitted over KITT's body, that is completely different in width, heigth and overall design than the Trans Am. There's no way that shell would "fit over" KITT the way it's suggested in the episode.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

To a Transformers nut of a kid, this was a dream come true!

Same reaction to Peter Cullen doing the voice of KARR?

 

[Silvercrest]

Aww geeze. This final season is like some of the worst moments ot the Reboot.

Like when KITT is "dressed" as some sort of rare racing car. It's supposed to be some-kind-of shell that fitted over KITT's body, that is completely different in width, heigth and overall design than the Trans Am. There's no way that shell would "fit over" KITT the way it's suggested in the episode.

Ha, that episode was just on last night. And you're right.

 

[Holdfast]

To a Transformers nut of a kid, this was a dream come true!

Same reaction to Peter Cullen doing the voice of KARR?

No. At that age, Peter Cullen didn't exist as a separate person to me.

 

[Corran Horn]

I remember when I was a kid in the playground, for God knows what reason there was a rumour that K.I.T.T. in Super Pursuit Mode was no longer a Firebird, but that they had used some sort of Porsche to build that car. Hey, I was like 7 years old. I have no idea where that rumour came from amongst a bunch of 7/8 year olds, but whatever.

Later that year, David Hasselhoff came to my town to open the new Toys R Us they had just built. He came dressed as Michael Knight, the jeans and the leather jacket, but no K.I.T.T. They lined up everyone around the outside walls of the store, and Hasselhoff started walking around, shaking hands, taking picture and stuff. When he got to me, I shook his hand and I asked; "Is it true in Super Pursuit Mode, they don't use a Firebird but K.I.T.T. is actually a Porsche?" Hasselhoff smiled, shit you not gave me the wink and the gun and said; "Nope, still the same old K.I.T.T." And he walked off.

Greatest moment of my life.

Well...not really, but it was pretty fuckin' cool for a 7 year old.

I remember they had some promo where you could call in and KITT would tell you about all his upgrades (SPM, new shell, some kind of passive seatbelt system) and all these years later that call still sticks out as a memory.