Then as if concerned that he had answered a little too quickly, the 35-year-old actor demurred. "But it does depend on who it is I'm having sex with and what I'm driving, I guess."

Then, with a cheeky laugh, he added: "But I do love Porsches and Audis, so they're good substitutes. And they don't talk back."

Cars are obviously a hot topic at the Universal Studios' film lot where this interview was held last month.

Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster reprise their roles in Fast & Furious 4, the fourth instalment of the highly successful racing series.

The movie reunites the cast of the first movie, The Fast And The Furious (2001).

The second instalment, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), only featured Walker, whereas the third film, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), set in Tokyo, developed a plot totally unrelated to the original.

In the new movie, which opens on 9 Apr, ex-cop Brian O'Connor (Walker) and ex-con Dominic Toretto (Diesel) must put aside their eight-year feud to confront a sociopathic drug kingpin.

Walker said the protracted five-month shoot didn't sit well with his schedule.

He said: "This one seemed to go on forever. I'd come in and work for three or four days and I would have a week and a half off. So I never really got into a rhythm."

But there was good reason to jump back into the driver's seat.

"I have an appreciation for all cars. If it has four wheels and a steering wheel, I love it," said Walker, who was last seen here in Clint Eastwood's epic, Flags Of Our Fathers.

Walker admitted he leans towards Japanese imports.

"People, just for style points, gravitate towards the classics, the Chevelles and the souped-up (Chevy) Novas. In the movie, I fought for the (Nissan Skyline) R34."

Sizeable collection

Then, dropping into car lingo, he declared: "I'm rice."

"Rice" being short for "rice rockets" - the moniker for Japanese import cars that were souped up by Asian American street racers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The Fast & Furious series was partly inspired by this rice rocket scene.

Naturally, after doing three movies, Walker has built up a sizeable collection in his own garage.

He has two Nissan Skyline R34s, including "one that's all tracked out, with Tomei, OS Giken, sequential and everything".

His love for revving up behind the wheel can probably be attributed to the vast space and long roads of southern California, where he grew up.

Born in Glendale, California, and raised on the sea breeze of the Pacific Ocean, fast cars run in his blood.

His grandfather, Mr William Walker, raced American muscle car the Ford Falcon in his younger days.

Grandpa Walker owned a speed and transmission shop in San Fernando Valley and had the first Ford Falcon to break 257 kmh.

Said the actor: "It's in my blood. My grandfather was like a big shot. I started with go-karts when I was younger, and I graduated to shifter-karts."

Incidentally, about the time when the first Fast & Furious movie was being made, he started racing on big-boy tracks.

So when it comes to who was a better driver on set, Walker claimed he nailed it, hands down.

He said of his beefy co-star Diesel: "If it's an automatic, he's good, but the second it comes to manual transmission, uh-uh. Vin can't drive. He couldn't even drive stick when he made the first movie. I would totally spank him."

But there's more than just metal in Walker's blood.

Testament to his southern Californian roots, the other thing that he is crazy about is the ocean.

He even shuttles to Hawaii to visit his 10-year-old daughter, who lives with her mother, an ex-girlfriend of Walker's who is not in show business.

"I'm a recluse. I'll disappear for months on end, just hiking and spending a lot of time around the ocean. I still dive a lot," said Walker, who moved from his birthplace, which is more inland, to the sunny beaches of Santa Barbara.

"Santa Barbara moves at a better speed for me. And when I have to make the commute into LA. It's a lot nicer coming from Santa Barbara. Driving down from Santa Barbara, I'm almost on the coast for the entire way."

source: http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/Owners/Story/A1Story20090407-133873.html