Revealing mistake: When the tanker first rams Dom, if you look at the background outside the car it is barely moving. Not even close to the speed we see them traveling at. (00:03:40)
Revealing mistake: Just after the Buick spins around to knock the trailer loose, we see the Buick speeding away backwards alongside the truck. If you look carefully you can see the REAR tires are steering, not the fronts. This car was modified with the body mounted backwards on the chassis because the transmission only has one reverse gear, so to get the speed and handling needed, the car had to be going 'forward' with a 'backward' body. (00:05:30)
Revealing mistake: When Dom and Letty get out the car at the crash scene, there is a light reflected in the paintwork quite low. When the camera pans out you can see it's not the moon due to its position, and there is no other light source around that could cause the light to be reflected so low on the car. (00:19:15)
Revealing mistake: At the end when we see all the police arrive, there are tyre marks in the sand where they stopped in previous takes. (01:33:15)
Revealing mistake: When Dom and Brian are racing for the job, there is one point where Brian is seen skidding around a corner. There are already skid marks in the exact place Brian skids.
Revealing mistake: When Paul Walker's Subaru is flipped over by the Torino after emerging from the mine, the propeller shaft linking front and back axles is missing. As both ends are bolted flanges and the car is not compressed lengthwise, this would not happen as part of the crash; it must be deliberate lightening by the film crew.
Chosen answer: It's a slightly tricky one to answer because the movie doesn't give very many clues. What we do know for a fact is the events at the start during and up to the conclusion of the Petroleum tanker heists was set before Tokyo Drift as evidenced by Dom speaking to Han with a view to returning back to Tokyo. After that it gets a little fuzzy. Some people claim the entire movie is before Tokyo Drift, but that simply cannot be the case as there are lots of 2008/2009 model cars around the movie, so the general consensus is the very start is before Tokyo Drift, and the time when Dom comes out of travelling/hiding and gets the phone call that Letty is dead is now after Tokyo Drift.
GalahadFairlight
This is not right. The entire movie takes place before "Tokyo Drift", as that is where Han dies. He is still around for the next two films and then dies in the seventh where events catch up with "Tokyo Drift" and then continues where it left off.
Yeah, Han's not dead either, he's back in the 9th movie.