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> [FANFIC] A New Downhill Legend?, AE86 vs NB8C
tofujay
Posted: Feb 9 2008, 11:49 PM


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nice fic cant wait for the next chapters

hey thx712517, a bit ot how are the autocross rules over there in the US? are they similar to what you wrote in the fic how stringent are they? it also seems similar to the autocross rules here in manila although sometimes i get away with some sneaky things under the hood laugh.gif
DrIfTeRX305
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 12:33 AM


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I like all the deception in this fic, I even think Sudo let the Mazda over rev on purpose.
Meteor
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 02:54 AM


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Man. Another awesome 2 new chapters.

And damn. Quite a lot of deception in this fic. I really didn't expect Itsuki to join in on the mind games.
VTiRoj
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 03:48 AM


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Hahaha, Itsuki is one hell of a "spy", great little twist there.
RickyDGreat
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 06:01 AM


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Aww man this is so great, finally a race with the Impreza and Takumi, humm I wonder if this will finally push takumi forward into finally upgrading. Keep up the great work would have never saw all of this coming. fear2.gif
jpn6438
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 06:03 AM


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It seems like the two have more brain than nuts and bolts.
red comet 7
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 10:16 AM


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well picture this, bunta's impreza is prolly even a little lighter than the evo 3, and has been tuned by Jun Kitami....

so basically picture, the Project. D graduated Takumi behind the wheel of Kyoichi's Evo III and that should give you a pretty good idea about how much ass our Fujiwara is gonna be haulin. laugh.gif
thx712517
  Posted: Feb 10 2008, 11:56 AM


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Last one for this week, got homework to do for the upcoming week. See you soon!

*************


Takumi sat down for the last time in the diner and looked at Ryosuke.
“So, tell me what you know,” Takahashi said.
“He's driving a supercharged Roadster and I'm driving the Impreza,” Takumi answered. Ryosuke's eyebrows arched upwards slightly.
“No more hachi-roku?”
“I took the advice of a friend and I'm saving it for my most difficult battles. If the car's already weakened, I don't want to ruin it by racing against someone like this,” Takumi said.
“A wise idea.”
“Thanks. Ryosuke, what would fix my hachi-roku?” Takumi asked. Ryosuke sighed, casting his memory back on Fumihiro's latest damage assessment.

“New factory sheetmetal. We'd need to rebuild your hachi from the firewall forward. Frame rails, core support, tie bar, the whole thing. We can't go junkyard or pull them off another car because we'll still be dealing with weakened metal. New strut mounts, engine cradle, basically everything from the firewall forward. Of course Toyota hasn't made the AE86 for quite some time now, and I don't think they have any of the factory body repair panels left. Maybe you should just find a lower mileage AE86 and transfer the parts over, junk the shell.”
“I don't want to do that,” Takumi said. “That car made me what I am, it deserves better than that. If I can't fix it I'll just set it aside and use it only against my greatest opponents. Maybe in time someone will find some repair panels for it and I can rebuild the car.”
“Maybe. In the meantime, tell me more about this Impreza.”

“You've seen it before. I used it against you when you challenged Keisuke and me with your FC. I didn't really know how to race it then. I do now though,” Takumi said confidently. Ryosuke stiffened as the memory came back to him of the unstoppable, incredible blue Impreza that had devoured his FC on the downhill of Akina, and how the only way he had to win was to sacrifice his cherished FC. It was a real monster of a car, powerful and stable.
“Do you want any advice for your race?” Ryosuke asked. Takumi nodded.
“Don't understimate him. Run as hard as you can and don't look back. Don't show mercy, don't show sympathy, no matter what happens. Crush him, or you will lose.”

*

“What's up, aniki?” Keisuke asked as he rolled into the driveway at home, surprised to see his brother outside working under the hood of the FC.
“Trying to get my mind off of Fujiwara's race,” Ryosuke replied, wiping a smear of grease off his cheek as he straightened up, stretching and popping his back.
“Why? Is it really that bad?” Keisuke asked, peering under the FC's hood at what his brother was doing.
“I don't know for sure, and it's driving me insane. I've never seen someone who can be so manipulative and hard to pin down as this challenger. I haven't gotten a solid idea of his skill level, and somehow Sudo has been pulled into this mess as well.”
“The Evo III driver?” Keisuke asked in shock.
“Yes, as a mentor for the challenger, who was also able to get Fujiwara to race not his AE86, but his father's Impreza. Tell me now, otouto, how that appears to you?” Ryosuke asked, shutting the hood of his FC and pulling out his keys.
“It sounds dangerous. Are you going for a drive?”
“Yeah. Want to come?”
“Yes,” Keisuke said, getting into the passenger seat of the FC. Ryosuke started up the engine and let it idle until it was warm before depressing the throttle gently, bringing the revs up slowly before letting off the throttle and letting the car go back to idle.

“What are you doing?” Keisuke asked.
“Warming up,” Ryosuke replied. Keisuke sighed and rolled his eyes before the FC suddenly exploded into motion, screaming forward out of the driveway and out onto the street, running for Mt. Akagi as fast as the light traffic would allow. The white FC rocketed up Akagi as fast as Ryosuke's skills would allow, the g-forces turning Keisuke green. At the top of the peak Ryosuke pulled the emergency brake and spun around, aimed his car downhill, and looked at his brother.
“If you're going to vomit, aim out the window. If you miss, you'll be cleaning it up.” The FC revved up again and began its attack, hurtling down Mt. Akagi faster than it had before, tires begging for mercy. Keisuke's eyes opened wide, unable to believe his brother was faster than he was before.

“How is it possible you can keep getting faster?” Keisuke asked. “There are physical limits to how much grip a car will generate and how much horsepower it will make. I thought you hit that limit long ago.”
“Perfection is hard to attain. There are a number of corners on any course. It takes practice and skill as well as memory to drive well on any course. The human mind is limited. I can reach perfection on half of the corners one day, and half another day, but I'm still working hard in order to get all of the corners all of the time. Once I can do that, then I can say I'm fast. Then you can say I'm maxed out,” Ryosuke said with a grin, shaving one corner so close that the front inside wheel ran over the curbing and helped spin the FC out just enough to shoot through the next corner flat out.

“What would you say is the key point of Fujiwara's battle with the Roadster?” Keisuke asked, his knuckles turning white as he gripped whatever he could find to brace himself, his feet desperately searching for a brake pedal.
“There are three key points which Fujiwara hasn't had to deal with on this level before. The first is his opponent's level of manipulation and mindgames. He was able to put Fujiwara in a different car through words and suggestion, which means that he believes there's an advantage there and he means to exploit it. The second key point will be tire wear. The all wheel drive Impreza that Fujiwara is using is stable, and can deal with tire wear without suffering a degradation of handling abilities. The Roadster cannot. The challenger will be driving all out, with the intent of winning on the first round. His rear tires will be under wear from his horsepower and any drifting, while his front tires will be used up by braking and turning. It isn't as bad as in a front wheel drive vehicle, but if Fujiwara drags this out to a second round, the Roadster will have to drift exclusively in order to keep up.”

“And the third key point?” Keisuke asked.
“The third key point...” Ryosuke said, falling silent as he tackled a particularly difficult section of corners, the FC screaming through sideways. As he hit the brakes, Ryosuke's eyes opened wide as he realized the true third point.


“Weight. The Roadster weighs around 1000 kilograms, while the Subaru weighs around 1235 kilos. The Impreza has a significant weight disadvantage. Braking, acceleration, handling, all of it is dulled in comparison. Tire wear is accelerated as well, in comparison to a lighter opponent. Fujiwara has spent almost his entire racing career driving a lighter car and using its weight as a weapon, and the times when it has been used against him by a competent opponent he has almost lost. You remember the EA11R battle. If it wasn't for the rain, he would have lost. I don't know if 235 kilograms is enough to give the Roadster a fair shot, but on a twisting road like Irohazaka it's a definite advantage. The challenger's skill is deadly.”


“What makes him so deadly?” Keisuke asked. He could appreciate the abilities of light weight as it had been used against him time and time again, but the drivers he had battled weren't as perversely skilled as Fujiwara's.
“When you dive into a corner, what steps do you take?” Ryosuke asked.
“Brakes, downshift, turn, accelerate,” Keisuke said.
“Exactly. On the street, we can space out our steps, giving the tires a moment where all of the available grip is being used to turn. In autocross, there is no time to space out the steps, so the best drivers figure out how to turn sharply with less than maximum grip. Using that technique on the street, Takumi's challenger will dive deeply into every corner, braking at the last possible second for as short as possible before getting back on the throttle. He'll move his foot from one pedal to the other, or even use his heel for one and toes for the other, eliminating any delay in switching over from braking to acceleration. Combined with the lighter weight of his Roadster, Takumi's challenger is formidable.”

“Do you think he'll win?” Keisuke asked.
“If Fujiwara does win, then my training was successful. If he loses, I have nothing more to say to Fujiwara Takumi.”

This post has been edited by thx712517 on Feb 10 2008, 02:32 PM
VTiRoj
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 02:30 PM


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QUOTE
“Do you think he'll win?” Keisuke asked.
“If he does, then my training was successful. If he loses, I have nothing more to say to Fujiwara Takumi.”

This is confusing, what does Ryousuke mean by "successful", losing isnt success? Right? unsure.gif

Still a great chapter though, it just sent the tension for the battle through the roof! And its probably going to rise further in time for the race... cant wait grin2.gif
thx712517
  Posted: Feb 10 2008, 02:35 PM


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I tweaked it a smidge, hopefully that'll help, but the basic gist of the line is that if Takumi loses this race against Itsuto, then all his time with Project D was a waste and, as a result, Ryosuke will no longer associate with or help Takumi, forcing him to find his own way to racing success.
VTiRoj
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 02:39 PM


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QUOTE (thx712517 @ Today at 10:35 PM)
I tweaked it a smidge, hopefully that'll help, but the basic gist of the line is that if Takumi loses this race against Itsuto, then all his time with Project D was a waste and, as a result, Ryosuke will no longer associate with or help Takumi, forcing him to find his own way to racing success.

Ah, I see, thanks for clearing it up. wink2.gif
Meteor
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 07:01 PM


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Must. Stay. Patient.

This is going to be one hell of a battle!
RickyDGreat
Posted: Feb 10 2008, 07:31 PM


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wow this is going to be some race, maybe bunta will drop him so advice? dang this is going to be a long week. fear2.gif
tiQlado
Posted: Feb 11 2008, 05:40 AM


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Whoa, update! And I barely started reading! w00t2.gif

And thx: Is that your beloved Miata in the avatar? Have you changed your hood already?
jpn6438
Posted: Feb 11 2008, 07:59 AM


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Not complaining but I guess your Catholic deal is out the window!
red comet 7
Posted: Feb 11 2008, 08:09 PM


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haha god is a forgiving god! he'll be alright
pnoytecknix
Posted: Feb 11 2008, 09:09 PM


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^lent just started yesterday... so maybe that sunday-only rule will apply from now on.

btw, great stuff thx. was pleasantly surprised to see two new awesome updates
thx712517
  Posted: Feb 15 2008, 04:01 AM


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A few quick notes - yes, I'm being naughty during Lent by updating ahead of schedule, but I think I should be okay. Ordered a ton of parts for my car, should be arriving next week. Swaybar, swaybar brackets, adjustable end links, brake pads for all four corners, brake rotors for all four corners, a new slave cylinder, muffler, limited slip differential, etc. Those should be installed possibly before the end of February, if I'm lucky. And, race on Sunday, which is why I'm updating now. Wish me luck.


************

“Dad!” Takumi shouted, walking into the darkened house. It wasn't looking good. The hachi-roku was missing which was normal enough on a Saturday night, but the Subaru was still sitting outside. Unfortunately there were only two sets of keys, one in Bunta's pocket and the other hidden. On an intuition, Takumi picked up a bottle of sake and saw the dull gleam of steel hiding in the cupboard. Pulling the key out he walked outside to the blue Subaru and kneeled down in front of it, reaching out with his hand and placing it on the hood.
“I'm going to race you tonight. I know that we haven't battled before, but you have shown me your great potential with all of the training. But I'm afraid,” he admitted, letting his head hang down.
“I'm afraid to use you because of how easy you'll make this battle. You have the advantage of horsepower, torque, traction, and stability. I can drive you harder than the hachi-roku, and I don't have to worry about you breaking under the stress. You're strong and powerful. I just hope that Itsuto shows up.”

*

“Excuse me, Mr. Masaru, but is this your vehicle?” the police officer asked, leaning over Itsuto's head and looking into the open cockpit of the convertible.
“Yes it is. Why?” Itsuto asked, confused.
“Your license plate expired almost a year ago, and the vehicle is registered in the name of a Mazda dealer, not you. I'm going to ask you to remain in the vehicle,” the officer said, disappearing. Itsuto swore on the inside but kept his calm, and it was difficult to do it. With his heart thudding inside his chest hard enough to burst through his ribs, Itsuto suddenly began to laugh.
“Here's your paperwork back.... sir, why are you laughing?” the officer asked.
“No reason. I'm sorry,” Itsuto responded, behaving quietly through the rest of the ordeal. Soon to be thirty thousand yen poorer, he drove off and began to laugh again. Pulled over for an expired tag on the way to an illegal street race, it made him laugh until the tears streaked down his cheeks.

*

At the peak of Irohazaka a strange crowd was beginning to gather. Nakazato and Sayuki in their fearsome R34, Mako and Iketani in their Nissans, Itsuki and his torquey hachi-go shared space with the Takahashi brothers of the rotary engine and the Emperor of Irohazaka himself. Takumi had long since arrived in his father's blue Impreza, and they were waiting, impatiently, for the challenger to show up.
“This is the base, he's on the way,” crackled the radio in Sudo's hand.
“Late arrival. Familiar, Fujiwara?” Ryosuke asked, leaning on the door of the Subaru and feeling the vibrations of its engine through his arm.
“Very,” Takumi laughed, blipping the throttle to keep himself occupied. The white Roadster finally arrived, and there was a murmur from the crowd as Itsuto got out of the car with his cheeks glistening with tears.

“Something wrong?” Takumi asked, leaning out of his window to make eye contact. Itsuto wiped his face with the back of his hand and smiled.
“Just that you haven't lost yet. Are you good for fuel? I didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long,” Itsuto said apologetically.
“That's okay. Ready to race?”
“Yeah, let's line up. Do you have any preferences?”
“Not particularly,” Takumi said. “I'd like to let things take care of themselves. Each car and each driver has to be given a chance to show their true abilities. No sense in limiting that with arbitrary rules.” Itsuto nodded and returned to his car.

“Racers, are you ready?” Iketani shouted, making eye contact with both drivers. Both nodded, and the countdown began.
“Go! Shi! San! Ni! Ichi! GO!” The Roadster's rear tires erupted into smoke before catching enough traction to violently catapult the car forward, while the Subaru bellowed and screamed before taking off in hot pursuit. At the end of the short straight the Subaru was in the lead, its horsepower advantage and traction getting the better of the lightweight rear wheel drive convertible. Takumi pressed the brake pedal hard, feeling the massive brakes slowing the blue coupe down as he prepared to dive into the turn. To his surprise the white Roadster shot past him with no brakes, waiting until the last possible second to tap the brakes and hurtle through the corner, passing the Subaru with complete ease.

“How?” Takumi asked, momentarily stunned. Being passed at the first corner was humiliating, especially in such a powerful machine as the Impreza. The galleries were shocked as well, recoiling in fear as the Roadster sliced through the corner mere centimeters from the guardrail.
“Ryosuke was right, this guy is dangerous,” Takumi said, settling into chase mode. The Roadster's approach to the corners was very different from his own. While the Subaru took a decent amount of time to slow down before approaching, giving its tires full grip for cornering, the Mazda didn't brake until it was either right at the beginning of the turn or even halfway through, carrying far more speed into every corner, relying on its much lighter weight to shorten its braking distances. Once the tight hairpins began to arrive, it got even worse.
“I may have to jump to stay in the game,” Takumi said, surprised. At every hairpin the Roadster was gaining another two or even three meters, putting the Subaru farther and farther behind.

“Ryosuke mentioned driving like Sudo, keeping up during the corners and passing on the straight. I don't want to win like that,” Takumi said. “If this were Project D I would listen and drive as he wanted me to, but this isn't Project D anymore. This is my own personal battle. If I want to overtake him in the turns, I can,” he said, downshifting and stepping hard on the throttle to whip the Subaru around the hairpin, all four tires screaming for traction. Itsuto glanced in his rearview mirror for a moment when he saw how large the Impreza suddenly became as it bore down on him, felt a momentary rise of panic, and then resolutely calmed himself. There was no point in getting scared just yet. “Alright Fujiwara, try and keep up,” he said cockily, burying his foot to the floor.

“I didn't want to go to these extremes in order to win, but you've forced me into it. One of the reasons I forced you into that Impreza is so you would be burdened with extra weight, which is what allows me to use this as a tactic. Moments before I hit the apex in every corner I go to full throttle, relying on the understeer created by my big front swaybar and the traction from my grippy tires to keep the car from spinning out. Because I spend more time at full throttle and I have a lighter car, I exit the corners faster and put more distance on you during the short straights even though you have a more powerful car. Not only do you have to deal with turbocharger lag, something that my supercharger doesn't have, but you also have to deal with the weight of your car. Before you've truly begun to accelerate you have to hit the brakes again. Your brake rotors don't appreciate it, Fujiwara. They'll grow hotter and hotter with every turn, and they'll begin to degrade. You'll have to start slowing down sooner, which will make you angrier and more reckless. I've got you right where I want you.”

As Takumi hit the brakes yet again he noticed that the pedal felt a little softer under his foot.
“What's happening?” he asked, surprised at the feeling. With every application of the brake pedal he was heating up the pads and rotors, as well as the brake fluid. The rotors could only absorb so much heat before they began to lose effectiveness, and once that point was reached the brake fluid could boil, breaking down and introducing air into the system. If that happened he could stand on the pedal as hard as he wanted, but the effort would be used to compress the air first before applying the brakes, killing his response time and slowing him down.
“I wanted to win this race honorably,” Takumi said as his hand reached out, “but I still want to win it. Let's see how good you are, Itsuto,” he growled as he switched off the Subaru's headlights. It was suicide to attempt it on Irohazaka where there were so few places to pass, but it had to be done. As the Roadster screamed through another hairpin, Takumi hit the emergency brake and then buried the throttle, jumping the Impreza.
Meteor
Posted: Feb 15 2008, 04:30 AM


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That'd make quite an awesome end-of-episode still-shot. The Roadster just exiting the hairpin and the Impreza in mid-air behind it.

Let's see how Takumi really handles a car that is drastically different from the 86.

And about Itsuto's encounter with the officer. . I wonder what the hell's up with that. .



BTW. Best of luck on the new parts and the Sunday race grin2.gif

This post has been edited by Meteor on Feb 15 2008, 04:33 AM
jpn6438
Posted: Feb 15 2008, 08:25 AM


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Good luck with your race, THX!
DrIfTeRX305
Posted: Feb 15 2008, 02:30 PM


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Its going to come down to the three bridges, like always. The difference here is that the turns are at a higher speed, and I think that's were he'll have the edge to win.

Good luck with your race, THX.
red comet 7
Posted: Feb 15 2008, 03:15 PM


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yup, he'll prolly use his traction to cut the inside line on the bridges...

and im guessing this one is going to be REALLY close seeing as how this supposed to be THX's beloved miata. lol
DrIfTeRX305
Posted: Feb 15 2008, 09:30 PM


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QUOTE (red comet 7 @ Yesterday at 6:15 PM)
yup, he'll prolly use his traction to cut the inside line on the bridges...

I also think the miata's wild SUPER LATE BRAKING TECHNIQUE will hurt him since he'll probably brake so late that his exit speed will be lower, and takumi's will be higher, and traction + more torque @ higher rpms > supercharger @ high rpms.

Too bad though, I've alway's liked miata's, they're great sleepers on the street. fear2.gif
Meteor
Posted: Feb 16 2008, 01:16 AM


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QUOTE
I also think the miata's wild SUPER LATE BRAKING TECHNIQUE will hurt him since he'll probably brake so late that his exit speed will be lower, and takumi's will be higher, and traction + more torque @ higher rpms > supercharger @ high rpms.

Actually, the Miata's got the advantage here. Atleast for the first half of the course.

1.Lightweight. It can brake far later before the corner and thus preserve momentum.
2.Lightweight. Its brakes and tires work far better due to this.
3.It's been setup for speed drifting. In racing, understeer is often faster than oversteer. This holds true for both drift and grip racing.
4.Itsuto is not the S15 guy from Tokyo. His late braking is more like Takumi in his 86.
5.Responsive engine. He just steps on it.

Now. . If Takumi can just keep up with him until the second part of the course. . .
thx712517
  Posted: Feb 16 2008, 08:56 AM


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Well, one of my headlights arrived, and some of my suspension pieces arrived, and my brake rotors showed up. I'll have some work to do today stripping down the car, cleaning it out, fine tuning tire pressures and shock dampening, as well as giving my helmet a good polish. I can't wait for tomorrow.

************

“So, Ryosuke, you grace my home course with your presence yet again,” Sudo said coldly, staring at his old rival. Takahashi bowed his head slightly and returned to his laptop. With the information from the corner workers streaming in over the radio he was able to constantly update and improve his model of the race, and it was turning out to be truly incredible. Fujiwara had attempted a flying lights-off blind attack with the Impreza even though he had never tried it before.
“The battle must be intense. I wish I were there,” Ryosuke murmured. Keisuke nodded and laughed to himself.
“Any battle of his is intense. I'm surprised you didn't try following them down Irohazaka, aniki.”
“I didn't feel like interrupting their rhythm. With a course like this and such mismatched cars, any additional outside interference is just asking for unnecessary trouble.”
“How do you mean? Fujiwara seems to have the upper hand.”
“It would seem so from any quick look. The Subaru has more traction, more power, more stability, while the Roadster has less traction, less power, less stability. As I'm sure you know, because of the light weight of the Roadster the challenger can brake later, saving his brakes and reducing the wear on his tires. Fujiwara is battling with a 234 kilogram weight disadvantage, using a heavier car that he isn't used to driving in.”

“I still don't see why that's so bad,” Keisuke said. “He's Fujiwara, he can make it work. He always has before.”
“Yes, he has, but in the AE86. I'm not sure of how much training he's undertaken in the Impreza, but I hope it's enough to know that it can't be driven the same way.”
“What do you mean, aniki?”
“On Mt. Akina, because of the corners there, he could brake the same as he does in the AE86 without causing any issues. From what I saw the rotors were upgraded to be larger, and were also slotted to remove any incandescent material off the pads, which should help battle brake fade, which will in turn give him some leeway. On Irohazaka, for the Impreza braking suddenly becomes something very different, when the weight of the Subaru becomes more noticeable and brake fade rears its head. If he continues to brake as he does in the AE86, he will overheat his brakes, cook his brake fluid, and reduce his braking abilities dramatically,” Ryosuke said, entering more information into the computer as the radios continued to scream about the incredible battle raging its way down the mountain.

“How can he win then?” Keisuke asked. “On a course like Irohazaka, the hairpins are determined by who can brake better and negotiate the turns faster.”
“This is very true. If the Subaru is to win on Irohazaka, it cannot be on the hairpins. It must be a counterattack starting on the second bridge. From there the slope and the hairpins will be minimized, leaving the Roadster wide open to attack. Because of the small size of the car, he won't be able to effectively block Fujiwara's path either, reducing it to an acceleration and grip contest to see who will be able to cross the third bridge first.”
“In that case the Subaru should win, right aniki? It has the grip of all wheel drive, and wider tires as well. It should make it well ahead of the Roadster.”
“It should, but unless Fujiwara dramatically changes his driving style, it won't,” Ryosuke said darkly.

“What?!”
“In the proper hands that Subaru is incredible. I've seen it with my own eyes, driven by a true god, and if you remember I had to destroy my FC in order to win by the skin of my teeth. Incredible braking, handling, acceleration... Fujiwara can drive it, but he hasn't reached the same level with the Impreza as he has with the AE86. I had hoped on him being able to learn the rhythm of the car quicker, but he hasn't. As much as I would like to see him win, unless he can keep up until the bridges he will lose.”
“Aniki, I don't understand. Why is this battle so desperate?” Keisuke asked, unable to comprehend his brother's dire words.
“The battle is desperate because of stability, Keisuke.”
“Stability?”



“Mm. I thought it would be decided by weight, but although it has a large force in this battle, stability is what will finish it. The Impreza is inherently stable, allowing the use of full throttle before the apex of the turn. Fujiwara knows this and his driving style is slightly different in order to utilize this advantage of the all wheel drive, but he hasn't mastered it. The Roadster is inherently unstable, tuned for response. It has difficulty maintaining a straight line, but as soon as the wheel is turned it responds. Fujiwara has to overcome the stability of the Impreza before it can use that input to change direction. And I worry about his drivetrain,” Ryosuke added.
“Drivetrain?”

“Yes. The Subaru all wheel drive system is unique. There's a differential for the rear axles, a differential between the rear axle and the front axle, and then a differential for the front axles. You have to overcome drivetrain loss, as well as understeer. Why else do you think that Impreza has been tuned so much to dial out understeer? With all its tuning tricks it's roughly as balanced as the AE86 was before we got our hands on it. I'm afraid that with its drivetrain's natural characteristics, it won't be able to cut as close a line as the Roadster.”
“So your fear then, is that it will understeer at a critical moment and lose the race?”
“There will come a point in this race where the Roadster will oversteer and the Impreza will understeer, and that will decide the winner.”

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