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> [FANFIC] Go! Touge!, Acts 1-3 now available!
fettman53
  Posted: Aug 19 2008, 03:34 PM


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Well...this is it! I've decided to do it. I've decided to recreate my old, lost story of mountain racing. Until I find a better title, it shall be known as "Go! Touge!"

Pretty much...back when Gran Turismo 4 came out, I had made little scenarios of races using the Costa de Amalfi track, seeing as it seemed extremely similar to the narrow, twisting roads of a mountain course from Initial D. After a while I decided to write the scenarios down. Pretty soon, characters arose and cars were distributed to each one. Then...my story took wing.

Now...it has vanished without a trace. However...I will try my best to recreate it for you all! This is the prequel to my TXR story, found on the Wangan Midnight Expressway forums. If any of you are fans of that fanfic, by chance...then you shall enjoy this one as well!

Just to make it clear...I may...*gulp*...double post on this thread. Just for updates and such. I hope that isn't a problem! pinch2.gif

I'll be typing up character and car lists soon. I'll put them up so you know what to expect! The two main characters are in my sig! This is gonna be awesome!!! w00t2.gif

This post has been edited by fettman53 on Sep 16 2008, 04:29 AM
Meteor
Posted: Aug 20 2008, 12:24 AM


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QUOTE
Just to make it clear...I may...*gulp*...double post on this thread. Just for updates and such. I hope that isn't a problem! (>_<)

Relax. Double posting is allowed for fanfic updates.

I'll put this in the fanfic list as soon as there's a chapter 1.
Gunma's 34
Posted: Aug 20 2008, 05:15 AM


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Well, I'm planning to start a side-story of my current story, which is in the Initial D merchandise Section using Tokyo Extreme racer drift 2 which brings us back to the love to togue racing...

I'll explain everything once I start the topic. I still need to finish my other thread's story first. It's close to done. And like you, I love Costa di Amalfi... And I have to agree on the correlation to Initial D part.

I'll be looking forward to your fanfic as well... w00t2.gif

heck, once my other thread is done with chapter 1, I'd probably add my sidestory in this section... (since my current thread is partial togue not completely as of now... laugh2.gif )
fettman53
  Posted: Aug 20 2008, 08:46 AM


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Ok, that's good. happy.gif The chapter will be up as soon as I can recreate it. Since it's in the beginning, the details are quite sketchy seeing as I hadn't thought about the beginning of the story since back when I first wrote it.

Glad there's someone who likes the track I used too! This story will use a made-up mountain pass that has a similar layout, only it's not a track. It's an actual mountain pass. Pretty much, it isn't a closed track. It's uphill or downhill. What it was like in my story was that half of the mountain pass was uphill until the peak of the mountain, then it went downhill the other way. Hope that helps you all out.

For those who have done the Costa de Amalfi track, imagine that the peak of the mountain is the section with no uphill or downhill on the track. Sort of in the middle, where no matter which direction you're making your run, the next section will be downhill. Now imagine that right at the finish line, the course was cut in half and stretched so that the road actually lead somewhere. Also, there are no buildings. And it's at night. There you go! My track! There will also be additional turns and such that I needed for certain battles. And other mountain passes as well. They also visit the real Tsukuba track during the rain to batte a rival team!
Meteor
Posted: Aug 23 2008, 06:49 AM


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Weren't you planning on a small update?

You could've just edited it into your last post. You wouldn't have had to deal with the 72 hour thing then. I guess you can post now though.
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 3 2008, 09:10 PM


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Ok, so sorry that it's taking so long to get this to you guys. College is taking a lot of time out of my day that I'd usually use trying to recreate this thing. Plus, I'm still working on the sequel to my TXR story. But I am making progress with "Go! Touge!" however. There will be an update soon!

If you have any questions, go ahead and ask them! I'll be glad to answer!

Edit: Alright, I decided to put act 1 up just to pacify you all and give you a small taste of what's to come.




Go! Touge!

Stage 1


Act 1 – A Night Interrupted


Darkness. The roaring of an automobile engine breaks the silence. A pair of lights illuminate the unilluminated pass as the car in question barrels through a hairpin corner, using a perfect, out-in-out grip technique, and blasts down the downhill of Maelstrom Pass, one of the most dangerous mountain passes known to man, at breakneck speed.

5 hours later

The sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon of the great Maelstrom Mountain pass, the water from the sea glistening in the distance. It was still dark, however. The nightlife was still active.

Almo tiredly blinked her sapphire eyes and ran her fingers through her boy-length short hair, dyed a light purple. Her friend was still practicing, and Almo had decided to wait at the summit of the pass for her to finish. The sunrise was always quite a sight to see on top of Maelstrom Pass. For such a dangerous pass, it was extremely peaceful when you weren’t racing on it. Almo smiled softly to herself. She hardly smiled anymore. Maybe it was from frowning so much while racing and attempting to keep a poker face to keep herself concentrated. Smiling was nice.

Closing her eyes felt so good. Although she just got up about seven hours ago, she was still exhausted and tired. She felt as though she could collapse in bed as soon as she got home. She wanted to get back inside of her car, a bluish-violet Mazda RX-7 Type RS, but she knew that if she did, she’d fall asleep.

Finally, she could hear the sound of her friend’s FD3S coming close to the summit. Seven seconds after she heard the car, it came into view. A Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A, dark silver metallic in color. For a rotary, the car sure didn’t sound rotary-ish. With rotary engines, there was usually the buzzing hum that let you know it was a rotary engine. But with her friend’s car, it was different. It was more of a high-pitched, violent hum. It was…a bit…menacing. The silver FD rolled up to Almo, and she saw her friend nod, signifying that she was done for the night.

Almo got into her car and started it up, relishing the sound of her beautiful rotary engine. It was just one of those sounds that you could listen to all day long and never get tired of hearing. She put her FD in gear and followed her friend down the downhill hairpin run of Maelstrom Pass, which led to the city.

Her friend had quickly become a skilled racer. She seemed to adapt and learn very quickly, and she was beginning to learn more about her own car and how it handled. In just a few hours on her first day, she had completely mastered the balance of her car. She was already drifting downhill without any problems! Almo watched in silent awe as her friend pulled off a perfect inertial drift in front of her. Where did she learn that?! Geez…it was unbelievable how fast she was progressing.

Just then, Almo heard tires screeching off in the distance behind her. For a split second, a pair of headlights appeared in her mirrors before disappearing again as she rounded a left hairpin corner. When she got to the middle of the straightaway after the corner, the headlights appeared again. Someone was coming up. And fast. She flashed her lights at her friend up ahead, warning her of the challenger that was fast approaching. In response, her friend sped up, giving Almo more breathing room to pull off her own drifting.

They came up to the right hairpin and parallel-drifted through it, running as fast as they could get their FD’s to go from the mysterious chaser behind them. But as soon as they left the corner, the challenger came out of it right behind them. Almo’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “No way,” she said to herself. “He must’ve blitzed that corner!” They slightly pulled ahead on the straightaway, coming up on the next left hairpin.

As soon as Almo hit her brakes, the challenger struck. He quickly cut to the inside, hitting his brakes a second later than Almo did, forcing her to the outside of the corner. He flawlessly passed her on the inside and set himself up for the straightaway. Almo’s eyes were wide in shock now as she saw the car that the challenger was using. “N-no way!!!”

Almo’s friend was now being horribly pressured by the mysterious challenger. She gritted her teeth as she glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing the opponent’s headlights glaring at her. The right hairpin was coming up fast. She took the outside and hit her brakes, planning to drift through and block off her opponent’s line. However, she too had hit her brakes earlier than the opponent, and suffered the same fate as Almo. The challenger cut inside, rolled his inside tires slightly into the gutter on the inside of the turn, and passed her with ease.

Both girls were stunned, slowing down to a cruising speed as they watched the victorious challenger drive off into the darkness. It wasn’t so much the fact that they were defeated that shocked them. It was what they were defeated with.

A ’49 Volkswagen Beetle.

Almo frowned, putting on her serious face. She was going to find out who the heck that was. No one makes a fool out of her like that and gets away with it! Especially in a car like that!

This post has been edited by fettman53 on Sep 3 2008, 09:42 PM
.M.
Posted: Sep 4 2008, 01:35 PM


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o.o??? beetle? very interesting.
Gunma's 34
Posted: Sep 4 2008, 11:03 PM


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since It's a beetle... I'll just say this for ha ha purposes...

HI HO HITLER!!
Meteor
Posted: Sep 4 2008, 11:51 PM


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Quite an interesting beginning. The driving sequences were pretty good, and I'm interested in the characters too.

Go go Beetle!

*adds to fanfic list because it actually has a chapter now*
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 14 2008, 02:41 AM


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Hey, sorry to everyone for it being so slow. It's just that I'm a perfectionist, and re-creating this story is a bit difficult for me. I really wish the original copy still existed, although it'd probably need quite a bit of work to sound any good. The first chapter was actually a super-improved version of the original. The original never would have sounded that good. whistling.gif

Anyway, another reason why this project is going so slow is because I'm working on my other fanfic at a much faster pace than this one, and therefore it holds much of my attention. However, I'm doing my best to get this one finished too! The second act is still being thought out, however. I know what happens, but I want to make it sound...intelligent. After all, I made the original story when I was about 16, and although I'm not saying I wasn't intelligent at the time, what I AM saying is that I write much better than I did back then, and therefore expect my current work to be up to par.

I hope a lot more people read this first act though, and get psyched about the second one coming soon! If you want...although it'll spoil who's who and who drives what...you can read the sequel of this story at www.wmexpressway.net under General Discussion. Wait...did I already mention that? It's 7 in the morning and I literally haven't had any sleep. That's how hard I'm working for you guys!
Meteor
Posted: Sep 14 2008, 06:08 AM


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Don't worry about it. We don't mind if it's a little late.

We just want a good read. smile.gif

QUOTE
The first chapter was actually a super-improved version of the original. The original never would have sounded that good. whistling.gif

I can relate sleep.gif
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 14 2008, 07:12 AM


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Why a Beetle?


Anyway I hope it turns out to be a great fan fic. And good luck, can't wait for more. smile.gif

This post has been edited by TogueRacer on Sep 14 2008, 07:25 AM
.M.
Posted: Sep 15 2008, 03:09 PM


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QUOTE (TogueRacer @ Yesterday at 7:12 AM)
Why a Beetle?


Anyway I hope it turns out to be a great fan fic. And good luck, can't wait for more. smile.gif

probably cause its one the ultimate underdog cars laugh.gif
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 12:09 AM


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LOL reminded me of the Get Backers' car.
Meteor
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 12:37 AM


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It does have potential though. The RR layout gives it pretty good corner-exit acceleration.
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:35 AM


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What kinda acceleration could you get with 85 bhp? Well if it were Tak (Takumi) (Takumi) on the wheel he would own (like when he drove Itsuki's Hachikoda).
If it was light maybe it could compete well.
And if it had the NASCAR Stock car beating spirit of *drumroll* Herbie!
And due to the height wouldn't it roll over?

Anyway, I'm psyched about Almo's friend's FD3S. See how it would do against others. grin2.gif

This post has been edited by TogueRacer on Sep 16 2008, 01:36 AM
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:37 AM


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Meteor's got a pretty good idea of what's going on. Plus, the mountain pass they will race on is pretty steep, and there are a lot of hairpins. And obviously, the story will explain the rest. When I write the rest...again...

And obviously the car isn't set as high as Herbie... happy.gif


This post has been edited by fettman53 on Sep 16 2008, 01:38 AM
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:38 AM


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Oh ok, got the steep part. Ok.
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:41 AM


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Yeah, but concerning Almo's friend...you will see a LOT of races with that character. All will satisfy you, I'm sure. Same for the Beetle races.

And I just put up an awesome post in the "Things Initial D Characters Would Never Say" thread. Very proud of myself. happy.gif

Anyway, look forward to MOAR! And to the main character actually being introduced. laugh.gif
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:44 AM


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Are they gonna face fierce opponents? If so what're they driving. Don't expect you to answer them, but I'm trying my luck. laugh.gif

I'd love to see how the bug does. grin2.gif
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 16 2008, 01:59 AM


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There's a Jaguar E-Type Coupe, Renault 5 Turbo rally-spec driven by a pro rally racer, Nissan Skyline BNR34 M-spec, Honda NSX Type S Zero, Honda Civic Type R (EP), Trueno AE86 (obviously), an old RX-7 Turbo, an old Skyline GT-R KPGC10, a Lancia Stratos rally-spec driven by a pro rally racer (friend of the Renault 5 Turbo's driver), a 240ZG, a Lancia Delta HF Integrale, an '88 Honda Accord, a Nissan Skyline R31, an RX-8 Type S, an Amuse S2000 driven by a girl who tuned it all herself without any help at all (!!!)...can you tell it'll be long? fear2.gif

The main character actually turns out to be Almo's friend, and her hardest test will be defeating the Beetle at the end. happy.gif
Beetle is better than you think!
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 02:41 AM


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ZOMG can't wait for this, it sounds interesting! grin2.gif
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 16 2008, 02:55 AM


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Yeosh!!! Finally, the second update!!!



Act 2 – Aftershock


Kevin dropped into his bed, fatigued by the long day. He wasn’t tired, but laying down felt so nice. Night classes lasted until sunrise. This hard work better pay off…

After just getting out of high school and just getting his license, it was expected that he wouldn’t be all that successful just yet. After all this time, Kevin still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Until he found out exactly what he wanted, he’d continue taking late-night classes learning about networking and such. But was it really the right way to go about doing this? Searching for his goal in life? He was good with computers…but was it worth pursuing?

The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that he didn’t enjoy what he was currently pursuing. He was chasing after a fake dream. In the end, the only reason why he took those classes was because he felt the need to in order to qualify for a good-paying job. But it wasn’t his dream.

All his life he was told to find something you enjoy and stick with it. Try to get a job where you end up doing something that you enjoy. Of course, it made sense. If you enjoyed what you did, you wouldn’t be reluctant to go to work every morning. But it wasn’t very easy to find such a job…

Kevin sighed and lazily closed his eyes. How complicated…

Meanwhile, Almo sulked at a window booth at the Denny’s by the boardwalk. A diet Pepsi medium drink sat in front of her, the straw slightly chewed by its frustrated drinker. Almo stared out the window at the sea as the sun began to take its place high in the sky. She just couldn’t get it out of her head…that stupid, humiliating defeat on the mountain. It happened so fast…which made her even more angry. Who the hell was that?! And where did they learn to drive so fast?!

Almo had decided. Tonight was Friday night. Races would be run all through Mt. Maelstrom for sure. She’d be there. And she’d destroy that Beetle if the chance presented itself. After all, someone that fast had to be a racer. In that case, he’d definitely be there, tearing up the downhill. Last night must’ve just been some practice for him. Now it all made sense. He must’ve been preparing for a race he was having tonight!

Just then, Almo’s friend walked up and sat down. “Hey…” she said, almost as a whisper. Almo looked at her. “Yo…what’s wrong? Are you upset about what happened too?”

Her friend had shoulder-length brown hair, with a little ponytail-ish braid hanging on the left side of her head, tied with a pink bow. She had calculating, brown eyes that seemed to stare down just about everything. And she was a completely no-nonsense kind of person. “Naturally. So…I guess we need to get our revenge…we need our rematch.” Almo smirked. “Yes. And we’ll get it too. We’ll find out who he is and crush him. Tonight. He just caught us off-guard this time, that’s all. But tonight, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be on the pass. He must’ve been practicing…we weren’t ready. We’ll get our rematch. We’ll destroy him. Then I can finally sleep again.”

Almo’s friend tried not to chuckle. Almo always took these things way more seriously than she needed to. But that was just how she was. No use trying to change her. “Sure. But…if you don’t mind…I would like to defeat him first. Just to test myself. After all, I’m nothing compared to you anyway. So even if I lose somehow, at least you won’t be worried. And if I win, you’ll get a confidence boost!”

Almo nodded. “If you say so. Far be it for me to stop you. Go nuts. Just make sure to save some for me too,” she said with a smirk. Her friend smiled. “You’re saying it like I’m going to kill him or something. But whatever. This should be fun. Just relax.” With that, she walked off. Relax? Fun? Only when she was wiping that stupid little bug off of the sole of her shoe. She was going to crush him.

That night, Mt. Maelstrom was blocked off, and racers of all kinds gathered. A few races were run, but to Almo and her friend, it was nothing special. They were waiting. Waiting for that Volkswagen.

At the same time, Kevin sat at a desk in the classroom, full of students both his age and older. He had a bored look on his face as he messed with his glasses and scratched his head, messing up his short, brown hair. Class seemed to be going at a bit faster pace today. That was good. He could pay attention better, and there was a good chance that it would let out early too. He lazily jotted down little notes here and there to remind himself later of what was discussed during class, and at the same time started thinking about what kind of dream it was that he had…if he even had one at all.

Sadly, he couldn’t find anything that he enjoyed. He was usually just really tired and bored. His best friend moved off to Japan after meeting a foreign exchange student from there and hooking up with her. His uncle also moved to Japan quite a few years ago, and he hadn’t heard from him since. Pretty much, he lived all alone, caring for himself, giving himself advice, and so on.

Before he knew it, the professor dismissed the class, and it was time to go home. Kevin felt that this was probably the best part of the entire day when it came to his classes. Not because he was going home though. It was the best part of the day to him because of what he came out to every time he went somewhere. He walked out into the parking lot, and when he saw it, he couldn’t help but smile.

His car. It was one of a kind. It stood out so easily amongst all of the other cars in the massive parking lot, and he could spot it from a mile away. That perfect shade of silver…it was unique. There was no other color like it in the lot. And the car’s curves were completely different from that of common cars that you saw every day. He unlocked the door and got inside.

Back at the pass, Almo watched as a race finished between two amateur racers. She closed her eyes and sighed. They must’ve thought that they were really pushing it out there. She remembered when she was that naïve. Before she understood what driving a car was really about. Now she secretly laughed at the racers that ran the passes. They were nothing compared to her and her friend.

But…that Beetle. It was different. Way different. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t necessarily the Beetle that she cared about. It was who was driving the Beetle. She wanted to meet the guy. She wanted to ask him so many questions. To drive something as crappy as an old antique Volkswagen as fast as he did was astonishing! But first…first she had to put him in his place. Then she’d ask him how he got so good, and maybe offer him a few pointers to get even better. Like, for starters, get a better car!

A voice came in on the radios. One of the watchmen announced that a pedestrian vehicle was beginning its ascent to the top. The roads were to remain cleared until the vehicle made it to the top and back down the other side. The racers took this opportunity to rest up.

Almo stood impatiently next to her friend, waiting for the bothersome pedestrian to leave already. She felt like running a few rounds, and of course there’d be a pedestrian.

Almo’s friend glanced at her with curious eyes and said, “You know…he may not show up. Not all racers come to these meets, after all.” Almo frowned and her eyes narrowed. She pretended not to hear her friend talk. But she continued. “Maybe we should ask some of the other racers around here if they’ve seen it too, Almo! It’s no good just standing here…” Almo rolled her eyes. Her friend was always like that…she hated doing nothing for too long a period of time.

Finally, the pedestrian vehicle approached the summit. Almo gasped and suddenly shouted, “Wait a second! Stop that car!” Her sudden uproar startled everyone, and a few guys ran in front of the car to force the driver to stop.

It was a silver ’49 Beetle.


-------


Not as great as I'd hoped it to be, but...meh...it's not bad. I'll go back later and improve it if you all think it's too rushed or anything.

This post has been edited by fettman53 on Sep 16 2008, 02:56 AM
TogueRacer
Posted: Sep 16 2008, 04:15 AM


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It's all good, it's awesome actually.

One thing though.



WHY'D YOU LEAVE US IN SUSPENSE! XD
fettman53
  Posted: Sep 16 2008, 04:26 AM


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Haha...that's how it is sometimes I guess.



Act 3 – Spiraling Downhill

Almo’s friend panickedly ran over to Almo and said, “Geez! You’re freaking us all out! But…you were right! I can’t believe it! That stupid old car really is here!” Almo once again ignored her friend and walked towards the left side of the car as the driver lowered the window. He seemed young. Younger than she expected. He had short, brown hair… deep, green eyes…and wore glasses. Almo frowned, looking at him in disgust.

“Who are you?” she asked. The driver eyed her cautiously. She half-expected him to say that his parents told him not to talk to strangers. “Kevin,” he finally said. “My name is Kevin. Why?” Almo’s eyes narrowed as the tension in the air thickened. By the way this was going, everyone knew what was going to happen next. “You and your crappy bug humiliated me and my friend last night on the downhill going into town. We want to put you in your place. And we aren’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. Got it?”

Kevin was a bit surprised by these peoples’ hostility towards him. What did he do? Well, whatever. “What? You want to race? Why? What do you hope to accomplish? My car’s no racing car…” Almo crossed her arms and replied, “Then why was it acting like one last night? Get out of the car! You’re going to race us tonight!” Kevin gulped, and slowly got out of his car.

Almo nodded to her friend and walked to the sidelines as her friend walked up to Kevin. Kevin seemed a bit surprised as the girl walked up to him. She seemed as old as he was. The first thing she did was eye him over with her calculating gaze. “How old are you?” she asked. Kevin blinked and thought the answer over. Should he lie? Or should he just come out with the truth. Not like it mattered to these people anyway. “Seventeen,” he replied truthfully.

The girl’s eyes showed a hint of surprise, but it quickly faded. “Really…interesting. Odd that I haven’t met you before, then…I guess we didn’t go to the same school, huh?” Kevin looked at her questioningly until she explained, “We’re the same age. I wasn’t expecting anything like this. This’ll be even more fun than I thought.” This girl was beginning to make Kevin very uneasy. She was unnaturally calm, and he could tell from the look in her eyes that she was very intelligent.

Finally, she stood up straight, looked at him seriously in the eye, and raised her voice so he could hear her. “My name is Haruhi. I’m here to destroy you.” That declaration was so firm that it made Kevin flinch. “Destroy” him? That…that definitely didn’t sound good! He hoped they wouldn’t try to hurt him…and this girl didn’t seem like the violent type…but you never know.

Almo stepped in. “We’re going to be running a downhill race using the portion that leads into town: the hairpin portion. You will both start side-by-side. First one to the base of the mountains wins. Then you’ll come back up and race me the same way.”

Kevin was frustrated as he sat in the driver’s seat of his trusty Beetle. Who did they think they were, just pulling him over and forcing him to race? This kind of stuff was dangerous! So what if he passed them one night on the downhill? Why did it matter so much to them? He didn’t want to race!

In her dark silver metallic FD, Haruhi revved the engine, ready to race. This was going to be so easy that she felt sorry for him. Her FD was made for the downhill! She was a drifting expert!

Almo stood in between the two cars and began the countdown. “Five! Four! Three! Two! One! GO!” Haruhi’s FD immediately shot forward, leaving the poor, underpowered Beetle seven car lengths behind in just three seconds. The crowd watched in awe at the perfection of Haruhi’s car. She came up on the first turn: a long left. She entered it early, into the outside, and gradually slid the car’s nose towards the inside at the middle of the corner, and exited sliding back towards the middle of the road, setting herself up for the first hairpin up ahead. It was a right turn.

She set herself up on the outside and hit the brakes, causing her car’s weight to shift forward, taking the weight off of the rear tires for a second. In that instant, she turned into the turn, downshifted, and pressed on the accelerator. The high revs from the sudden shift to the lower gear sent an enormous amount of power through the rear wheels, which quickly spun. The rear lost its grip, followed by the front, and Haruhi drifted through it perfectly. The bystanders cheered her on.

As she entered the straightaway, Kevin finally approached the first corner. He entered on the outside, but didn’t allow the car to slide as he went through the corner. The slope was steep enough to where he could grip it and still make a good time. He gradually moved towards the inside until the Beetle’s left fender was literally 4mm from the inside wall, then came out into the middle. He used the same exact line for the hairpin. Using a grip run, he set himself up on the outside, then hit his brakes at the last minute, slamming weight to the front of the car.

The weight shifted to the front gave more traction to the front wheels, which immediately began turning. However, the rear of the car never completely lost its traction due to the natural weight of the engine keeping it in line. At the speed he went through the hairpin, it looked like he would lose it, but at just the right moment he pressed the accelerator, and with just the right amount of pressure. The weight was smoothly shifted from the front to the outside to the rear. As he came out, the car slightly understeered, but it didn’t matter. As a matter of fact, he planned on it understeering slightly so he could smoothly come out onto the outside.

The bystanders of that hairpin turn quickly became silent.

As Haruhi cleared the next left hairpin, Kevin was halfway through the straightaway. Haruhi, of course, didn’t know, and at this point couldn’t care less. Although the slopes were steep on this part of the mountain, the course itself was relatively short. There was no way he’d catch up if she stayed on top of her game. As she entered the next, right hairpin, Kevin had just cleared the previous hairpin, just as beautifully as he had done the first one, silencing yet another group of bystanders as his Beetle quietly chugged onto the straightaway in a fury of which the likes no one had ever seen before.

Just as Haruhi entered the straightaway, Kevin entered the corner. He was catching up inhumanely fast! And the bystanders were announcing this to everyone at the summit, including Almo. Almo understood now. The Beetle was light, and didn’t have much power. It was a rear engine-rear wheel drive as well. Maybe…maybe those three things put together on a steep course like this…if the driver was good enough…would make that car the ultimate downhill machine! It all had to do with physics. And that Beetle seemed to have the perfect balance!

On the downhill, a heavy car needs to brake earlier in order to avoid understeer, especially when taking a hairpin turn.

A car with a lot of power must be careful not to use too much of it, lest they loose control. This usually leads to drifting.

A rear-wheel drive car with an RR drivetrain is extremely difficult to drift safely on roads like Maelstrom Pass. So he’s using the grip run. But the car’s so light and responsive that he never seems to understeer! And the low power output…it actually…helps him?! Of course, if he had pedal timing down perfectly, he could integrate braking and accelerating together in a way to make a smooth line through the corners. With low power, he wouldn’t need to worry so much about losing control.

But it couldn’t be! It couldn’t be! He was so young! He couldn’t possibly have the skills to do such things…not being this young.

There was only one thing she could seem to say. “Oh my god, run, Haruhi! Run! Don’t you dare let up until you’ve crossed that goal line!”

As Haruhi got midway through the straightaway, she saw headlights appear in her rearview mirror. “N-no...way…there’s no way he could have caught up that quickly! Am I…really that slow?”

Haruhi’s confidence was quickly eroding away as the Beetle got closer and closer through each turn.

“I…am inferior…I feel like I’ve been hustled…”

As they entered another hairpin, a right one, the Beetle was inches from the FD’s rear bumper.

“What am I doing wrong? Why am I slower? What the heck…am I missing?!”



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What the heck is she missing, guys?! Hmm...can you guess?

....I'm sorry guys. The truth is, I can write so much better than this. For some reason, I feel like it's being rushed. Like I'm missing something. It could seriously sound a lot better than this, if that seems possible.

This post has been edited by fettman53 on Sep 16 2008, 04:57 AM

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