| QUOTE (Jhaqastar @ Mar 25 2013, 12:52 PM) | First of all... Hi, I'm new  . Anyway!
This series has been my racing bible as far as I can remember! I remember going in track days and a few touge runs, then I watch the series again and suddenly learn new things. It's a long shot, but I would like to believe Initial D is realistic as far as the concepts and stuff. So I'll give this theory busting a shot .
Fujiwara Zone. What we have so far.
1. In the eyes of the enemy
2. An unexpected burst of speed
3. was said to rival 4wd
And the blurs happen at the exits right? Well at least that's what I remember (please correct me if I'm wrong). I think Fujiwara Zone focuses on corner exit, at the point where cornering forces forces transitions to acceleration forces. But i guess if it involves that then it also involves braking forces transitioning to cornering forces because if Takumi can do the corner to exit transition, he could do the braking to cornering as well.
A little background on what I believe to be is the fastest line. Enter the corner, over speed a taaaaaaad bit, get into an oversteer, but not really a drift (I call it angle of attack. Basically it's the zero counter steer method where the car is turning but your steering wheel is dead center) to carry as much speed as you can through the corner, then, as you squeeze the throttle for the exit, you only put as much throttle to rotate the car to keep it turning, but as the same time, you transition the tires form cornering to exiting. Then once you reach 100% throttle, the tires could already support it 100%. I'll explain further later.
I think Fujiwara zone focuses on how Takumi really knows the 86 like the back of his hand. He could pin point exactly what the tires are doing, and transition them from one task to another and waste 0 of the tires potential.
farnorthracing.com/images/gripcircle.jpg
I can't post links yet but that's the visual aid I wanted to show/ 
I'm sure you guys have heard of the traction circle. Basically, the outer circle is the absolute limit of the car (note I didn't say tires). Any more than that, and the car won't turn or brake or accelerate. I didn't say it's the limit of the tires because you can be oversteering and still be in the circle. An example would be when you're in a drift, but you are technically understeering because your car washing out of the course. To put into perspective what I said above, technically, to get the fastest time, you need to always be on that limit of the traction circle. Think of the G-ball. You need to trace that circle with the G-ball. When you brake, the ball hits the upper line. Then when you corner, the ball hits the limit on the side,. When you accelerate, the ball hits the lower side.
The basics of racing will teach you this:
Brake 100% Then 0% and let the car settle
Corner 100% Then back to 0%
Then 100% throttle
But ideally once you graduate from the basics:
Brake Corner
100% 0%
99% 1%
98% 2%
97% 3%
... ...
3% 97%
2% 98%
1% 99%
0% 100%
And it's the same for cornering transitioning to accel. I think even pros have a hard time doing the transition that smoothly. Like there might be a time where he's baking at 50% but is only cornering at 40% or something (not real figures) so he lost 10% of the tires potential that could have carried him more speed on the corner and/or enabled him to get a faster exit speed.
So back to the Fujiwara Zone. I think Takumi has the ability to trace that outer line better than most people could. And the proof lies in the Tofu.
Scenario (Note I believe that the following figures are exaggerated):
Takumi and his opponent is about to exit the corner, his opponent thinks, to the best of his senses and abilities that he is tracing the traction circle. But really, while he is unwinding from the turn, he was 50% turning and 30% accelerating while Takumi, knowing the 86 so well, is 50% turning, 50% accelerating. So on that specific instance Takumi is accelerating for the main straight 20% harder than his opponent. (But I think in reality the discrepancy is smaller but happens rapidly in the microseconds that they are in that corner).
To his opponent, it is impossible to accelerate any harder at the current situation they are in... But Takumi did! So for them, it's an unexpected burst of speed that literally came out of nowhere (or rather, outside of their comprehension since they genuinely believe that they too are at the limit of the traction circle). Hence, the teleportation effect! Voila! Fujiwara Zone!
That's why the opponents tend to get confused and say "does that 86 have 4wd" since the only way they can imagine Takumi exiting a corner at the fashion he was was for Takumi to have 4wd. (note... It's a pet peeve of mine that most people believe that 4wd gives you magical cornering ability that exceeds 2wd... Um... No... What 4wd does is give you magical abilities when exiting a corner. And it's not even magical . Imagine trying to put down 600hp with only 2 tires, that's 300hp per tire, compared to putting down the same power with 4 tires, 150hp per tire.)
Whoa that was long  . I hope I made sense 
Oh, as for the gallery seeing the "teleportaiton," I believe people who really race and understand would see it. But for the regular gallery, they won't. The'll just see the 86 going really fast! Drivers who really battle understand when his opponent is pulling away from him, even if the distance of the cars does not seem to be widening for the people who never experienced it before. I experienced it on my first grid race, battling for first, I could see my opponent in front pull away slightly, but then I gain again in certain ares. For the spectators, they think that we're just keeping a certain distance. But as for my friends who were watching (they also are racing nuts), they see the areas where I pull up and where I get left behind. It's the same when you watch racing and you can tell that a certain car is slightly oversteering while cornering and he's using it to corner faster. Most people won't notice that and consider the car to just be grip driving.
|
I like this explanation. It explains how some drivers have that almost "magical" pace to them when they're hot (or, as Ryosuke puts it, 'in the zone'). They're simply put, by their experience and skills, able to find the fastest line, brake later, get on the throttle earlier (and with the smallest loss of traction possible), and thus simply go faster that whomever with they're fighting for position.
I think the neat thing about Initial D is that it tries to take things like these and illustrate them in a way that's entertaining for people who aren't necessarily experienced driving enthusiasts, while still imparting the core ideas from racing strategy that said enthusiasts would pick up on.
Look at Ayrton Senna. Many people said of his performances at Monaco that he seemed to 'phase' through the armco barriers. Logically, this is of course, impossible. But his closeness to the barriers, his entry and exit speeds gave the pyschosomatic illusion that he was moving through the barriers. He was displaying Fujiwara-like (or is Takumi displaying Senna-like) ability in getting within millimeters of the armco, with absolute confidence and car control, while maximizing his use of the tyres' grip and his car's potential.
After all, you only drive at the limit by driving at the absolute limits of what you--and your car--can do. |
a good tail happy AWD i.e. GTRs and Evos.
... That's what the basics racing schools don't teach their students yet. Basics are always, brake first... Then release... Then Turn... Then Throttle. The next step is technically how to link that all into one fluid motion. And the perfection of that motion is the Fujiwara zone (I think) 
