The Street Showdown Challenge - On Hold ATM

Claire “Gray” McIntyre: Pre-Race 1

In a venue canopy, Claire looks over the course map for for the first route, laid out on a fold-out table.

“A downtown course. Never driven through this part of the city in anger but I think I know the roads. This straightfoward layout should really benefit my car. No decreasing radius corners and nor much in the way of mid-corner elevation changes, things that can make a rear-engined car spooky. Instead, this course is comprised of things a rear-engined car excels at: deep braking zones and a heavy emphasis on corner exit speed. I can stop fast, I can put the power down. It’s an easy course to keep textbook; brake in a straight line, smooth inputs, ease on the throttle at apex.”

She heads back to the LCm79/80 and starts it up. The engine is cold and settles into it’s fast idle. For all of it’s power, the 05fm5d Turból V6 sounds actually rather mundane. From the aggressive cams and direct injection, it has has a bit of a lopey, clattery idle, and it will spin up to 8200 rpm, but otherwise, it doesn’t sound much different than any run of the mill DOHC V6. No wild induction roar from its single throttle body, no insane turbo sounds with just 15 psi of boost. It’s not even all that loud; it’s still got mufflers and even in this application it still has the cats in place. Frankly, tuning the ECU to not throw a fit when the cats were removed seemed more trouble than it would be worth. Claire’s mods to the engine were modest; a richer AFR, advanced timing, and a touch more boost. Good enough to maintain a torque plateau from 3500 rpm and peak hp of 596.

"This is a point-to-point, and not a particularly long one at that. Getting a good start will be paramount; It will be hard to challenge if I’m not near the front early on.”

Launching the car is a touch tricky. Unlike a lot of RR vehicles, the LCm79/80 has a seperate transmission and differential instead of a single piece transaxle. As a result, Claire was able to use the electronic LSD hooked into the donor engine’s ECU, with the original close-ratio, dogleg 5 speed. Problem is, the final drive ratio was long, and that combination results in a first gear that reaches beyond 60 mph.

“I’ve got to let it build boost, slip the clutch a bit from stop, then lean on the torque curve and fight the urge to go full throttle. If the rears break loose it might not want to stay pointed straight, and I don’t want to short shift into 2nd and give up any acceleration in the crucial run up to turn one.”

Claire checks her tire pressures, then lights a cigarette, and takes a few drags facing away from the rest of paddock. Her clinical examination of the course gives way to anxious excitment. As if she’s become inpatient with the time it’s taking to smoke, she drops her cigarette to the ground only about half way to the filter and stomps it out.

“No more waiting. Let’s see what I can do.”

10 Likes

11:00, June 10th, 2012
Downtown Horizon Bay, CA

"Speed. I am speed… "

“Wait, the fuck? That’s a dumb line from a kids movie. Why am I starting off like that? Let’s try this again.”


The driver grips the steering wheel and looks onto the road ahead of him. It was the day of the first race, he could feel his heart thumping as adrenaline rushed through him. He revs the engine to redline and the 6 cyl roars in response, though nearly inaudible from the cockpit due to the loud music being played.

“Can I really do this?”

He thought to himself. His discussion with his friend earlier replayed through his head constantly. He looks around, the cars around him were mostly high-performance machines tuned to dominate the streets, with the exception of a red car which resembled the racecars his grandfather used to race in the 70s. Him, on the other hand, was sitting in a somewhat tuned 90s Japanese luxury coupe. The car was never designed for performance, let alone racing. He was poorly prepared for the race.

“Why did I even take this piece of shit to this race? All for a petty revenge plan? Fuck this!”

Since he came in rather late yesterday, he barely had the chance to talk to the other drivers, which made him even more nervous as the race began its preparations.
Two girls proceeded to head up front. The race was about to start.
The driver takes his iPod from the glovebox and puts on his headphones then hits play.

“It’s all or nothing at this point. Let’s go, Yuro. Time to kick some ass.”


16:20, June 10th, 2012
Horizon Bay, CA

A purple Yuro pulls into an abandoned parking lot.
The driver gets out of the car with what seems to be tears in his eyes.
He looks at the purple car, the car he’s cared for nearly two years. He kicks the door hard, denting it in. He wipes his tears and continues to stare at the car.

“It’s only the first race and yet you’re performing like this? S-so much time, money, and effort put into you…”

He stares at the dent in the door and kicks it again, causing a second dent to appear.

“Where did I go wrong?”

He feels his foot starting to hurt and he lays his hand on the car and sighs.
Suddenly his phone rings, and he picks it up.

“H-hello?” [s n i f f]

“Oi mate ye don’t sound too good. What happened?”

“N-nothing. I’m fine.” [s n i f f]

“Well, if you say so. Anyway, that race wasn’t too bad if I do say so myself. However, if you really want to have s shot at the Showdown King, you should’ve tried harder-”

“I already fucking tried, Jeremy. I-I tried so hard, and yet it didn’t even matter. They had fucking Group 4 cars in what was supposed to be a street race. You’re were right, I’ll never make it.” [s n i f f]

“Oh now, don’t worry too much, it’s the first race! You still have a chance! There’s still quite a few races coming up, so calm down a bit, will ya?”

“B-but… Y-yeah. You have a point.”

Silence ensues for quite a bit.

“Any other news?” [s n i f f]

“That was an awful lot of silence, but glad you asked, cause I may have gotten some clues about the Showdown King. Earlier today while I was watching the start, there was this man next to me, all covered up. It wasn’t even that sunny and he was the only one wearing sunglasses and a mask. I’ve also found out he’s definitely male. Everything else I can’t really figure out without talking to him. I could be mistaken though, but I did manage to snap a couple of images of him, I’m sending you them now.”

“I don’t have a computer right now, I’ll probably check them when I get home. Is that all?”

“That’s all I’ve got.”

“Well, I’ll see you then. Bye.”

Before a response could be given, he hangs up. He sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket. His stomach growls as he hadn’t ate since lunch. He wipes his tears and looks at his car again.

“Damn it. Of all times, hunger strikes right now. If I try heading out on the highway to head home now, I’ll sure as shit be apprehended by the feds, especially right now considering traffic and such.”

He kicks the door, with less force this time and sits next to the car. He takes his phone out and goes to his contacts list and opens a new message.

“Hey ma. I’ll be home rather late today, so just cook for yourself tonight, or call Tita Susan and ask her to come over, your choice. I hope you’re doing fine.”

He hits send and puts his phone back in his pocket then sighs.


The Revenge of Pepeng Kaliwete Part.04
featuring Pepe

extra notes

holy heck this was fairly dark, i had planned to collab with someone else to try and lighten up the mood towards the end but laziness struck me. maybe in the next part it’ll be continued and the mood wont be as sad, who knows? also hmu if you wanna make Pepe not sad lol, especially if your character is female
Tita in english means auntie for those who dont speak Philippinese
and no, Pepe himself hasnt encountered (or has seemed to have encountered) the Showdown King, and he probably wont ever
if you dont get the reference at the first sentence i’ll be genuinely sad and maybe somewhat disappointed
also this is probably the only shot of the Glaze’s rear end so far, if you cant tell i can’t do Altezza lights asdfghjklzxcvbnm
also military time
bye see you again idk

8 Likes

Motor’s Race

  • 11:03, June 10th, 2012
    Downtown Horizon Bay, CA

“…SHIT!..”

Motor had just finished the first race. His car was fast, but there were too many cars that were faster than him. How many had beaten him to the line? Was it six? Seven?

Motor had been unusually calm during the race (his youth was spent evading the cops, so a staged race with no law showing up was almost pleasant), but now his loss was setting in, and he began to sweat.

  • 12:34, ProSpeed Auto, Horizon Bay outskirts.

Paco: “Ho-hooolllyyy shit! Is Motor back?! And he’s even driving his own car this time!”

Motor: “Hey Paco… long time, no see.”

Paco: “So what brings your sorry ass over to my neck of the woods? I can smell your tires from over here, bro… what the hell were you doing?!”

Motor: “…Big race. Lots of the old names. Lots of new ones, too.”

Paco: “I thought you got out of that, bro. You picking up pinks again?”

Motor: “Not this time…it was a race set up by Showdown.”

Paco: “Oh shit, dude. You crazy?! What the hell you…”

Motor: “My brother’s in pretty deep. I’m taking it for him so he can get out. I don’t want him to screw it up like I did. He can still be somebody…”

Paco: “…How deep?”

Motor: “Two hundred.”

Paco: “Sshhiiiiittt. You know them guys don’t play around though. A lot of them got cars you can’t… how did you do in the race?”

Motor: “Three whole seconds off the pace. Eight cars in front of me by the end. Shit, dude, one of them is driving a Kumo.”

Paco: “Ho-hooo. You aint gonna get no money outta that, bro. You thought about goin’ back to the old days yet? I mean, Kumo’s go for some cash in Qatar… I know a guy.”(smirking)

Motor: “You are the guy! But, no. I never stole another racer’s car, even back in the day. And besides, people there already know my reputation. One car disappears and everyone will automatically look for me. I’m gonna have to find something. Especially if I keep running two-tens.”

Paco: "Okay, bro. Whatever you decide to do, I’m down. For your bro, too.

They started walking into the shop to get a beer, “Hey, man… two-tens aint too bad for an old Tempas.”

Motor: “Well, they aint good enough, either.”

10 Likes

@Aaron.W
congratulations.
you just stole Johnson’s own squad car.
have fun.

7 Likes

Uh oh…

Omaewa mo shindeiru.

Nani?!

2 Likes

"German Girl in an American Scene"


(I liked how Helda turned out, the car not so. But still, I had fun doing the sketch for this.)



P R E - R A C E


As the cars have left for race starting, Helda fired up the engine swapped Urform Turbo, revving up to the 3.5L V6’s 9.3k RPM redline. As the revs bounced and back to idle, she disengaged the clutch and dropped the tranny into 1st gear. Inching out of the parking space slowly, Helda thought of the incoming race ahead, as she lined up behind the pack of highly-tuned cars. Helda was still unfamiliar with the other cars, only recognizing Claire’s red LCM79/80 at the front from a while back.

Helda: “the LCM79/80 looks menacing, all these other cars are too! Will I be able to keep up?”

Helda got her earphone in one ear, and plugged it in her cellphone. She searched through her playlist on a good song to play while driving.

Helda: Even though I don’t like modern mainstream music, I guess there are some hidden gems in this modern time and age.



As the race is warming up their engines for the race start, two girls walked up to the front, signifying the beginning of the sprint race.

Helda: “I guess this is it, I will have to give it my all!”

As she said those words, something resonated in her. Something that was put out all those years came back, her passion and love for all things mechanical, as she remembered her dad’s 1979 Bradford Urform Turbo, her mouth formed a grin, then a smile

Helda: "For father’s sake.

Ready,

Set,

G O ! !



R A C E S T A R T


Helda let go of the clutch pedal as soon as “GO!” was heard,
the acceleration was pulling Helda to her seat, she quickly changed into 2nd gear

“5000, 6000, 7000 RPMs”, Helda thought.

As the car approached the first corner, she braked hard to slow the swift car down. She didn’t need to change the gear as the ratio was just enough as it was entering a quickly approaching 90-degree corner.

“Power steering is up to speed” “ABS is also go”, Helda murmored as the car was gripping well.

As Helda approached the first long straight, she upshifted to 3rd and fully depressed the gas pedal

“Shit, traffic incoming” as Helda quickly steered around the slow moving traffic.

As she approached the entry for the first and only esses in the track, she downshifted to 2nd and was able to get through that section briefly into the another straight, whilist getting pass traffic, she managed to see that red LCM79/80 that was getting away really quickly.

“Fast, really fast”, as Helda said in shock.

The red LCM79/80 motivated her to give chase. after a couple of corners, they were in front of the pack along with what Helda described as a “Hillclimb-spec Porsche” (EFI Komi S). With the three cars battling for 1st place, Helda slipped just a bit at the last corner, giving 2nd place to the EFI Komi S with just .2 of a second gap.

“Whewww, that was a blast. This was fun, all the fun I ever wanted” As Helda slowed the car down to a legal speed limit.



Helda caught a glimpse of what street racing is, and what is to come. She did not regret joining this competition, and she is fascinated on what is next to come.

-To be continued with -

@variationofvariables

9 Likes

Sorry for the lack of information to you all after my last announcement. So, in order to improve the event itself (and prevent any situations like this happening), I need some suggestions to make the event more balanced. If you have any, feel free to send it to me.

2 Likes

There are still 8 more races left and we know you’re doing what you can to give us a great experience. Still a lot of kinks to work out. The ones in the lower half that run sub 2.10s do feel we can’t compete with the super 8. That is on us ourselves also.
But we’re having fun with the RPs.

2 Likes

I have a suggestion:
Total dodging traffic time: 1-10 seconds depending in the traffic level (picking a random number from the minimum number until the maximum number, then add the number of seconds you get to the total time).

4 Likes

suggestion: reliability
basically the lower your car reliability is, the higher the chance your engine will blow up during a race
you can repair your engine however, or swap it, but you will have to skip the next 2 races
how this will be pulled off, i don’t know but it’d be pretty cool

4 Likes

CHAPTER 3


If you haven’t read my previous chapters here is the link here. But, those chapters were done with a smaller canvas! I also updated and drew 2 more characters, sorry if it looks rushed! xd. Also i have been busy with some assignments so my output may be slower then usual!

The Two new characters!


Left: Dark cloud @SpeedLife1 Right: Louis Burgess “Motor” @GassTiresandOil


Chapter 3

Minato city early in the morning as his bed hair is shown. He is still tired as usual but this time he knows that the time has come. He quickly eats his pre-made convenience store food as he needs to walk to Haneda aiport, south of Minato city. Brushing his teeth and washing his face. He grabs his pre-packed suitcase as he prepares to walk outside.

He arrives in Haneda airport as he walked all the way covering his daily exercise for his long flight to San Diego. He gets his ticket and signs in his luggage and proceeds through the check into the hub. He suddenly receives a phone call. It is Kairi one of his old friends. He answers the call,


All in Japanese
Kairi: “Hi there, Izawa-san! :heart:

Izawa: “Hey Kairi, why did you call me?”

Kairi: “I miss you, just wanted to know how everything is going?”

She sounded curious, Izawa was rather reluctant to tell but since she was an old friend he decided to tell her about his trip,


Izawa: "Oh I see (So kadesu ne). I’m heading to the US right now. I’m at the airport,

Kairi: “Really? I want to see!”

Izawa: Oh, meet me at the airport if you can, but I’m already at the terminal. Unless you can buy a ticket or something, ahahhahaha."

Kairi: “I’ll take the train.”

Izawa: “How can you get there in a train?!?”

Kairi: “I’ll go through some kind of gap, and arrive at the old unused tram lines, which happen to be able to fit this train.”

Izawa: “You are joking right?”

Kairi: “Nuh-uh, I;m being serious.”

Izawa: “Are you out of your mind!?”

Kairi: “I am actually speaking true.”

Izawa was rather amused and thought how stupid the stuff she was saying. Was she delusional?


Izawa: “OH REALLY? PROVE IT, BAKA!

Kairi: “OH, SO I’M A BAKA HUH? I’LL DO IT NOW THEN!”

Izawa: “SEE YOU AT THE DERAILMENT! AHAHHA!”

Kairi: “We’ll see! See you! :wink:

Izawa was shocked by her audacity and her commitment to this joke, was she really serious?


Izawa: “Kairi? What are you doing? Are you drunk!?”


A turbine engine could be heard as the rattling could be heard by the insane acceleration. She confidently responds back loudly in the midst of the turbine whining.


Kairi: “I’ll prove you wrong! You’ll see!”

A loud screech was heard on the phone, suddenly the call was cut off… before she last words…


Izawa “Kairi? KAIR-Gah!”


He was slapped by someone, was it her did she do something and was it a prank?

Izawa was sure it was a joke he yells at his phone…


Izawa: “SO WAS IT A JOKE?! KAIRI???”


There was a tap on his shoulder, he turned and looked…


Akiro: Are you okay??? Everyone is looking at you…"


Izawa was dumb founded by his stupidity as he looks around and sees people looking at him. He was too immersed in his conversation. He sat there frozen by the shock and embarrassment…

They both walk towards the entrance into the Boeing 787. Izawa is still bitter and still embarrassment. Akiro places his hand on his shoulder…


Akiro: “Don’t worry about it, this is the sign of what is to come. Maybe you will meet cool unique characters during the showdown!”

Izawa: “Yeah you are right…”


They walk down the alley and place their on carry luggage into the storage compartment. He looks through one of the windows and sees the bright summer sky. It calmed him down. They did a brofist and sat down onto the designated seats.

Still tired, he sits down in the comfortable seats, he places in some earphones, plugged in his phone, looking out of the windows. The Boeing takes off as the G-force pushes him back by a little. It soars into the sky off the runway into the blue clear sky of Tokyo, Japan over into the Pacific ocean.

It has been more then 9 hours the jet lag is immense as the jet touches down onto the runway. The jolt is felt through his every so tired jet lagged body… The Boeing is towed towards the main terminal hub. He gets off the plane after the all clear. Grabbing Akiro’s luggage they exit the plane. Akiro had to do some quick stuff and left earlier before Izawa.

The main terminal of the San Diego International Airport, It was his first here in the US. He has learnt a bit of English and did well so. But he still struggles under pressure to speak English words. Navigating through the check and the luggage area was relatively easy, just took some tries with the staff.

There she was… she was here before him… was it a joke after all? Apparently not…


Izawa: “How in the holy hell did you get there before me?”

Kairi: “I don’t know… the train?”

Izawa: “I cannot believe you. You got here… on a train. You can fly a train. I must be dreaming.”

Izawa: “No— How does this even possibly happen— You are telling me you went through a kind of portal???”

kairi: “I guess.”

Izawa: “Whatever it is, I have no idea how you did it!”

Kairi: giggles “Neither do I! I think I just can make it happen…?”


What an odd girl…

Izawa was still perplexed at the situation but decided to give in and accept it.


Izawa: “So, where did you leave your train? Why would you bring a train in the first place???”

Kairi: “I could use it as a hotel.”

Izawa: “Oh, but I already booked a place anyway.”

Kairi: “I left it near a disused tram station. Is it ok if you can get me there? The taxis here aren’t great…”

Izawa: “Sure, I’ll just have to go pick up my car. See you!”

Kairi: “Bye!”


Izawa heads out of the building and sees a incredibly tall messy black hair character of a person… Aaron standing next to a Tanaka Hito minivan???

He proceeded to meet up with him after contacting with his friends prior to the challenge after Akiro did some research about the participants. Aaron was the one Akiro recommended.


In English ( try and think of a person from Hongkong who speaks English sort of with an accent but can be understood easily and with a Japanese accent)

Aaron: So, you are Izawa Akagi, am I right? Are you here for the Street Showdown Challenge?

Izawa: Yes, indeed I am.

Aaron: Then come and follow me.

Izawa: Haha. I wasn’t expecting you to show up in that Tanaka Hito.

Aaron: This will do the job.

Izawa: I thought the BlackBird was supposed to show up in some modified Tanaka 300X, not this. I might be expecting you to show up in that red Ursula R1 over there.

Aaron: Haha. You know, cops got stricter here. Me being a 6 foot 5 man, is instantly recognizable to the police. So you know, keep it low-key.

Izawa: Ryōkai!
Aaron: Here, let me help you with the luggage.


Aaron opens the back door as the tall American easily puts in the suitcase into the back of the Tanaka. He opens the door and Izawa follows suits.

Then, the Hito traveled to the main highway leading to the city. After 30 minutes of traffic, it finally got off the highway and goes inside Horizon Bay city. Izawa was still tired but is restless of the conditions on his car…

Sam: Damn, some police activity over here.

Izawa: Yep, I noticed.

Aaron: Maybe they searched the wrong car.

Sam: Just this left and we’re on our way to our garage…

Izawa: Aren’t we supposed to go to the docks first?

Sam: Your car is delivered here last night already.

Aaron: Yep, I can confirm it.

Izawa: Yokkata! (Thank goodness)


Sam parked the rented Hito outside the garage. All of them got out of the car and went inside the garage, which was locked with a password. Then, they went inside. There it is!
Izawa: "That’s my car!

Aaron: “Yep, you Susei AMCC Tengai Railgun S.”

Izawa: "Sorry I gotta do something quick so I’ll be taking the car, thanks Sam and Aaron!

Sam and Aaron: “All good see ya!”

5 minutes later…
A loud noise of car exhaust is heard, as a race car, presumably a Suisei stops at the “Arrivals” area. The Suisei is driven by Izawa.


Izawa: “Kairi, come in.”

Kairi: “Wait… you have a racing car?”

Izawa: “I might be racing here. Did you want to go back to the train?”

Kairi: “Yeah, if it is possible.”

Izawa: “K, I’ll take you there.”


The Suisei darts off at incredible speed, taking corners at levels Kairi hasn’t experienced much. She screams a bit, he is still jet lagged and tired so more noises already could break his concentration. But he knew she wasn’t use to this.


Kairi: “waAaaaAAAH! This is scary!”

Izawa: “Would appreciate if you could be a bit quieter, I’m concentrating on driving.”


The Suisei stops near a JR E231-1000 series, which weirdly has made it to Horizon Bay.


Izawa: “Is this your train?”

Kairi: “Yes! Do you like?”

Izawa: “I don’t know, I haven’t worked on trains. Usually I take the Keihinkyūkō…”

Kairi: “The singing train…”

Izawa: “Since when could trains sing…”

Kairi: “I might as well not bother, it might just bore you.”

Izawa: “I have some business I need to attend. I’ll see you later!”

Kairi: “Bye! I’ll see you later!”


She gets out of the car and walks towards the E231 - 1000 series train, still confused he just accepted it now, He looks back and drives off. Kairi enters the train, as the Suisei launches away into the city…

To be continued

Thank you so much for rp with me @Keikyun and @Aaron.W. Im starting on the really cool police chapter soon! But ill be doing t he pre-race rp before! So anyone who wants to do any pre-race rp please message me! :slight_smile:

16 Likes

mmm, doing a cringey rp is kinda fun
but also cringey
and has densha de d, touhou

image

The Entrance of Kairi: Happiness Depends on You!

Kairi’s part of Chapter 3

By @Falling_Comet and @Keikyun

(DISCLAIMER: All manga images are used on permission of the original author, @Falling_Comet.)

Somewhere near Oyama, Tochigi, Japan...

It is a quiet night, the leaves rustling. A few kei cars drive past, breaking the silence momentarily. An empty JR Higashinihon E231-1000 whooshes past, devoid of occupants except for the driver, with a bizarre 13-car configuration, 3 cars being blanked out with venting in-place of the 6 doors of these additional cars.

Kairi, quite tired by now is heading back, driving that bizarre E231. It’s been very long since she last did something active… all she has been doing is lazing back in her apartment and driving her train. Sometimes she calls a friend, but usually he isn’t available…
She feels hopeless. She opens her phone in an irresponsible act, and decided to call her friend… and soon realises her mistake and switches to hands-free.

This friend was Akagi Izawa, someone she knew from high school. While they do talk, and sometimes meet up, they really don’t do it very often.

Conversation between IZAWA and KAIRI


Kairi: “Hi there, Izawa-san! :heart:

Izawa: “Hey Kairi, why did you call me?”

Kairi: “I miss you, just wanted to know how everything is going?”

Izawa: Oh, I see (So kadesu ne). I’m heading to the US right now. I’m at the airport.

Kairi: “Really? I want to see!”

Izawa: “Oh, meet me at the airport if you can, but I’m already at the terminal. Unless you can buy a ticket or something, ahahhahaha.”

Kairi: “I’ll take the train.”
Izawa: “How can you get there in a train?”

Kairi: “I’ll go through some kind of gap, and arrive at the old unused tram lines, which happen to be able to fit this train.”

Izawa: “You are joking, right?”

Kairi: “Nuh-uh, I’m being serious.”

Izawa: “Are you out of your mind!?”

Kairi: “I am actually speaking true.”

Izawa: “OH REALLY? PROVE IT, BAKA!

Kairi: “OH, SO I’M A BAKA HUH!? I’LL DO IT NOW THEN!”

Izawa: “SEE YOU AT THE DERAILMENT!”

Kairi: “We’ll see! See you! :wink:

Izawa: “Kairi? What are you doing!? Are you drunk!?”

Kairi presses a large red button marked “GAS TURBINE START”. A deep howl fills the area, being then drowned by the mechanical whine of a spooling turbine engine, followed by the ignition. Flames shot out the turbine exhausts of the turbine cars, as Kairi was thrusted back into the seat on ignition, the speed climbing past the limits.

Kairi: “I’ll prove you wrong! You’ll see!”

A loud screech was heard on the phone, suddenly the call was cut off before she could say her last words.

Izawa: “Kairi? KAIR-Gah!”
Izawa is slapped.

Kairi: “I’ll see him…” as the view got much brighter, the train travelling much faster than 160km/h. From inside, the world began fading to a white, train on only half the wheels around a bend. Kairi held on very tight, as they began to disappear from the rails of Japan, and Japan altogether.

.

A thunderous noise was heard in Horizon Bay, as the train suddenly emerged from thin air, crashing down on the rails, sparks flying across the area.

Kairi: “Huh, aah…” rather exhaustedly as she pulled the lever to max braking…

SCREEECH! The train slowed to a rough stop, at a disused tram station near the old shed.

Kairi: “I should really sleep…”

Kairi set herself up a bed in her train’s seating, and fell asleep.

A dream began, noted until she awakens in the morning.

Suddenly she is back in the driving cab of her own train, the turbine-diesel-electric 3-way hybrid at full power, the installed digital speedometer reading over 200km/h, flying past a few densha otaku whose hats were launched airborne by the force of the passing trains. She was in a race, with a Kintetsu 50000 series “Island Wind”, the two tied. It was the last few corners until terminus. Her hands were covered in sweat as she held on tight to the power/brake lever, trembling under the pressure of the Kintetsu, as was the train under loads it never was designed to handle.
For a moment, she had a flashback.
Her best friend and train racer who used to drive a JR Nishinihon 207… was under a similar situation, under huge pressure while racing against a Nishitetsu 7000… he derailed and almost died. Kairi still remembers what happened then…
But Kairi did not stop. By now, the second to last bend was approaching. Would she handle it, or derail?
She continued, at the already far too high velocity. The wheels on the inside of the bend lifted away from the rails, as she began to reduce speed.

“I am at my limit… this Kintetsu is quick. Full notch!” she thought, as she went for the highest notch on the power/braking lever, approaching the final bend.
“If it is possible… I will try to use the single track drift technique.”
Before she knew it, she was about to reach the finish, the train still on only half the wheels.
As soon as the train entered the station, she pulled the lever to the highest braking, reaching a halt at the platform.
Kairi emerged victorious.

By now it is the next morning…

Kairi wakes up.

Kairi: “I don’t have any idea where the airport is… guess I’ll take a taxi.”

Kairi waits outside her train, then flags a taxi, a rather dilapidated Chrysler Sebring.

Kairi: “Hi. I will need to visit the airport.”

Taxi driver: racial and body related profanity and rubbish

Kairi: “Oh god… a racist and disgusting taxi driver…”

The taxi driver tries to grope Kairi, but Kairi slaps him immediately then throws a fist to his head, while tugging the handbrake to stop the car.

Kairi: “くそくらえ! (EAT SHIT!)”

Kairi opens the door and evicts the nasty taxi driver, then steals the car.

Kairi: “GAH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE!”

Kairi drives off to the airport in the stolen taxi,

Kairi: “This car is so bad… it has worse seats than the worst trains in Japan, the engine has no response, and half the inside has fallen off. It also smells like a hikikomori’s bedroom. I miss my train and Lexus!”

Kairi arrives at the airport then walks in, and waits idly. She checks her phone to call Izawa, but he is not available.

Kairi: “He’s not here… guess I’ll have a coffee.”

Kairi heads to the coffee shop in the airport, and takes a seat. She continues to look at her phone to see if Izawa’s flight has landed.

Eventually, the flight arrived. Kairi got up and walked back to the Arrivals area, waiting for Izawa. Soon enough, he arrived.

Scene between Kairi and Izawa


Izawa: “How in the holy hell did you get there before me?”

Kairi: “I don’t know… the train?”

Izawa: “I cannot believe you. You got here… on a train. You can fly a train. I must be dreaming.”

Izawa mysteriously punches himself in the head as a “reality check”.

Izawa: “No… How does this even possibly happen… You are telling me you went through a kind of portal!?”

Kairi: “I guess.”

Izawa: “Whatever it is, I have no idea how you did it!”

Kairi: giggles “Neither do I! I think I just can make it happen…?”

Izawa: “So, where did you leave your train? Why would you bring a train in the first place???”

Kairi: “I could use it as a hotel.”

Izawa: “Oh, but I already booked a place anyway.”

Kairi: “I left it near a disused tram station. Is it ok if you can get me there? The taxis here aren’t great…”

Izawa: “Sure, I’ll just have to go pick up my car. See you!”

Kairi: “Bye!”

Izawa loads his luggage in a Tanaka minivan with a few others, and they drive away.

Kairi: “Guess I’ll just be alone, like always…”

15 minutes later…
A loud noise of car exhaust is heard, as a race car, presumably a Suisei stops at the “Arrivals” area. The Suisei is driven by Izawa.

Izawa: “Kairi, come in.”

Kairi: “Wait… you have a racing car?”

Izawa: “I might be racing here. Did you want to go back to the train?”

Kairi: “Yeah, if it is possible.”

Izawa: “K, I’ll take you there.”

The Suisei darts off at incredible speed, taking corners at levels Kairi hasn’t experienced much.

Kairi: “waAaaaAAAH! This is scary!”

Izawa: “Would appreciate if you could be a bit quieter, I’m concentrating on driving.”

The Suisei stops near a JR E231-1000 series, which weirdly has made it to Horizon Bay.

Izawa: “Is this your train?”

Kairi: “Yes! Do you like?”

Izawa: “I don’t know, I haven’t worked on trains. Usually I take the Keihinkyūkō…”

Kairi: “The singing train…”

Izawa: “Since when could trains sing…”

Kairi: “I might as well not bother, it might just bore you.”

Izawa: “I have some business I need to attend. I’ll see you later!”

Kairi: “Bye! I’ll see you later!”

She gets out of the car and walks towards the E231 - 1000 series train, still confused he just accepted it now, He looks back and drives off. Kairi enters the train, as the Suisei launches away into the city…

Kairi takes a seat and has a rest, when suddenly there is a knocking. She looks outside, and spots the same taxi driver from before.

Kairi: “くそ!” (Shit!)

Nasty taxi guy: “Come out!”

Kairi: “No!”

Kairi enters the cab of the train and starts up the diesel engines. The old tram line is no longer electrified, so the engine was required.
The engine startups shook the ground, the SA6D125H inline6 engines releasing noticeable soot into the atmosphere. The enraged taxi driver continued to knock on the window aggressively.

Kairi is scared, but she does have control of many, many tons of Japanese stainless steel…
What would Kairi do about the taxi driver?

To be continued…

10 Likes

In addition to the rules you already set, I think you can balance a wide variety of cars if you scale maximum tire width with vehicle weight. Lighter cars would be forced to run narrower tires than heavier cars. Also, front-engine cars could be allowed a bonus to tire width as well.

Then of course allow us to adjust our cars to the new rules before we continue. Even with additional balancing rules, some aspect of random chance will need to be introduced to prevent the same cars from winning regardless.

EDIT: based on some testing by Xepy as mentioned on discord, tire width rules may not be enough, less grippy compounds may need to be utilized as well for the light cars

6 Likes

The usage of MS Gothic seems pretty interesting…

A degree of RNG to based off the average % laptime per track would be good. The mid pack were about 5% slower than the top pack so maybe a max rng factor of ±5% of the average lap time would be good. That of course won’t actually close the gap between slowest cars and the fastest cars, but it will give a degree of variation in the results.

Ways to go about the actual balance IMO is to either nerf the lighweights with either tire sizes as Donut suggested, weight ballast (as Cent suggested on Discord) or increase the power to weight limit for heavier AWD cars. I’m fairly certain the top bunch are all RWD thanks to the power to weight limit. Either way it will need some testing, I’m sure a bunch of us can build you a few test cases for how each approach will work if you need help with it.

As long as its tested and everyone gets to do a retune if a balance of performance hits I’m good whatever approach you like to take.

4 Likes

I can’t really think of much that could help those that are in the back. Is it power to weight or the different configurations of engine and drivetrain. Each car handles differently. My new tune for the Vinette just cuts about a second down compared to original tune but its still off the pace from the leaders. (Still being an FR configuration)
I would like to download tracks to test in automation to see how each configuration will work.

What if we get each other’s P/ W within 5% - 10% of each other and have it come to handling.
Once again I’m not entirely sure. You can correct me on some ideas

3 Likes

That’s a good idea. We could also maybe introduce some variation in the surfaces of the track. I know my suspension is probably softer than most (I was anticipating a race or two in the West Coast Map where I might need to hop a curb). I think Italy has a course with cobblestone. Again, not sure if it would do anything to bring the slowest cars up to the front, but it could be another variable in the equation. Even simply doing an uphill race could show different skill sets for cars.

3 Likes

I done some more tuning and testing using the automation track. I did change to AWD along with Carbon Fiber panels and that puts me close to the higher contenders.
Besides carbon fiber being the rule breaker. The car meets the standards

the bloody EFI Komi is still ridiculously fast…

3 Likes

Prerace

I looked around. mainly to look for a place to set up the Trailer, but I was also squaring up my competition.
There was still time before the race, so I set up the Weber Barbeque on the tailgate and started cooking up some snags, still scanning entries coming in.
One fella in a EFI Komi took my attention, Didn’t look like he was planning on getting a space to set up his car. He was looking for a target, much like dad at Marie Snow’s Funeral in 2008, though he was looking for Richard Snow not someone actually dangerous.
At a vantage point, check, Muttering… From what saw, I would say so, though it looked like a conversation with someone. He was about to look in my direction, oh shit… Raised the Tonueu a little higher and put on my Aviators. Not worth bring out the Bowie knife now, for all I could know, He has a gun “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”
He glanced, but seemed to take little notice, good I suppose… but who was he looking for, and why with such a vengeance.
He left shorty after, though I did see his hands were on 9 and 3, and shuffling around the wheel, instead of many drivers that release and replace. Police 101, always have both hands on the wheel in-case you need to do an evasive manoeuvre

In-race

Gee, I hear some drivers blasting music… May as well put the Acadaca CD in.
3
2
1
Go!!
Rear wheels spinning up, Blimey I shouldn’t trust this rubber. Let’s not get mauled by the fellas that can oust themselves into the Rear bumper of the Ute, Don’t want frontal damage to the fellas that can actually race.
First corner… Glad I have Tyre width up front. Though I would take more bite… And I think that’s the Barbecue ratting around in the back.
Gee that fella in Ghost has some guts… They don’t have the speed, but they can punch quickly out of a corner
Finish line after this corner, I’m reeling that Sedan in… and blighter… Just a few ticks behind.
I must Meet that driver.

After-race I thank @ST1Letho

After a short period of re-hitching the Ute to the Trailer. I went of to find the driver of the Sedan that I came close to. Ah there they are.
“Hey!!!, That was a close race mate!!” Stepping out of my Ute.
The driver leaves the car, Stunned by the fact they were a girl, though I know a few quite good Shelias that can race. I exclaim, “A Shelia”
“Australian with a Ute… why am i not surprised-” Had that look of distain… but also innocence.
“I like your style, using that AWD system to your bidding.”
“Thanks, sister’s boyfriend got it from discontinued racecar at his academy” She chuckled a bit “It is best i can fit there”
“Want a tinny?” I go the rear and open the rear tonneu and Esky.
“A what?” She looked confused, Ah right, she ain’t from my neck of the woods.
“A drink, Think I have a coke in 'ere”
“Oh, why not” She nodded gleefully, “I should not drink that, but i am tired… still, all that and just middle of the pack… Mare is outdated, seems like”
“I mean I also have Water in here if you are tried, Besides, I need to figure out where to park the Camper for the night”
“No, i will take the coke” She shook her head “Need a solid kick”
I chuck the Can over, Decent form, she caught it without hitch. She opens it and start taking sips.
“I already have a new car ordered though, been saving for it really long. Brand new, and can kick ass to most car here in stock”
“Sounds like a good Investment”
“Around fifty kay” She shrugs “Will probably live on ramen and cookies for a while” she joked, with a endearing giggle.
“US bucks right?” I ask, gee Money is a small issue here as well with people from all over the place.
“Yea… in higher trim it could be even more expensive” She takes out a paper out of her pocket “My good luck charm, ad for the car”
“You have a luck charm.” Taking out a pic of Justin Senior’s Picture of his 1972 Police Interceptor that was recently restored and Modified. “Suppose I keep one myself. Dad’s car when he was in the force, we got it back some time ago. I learnt to drive in it”


“Your dad is a cop? And you race on the streets?” She looked on me with a mix of confusion and interest, “Pretty brave if you ask me”
“He’s retired and a late boomer, I took after a friend he met when he was dealing in the underworld. He used to do street racing in the 70’s over here actually. It’s weird how they became friends”
“Wow… the darkest place is really right under the lamp” she exclaimed.
“Never heard that saying, must be something you yanks say”
“Yeah… and a i am not a yankee” She laughed “Silly… i am here just to race, with Octavias chasing me back home, it was no fun”
“Huh… You deal with those small things.” Pulling out a IPhone 4, scrolling in photos to a image of Dad in a new Squad car before retirement “We deal with V8s, Much scarier I’l say”
“Yeah, here it has some thrill” She noted “Back home you pressed the gas and lost them”
“Would have thought the American Cruisers were as fast as the Aussie units. Apparently they are only 200 horse, unlike the 400 or so Horse they are down under, They do have the numbers though”
“Hmm, then that is not that much faster than i expected” she nodded “but i gotta take trip to Australia someday”
“I think Derek can help you out with that at some point. If you do come, do come to my neck of the barren woods, Deniliquin, home of the largest Ute Muster”
Eh?" She noised, in confused. Might have to clarify things again
“Fella that gave me the Trailer,Here’s his number” Passing over a slip of paper with the fella’s name hastily written, being careful I don’t budge my Bowie knife I’ve stowed in my jacket.
“Oh… i see” She nodded, and tucked the Paper into her upper pocket.
“I’m off to find somewhere to park this Trailer so I can get used to the Jet-lag”, I stow my phone back into my Jacket.
“Okay, i will be around the scene if you want to see me later” She smiled and waved with an innocence , sitting back down into her car.
“Farewell!” I holler, Shutting the Toneu cover, and I enter my Ute, I starts the V8, that Rumble won’t be getting old soon. I decide to pop a Barnsey CD in.
First gear, and I rip more tread off the tyre, I do a standing Burnout for a few seconds and I set off with the trailer, wheels still spinning. I’m off to find some rest.

7 Likes