Highway Hooligans
Day 2, 6-8a - “Food Fights, Racing Stripes, and Other Bad Things.”
“Okay, Jake, run the test again.” Marcus said. Jake prodded the keys of the ancient laptop, and the car set off a burst of rapid ticks from the new injectors. “Looks like they’re all working, so we’ll go start the engine, make sure this problem is gone.”
“Good, because we’re four hours behind. And if nothing else, I want to beat that teal turd, and they’re still behind us.” Cody said, looking over the car.
Trevor gave a wicked grin, then said, “We might be behind, but, traffic willing, we may be able to catch up. There’s a bit of a surprise under the back seat, a 50-shot that’ll last a hundred miles.”
“You put nitrous in this thing!?” Jake asked, looking shocked.
“Of course I did! What, you think the only thing I’m good for is getting parts and making pranks?”
“No, just, isn’t nitrous dangerous?”
Marcus shook his head, then said, “It’s not dangerous if you aren’t stupid with it. Knowing Trev’s set up more than my fair share of tuner cars, that’s a very-wet 50-shot. Probably got enough gas for a 75-shot going to the engine. Means you can lean on it a bit and she won’t lean out. You have to keep the engine running fat and happy if you want nitrous not to make a grenade out of your block, and he’s done this before. Duration over Acceleration, after all.”
“So, what’s the point of a 50-horsepower boost over 100 miles? Wouldn’t it be better to have a 200 horsepower boost for a few miles?” Cody asked.
“First, I’ll answer the second one. This car would not survive a 200 horsepower nitrous shot, it’d blow the pistons right out of the bores. Second, duration is key. Your average street-racing shit-head has about a hundred shot and it lasts for maybe 30 seconds. Maybe 150 for 20 if the guy’s a hot-head. By having a 50 shot that’ll last 2 minutes, you trick him into blowing first. You light yours up, he blows his load early, you sweep the win by leaning on yours until the finish line.” Marcus replied, grinning.
“Well, let’s get this party on the road, then. Because it’s obvious it’s not pissin’ fuel and stinkin’ right now, and I’d rather be flying down the highway at 120 than sitting in this fuckin’ parking lot.” Trevor stated.
With that said, everyone packed the tools and got back into the car. At 10:00, the Hooligans were just leaving their parking space.
Aftermath:
Morale: +2 (-2)
Fatigue: +4 (+4)
Waypoints: 5
Status: Car’s fixed, Nitrous Armed, planning on going very fast in the next leg to make up lost time, if the traffic will let them.