V8. Well, every year where I live, there's this big race with V8s(the Lexmark Indy) by the beach and they get the airforce and navy in to do air shows as well. Biiiig event. Apparently, Australians like V8 engines? I have a friend who's into Holdens.

If you want to write a story about street racing, all I can think of to recommend are the Fast and Furious movies. Not alot of racing (lots of boobs though), but I'm sure there's stuff in the DVD features, especially in Tokyo Drift which was just a cheap rip off of Initial D.

And if you're not a mainstream person, and you are an anime nut, I would recommend you read/watch Initial D.

Are you in the process of writing a race fic?

Fast and the Furious....did you mainly notice that the main car there is mostly the Mitsubishi Lan EVO VIII? My main cars here are a 360 hp Toyota Supra Mk. 4, a Nissan Skyline that was being described as a concept car. (The concept car was actually abandoned due to lack of money, but the R34 was given an engine that is capable of squezzing out 500 hp - something like a Z-Tune) and a supercharged Nissan 350Z.

By the way, what kind of Volvo is that? the S40?

I think Mitsubishi called in some big favors and dug deep into their pockets for those movies. All three movies featured their cars as cars the good guys drove which I thought was a bit too obvious. It's like: stick with mitsubishi and you'll look really cool and stoop lots of bad guys.

My volvo is an old 960 limousine and despite being unfashionably old, the paint's still on, it's looking great and hasn't failed me yet.

Writers who wishes to select a car which is suitable of making the whole story works really must put drivetrains as one of the priority. Why? Drivetrains tremendously affect every car's performance.

Starting with FR (Front Engine, Rear Wheel Drive) -

FR is the most common layout for passenger cars like the Sentra and the Toyota Corolla Vios/ Altis. It os also used to design performance cars like the Nissan Fairlady 350Z, Toyota Supra, Mazda RX7, Mazda RX8 and the BMW 6 series, etc. Even the popular Initial D car the Toyota Corolla Trueno/ Levin AE86 is also an FR! The pros of an FR is this car is steady in cornering, as weight easily transfer around the car during cornering. Thus, it is suitable for drifting. Traction is good as many choose this setting for racing. Cons? Because the grip is from the back during acceleration, the FR car will be easily spinned out when being knocked at the back. That's why the police bumps cars on the back during a chase. At the same time, FR cars are heavier than FFs.

Next, FF (Front Engine, Front Wheel Drive) -

FF is mainly used in most Honda cars. The fastest FF is the Fiat Coupe which have a 20v engine that was turbo-ed. 2 Fast 2 Furious' Mitsubishi Eclipse (Tyrese's car) is also an FF. Pros: FF cars are inexpensive, first of all. In terms of cornering, FFs are more effective in accelerating after cornering, as the grip is more in the front. At the same time, this type of drivetrain enables the car to accelerate better in rough terrain, like snow or mud. Disadvantages , cons - they are more likely to be spun out easily, meaning less traction as the back of the car had less grip during acceleration.

Now, my most fav - the All Wheel Drive (AWD/4WD) -

This is the most suitable drivetrain in terms of balance in cornering, traction and acceleration. It is a must for rally cars, like the Mitsubishi Lan EVO IX, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, the previous Toyota Celica GT4, BMW M3, and the Nissan Skyline GTR (except the ER34 model- the FR version Skyline). Pros: They have the traction and the grip during cornering. Because 4 of the car's wheel are moving when the gas pedal is stepped, this car had the least probability of being spun out or oversteered. Thus, the car is consistent and awesome. The Mitsubishi Lan EVO IX can accelerate 4.46 seconds is due to this drivetrain, even though having a 286 hp 4-cylinders turbocharged engine. Usually, cars with V6 and V8 that needs more than 300 hp are the ones that can archive such acceleration performance. Unfortunately, the cons are, this car is heavy because there are many parts in the car, meaning, it is expensive. Yet, this is the best car layout so far.

MR (Mid Engine, Rear Wheel Drive) -

Another type of drivetrain which is used in Formula One type cars. One example of this type of car is the Toyota MR2. The early VW Beetle also use this drivetrain. Pros: They have extra grip in the back, this increasing acceleration performance. Cons: Handling performance are affected due to the lack of weight transfered to the front. And it easily to be oversteered!

Hopefully, I am right in all these. I just hope you all can choose the right car and learn something from this.

If you're interested, http://www.fictionpress.com/~stopthepress

I will email you personally with the next topic in November.

Starting from Malaysia...

Since the latest local film "Remp-It" was released, street racing here became more and more common in the highway. It's not about Ford Mustangs and Chevys gathering in the streets like in the U.S, it's a motorbike frenzy in the roads of Malaysia. U will see scooters and motorbikes in every shapes, types of engines and sizes racing in a number of more than 5. One of the driver's stunt used commonly here is the "Superman" style, which made many suffered as they find it hardly difficult to reposition him/herself back to his/her proper post when cycling. Thus, many died during the race after performing this stunt. The police is now concerned with this already.

Storyline is very much inspired by Wangan Midnight itself, but twisted in a way that it feels very original. I've taken rather close consideration on the physics, but I can only make do with "pseudo-realistic", meaning that there maybe some areas that are impossible to execute or laws of physics that have been bent. But no matter, it has spanned 5 forums, of which two forums have stickied this prose.

Anyway, I'm very much interested on how the Lancia Delta S4's engine was. It's a 1800cc straight-4 engine that has a turbocharger, and a supercharger combined, and produces an enormous 550HP at its time. That's 50HP more than the Audi Quattro S1 back then. But, I'm wondering if there's any cons to such an engine that has a supercharger, and turbocharger. I may need info on that. Hope this necro of a thread doesn't bother anyone.

The engine with these boosters are said to be capable of emitting 550 HP. It is good, yet, you should think of the consistency of the engine. Every turbocharger has its own resistance on giving their maximum output, which is known as turbo lag. It is due to the choice of the turbocharger you are using and the geometric shape that will affect it.

Superchargers, however, don't have the turbo lag. Yet, it does have the problem on temperature. Besides, handling performance of the car might be affected as the car is boosted just to have the upper hand when it goes straight. It's best to balance the car's boost with its efficiency when cornering. So, imagine what will happen to the car's performance in handling when a supercharger/turbo configuration is installed into the engine. However, cutting edge suspension systems will overcome it.

I'm looking forward to finish my fiction, too bad I don't have much time for me, as I'm now in college, which is more hectic. Anyway, I will see your fiction and hopefully I got the time to comment it.

EDIT: I think I'll point out one thing about my racing prose. They are written not with real physics. Instead, pseudo-realistic is what I'm using (Imeant that some parts are possible to occur, while there are other areas that are not real, or impossible to happen). Some areas, one can find impossible to take place. I know about it.

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