I have begun to read a lot of Initial D fanfiction recently, and I notice that 98% of the fanfictions I have read show zero knowledge of mechanical upgrades, and performance issues. Is such a topic allowed here?

A car that is geared to be a performance machine requires modifications, whether it is a FF, or FR class car. I see huge numbers of mechanically illiterate writing in this genre of racing anime. That is why I am asking this question. I have a few points I would like to make as an added reason to allow this discussion, if I may.

Example: I have only seen one fanfiction author who tackles problems with fuel grade differences between American and Japanese fuels in a storyline. That writer imported the Project-D people to America, instead of American street racer gods to Japan. However, modifications are required to make the car run well on different fuel grades. The fact that many fanfiction writers do a body kit, and sport muffler on a very lowered suspension is also a bit disturbing to someone who has some background in mechanics.

Too low, without a fender crop to compensate can destroy tires when one tries to turn ** a deep corner if the car has heavy fiberglass, or metal fenders. If the fender is plastic, the tires can shatter the fender in an uncropped, but lowered car on a sharp turn of the front wheels. In some instances the plastic fender parts broken off could cause a hole in the tire causing a wreck in a higher speed situation. Most people do not know about the reality of how to make a lowered car into a drift-able (whiplashing is what we call it here) machine.

NOS Spray is often mentioned, but they do not mention the computers onboard that are required to keep NOS from blowing out, or melting the O rings, among other factors. Without such knowledge, a person could find themself in a rebuild or buy new engine scenario, which is expensive, and tragic. NOS has to be regulated, especially in aluminum blocks, or it will cause engine fires in some over-use scenarios. I have seen three of those which is why I make this point.

Turbines and Superchargers are nice add ons to some cars, but the elements such as drive trains, and transmissions, and suspensions are not addressed that make such upgrades viable to contend with torque ratio increases that can damage the car’s performance. You have to change the suspension, undercarriage, and in extreme cases (for very light weight cars) the chassis, with upgrades to make the car stable and smooth in a race, as well as safer to drive.

Ok, I'll hopefully recieve an answer to this post, and I do hope it is well received.

JIO

Sure, start a new thread with your description and put your writeups in there.

Its not a real big issue to me because Initial D like most sports manga/anime has been about concepts. They have an event and feature a specific driving technique or the pros/cons of a specific component. Nitty gritty like how something is implemented is largely ignored because there isn't much to write about or it would disrupt the pacing. I don't think many people would care if I wrote a story about how when I installed a transmission cooler my uncle handbent copper tubing using a spring to prevent the tube from collapsing. Unless mechanical failure is part of the plot or you're making a point of someone being stupid there aren't many ways to work it into the story. Very few people are interested in purely technical point of views.

I completely agree with JIO. I will mention that many of the fics I've read to show a certain level of ignorance as far the mechanical workings of the cars they use in their stories. I admire the authors for doing this, but please, ask someone to at least proof read before you throwing things into stories, unless they serve as a charicature for a certain element that you want to poke fun at(I've done this in Tora I)

Another element to take into consideration is where are the character racing, as this will greatly affect how they need to tune their cars, and this hasn't been much of a problem lately but still warrents mentioning, use attainable cars for the character! An Amuse S2000, or Carbon R are not practicle for your average 20 something in the street race scene, and as much as you would like it stay away from late model Ferrari, Lamborghini and other super cars unless the character driving it is a rich middle aged person.

I also want to mention that if anybody has question concering car, modifying, and tuning I'm more than happy to help and give suggestions. I look forward to hearing question and comments from the curious, and remember, racing is an integral part of Initial D, and no story is really complete without at least one good race.

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