It was Thursday and Sweeper were preparing for the race against the AE86.
In the past few days Sweeper had been ordering a lot of parts and were busy installing parts on his FD for the upcoming race.
Carlos had observed him for a few days and now he had gotten curious to what Sweeper was really doing.
"What are you doing Sweeper?" Carlos asked.
"Currently I have swapped the servo gears for the steering and I have replaced the fog lamps. I also went for a hunt for the perfect tires in the lower tire dimensions that Jane recommended." Sweeper said.
"Swapping servo gears? Why did you do that for this race?" Carlos asked.
"Well, more responsive steering and that means I turn more with less motion on the wheel. It is risky to do so with a car but I will have to take that chance for this weekends battle. And before you ask, those foglights have been replaced with some rather interresting ones." Sweeper said pointing to the box they came in.
"Why do you swap the foglamps? Afraid of some fog coming up and obscurring your view?" Carlos asked.
"They are actually there to comply with something the airforce boys call blackout." Sweeper said with a smile.
"Don't tell me you have gotten a set of those! That is military grade stuff that you have ordered, stuff that should never leave the military and let alone find on the front of a FD like yours!" Carlos said with some admiration in his voice.
"I am a mercenary by profession, so that means that I get access to this kind of equipment through certain contacts. I can tell right off the bat that other people like Norio, Kenneth and Keisuke will be unable to purchase them and if they find a kit they will be of very low grade quality. This one is top knotch!" Sweeper said with a smile.
"You are one damn son of a bitch that sure doesn't know how to give up now do you?" Carlos replied in a joking way.
"Indeed I am Carlos, I heard Kenneth had been accepted back into the World Cup and that he is driving the Demon BTR in the GT-U class?" Sweeper asked.
"Yeah, those 2500 HP has made me rethink a few things on my next car, don't tell me you have done so as well?" Carlos asked.
"Let us just say I am going to give that Porsche guy a hard time in both corners and straights, I went over the blueprints for my current 1200 HP 4 rotor and I figured that if I improve the housings I can match his 2500 HP with ease and still go with twin turbo's. I am guessing you are on the same idea?" Sweeper said with a smile.
"Indeed I am, I sent the blueprints of my new 2.6 litre block to the manufacturer yesterday and it should be really interresting to put a new world record in making the most power from a 2.6 litre engine block. Only problem is that I will need to have a new custom cylinder head as well as valves, springs etc. But those were easy to draw up to match the new block's specs since I am staying at 2.6 litres, and you?" Carlos asked.
"Well I need to make a new intake and exhaust manifold as well as having a new turbo made to fit the beast, but making it spool will not be the biggest problem. For me that will be getting traction so I have to really go with wider tires this time and probably redesign the rear wheelarchs of my car to incorporate this new rubber. Nevertheless I am sure that Kenneth will find that his new car is outcompeted by the old boys in the World Cup." Sweeper replied with a smile.
"Old boys got a title to defend, but Kenneth is just the tip of the iceberg of newcomers. We got a common disliked fellow as well, Norio Takeshi. That guy got a lot of stocks in Toyota recently and since that's where his money and support comes from he actually ran off with the ONLY road going version of the Toyota GT-One! Can you believe that? I hoped Toyota would stick to it but I suppose Norio had a crushing argument in for it." Carlos said slightly annoyed.
"A guy in the GT-U that is fast and will definitly not hesitate tapping your tail... If Kenneth isn't careful that son of a bitch will make him go spin happy in the first corner, the worst part is that Norio is an expert at that move. And pro's that are unfamiliar with it will not expect a RWD car to be used in such moves, and that catches you off guard and when you finally realize the mistake it is too late. I know because he pulled that trick last year on me even though he was driving in the GT500 he tapped my car as I was lapping him." Sweeper said.
"A really nasty trick there, but you paid him back didn't you?" Carlos asked.
"I made him do a lot of 360's when I caught up that was for sure..." Sweeper stopped and begun laughing as he found it funny.
"Well let us show the newcomers that we still hold the title as the worlds best street racers, let us give those rally drivers a few lessons they are not to forget... This is not in their sandbox this is the real thing and what you do in the sandbox doesn't work here." Carlos smiled while Sweeper gave clear signals of agreement.
"You mentioned you went smaller tires on the FD... Why did you do that?" Carlos asked.
"Simple, remember the gutters at Akina? Those are used to increase cornering speed, I lost to an Impreza there because he was able to use the gutter while my tires were too wide to fit into the gutter so I had to go the long and slower way around. I know that AE86 driver will use them so it is actually better for me to go with tires that will fit in there rather than bigger and fatter rubber. I am also going on racing slicks for that battle since it is reported to be pretty dry so I should be having the grip advantage." Sweeper said while pointing at the tires.
"These are 280mm tires compared to your usual 360's it is very tiny." Carlos said while looking at the smaller tires at the FD.
"Jane didn't recommend any size over 280 so I went out hunting for tires of that size. Believe me it was hard to find but I got a few sets of them when I first were shopping for them." Sweeper said.
"You also seem to have gotten some changes to the suspension?" Carlos asked.
"Yeah I went with a softer front and stiffer rear setup..." Sweeper started but was interrupted by Carlos.
"WHAT! That is understeer settings, why do you want to go with understeer?" Carlos asked.
"I am going to go all out, I am going to use a special technique tonight and it will be very difficult if I hadn't changed the suspension setup. I think you have seen me use it at a few corners in the World Cup." Sweeper said with a smile.
"Oh hell no! Not that technique, the fruits of your hunt for that special driving technique." Carlos clearly knew what Sweeper had in the mind.
"Yes the very same you saw me use at Laguna Seca's first corner a year ago." Sweeper said with a smile.
"I understand what you mean with going all out, that kind of move is damn hard to match even when running on the tires you have here. That Eight-Six is not going to get an easy match on his hands if you are playing it like this." Carlos said while shaking his head.
"Me and Jane went through all the battle summaries with the AE86 and Ryo came over providing me with the details he had observed on the Eight-Six and its driver. In summary this car is currently the results of a winning strategy so to speak. Everything from tires to cockpit and wire systems have been made with only thing in mind, and that is beating Akina HACHI-ROKU!" Sweeper said with emphasis on hachi-roku.
It was now set for the upcoming weekend, the FD's set up and tune up was all complete and prepared for the battle with the AE86.
For Sweeper it was going to be a tough battle, especially since he still hadn't forgotten Sakura or the Impreza blowing past him.
He also knew that Ryo was counting on Sweeper beating the 86 from Akina, and Ryo had failed in doing so with a full blooded racing car, it was now up to the best of the world to try and take Akina Hachi-Roku down.
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Authors notes: Been a lot of these notes lately but now I think there will only be 2 more chapters and this story is wrapped up.
This short chapter was just to show the modifications done for the race with Akina´s 86 and the real deal is coming soon, hopefully it will be up in 2 days.