Chapter 9 : Bayside Blau
(Editor's Note : The discussion about differentials and LSD in this chapter is taken from Scaff's GT4 Tuning Guide Part 2. Big thanks to Scaff 👍 , hope you can all relate to the discussion in this chapter..,
)
-"No. That driver is way too good for them. If I tell them, they'd probably come look for it and just lose. It's up to them if they will discover about that 'bread boy'."
"I see..."
The flight was shorter than I expected, it took us about an hour to reach our destination. We arrived at the airport and as soon as the cars were unhooked, we went to our, "settlement". After checking in, he told us to drive our cars in the garage so that they could immediately start working on them.
"Finally, I will have my car de-tuned."
Kyosuke asks me, -"Why would you want your car de-tuned, Tori??"
"Well, my car feels heavy on our last race back there. I don't like it."
-"Is that so... my car felt great AND odd at the same time. Sometimes it doesn't turn in the direction I want it to."
"So, you're going to have your car de-tuned as well, Kyosuke-san??"
-"Maybe, I'm not sure..."
While we were talking, Kairi approached us and asked, "Tori-san, you say you want to have the old feeling of your car back, right?"
-"Yes, Kagiyama-san."
"Uh, Kagiyama-san, I want to have my Evo de-tuned as well."
-"You too, Kyosuke?"
"Yes, please do."
-"I see..."
After that, Kairi went to Yamato and discussed about our cars.
"Yamato, Tori wants to have the car de-tuned. What parts can you remove?"
-"Well, we could reset the air/fuel compression ratios back to what numbers they were, but we can't undo those polished intake ports."
"How about Kyosuke's car?"
-"Oh that's easy. Except for the reduced weight, all the tuning parts can be removed. But he may want to keep the suspension and the gear ratios in the car."
"I'll go talk to the two now."
"Tori-san, Yamato said that they could return the settings of your car back to what they were, but he can't undo the polished ports."
-"Arigato, Kagiyama-san."
"About on your car, Kyosuke... Yamato suggested that you should keep the suspension and gear ratios in your car. You may choose to remove the intercooler and muffler."
-"There is one part that makes my car not go in the direction I want it to. Could you find out what part is that??"
"That must be the 1.5-way LSD. Very well then, we shall get started."
As Kairi went back to Yamato to give instructions, I asked Kyosuke:
"Kyosuke-san, what is LSD??"
-"LSD? That is an acronym that stands for 'Limited-Slip Differential'."
"What does this 'LSD' exactly do??"
-"Hmmm, it appears you lack technical knowledge of your car. Allow me to give you a, *uhurrm*, 'simple lecture'."
"Before you understand LSD, you must first understand what a differential is and what it does. All cars have a differential gear working on the drive wheels serving a number of different functions. They transfer the engine's power from the drivetrain to the wheels, thus acting as the final part of the ‘gearing’ before the power reaches the wheels. That is the primary function of the differential. Its other function is however to allow the driven wheels to rotate at different speeds. This is needed because as a car turns, the wheels nearest to the corner apex will travel a shorter distance than the outside wheels. That is why your car is able to turn smoothly while stepping on the gas."
-"Oh I see, I get it now."
"Shall I continue??"
-"Please do, Kyosuke-san."
"Well then, this is all fine when the car is operating below its limits. However a standard or "open" differential, as fitted to the majority of road cars, will distribute the power between the driven wheels evenly, unless one of the wheels begins to slip. Now, an open differential will always send the torque down the path of least resistance. So, should one of the tyres slip and therefore offer little resistance, the open differential will send all the power to it."
"Imagine this: you come out of a tight corner on a track, or touge as you prefer, you apply the power slightly too quickly, then one of your driven wheels begins to slip. To make matters worse, the open differential sends all the available power to the wheel that is already slipping. The end result would be that of spinning all the power away in a cloud of tyre smoke. That thing would certainly get on your nerves in a tight race, don't you say??"
-"It sure will, Kyosuke-san."
"Haha yeah... well then, moving on..."
"That is where the Limited Slip Differential, or LSD, comes into play. it will allow a wheel to take up to a certain percentage of the available power, but no more than that percentage. So, in the situation that I mentioned earlier, the drive wheel that is not spinning is allowed to 'steal' a certain percentage of the power, but the rest would be sent down the other wheel which is spinning." The LSD does have its own share of downsides, though. Should the limit be set incorrectly, the wheels may not be able to rotate at different enough speeds so the car becomes reluctant or harder to turn."
"This is why some people consider the LSD to be one of the trickiest parts to tune, because if you mess up with the settings, you could OR will destroy the car's balance."
-"I see, I get it all now. Arigato, Kyosuke-san."
"Wow, I can't believe someone actually understood what I said, haha!!"
As soon as Kyosuke finished "lecturing" me, he saw something pass by on the garage entrance of the hotel. He ran to see what it was. I followed him, and when we were at the garage entrance...
The driver got out of the blue car. He approached us and greeted, "Fine day, isn't it??"
Kyosuke was silent for a short moment, then he replied, "It sure is."
The man was looking for something behind us, then he asked Kyosuke again, "Is that yours??" pointing at Kyosuke's black Evo.
-"Yes, that's my car."
"No doubt, you guys are Team MUGEN, am I right??"
-"How did you know??"
"News spread from across Italy about a racing team called MUGEN that dominated a race event some days ago. People say that the team consists of two cars, one of which is a black Lancer Evolution V. I had no doubt when I saw yours."
Just as the man was speaking, Kairi came. "Excuse me sir, may I help you??" he asked the man.
"Ah, you must be the team leader. You know Marcus, right?? I think he has mentioned you about another group of racers here in the Meditteranean coast of Southern Italy."
-"Yes, we know him and yes, he has."
"Well then, I am a part of that group of racers he was talking about. Our team, Bayside Blau, wants to challenge you, Team MUGEN, in a race."
-"We accept your challenge."
"As expected. The race will be held tomorrow, here in these streets. There will be two races, one in clockwise and another in anti-clockwise direction. Are you fine with that?"
-"Yes, we are."
"Well then, we will continue the discussion about the race tomorrow. I still have to get back to my team. Have a good day." Then he left.
As the blue car left, Kairi said, "Will you look at that, we didn't have to search for our opponents, they came right to us."
Kyosuke remarked, "Hey, we must be getting famous now, haha!!"
*later that day*
Yamato and the mechanics were done with the cars, so he called me & Kyosuke to come check them out.
"Kyosuke, we replaced the intercooler and exhaust with the stock parts, as you requested. We also removed the LSD, so your car should have its nimble handling back."
-"Thank you Yamato," Then he went to his car.
"As for you Tori, your car should have its old feel back, since you asked for it. One thing though, the polished intake ports are still there."
-"Yes, I know. Kagiyama-san already told me about it. Arigato."
Kyosuke called Yamato's attention with a loud voice, "Hey, I'm going out for a drive. Don't mind if I do??"
-"Sure, go ahead, Kyosuke. Tell me if the car still has problems."
"Okay..." then Kyosuke took off.
As Kyosuke left, Yamato said, "Say Tori, you and your car remind me of those days when Kairi was still active in motorsports racing."
-"I do??"
"Yeah. I bet you've been watching his races. You know that yellow car he drove to victory in most races? That car is the exact same model as yours."
-"Really??"
"Yes, that car is a Spoon Civic Type R, the same name and model as yours. I remember him saying to me how fun and challenging that car is when he drives it."
-"What happened to that car, Yamato-san?"
"Well, he--"
As Yamato was speaking, Kairi came and asked Yamato, "Did Kyosuke go for a test run?"
-"Uh yah, he did. He just went a few minutes ago."
"Is that so... how about Tori's car??"
-"It should be fine now. We've done our job, now all that's left is for Tori here to test it out."
"Yes, I will go now to take my Civic out for a drive," I said.
"...You had to interrupt our conversation, eh?? Exactly at the right time, I was about to tell Tori 'that'."
Kairi just returned a smile.
*the next day*
Our opponent team, or Bayside Blau, came a bit earlier than expected.
"So, are you ready?? We are. My partner here will be racing first."
-"So, this is Team MUGEN? Nice to meet you. Who's going first on your side?"
Kairi turned to me, "Tori-san?"
I nodded, then turned to my opponent, "I'm Tori Akawa. I will be your opponent for this race."
-"Hmm, quite a young fellow. I'm Harald Konig."
As we rolled out, I see a lot of people on the sides of the road going to watch our race. Race 5, begin!
Next on Red-Line - Chapter 10 : FOUR
don't miss it!!
J/K
, I've a feeling this thread alone would've earned you one! 
thanks for reading.., 
