Test Drive

Hello all, welcome to chapter seven of Test Drive.  This is the second race of Inuyasha's, hope you all enjoy. 

Nikkie23534- Glad you've been liking this version so far, thanks for the review!

Thank you all for reading, and please review!

~~~~~~Test Drive~~~~~~

Pulling up to the start line, on the actual road, Inuyasha realized just how lucrative a bunch this little racing league was.  The Zonda Cinque Roadster he drove was one of five, number one in fact, a final edition of an already exclusive supercar.  Yet, as he pulled to a stop, he was a few places ahead of an identically painted, identically flared and winged and scooped Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster.  Did he mention they cost about two million U.S. a piece?

“Alright, this is gonna be a bit harder than I reckoned, let’s just hope that sequential box is nothing to write home about.” 

That was Inuyasha’s one potential car-based advantage (or disadvantage); the sequential gearbox shifted lightning fast, but it didn’t allow for direct rowing of the gears like a regular manual.  It would require a hell of a lot of effort on Inuyasha’s part, but if he was spot on he might be able to milk that advantage in the tight corners, getting down multiple gears faster than the sequential driver could downshift through the gears in… sequence.

The other competition wasn’t calming him either.  Next to him there was a Koenigsegg CCX, the silver two seater packed a tremendous seven hundred and ninety five horsepower, eclipsing any other car in the race.  Though that said, it was also the twitchiest and had the least down force, its body designed for top speed not grip in the corners.

Two Lamborghini’s were directly behind them; two rare, expensive, fast, four-wheel drive Lambo’s to be precise.  On the left, a Murceilago LP650-4 Roadster, a six hundred and fifty horsepower, drop top version of the hot version of the already fast Murceilago.  On the right, essentially the same car in a different body, the Reventon Roadster pulled up.  Styled after the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the angular matte gray two seater was one of fifteen and packed all the performance of the gray and orange Murceilago.

Behind them, a Ferrari F430 Scuderia Spider 16M occupied fifth place.  While it packed a relatively lighter five hundred and three horsepower, it was also much lighter than the Lambo’s and had razor sharp handling and response.  Next to it was an Audi R8 5.2 Spyder, the German’s Lamborghini derived V10 developing five hundred and fifty two horsepower channeled through four wheel drive.

The other Pagani occupied seventh place.  On the right, the Dutch Spyker C8 Spyder T was arguably the prettiest of the group, though a bit outgunned potentially.  It used an Audi twin turbo V8 for over five hundred horsepower, but being rear wheel drive unlike the Lambo’s and the Audi and lacking the finesse of the Ferrari and Pagani’s the driver was in for a workout if he wanted to win.

Ninth place was occupied by an odd vehicle of sorts, a Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet.  It was a fast car; five hundred and thirty horsepower, PDK semi-automatic gearbox, and four wheel drive packaged in a great chassis.  Yet, it was actually really an awful 911, defying everything that actually made a 911 a 911.  But, sacrilegious or not, it wasn’t a vehicle to be messed with.

Nor for that matter, was vehicle number ten, a Maserati MC12.  Essentially a targa roof, more aerodynamic Ferrari Enzo, the MC12 was proper super car royalty.  A six hundred and twenty horsepower V12, semi-auto gearbox, and a low curb weight added up to an extremely demanding, viciously fast Italian supercar.  Inuyasha knew for a fact that it would be trouble, if the driver could keep hold of it, and keep the extremely long, extremely wide car on the road, he’d have a chore keeping the Maserati at bay.

Staged, they revved up as a flagman came up to the front, standing off to the side of the road.  As he waved them off, Inuyasha dumped the clutch and heard the driver of the Koenigsegg do the same.  The two fought for traction, fat rear tires smoking off the line as they surged forward.

Behind them, the big Lamborghini’s launched as well, four wheel drive getting them off the line with much less drama, though the extra weight was becoming apparent as the Italian and Dutch supercars began to surge forward.  Behind them, the Lamborghini’s were falling back just a bit, while the MC12 and Zonda number two both started to gain ground fast.

The Spyker and Porsche were bringing up the rear, the Ferrari and Audi in seventh and eighth respectively.  The Ferrari stood a good chance of gaining ground though as the road curved left in a high speed bank, but then almost immediately rolled into a series of very tight hairpins, where the light, razor sharp Scuderia was most at home.

Though that said, the Pagani was also quite light, for a V12 supercar, and had sharp handling and tons of grip.  With more power and fewer electronic nannies, it was more of a handful, but the chassis design was excellent and the hanyou behind the wheel was more than capable.  Reaching the first right hand turn, Inuyasha took the inside line and edged the CCX out through the corner.

Bullying the other driver into falling back a bit as he turned hard to the left, sweeping the apex of the corner, Inuyasha saw the other Pagani had gained huge ground, pulling alongside the third place Murceilago as they reached the truly sharp corners.  The Maserati was right behind them, the Ferrari pulling a lead on the two Germans whilst the Dutch supercar had dropped back a bit.

The Koenigsegg was likely Inuyasha’s biggest worry.  While it had a V8 to his V12, it was twin supercharged and spooled up seven hundred and ninety five horsepower, nearly a hundred and thirty more than the screamer Pagani, nearly three hundred up on the least powerful  F430.  It could dispatch any of them in a straight line, packing a top speed of around two hundred and forty five miles an hour while the others fought to crack two hundred.

But, but, the Koenigsegg was slippery.  The Pagani had wings, ducts, spoilers, diffusers, and splitters.  All these shouty, angular bits on, in, and underneath the body used the air rushing over to crush it to the ground, forcing the tires against pavement to generate traction.  The Koenigsegg was designed for top speed, the body smooth and slippery, letting air whip over it with almost no disturbance.  Great for hitting 245, not so great in the corners, where the lack of down force made the most powerful car of the group extremely twitchy when pressed on.

In the tight bends, the Pagani would be a handful, the CCX would a monster.  At least, that was Inuyasha’s hope as the road dipped hard right once more, hugging the rock wall that threatened to rip the hyper car to shreds if Inuyasha so much as missed a single step.  It was fairly tight, but not so much that Inuyasha lifted, keeping his foot planted as the big tires fought for grip, coming up out of the bend as he shifted up into third right at the redline.

Like many of Europe’s mountainous roads, this particular stretch featured a series of tight switchbacks carved into the side of the mountain, the pavement winding back and forth down the same slope, several hundred feet of elevation change that Inuyasha would have to bomb down in the exceptionally over powered Pagani, each downhill straight capped with a tight, extremely low speed hairpin and a very fast trip to the bottom for any miscalculations.

“Alright brakes, no fade damnit!”

Inuyasha downshifted as he slammed on the brakes, going as far right as possible before swinging left , diving into the tight hairpin and dropping into the straight section.  Then, it was a full throttle blast; second gear to the redline, snap into third, pedal down, then clutch in and brake hard for the right hander fast approaching.

Behind him, the Koenigsegg was breathing down his neck, though the second hairpin helped somewhat.  Making the right, it was full throttle all the way to redline, into third, some more power than full braking once again into the upcoming left.  Here, the Koenigsegg was struggling a bit; it had power in spades, its acceleration down the straights was definitely better than the Zonda.

The Zonda however was winning it in the corners however.  For one, it was lighter than the Koenigsegg by nearly two hundred pounds and combined with its down force could brake harder and later for the hairpins.  In the bends, Inuyasha’s sensitive foot and its grip kept it smooth through the bend and back on the power earlier.  So coming out of the corners Inuyasha could get harder on the power earlier than the Koenigsegg, minimizing the damage it could do once the road straightened out.

One more right hander came up fast, then the road dropped into a gentler right bend, following the curve of the mountain.  The road wound back and forth a bit, meandering through rocks and outcroppings in the landscape without a serious hard corner.  There was however, a lot of elevation change, dips and rises all through the road surface.

This was playing to Inuyasha’s advantage well, very well.  With its ridiculous wings and scoops and such the Zonda was still a handful, still twitchy over the rises, but glued to the ground well

enough that Inuyasha could unleash the Mercedes AMG V12 in very good measure.  The Koenigsegg had been up his ass and was still flying, though now it was in more of a literal sense, the slippery Swede twitching and going very light over the disturbances in the road, the back end always threatening mutiny if there was just one overzealous blip of the throttle.

It had actually allowed the other Pagani to get right behind, though on the particularly tight bit of road overtake wasn’t likely.  The Maserati MC-12 had also closed up, and was fighting the other Pagani for third.  Behind them, a minor miracle had happened, the Spyker had caught out the Audi, both Lambo’s, and even the razor sharp Ferrari, claiming fifth tentatively.  The tight switchbacks and some damn fine driving had edged it past the three four wheel drive competitors, and its power advantage and some serious finesse had gotten it past the F430 Scuderia Spider 16M.

The road continued on in the same sense for a half mile until there came a tight S-bend, where the Maserati struck at the other Pagani in the race.  The sequential boxed Zonda was downshifting when a vicious crunch was heard, the downshift grinding a gear pretty badly.  The Maserati struck, the MC-12 braking late and slipping ahead into the corners.

Inuyasha did manage to stay ahead of the Koenigsegg though, which still occupied second, the other Zonda dropping back to fourth.  The road actually rose a bit at that point, winding up to the right then back left where a tunnel appeared.  The other end of the tunnel was the finish line, a fitting end for roofless supercars.

At the mouth of the tunnel, dodging a few cars which had thankfully been absent earlier on the road, before it merged with the larger road they were on which entered the tunnel, Inuyasha braked to avoid a semi-rig and downshifted to second.  Behind him, the Koenigsegg slowed a bit and he heard the revs drop as the driver pushed the clutch in and changed gear.

Inuyasha dumped the clutch in second, the Koenigsegg as well, the Maserati blipped down in the semi-auto gearbox, the other Pagani driver grabbed at the sequential lever, and the Spyker C8 T shifted down to second as well.  Two Mercedes-AMG V12’s, a Ferrari derived V12, a twin-supercharged V8, and a twin turbo charged V8 all spooled up together, and Inuyasha nearly came.

It was like being chased by banshees, two shrieking V12’s, a burly V8 with two superchargers whining on, and an Audi derived V8 rumbling with two turbos sucking in air all echoed off the walls of the tunnel in a brilliant symphony of horsepower.

Inuyasha waved around cars and scooters and semi-rigs, other drivers scurrying from the way of the viciously loud and fast supercars.  The noise only got better as a Ferrari V8, two Lamborghini V12’s with roots back to the sixties, a twin turbo V10, and a twin turbo Boxer six joined in, all ten supercars in the tunnel at once.

The Koenigsegg was weaving through the same traffic Inuyasha was, but at the end, within a few hundred feet of the end it lightened up a bit.  Powering past a small French hatchback Inuyasha pushed the right pedal through the floor, blasting through upshifts as the Koenigsegg’s incredible power came into full effect.

It drew the gap up incredibly quick as the twin supercharged V8 came into its own, pure power in a straight line.  But, just barely, the Pagani held its lead as they crossed back into the sunlight once more, erupting from the tunnel in a roar of power.  Braking as he let the motor run down, Inuyasha turned the wheel right then hard left, powering it into the sweeping left hand corner outside the

tunnel.  The fat tires erupted in smoke as Inuyasha drifted the Pagani round in a pseudo victory lap.

Behind him, the Koenigsegg did the same, back end kicking out and tires erupting into smoke.  The Maserati and the other Pagani peeled off, taking a road to the right, while the Spyker joined in the smoking section.  The Ferrari went right, the two Lambo’s following the road, without the sideways action, the last place Audi and Porsche going off to the right as well.

“Fuck yeah, two for two baby!  Damn this is a good car, great fucking car.”  Inuyasha praised his now beloved Pagani, slightly worried as he smelled, and then immediately saw, the big haze of clutch smoke wafting from the back of the car.  The Koenigsegg was running pretty hot itself, though followed him as the others diverted off different side roads, headed back for their respective garages or parking spots.

Pulling past the Pagani, the driver of the Koenigsegg indicated then pulled onto a dirt section that bordered the road.  Inuyasha followed him as the Swedish supercar slid to a stop, the hanyou doing the same.  Pulling alongside the CCX, Inuyasha looked into the other roofless supercar to see what appeared to be a male wolf demon, long black hair tied back into a ponytail.

“Well, well two for two.  You’re one hell of a stand in…”

“Inuyasha, and you are?”

“Kouga Kamuto, pleasure to meet you Inuyasha.  Well, not too much of a pleasure, you’ve had my first place victories twice now.”

“Your first place victories?  Second place seems to fit you just fine.”  Inuyasha smirked, keeping his composure though the knowledge that the ookami had been the driver of the white 3-series was a bit unsettling.  It just showed the level of driving talent he had, he’d barely gotten ahead with the BMW, Kouga had held him on dirt beautifully.  And he’d barely held him back with that Koenigsegg, the wolf having controlled the monster excellently.

“Cute, fast, and clever.  You’re the whole package pup.”

“Oh haha, you just enjoy the sight of taillights ookami.”

“Hey, I’ll stare at your ass anytime.  Best of luck Inuyasha, I’ll see you soon pup.”  Kouga grinned before pulling back onto the road the way they’d come, tires kicking up a mountain of dust as he

took off with a heavy foot.  Inuyasha shook his head before pulling off, headed the way they’d been driving, headed back to the garage.

He made good time, despite driving a bit carefully, letting the well worked Pagani cool.  Pulling back into the garage, Inuyasha pulled the Zonda into its spot, the smell of burnt rubber and roasted clutch wafting off the Italian super car as the hanyou exited the garage and got back in the big Citroen he’d arrived in, the driver pulling away and taking him back to Sesshomaru’s hotel room.

“Ah, well that was a great outing.”  Inuyasha spoke to himself as he relaxed back into the comfortable French sedan, watching the beautiful scenery roll by.