"I learned about the variable ignition timing system online."
Chen Xiangbei replied casually, thankful for the Internet as a scapegoat; whenever something couldn't be explained clearly, he just blamed it.
Liang Chi gave a meaningful glance at Chen Xiangbei in response.
Talent can be innate, but a lot of knowledge and habits require learning.
Can Chen Xiangbei really learn so much just from the internet?
But he didn't have time to delve into where Chen Xiangbei learned it from; instead, he pointed to the car parts on the ground and continued explaining their modifications and performance changes.
"I've mentioned before that the exhaust manifold of this EJ20 engine is too long, causing turbo lag. It might not be obvious when you're running downhill with Qin Lianjie, but on the track, especially against top domestic racer Han Han, the acceleration out of corners will create a huge gap."
"I plan to change the layout of the turbo in the engine bay to let the exhaust gases enter the turbocharger faster. Meanwhile, I'll use the extra space to reinforce the engine's central cooler, allowing it to withstand the high-intensity driving on the track."
After saying that, Liang Chi pointed to the suspension on the ground and said, "Track high-speed cornering has significant roll, and ordinary springs compress too much. You need to switch to shorter springs to maintain vehicle stability."
"This set of TEIN SF coilovers from Japan, combined with electric adjustable damping, will greatly improve adaptability to the track."
Chen Xiangbei, in his previous life, had run rally races, so he was quite familiar with some rally modification brands.
The word TEIN is translated into Chinese as "Tianyü," and is considered a top brand in Japan's suspension world, known for its durability and tuning flexibility.
Liang Chi mainly considered that Chen Xiangbei's aspirations weren't in touring car racing, which means this Subaru Impreza might not have many track opportunities. There was no need to completely modify the suspension towards a hardcore racing setup.
Electric adjustable damping is more versatile, making it suitable even if not racing, for daily driving or street runs.
"Finally, there's the reinforced clutch, AP Racing competition calipers, Apexi air filter, and so on."
"And remember, kid, tuning a car is a long process. If you want to get it right and catch up with Han Han's race, you have to be fully involved in the test drives in the coming period!"
The movie "Initial D" had a similar plot, where tuning a perfectly balanced car took at least a month for a hidden expert like Fujimura Bunta.
And Takahashi Ryosuke, played by Edison Chen, even said he needed six months.
Moreover, Fujimura Bunta's own ride was a fifth-generation Subaru Impreza!
In his previous life, Chen Xiangbei followed the karting formula route and was not very familiar with street touring car modifications.
But racing tuning concepts are universal, it's just about making the car faster and the driver more comfortable.
If the driver doesn't test it themselves, how can you tune it for their driving style?
"I understand."
"Since you understand, let's get started."
Liang Chi didn't waste more words; an old friend from East Sea had already stepped in to help, setting up a race between Han Han and Chen Xiangbei at the Haizhu International Circuit.
There's less than a month left for car modifications, but the opponent is driving a true race-grade vehicle. Chen Xiangbei needs to showcase incredible talent and adaptability to even hope for a slim chance of victory.
At least from Liang Chi's perspective, he couldn't imagine how a high school student like Chen Xiangbei could win against the national touring car champion on the track.
But soon, Liang Chi began to doubt his own thoughts and perceptions.
He started to question his perspective on life.
Over the next period, Chen Xiangbei almost came to the repair shop every day to work on the car and conduct test drives, showcasing learning capability and talent that was almost "monstrous."
Liang Chi had seen the world before. During his time working at Huasi Sports, he interacted with China's top formula drivers, including the "Chinese racing prodigy" Cheng Congfu.
However, Chen Xiangbei's nighttime test drive speed had reached a level of smoothness akin to racing on a track.
Liang Chi also sensed that, because of the constraints of safe street driving, Chen Xiangbei didn't fully unleash himself during the test drives. This meant his control and speed could still improve!
To verify his suspicions, Liang Chi specifically chose a quiet late-night time for Chen Xiangbei to run Nanyun Mountain, secretly turning on the timer on his phone.
He wanted to see how fast Chen Xiangbei could go if he gave it his all on Nanyun Mountain.
This time, Liang Chi even took a motion sickness pill in advance, afraid that Chen Xiangbei might pull some crazy maneuver that would make him overlook his control and speed.
Still, Liang Chi ended up throwing up...
But before he did, he finally realized that Chen Xiangbei's skills were on par with or even exceeded that of professional drivers.
For example, his extreme racing lines, smooth drifts, perfect throttle and clutch coordination, precise gear shifts, and mastery of the APEX (apex) point, among others.
More importantly, Liang Chi got out of the car and glanced at the stopwatch on his phone.
4 minutes 53.79 seconds!
Bear in mind, this Subaru Impreza was still just a half-finished product, and coming downhill doesn't require much horsepower; it's more about the driver's control skills.
As the saying goes, "Fast in the turns is truly fast; anyone can hit the gas on the straightaways."
If Chen Xiangbei drove the fully modified Subaru Impreza, he could run the Nanyun Mountain Road in under 4 minutes 50 seconds!
If this record got out, the entire street racing scene in Guangzhou and Shenzhen would go crazy over it.
The title of South Cloud Mountain Car God would no longer have any competitors!
No wonder Qin Lianjie admitted defeat so readily, probably because he felt he could never catch up to Chen Xiangbei, losing any desire to compete.
Of course, Chen Xiangbei had no idea about Liang Chi's thoughts. He was just amazed that this old-timer threw up for the second time after a fast drive; why does he keep vomiting!
...
Days passed, and November arrived.
The past half month had been very "fulfilling" for Chen Xiangbei: he helped Liang Chi with car modifications and test drives, prepared for the school's monthly exams, and maintained his fitness training, literally squeezing out every bit of his energy.
But this feeling of overexertion reminded him of his past life days in formula racing, when he also gave his all, just like now.
Simultaneously, with the end of the monthly exams, the homeroom teacher confirmed a "relaxation benefit," which was that Han Han would come to give a lecture at the school tomorrow and had prepared over a hundred signed books.
The news immediately caused a burst of excitement in the class, and Fatty Wang came over at this moment to quietly ask, "Xiangbei, is it true Han Han will race with you?"
"Uncle Liang said he's got it arranged, so that old rascal probably won't mess around with such things."
When it comes to serious matters, Chen Xiangbei trusts Liang Chi quite a bit.
"Can you really beat Han Han?"
Wang Yidong knew that Chen Xiangbei had been frantically working on the car and test driving, and defeating Qin Lianjie on the Nanyun Mountain Road already proved his skills.
But just thinking about racing against a champion driver from TV, Wang Yidong found it somewhat surreal. How did it seem like he lived with Chen Xiangbei all the time, and when did he become so exceptional?
"Yes."
Regarding the win-loss issue of the race, Chen Xiangbei would never give an ambiguous answer. A driver must have this absolute confidence.
Fearing the opponent is equivalent to losing.
Just as the racing god Senna famously said, no driver races for second place; victory is the only goal!
PS: Posting all the greetings today altogether, brothers with votes at the beginning of the month are welcome to cast them.