//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 // Story: Luna vs. a Tiny Italian Car // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// September 6, 2015 Dallas in September has only marginally cooler weather than August. The auto garage where we’d parked was like an oven. My buddy Rusty was under the Fiat, examining the suspension and the plastic lip of the bumper that had been scuffed when we’d jumped the bridge. “Explain this to me again?” he asked from under the car. “We jumped a drawbridge in New Orleans running from a biker gang. After you finish making sure the car is okay, I want you to put on a turbocharger.” He rolled out from under the car and gave me a look. I added, “Also, all the money we have could lead them straight to us, so I can’t pay you.” “And what am I getting out of this?” “The thanks of Princess Luna.” Rusty glanced at Luna. She smiled. He shrugged. “Works for me. Except...where am I going to find a turbo small enough to fit under the hood?” “Doesn’t Fiat make a performance version from the factory?” “If you want a turbo Fiat, go buy one.” I glanced at Luna and back at Rusty. “We can’t. It’s complicated.” “Not as complicated as integrating a turbo onto a tiny engine that wasn’t meant to have one without blowing it up, or worse, confusing the computer.” He had a point. But, we were determined to give it a try. While I’m pretty good at wrenching if I do say so myself, Rusty was in a class of his own and we needed all the expertise we could get. Maria handed us tools when we asked. Luna hung around and provided motivation for Rusty to spend all day working to install expensive parts for free. He did all that and more, doing a software reflash and tuning, and performed a final check to ensure everything was tight. We’d had to ditch the plastic engine covering to fit everything in, and even still there were newly-installed pipes running everywhere. Forced induction, you see, is just like the internet: a series of tubes. When the time finally came to test it, we all held our breath. The engine actually did turn over and start. It was slightly louder than before, and with a different sound. Probably because we’d ditched the muffler and just let the turbo smooth the exhaust out. “Test run?” Rusty asked, grinning. The two of us went. Night had fallen and Rusty pointed me towards an abandoned street. When I was sure we were alone, I put my foot in it. “What the…?” I gripped the wheel tightly as the car accelerated, happy with the newfound power but confused by a strange shudder in the steering. “Torque steer,” said Rusty. “That’s right, you’ve never driven a high-powered front wheel drive car before.” I’d never driven a four cylinder without a muffler, either. The turbo helped quiet it down a little. When the exhaust rusted off Maria’s turbodiesel truck, it wasn’t that much louder either. One of the few times when a part can make the vehicle both faster and quieter. At least at the lower RPM’s. At speed, the little fourbanger now sounded like a cat in a buzzsaw. I learned the new feel on the way back to the garage. It felt like a whole new car. Amazing what a little boost can do. Heck, maybe I could learn to like the Fiat after all and stop pining after something bigger and more powerful. Speaking of what was preventing me from obtaining a car that was bigger and more powerful, I spotted Luna when we got back. She was chatting amiably with Rusty’s girlfriend. I wondered at the cosplay. It was a little strange to see in a mechanic shop in the middle of the night. Rusty explained that his girlfriend had just come from a local anime convention, one that was ongoing the next day, nearby, and cheap to enter. “Is it really a good idea to for me, barely disguised as I am, to go to another convention with thousands of people who might know me?” I asked. I should have asked that before we were already there.