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Initial D: Special Stage
AKINA DOWNHILL COURSE GUIDE
by Vincent Wong aka Eskimo Fob
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version 1.1
Last Updated: October 23, 2004
E-mail: [email protected]

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Initial D: Special Stage, and all of its contents, are a trademark of Sega
and Segarosso. This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances,
except for personal or private use. This FAQ may not be placed on any web
site unless permission is given to do so. Use of this guide on any other
Web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.

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Table of Contents
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1) Version History
2) Introduction to Akina
3) Guttering
4) Feint Cornering
5) 5 in 4 out
6) Eraser
7) Shift Points
8) The GUIDE!
9) Final Comments
10) Credits and Copyrights

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1) Version History
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May 26, 2004 v 1.0: Yeah it's finally here!  I found the will and the
time to make an Akina Guide for all you ppl!  Basically finished with
about 60-70% of the guide.

October 23, 2004 v 1.1: Finally updated.  Added eraser section and
finished the rest of the guide.  Almost 100% completed.  I'll add my
final comments when I think of them.

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2) Introduction to Akina
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Note to reader: This guide is ONLY for Akina Downhill.  There is no
Uphill guide here.  However, the techniques described below can also be
translated to the Uphill run but that is not the intentional focus of
this guide.  This is also intended for a player using a racing wheel
rather than a controller.

This is the home course of the main character in Initial D, Takumi
Fujiwara.  Yes, this is the legendary Mt. Akina (Or Mt. Haruna IRL).
Akina is likely the most difficult course in IDSS to master.  It is
a fast, technical course with many hairpins and straights.  To add
to the difficulty of this course, there are also gutters that must
be used properly in order to gain fast times.  I realize that many
different people will be reading this guide, from experts to newbies.
Unfortunately, I don't have the effort to make a separate guide for
newbies but I will try to explain things the best I can along the way.

To be fast in Initial D, there are essentials that one must follow:

1. Do not hit the walls.  Crashing will kill your speed and stun your
acceleration for a period of time.  This will result is slower times.

2. Always take a good line.  Outside-Inside-Outside should be the
pattern when taking ANY curve or corner in this game.  This means
starting your car on the outside lane, turning in and getting close
to the inside, then exiting on the outside.

3. Shift properly.  You must know when to shift gears in this game
or your acceleration will be killed.  There are too many cars in this
game for me to teach each individual shift points but I will cover
the most commonly used cars later in this guide.

4. Slow down.  Very common beginner mistake.  Some turns are very
sharp and you will need to brake a lot to clear it properly.  If you
go into a corner at kamikaze speed, expect to get really personal
with the outside guardrail.  The general way to slow down for most
hairpin corners is:
- brake + shift down (if necessary)
- let go of brake
- turn
- accelerate at apex (center) of turn.
- countersteer

Now that we've covered the basics of racing in Initial D, I'll talk
a little bit about the nature of the course itself.  There is a
certain rhythm to Akina that is not found in other courses.  This
rhythm is hairpin, long straight, hairpin, long straight.  This
rhythm can be found in the first half of the course.  Once you hit
sector 3 and the five hairpins, this will change to hairpin, short
straight, hairpin, short straight.  It finally ends with a very
long high speed section at the end.  Getting used to this rhythm
is key for the beginner to remember the course.

Even when applying the above 4 rules to perfection, one will notice
that it is not possible to get past a certain time.  When this wall
hits, there are other advanced techniques needed for faster times.

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3) Guttering
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The first of these techniques is guttering.  You will notice in Akina
that there are little gutters either to the left or the right of the
road that appear during the course.  Using these gutters is absolutely
essential to getting faster times.  But how is it possible to use them
to your advantage?

If you have ever followed the Initial D anime or manga, you would
already have a good idea how to use them.  You must go into the gutter
with the car's front tire and turn with the gutter in order to
withstand centrifugal force and corner faster than possible with the
tire's grip.  In otherwords, with guttering you can clear corners much
faster than without guttering.

The first thing to remember about guttering is that you must keep your
line.  Always do outside-inside-outside even when guttering.  The only
difference is that when you are going inside, you must go inside
slightly more than usual so that the car hits the gutter at the apex
of the turn and comes back on the outside again.

The gutters are very difficult to use not just because of the timing,
but also the fact that they tend to drag the car into the inside wall.
Therefore, one cannot just turn straight into the wall when they
hit the gutter and expect to go faster.  Keep in mind that the inside
of the gutter still counts at the inside wall and you will receive the
same penalty for hitting the inside of the gutter as with hitting
the inside of the wall.  Therefore you must keep your steering at
a given angle so that you stay in the gutter while still not hitting
the wall.  This requires intense practice and is likely the most
difficult part about learning how to gutter properly.

Keep in mind that NOT ALL of the corners in Akina have gutters.
However the ones that do will be listed later in the actual course
guide.

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4) Feint Cornering
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Feinting is variation on the classical out-in-out line approach.
Instead of going out-in-out for the corners, you must go in-out-in-out.
But what is the point of this?

By starting on the inside and rocking the car outwards, you are
building pressure on the outside suspension.  Then when you turn into
the corner, the built up pressure on the outside pushes up and sends
more force to the inside resulting in more cornering power.

The general way to feint is:
- start on the inside lane
- rock the car to the outside
- rock it SLIGHTLY back inside
- brake + shift down (if necessary)
- turn the wheel fully
- accelerate at apex
- countersteer

Again, the timing is very difficult and I recommend only trying this
AFTER you have mastered guttering so that your timing of feint + gutter
will feel more natural.

In AKina, there are landmarks (little signs) that indicate when you
should feint.  These will be covered later in the guide.

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5) 5 in 4 out (Or for 6 gear cars, 6 in 5 out)
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While most corners in Akina require shifting down to 4th before entry,
some can be taken faster by entering in 5th and shifting down to
4th at the exit of the corner.

The reasoning behind this is that the car can enter at higher speeds at
5th gear than in 4th gear and thus, this results in higher exit speeds.
However there is a downside to this. Shifting to 4th and braking uses
two ways of slowing down: engine brake and the regular brake itself
therefore slowly the car down faster.  Entering in 5th gear while
braking only uses the one way to slow down and thus is much slower
in doing so.  That's why very slow hairpin curves that require a large
amount of braking shouldn't be taken with 5 in 4 out or else the time
taken to slow down will be far too long.

The general way to 5 in 4 out with feint is:
- start on the inside lane
- rock the car to the outside a bit sooner than usual
- rock it slightly back inside
- brake hard
- turn the wheel fully
- accelerate at apex
- shift to 4th
- countersteer

Remember you MUST shift to 4th gear only AFTER you have depressed the
accelerator or you will slow down too much and negate the effects of
the 5 in 4 out technique.  You should also remember to turn in
slightly sooner than you would with 4 in 4 out or else you will go
into the hairpin too fast and end up hitting the wall.

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6) Eraser
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Eraser is a relatively new technique that is simple to learn, but quite
difficult to employ effectively.  What it basically is, is a quick
shift down, then up.  So with 5 gear cars it would be 5-4-5 or 4-3-4.
While with 6 gear cars it would be usually be 6-5-6 or 5-4-5.  What
eraser allows is it tilts the car more towards the apex of the turn
before the turn itself.  Basically, it is the turning equivalent of a
small ungas, but by doing eraser, one can achieve this extra boost in
turning ability with greatly compromising one's speed.

This should be used BEFORE a turn comes up.  Realize that eraser will
slow you down more under braking or ungas than with full throttle. This
is a good thing because it will shorten your braking time.  However, if
the turn does not require too much slowing down, I would recommend
doing eraser before letting go of the gas as to not slow down too much.

Of course, this is another technique that can be used in conjuction
with the others.  Thus, the way to incorporate feint, 5 in 4 out, AND
eraser is as follows:

- start on the inside lane
- rock the car to the outside a bit sooner than usual
- rock it slightly back inside
- brake + eraser
- turn the wheel fully
- accelerate at apex
- shift to 4th
- countersteer

You can use eraser as a stand alone technique or with feint, and with
feint and 5 in 4 out.  It can also be used on every single hairpin in
Akina.  This is a very useful technique because not only does it help,
but it very versatile. (more so than 5 in 4 out)

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7) Shift Points
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Here are some shift points for the most commonly used cars.

This is the format:

Car name
shift to 2nd (rpm)/shift to 3rd (rpm)/shift to 4th (rpm)/shift to 5th
(km/h)/shift to 6th (km/h, if necessary)

Toyota AE86 Trueno
8500/10000/11000/158

Honda DC2 Integra
6300/7400/8000/152

Subaru GC8V Impreza
5800/6300/7200/156

Mazda FD3S RX-7 (both Type-R and Spirit)
6000/6500/7000/153

More shift points soon to come!

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7) The GUIDE!
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Here it is, the turn by turn guide to Akina Downhill.  In it, there
will be the target times for each sector along with the cornering speed
for experts.  This guide is for the AE86 Trueno only, since it is the
fastest car on this course.

|CP1| -

Target: 41.5

After the initial start dash, the road curves slightly to the right.
Get as tight to the right wall as possible without hitting it.  A left
curve with a gutter on the inside will appear.  Get to the left and
enter the gutter cautiously making sure that it does not suck you into
the inside wall.  Exit on the right side and follow the right wall
closely.

1st hairpin - right hander

134 apex, 139 exit

There will be a slight right curve with a small gutter on the right
side.  DO NOT enter it.  It is so small that if you enter, you will
surely touch the inside wall.  Keep to the right side until you see
a yellow sign at the right side of the road.  Begin your feint motion
to the outside at that sign.  Eraser and use 5 in 4 out while getting
as close to the inside as possible.  If your exit is clean then you
should be around 138-140 at the exit of the corner.

Next will be a slight left with a small gutter on the inside.  Take it.
Stay on the left side of the road until you reach a right kink with
a gutter on the inside.  DO NOT take the gutter.  Instead, just turn
as close as you can to the inside without going in and this will set
you up naturally for feint of the next left hairpin.

2nd hairpin - left hander

137 apex, 141 exit

Get as quickly as possible to the right side and begin to brake and
enter in 5th gear with eraser.  Once you exit the turn in 4th gear,
remember to countersteer quickly because the left wall comes up fast.
There is next a small right curve followed by another small right
curve leading to the first checkpoint.

|CP2| -

Target: 43.1

3rd hairpin - right hander + 4th hairpin - left hander

133 apex, 137 exit

125 apex, 131 exit

After passing the checkpoint, get to the right side and stick to it
until a yellow sign passes on the left side of the road.  At this sign,
begin feinting to the left and brake + eraser.  This turn requires a lot
of slowing down so I recommend that you shift back down to 4th as soon
as you finish your eraser rather than at apex.  Upon exiting,
stay on the left lane until you see another sign on the left side.  At
this sign, shift to 5th, feint to the right, eraser and tap the brake so
that you ease the car into the following left hairpin.  When you reach
apex, shift down to 4th.  Make sure that at apex you do not go under
122 or you will stall your acceleration as the revs fall under
the proper powerband.  If you can keep your apex at 122+, then you will
have clean acceleration into the follow long straight.

On this straight, there will be a slight right bend leading into a very
straight section.  In this section there is a gutter to the left of the
road.  Slide cautiously into the gutter as you will need it to take the
very best line possible in this straightaway.  A right bend will then
appear and lead into the sharpening long left which leads to the S-turn
section.

S-turns

172 exit, 174 exit, 177 exit

For the long left leading into the S-turns, stay on the left side but
do not enter the gutter.  The road will sharpen suddenly.  Once the
Suzuki sign appears on the right, turn into the left gutter.  After
that, immediately turn right and turn early into the 3rd bend which
also contains a gutter.  Turn slowly and surely to make certain that
you do not hit the inside wall on this gutter as it will kill your
speed for the remaining part of the section.

Following the S-turns will be more slight bends in the course that can
easily be taken without slowing down.  There will be a light right,
a light left which contains a gutter on the inside that you should
enter momentarily, two more light rights, and a long left containing
a gutter that you SHOULD NOT enter.

By: Shell Bullet Kazuma
"The thing to remember when going through the "S" section after CP 2
and before the right hand corner o'death is that you turn a little bit
hard on the first, then turn a little to straighten out as you go
through the second corner, then turn hard again to go through the third
corner (you'll have to gutter the last corner if you're hoping to pass
through that at 170+ km/h).

On gutter griping, just make you only grip at the apex of the corner,
or else you'll hit the wall instead."

5th hairpin - Right Hander of Death (RHOD)

145 apex, 148 exit

The most important turn in Akina, the infamous RHOD.  Halfway through
the long left leading up to RHOD, begin to slide to right side then
rock the car back outside BEFORE the following straight starts.  If you
timed it properly, then you should be in perfect position to feint the
corner.  Brake, eraser and shift to 4th WELL BEFORE the apex because you
need to slow down fast on this turn.  Then ease the car into the gutter.
Do not turn too fast or else it becomes far more difficult to enter the
gutter without hitting the inside wall hard. Turn slowly and carefully.
Just before you hit the gutter, make sure you've turned the wheel fully
in order to achieve maximum cornering speed.

After exiting, enter the gutter to the right briefly to get the best
line and slide out the left afterwards.  You should be at the outside
part of the track when you hit checkpoint 2.

|CP3| -

Target: 42.2

After the checkpoint, there will be a gutter to the right on the
straightaway.  Enter the gutter on the right side.  After the gutter
ends, the road will curve left, right, left and then right once more
leading into the next hairpin.

6th hairpin - left hander

144 apex, 149 exit

When the road curves back to the right, there will be a yellow road
sign on the left hand side of this turn.  Begin feinting slightly
BEFORE this landmark.  Feint to the right and brake heavily + eraser
and like the RHOD, shift down to 4th gear before the apex.  It is
important to brake hard at this corner because assuming you clear RHOD
properly, your speed should be well over 175 when you enter this corner.
Try your best to get close to the apex on this turn as it will directly
affect your exit speed and your speed on the following straight.
You should also note that this corner is particularly wide so there is
a little extra leeway in case you are going too fast or turning in too
late.  Upon exiting, countersteer and stick to the right side of the
road.

The road with bend right, then left with a shallow gutter sticking out.
Do not enter it as it will likely suck you into the wall. Then road
will bend right once more as you enter the straight leading into the
infamous Akina's 5 consecutive hairpins (actually there are only four
but for some reason this is the name it is given).  You will know you
are on this straight because you will see horizontal red lines on the
road.  Get to the right side of the road and prepare to feint.

7th hairpin - right hander

127 apex, 131 exit

Watch those red stripes carefully.  At the end of the 2nd LAST set of
red stripes, feint outwards, brake + eraser, and shift to 4th gear
before the apex.  You will need to go from 170+ to 130ish so I suggest
you brake A LOT.  Ease the car into the gutter on the right and attempt
to oversteer this corner.  Some of you might be wondering why you can
clear it safely faster than I recommend.  This is because the next
left hairpin is immediately after so I recommend oversteering this one
in order to set up on the right side of the road to get a good line
for the following hairpin.

8th hairpin - left hander

125 apex, 128 exit

When you are at the right side of the road, immediately ungas and
eraser so that you can ease yourself into the left gutter.  The reason
we are ungassing before using eraser is that after the previously
hairpin, the car has a tendency to lock up and head into the outside
guardrail.  Ungassing + eraser is the most effective and consistent
way to counter this lock while aiming for the left gutter and a fast
exit speed.

9th hairpin - right hander

124 apex, 127 exit

Get to the left side and eraser, then ungas to around 124 to ease the
car into the right gutter.  Easy stuff.

10th hairpin - left hander

136 apex, 140 exit

Again, get to the right and eraser.  Then let off the gas for just a
bit.  Turn early and MAKE CERTAIN to hit this gutter because the
following straight is quite long.

Stick to the right side and prepare to cross checkpoint 3.

|CP4| -

Target: 42.8


11th hairpin - right hander

129 apex, 132 exit

Once you hit the checkpoint, feint immediately and brake + eraser.  You
can take this turn faster without hitting the wall but I recommend
taking this one somewhere around the recommended speed so that you can
set up for the next, more important hairpin.

12th hairpin - left hander

141 apex - 146 exit

Make sure you get ALL the way to the right because line is so crucial
on this turn.  Once you are in position, eraser twice and turn in.  If
done properly, you should just be able to take this turn at full
throttle.

You'll hit a short straight followed by a relatively tight left bend.
Stay on the right side and take this turn full throttle.  There is a
slight right bend leading to the next short straightaway for the final
hairpin.

13th hairpin - right hander

151 apex - 154 exit

Unlucky 13th hairpin happens to lead up to the longest straight on
Akina: the fireworks straight.  So whatever you do, DO NOT TOUCH THE
WALL AT ALL.  When you come to the short straight leading to the
hairpin, immediately feint outwards and tap the brake + eraser.  Ease
the nose of the car towards the apex and degas.  Shift down immediately
after you degas.

After the hairpin, stick to the right side of the road during the long
fireworks straight.  Your speed should hit 170 as you reach the next
right bend if you cleared the previous hairpin properly.  The following
bends will determine your cp4 time so I suggest you take a VERY tight
line on all of them.

The road will bend right with a small gutter, which you should not
enter.  Then a left, followed by a right with another small gutter
which you shouldn't touch.  Then you will come to a relatively tight
left turn which you have to take with an out-in-out line to clear
safely.

This leads to the final notable turn of akina which is a tight right
turn with a gutter.  To take it, feint outwards so that you come back
towards the apex exactly when you pass the blue sign to your left.
When you hit that sign, eraser and make a small gas off and ease your
car cautiously into the gutter to make sure you do not rub against the
inside.  Aim for a 180+ exit on this turn.  The road bends into a small
left and then the finish line!  Congradulations!

Guide Times:

CP1 - 41.5
CP2 - 43.1
CP3 - 42.2
CP4 - 42.8

Final time - 2'49"6

My actual time is at 2'49"7 at the moment, so this is actually
theoretically faster than my personal best.  I recommend hardcore
players should memorize their best checkpoint times to calculate their
own theoretical times. If your theoretical time is over a second faster
than your real time, then I suggest you try to run another Time Attack
because that is a very easy gap to shorten.  BTW, for those who are
curious, the world record for Akina DH at the moment is 2'49"1.  So
happy hunting!  ;)


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8) Final Comments
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Under construction!

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9) Credits and Copyrights
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Thanks to Shuichi Shigeno, the mastermind behind the concept of
Initial D and of course, creating all the manga and stuff.

To Sega Rosso for releasing this awesome game!

To GameFAQS for letting me put up this sorry excuse for a guide.

To all my fellow Initial D players in GameFAQS and Initial-D.com
who have shared their knowledge and helped me along the way.

All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured
in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their
respective owners.

All rights reserved.

If you want to use this guide in your site, just make sure the proper
credit is given and it's all good.

Copyright 2004 Vincent Wong

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