Drifting 101
03-27-2007 | 12:21 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
Drifting 101
Alright so I am starting this thread for those who either just want to know more in general about the sport and want more information, or for those who are looking to start and are in need of being pointed in the right direction!
So this may end up needing to be edited multiple times or I may add to it overtime so any input or even a Q&A section would be good if you all would like to post some questions on here.
So you want to drift?
So Im not going to go into the history of it at all but if anyone would like me to add it just let me know. Drifting is well known as controlled chaos, going against everything any trained driver has ever been taught. Breaking traction at the rear wheels and sliding the car around a designated clipping point praying that you don’t end up in a wall. Well it turns out you need a little bit more than faith to keep you out of the wall. In this first section I will explain what cars are able to or are fit for drifting and what class of cars they are in, (high over steer or under steer).
The Cars
To start with lets clarify one thing that many people often debate about. "Can a front wheel drive car drift?' technically, yes! But you will more often then not ever see one in any sort of competition. Front wheel drive cars can get sideways with proper weight transition or the use of the handbrake but it cannot maintain a drift without the rear wheels keeping the traction broken.
Rear wheel drive cars are mostly the only type of drive train you will see in the drifting world with the exception of some all wheel drive cars that have been converted to rear wheel (etc. most Subaru, evo, and the skyline.)
Here is a brief list of cars that are most used by company.
Toyota
Supra
AE-86 Hachiroku or Corolla
MR2
Saurer
Nissan
Skyline
300ZX
350Z
S-15 Silvia
240sx (American version of Silvia)
Mazda
Miata
RX-7
RX-8
Honda
S2000
NSX
Mitsubishi
3000GT
Evolution
Ford
06 Mustang
Dodge
Viper
Pontiac
GTO
If you fall into this category congrats! You can now take your car and ruin its tires!
The Basics
There really is no right or wrong to drifting, every driver has their own style but there are some techniques that are widely used by all. In this section I will cover some of the basic techniques that will help you start getting the car sideways.
1. Handbrake
2. Power over
3. Shift Lock
First the Handbrake. The handbrake is a good tool to help you get the feel of what the car is going to feel like going sideways. Your handbrake wont normally is used to initiate drift but for starters get out in a parking lot and speed up to about 30-40 mph and rip that handbrake. When you do this don’t pull it at the way up like your trying to park or stop the damn thing pull it up a few inches just to get the wheels locked up. (Please once again realize I don’t condone illegal street racing or braking the law) now that that’s out of the way
Lets move on. Once you pull that handbrake turn the in the direction you want to be facing. Don’t worry about maintaining a slide right now just get used to the feel of the car turning sideways. The first few times you will probably spin out or end up facing a completely different direction than you intended. Don’t worry about it. Now lets turn things up a notch. When you pull the handbrake the longer you have it pulled the faster your going to slow down, so experiment with how long you think you need to hold it.
Now for the final step. After you think you are used to the feel of your car sliding a little bit your going to apply something called counter steering. After you pull the handbrake you need to turn your wheels in the opposite direction of the way you actually turned, meaning if you are facing left your wheels need to be facing right. This is to keep you from spinning out in the middle of a drift and keep you going in the direction of the slide. You can apply less or more over steer depending on the angle of the turn and how sideways you want the car to go. So experiment. This will be a difficult task at first but you will get the feel of it. You will probably get some good tail whip going coming out of the drifts if your start speeding up more so please be very careful if you are in a more enclosed area! We don’t want to see any Z's with dents or more importantly you getting injured.
Ok let’s move on to the next technique, the power over.
This is probably the easiest of the 3 considering all you have to do is steer and have a heavy foot. When going straight turns the car quickly in whatever direction you want to turn and jam on the gas. The car will automatically break traction (depending on your cars weight and power) the Z WILL break traction. Apply the over steer technique and slide away. There really isn’t much to say about this just try it and you’ll see.
The third technique is the shift lock. This technique is made for those of which who have a standard transmission.
To cover this very briefly and quickly, cars with a standard transmission have a bit more flexibility and way to initiate drift than an automatic. There’s nothing wrong with using an auto considering it will save you the trouble of thinking about shifting while sliding but it has its downsides as well.
Anyways back on subject... The shift lock is the use of downshifting to break traction with the tires. While traveling in a straight line make a turn in either direction and shift down. This will give more power to the wheels and cause the car to break traction. Then control the drift very much like a power over.
WARNING! Be very careful with this technique because you do not want to shift into a lower gear while traveling to fast and screw your transmission.
So you’ve got some basics techniques to play with! So go have fun and try them, once you get used to them then read on to this next section!
Advanced Techniques
So you’ve either made it this far and want to keep going or your just interested, which is just fine! In this section I will cover some of the more advanced techniques of drifting that are more widely used in competition and on the track. These techniques do require a bit of experience and knowing how your car controls while going sideways so I highly suggest getting used to the first techniques before jumping into these. If you want to by all means go for it. But it will be difficult. So! Here it goes.
Oh By the way, these techniques are meant to be used when turning around a verified point, you can practice them in an open lot but if you have a few cones set them up in a turn that you are comfortable with in an open place and make it your goal to get around them. Try not to use the big orange cones, these will destroy your car or can I should say. Try and use the smaller one that are flexible and turn inside out when you stomp on them, these will just flatten out if you run over them and wont damage your car.
1. The Brake Drift
2. The Feint Drift
3. Dynamic Drift
These are not all of the techniques by drifting but some of the more common ones that are most widely used.
First the Brake Drift. The brake drift is the in my opinion one of the most useful techniques that a driver can use. Keep in mind every drifter to his own, but this is my personal favorite. I’m sorry if these sections get long but there are more steps involved that need more explaining.
With the brake drift when coming up to the turn brake evenly, when I say this don’t jam on the brake but don’t feather it either. You will brake for about 2-3 seconds depending on your speed. Your speed will also depend on how sharp your turn is or wide your turn so remember this you not always been entering turns at 35-40mph. now this is the tricky part, you are going to sidestep the gas to get the revs up and then downshift. (This is while you are just about to enter the turn and your foot is still on the brake) as soon as you enter the turn get back on the gas and accelerate accordingly to how much angle you need or to get you out of the turn.
This is probably one of the most complicated procedures but it is such a clean technique and is absolutely beautiful! This will take allot of getting used to but once you get it, TRUST ME, you will love it.
This explanation really doesn’t do the technique justice but it is a rough but detailed explanation of how it’s done.
Now for the Feint Drift!
The faint drift will not need much explanation although it is not the easiest technique. The faint drift relies totally on weight transition. When coming into a turn brake accordingly. (For this example I will be explaining what to do for a right turn. for the left turn it will be the exact opposite)
When about to enter the turn you will swing your car to the left. Carrying all of the cars weight to the left hand side. Once the weight transition is complete quickly turn to the right entering the turn and throwing all of the weight back to the opposite side. This will force the car to break traction initiate drift. Adjust your angle and gas as needed during the drift to complete the turn.
Be very careful with this drift; make sure you are comfortable with your cars weight. Depending on how hard you toss the car to one side is going to depict how much and how quickly the car is going to break traction and how much angle it will get.
Now finally the Dynamic Drift. Much like the feint you will be using weight transition during this technique. This technique is often used for a turn in an S shape that require to drifts right after one another. This brake requires lots of practice and extreme driver skill. In this drift you WILL NOT BRAKE. You will use the cars acceleration and weight to control you through both turns by combining counter steer and the gas to get you through each turn.
So this may end up needing to be edited multiple times or I may add to it overtime so any input or even a Q&A section would be good if you all would like to post some questions on here.
So you want to drift?
So Im not going to go into the history of it at all but if anyone would like me to add it just let me know. Drifting is well known as controlled chaos, going against everything any trained driver has ever been taught. Breaking traction at the rear wheels and sliding the car around a designated clipping point praying that you don’t end up in a wall. Well it turns out you need a little bit more than faith to keep you out of the wall. In this first section I will explain what cars are able to or are fit for drifting and what class of cars they are in, (high over steer or under steer).
The Cars
To start with lets clarify one thing that many people often debate about. "Can a front wheel drive car drift?' technically, yes! But you will more often then not ever see one in any sort of competition. Front wheel drive cars can get sideways with proper weight transition or the use of the handbrake but it cannot maintain a drift without the rear wheels keeping the traction broken.
Rear wheel drive cars are mostly the only type of drive train you will see in the drifting world with the exception of some all wheel drive cars that have been converted to rear wheel (etc. most Subaru, evo, and the skyline.)
Here is a brief list of cars that are most used by company.
Toyota
Supra
AE-86 Hachiroku or Corolla
MR2
Saurer
Nissan
Skyline
300ZX
350Z
S-15 Silvia
240sx (American version of Silvia)
Mazda
Miata
RX-7
RX-8
Honda
S2000
NSX
Mitsubishi
3000GT
Evolution
Ford
06 Mustang
Dodge
Viper
Pontiac
GTO
If you fall into this category congrats! You can now take your car and ruin its tires!
The Basics
There really is no right or wrong to drifting, every driver has their own style but there are some techniques that are widely used by all. In this section I will cover some of the basic techniques that will help you start getting the car sideways.
1. Handbrake
2. Power over
3. Shift Lock
First the Handbrake. The handbrake is a good tool to help you get the feel of what the car is going to feel like going sideways. Your handbrake wont normally is used to initiate drift but for starters get out in a parking lot and speed up to about 30-40 mph and rip that handbrake. When you do this don’t pull it at the way up like your trying to park or stop the damn thing pull it up a few inches just to get the wheels locked up. (Please once again realize I don’t condone illegal street racing or braking the law) now that that’s out of the way
Lets move on. Once you pull that handbrake turn the in the direction you want to be facing. Don’t worry about maintaining a slide right now just get used to the feel of the car turning sideways. The first few times you will probably spin out or end up facing a completely different direction than you intended. Don’t worry about it. Now lets turn things up a notch. When you pull the handbrake the longer you have it pulled the faster your going to slow down, so experiment with how long you think you need to hold it.
Now for the final step. After you think you are used to the feel of your car sliding a little bit your going to apply something called counter steering. After you pull the handbrake you need to turn your wheels in the opposite direction of the way you actually turned, meaning if you are facing left your wheels need to be facing right. This is to keep you from spinning out in the middle of a drift and keep you going in the direction of the slide. You can apply less or more over steer depending on the angle of the turn and how sideways you want the car to go. So experiment. This will be a difficult task at first but you will get the feel of it. You will probably get some good tail whip going coming out of the drifts if your start speeding up more so please be very careful if you are in a more enclosed area! We don’t want to see any Z's with dents or more importantly you getting injured.
Ok let’s move on to the next technique, the power over.
This is probably the easiest of the 3 considering all you have to do is steer and have a heavy foot. When going straight turns the car quickly in whatever direction you want to turn and jam on the gas. The car will automatically break traction (depending on your cars weight and power) the Z WILL break traction. Apply the over steer technique and slide away. There really isn’t much to say about this just try it and you’ll see.
The third technique is the shift lock. This technique is made for those of which who have a standard transmission.
To cover this very briefly and quickly, cars with a standard transmission have a bit more flexibility and way to initiate drift than an automatic. There’s nothing wrong with using an auto considering it will save you the trouble of thinking about shifting while sliding but it has its downsides as well.
Anyways back on subject... The shift lock is the use of downshifting to break traction with the tires. While traveling in a straight line make a turn in either direction and shift down. This will give more power to the wheels and cause the car to break traction. Then control the drift very much like a power over.
WARNING! Be very careful with this technique because you do not want to shift into a lower gear while traveling to fast and screw your transmission.
So you’ve got some basics techniques to play with! So go have fun and try them, once you get used to them then read on to this next section!
Advanced Techniques
So you’ve either made it this far and want to keep going or your just interested, which is just fine! In this section I will cover some of the more advanced techniques of drifting that are more widely used in competition and on the track. These techniques do require a bit of experience and knowing how your car controls while going sideways so I highly suggest getting used to the first techniques before jumping into these. If you want to by all means go for it. But it will be difficult. So! Here it goes.
Oh By the way, these techniques are meant to be used when turning around a verified point, you can practice them in an open lot but if you have a few cones set them up in a turn that you are comfortable with in an open place and make it your goal to get around them. Try not to use the big orange cones, these will destroy your car or can I should say. Try and use the smaller one that are flexible and turn inside out when you stomp on them, these will just flatten out if you run over them and wont damage your car.
1. The Brake Drift
2. The Feint Drift
3. Dynamic Drift
These are not all of the techniques by drifting but some of the more common ones that are most widely used.
First the Brake Drift. The brake drift is the in my opinion one of the most useful techniques that a driver can use. Keep in mind every drifter to his own, but this is my personal favorite. I’m sorry if these sections get long but there are more steps involved that need more explaining.
With the brake drift when coming up to the turn brake evenly, when I say this don’t jam on the brake but don’t feather it either. You will brake for about 2-3 seconds depending on your speed. Your speed will also depend on how sharp your turn is or wide your turn so remember this you not always been entering turns at 35-40mph. now this is the tricky part, you are going to sidestep the gas to get the revs up and then downshift. (This is while you are just about to enter the turn and your foot is still on the brake) as soon as you enter the turn get back on the gas and accelerate accordingly to how much angle you need or to get you out of the turn.
This is probably one of the most complicated procedures but it is such a clean technique and is absolutely beautiful! This will take allot of getting used to but once you get it, TRUST ME, you will love it.
This explanation really doesn’t do the technique justice but it is a rough but detailed explanation of how it’s done.
Now for the Feint Drift!
The faint drift will not need much explanation although it is not the easiest technique. The faint drift relies totally on weight transition. When coming into a turn brake accordingly. (For this example I will be explaining what to do for a right turn. for the left turn it will be the exact opposite)
When about to enter the turn you will swing your car to the left. Carrying all of the cars weight to the left hand side. Once the weight transition is complete quickly turn to the right entering the turn and throwing all of the weight back to the opposite side. This will force the car to break traction initiate drift. Adjust your angle and gas as needed during the drift to complete the turn.
Be very careful with this drift; make sure you are comfortable with your cars weight. Depending on how hard you toss the car to one side is going to depict how much and how quickly the car is going to break traction and how much angle it will get.
Now finally the Dynamic Drift. Much like the feint you will be using weight transition during this technique. This technique is often used for a turn in an S shape that require to drifts right after one another. This brake requires lots of practice and extreme driver skill. In this drift you WILL NOT BRAKE. You will use the cars acceleration and weight to control you through both turns by combining counter steer and the gas to get you through each turn.
Last edited by jaida86; 03-27-2007 at 01:14 PM.
03-27-2007 | 12:21 PM
#2
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
I do not recommend attempting this drift with low experience. The drift requires higher speeds and fast reaction times to successfully enter and exit both turns. Even the pros mess this one up frequently so this is quite a challenge. There is TONS of information that this post does not cover so please take this lightly
So I have given you the basic and some advanced techniques to play with. Don’t jump head into the advanced techniques please; these can get you into some trouble if you are not familiar with how to control the car when it’s sideways.
There are many different things that can be done to ones car as well to help initiate drift or make the car a little bit more stable while doing so here are some parts that are more commonly used in drifting.
The Parts!
LSD or Limited Slip Differential. (If you have anything over the base model of the Z you have a viscous LSD, which is junk if you plan on taking this to another level. It will need to be changed.)
Suspension is normally a must if you plan on continually drifting. I prefer a harder suspension, but every driver is different.
Tires. LOL I shouldn’t even have to say that but you will go through tons of them. Figure for every set of fronts you will lose 2 sets of rears.
There are many other things you can add to give your car more power obviously or make the car more stable but drifting isn’t about expensive cars. You can take a stock rear wheel drive car out and drift all you want. It’s not about who has the most horsepower and who’s got this and that. It’s all about the driver and it’s all about style.
If anyone would like me to explain how drifting is judged as well let me know I can always do a thread on that as well.
If anyone has any questions please input this thread can be expanded on any many different ways or if you want some more techniques to experiment let me know I have plenty of them! I would love to put a Q&A onto this thread as well so please ask away!!
Thank you everyone I hope this is what you wanted or gives you some information!
So I have given you the basic and some advanced techniques to play with. Don’t jump head into the advanced techniques please; these can get you into some trouble if you are not familiar with how to control the car when it’s sideways.
There are many different things that can be done to ones car as well to help initiate drift or make the car a little bit more stable while doing so here are some parts that are more commonly used in drifting.
The Parts!
LSD or Limited Slip Differential. (If you have anything over the base model of the Z you have a viscous LSD, which is junk if you plan on taking this to another level. It will need to be changed.)
Suspension is normally a must if you plan on continually drifting. I prefer a harder suspension, but every driver is different.
Tires. LOL I shouldn’t even have to say that but you will go through tons of them. Figure for every set of fronts you will lose 2 sets of rears.
There are many other things you can add to give your car more power obviously or make the car more stable but drifting isn’t about expensive cars. You can take a stock rear wheel drive car out and drift all you want. It’s not about who has the most horsepower and who’s got this and that. It’s all about the driver and it’s all about style.
If anyone would like me to explain how drifting is judged as well let me know I can always do a thread on that as well.
If anyone has any questions please input this thread can be expanded on any many different ways or if you want some more techniques to experiment let me know I have plenty of them! I would love to put a Q&A onto this thread as well so please ask away!!
Thank you everyone I hope this is what you wanted or gives you some information!
Last edited by jaida86; 03-27-2007 at 01:23 PM.
03-27-2007 | 12:27 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
oh by the way once again, I do not condone street racing or other illigal acts. Drifting should be done on the track! The techniques i Have provided will not keep you out of harms way and are may or may not damage your car. This is dependent on the driver and not my information!
03-27-2007 | 12:54 PM
#5
The Good Twin
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 20,639
From: Wild Wild West, UTAH!
There's actually A LOT more to drifting than what was just explained. It's not as easy as just kicking out the rear & steering through it...
Drifting involves a lot of pedal control (brake, throttle, clutching). You don't just slam the throttle down every time...
Also, the type of LSD affects drifting too... 1way, 1.5way, 2way...
Drifting involves a lot of pedal control (brake, throttle, clutching). You don't just slam the throttle down every time...
Also, the type of LSD affects drifting too... 1way, 1.5way, 2way...
03-27-2007 | 12:57 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
i have who hasnt... but yeah when i put it into word it probably killed the spelling because of our wonderful spellcheck. that and i compete license time is coming around soon. that and there is vegasdrift on the 14th
Last edited by jaida86; 03-27-2007 at 01:07 PM.
03-27-2007 | 01:03 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
the intention of this post was not to make everyone here a professional drifter as which most of you seem to be taking it. if all you would like to do is flame it go ahead. i am very aware of what it entails. if you need smoke from flames you can join me at DD and FD. thanks
03-27-2007 | 01:11 PM
#11
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 21
From: Carson City
sorry, its hard to tell constructive crit. from a flame now. i just spent quite a bit of time to just put some basic info up. not trying to say im the best at it
Nismo is very correct. Drifting require many different thing to be applied at once, there is no simple way to correctly do it. Throttle control and braking are a huge part of drifting that one could not learn from reading or watching a video.
Nismo is very correct. Drifting require many different thing to be applied at once, there is no simple way to correctly do it. Throttle control and braking are a huge part of drifting that one could not learn from reading or watching a video.
Last edited by jaida86; 03-27-2007 at 01:21 PM.
03-27-2007 | 02:29 PM
#17
Registered User
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 237
From: Eastern NC
Drag is easy...A lot depends on your car, transmission and the track you run at though. Each track is different. Most trees though, don't go when it hits green, go when it hits the yellow above the green at least.
03-27-2007 | 03:01 PM
#19
The Good Twin
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 20,639
From: Wild Wild West, UTAH!
Originally Posted by jaida86
the tree is the thing that confuses me. Thanks Everyone!
http://www.nhra.com/basics/glossary.html
http://www.staginglight.com/guide/practice.html
http://www.staginglight.com/guide/react.html
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