How to Drift
By Marc Howe on Jun 23, 2010 with Comments 0
You have often seen cars drifting in the movies, games or on racing tracks. Drifting is a technique in which car slides with its side moving in the direction of a turn at an angle. Drifting is not an easy task; you need to really work hard to achieve the perfection with safety. In this article we will discuss some of the techniques of drifting.
Drift Cars
Any car can be a drift car for an expert drifter. But mostly good drift is executed with a good car. A good drift car must have a following drift sequence:
- Drift Configuration: Maximum momentum and torque are the two most essential things for drifting. You can customize and configure wheels, suspension system and intercoolers to attain maximum momentum and torque. You can take help from experts.
- Racing or Sports Car: Sports cars are considered the best to perform a drift. Because they have a perfect combination of speed and turn accuracy and most of all lightweight. Japanese sport cars are the best drifting cars. European and American sports cars can also make a drift.
- Manual Transmission: Transmission is also important in drifting. Automatic or manual transmission both can drift. But it is far easier to drift from manual transmission than automatic transmission. Or you should be an expert in drifting with any available car.
Performing a Drift
RWD or rear wheel drives are suitable for the drifting. Though, front wheel drives can also drift, but the RWD has the perfect layout which yields increased forward momentum and torque. Following are given some steps which can help you to perform drift with RWD:
- Accelerate and spin into the second gear with room to rev.
- Depress the clutch and carefully move the car inside the turn. Pull the handbrake halfway mark while turning the car. This will transfer weight on front wheels. Be sure not to lock up the wheels.
- Once you have pulled the brake, depress the gas pedal and leave the clutch.
- Turn the car in the direction of the slide; throttle will control the speed and angle of your drift. The more the throttle, more will be the turn of the car, while the less minimize the angle and the car will move more freely towards the inside of the turn.
- Slipping the clutch or feather the clutch, to maintain the drift for sometime. Be careful you just need to give the slight pushes to the clutch pedal, never floor it.
Precautions
- Never enter into a drift while you are in top speed. This might cause you severe damage, by turning your car over or crashing.
- Remember drifting is illegal act on city streets or highways. Always choose an open wide place free of any traffic for your safety. You might have some special places in your area for drifting look for them.
- Tires must be in top condition if you want to execute a drift. Drifting exerts too much pressure on tires, so slick or worn out tires might burst halfway and cause an accident. Always use new tires for drifting, they will provide good grip.
Drifting needs practice. Practice will give you good execution and control to perform drifts. This article will certainly help you to understand few facts about drifting.
Filed Under: Guides/DIY