Mumma said:
Well, Mumma, I'm going to assume you're being serious so I'll answer your question.
WHAT IS IT?
Drifting is a driving method. It is only possible in rear wheel or high powered all wheel drive cars. It involves applying excessive acceleration when in the middle of a corner, causing the forces of inertia to make the rear end of the car swing out and try and go faster than the front. This tendency can be counterbalanced by making corrections with the steering wheel, basically pointing it in the direction you wish to go when your car is sideways.
So, your rear wheels are spinning, your car is sideways and your front wheels are turning into the drift. With enough experience and skill, you, my friend, have a drift.
HOW'S IT DONE?
[Disclaimer: Don't try this! If you haven't done this before, you will crash and will probably hurt yourself badly and cause a lot of damage to your car. Keep your practice or experimenting to racetracks. I do in no way claim responsibility for anything arising from the following descriptions.]
I should probably keep this to myself, but the method I use is using the bodyroll and inertia of the car to help break traction, as well as popping the clutch once or twice and then the rear should swing out. Or, you could simply enter a corner and flatten the acceleration, but that can risk your engine going ka-boom. So I enter a corner, keep in the torque range of the revs, steer slightly towards the outside of the corner then quickly cut back towards the inside and pop the clutch once or twice. Then as the rear steps out, countersteer in the direction you want to go and balance the revs with the steering and traction. But this takes a lot of practice, and I have spun three times trying to master it - on one occasion narrowily missing a curb.
SOME FACTS ABOUT DRIFTING!
- not possible in front wheel drive cars. When a front wheel drive car gets sideways, this is
oversteer, not drifting.
- drifting is in essence oversteer, but more correctly a
power-on oversteer. The terms vary enormously, although "drift" is becoming more widely accepted. Other names such as powerslide, sideways, etc are also used.
- most commonly performed on bitumen, although more dangerously it is done by rally car drivers to take corners with greater speed on dirt/gravel.
- drifting is a motorsport. There is a championship series that tours America and Japan called the D1 Championship and is growing in popularity. In the US, there is even a drift-spec Pontiac GTO, aka the Holden Monaro (see below).
- drifting is extremely hard to master and requires enormous skill. To get to the skill levels of D1, you must undertake somewhat of a trial and error teaching regime. Everyone who has ever drifted has crashed - they just never tell you that bit. Therefore, drifting is extremely dangerous and many P-platers wrap themselves around powerpoles while trying to drift.
- The most revered drift car of all time is the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex. It doesn't look like much but its combination of rear wheel drive, limited slip diff, 50:50 weight balance and perfect wheelbase (not to mention budget price in Japan) make it a formidable drift weapon.
PICTURES
This is the drift-spec Pontiac GTO, or the Holden Monaro as we know it. The picture is taken mid drift. Notice the rear wheels spinning, the car is sideways and the front wheels have been steered into the drift.
This is your typical qualifying session at a D1 event, although the below picture looks to be more of an amateur event.
This is another form of drift motorsport: the Drift Battle where two to four cars go head to head on a racetrack or a skid pan marked with witch's hats. Exciting to watch!
Here it is: the revered AE86 Sprinter. Available in Australia only through grey importers and at around $10 to $15000.
Here is your common Japanese street drifting scene.
USEFUL LINKS! Want to know more?
The D1 Championship website:
click here
"Drifting Explained" A short overview:
click here
Drift in Australia:
click here
