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Drifting has taken over the world quickly and can only expect to keep growing. This sport has been around a long time in places like Japan. We may be new to the game but we are catching on quick.
Here is a quick recap of what Drifting is:
Drifting is a driving technique.
Drifting is an “extreme” sport.
Drifting is the fastest growing form of motorsport in the world. A car is said to be drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right), and the driver is controlling these factors.
You may think that drifting is the same thing to a power sliding, but drifting is more complex than that. Instead of a drifter causing a drift and then countering to straighten out, he will over-counter so his car goes into another drift.
A good drifter has the ability to take five or six opposing turns without having traction at any point in time
It is an extraordinary way of racing and one of the few motorsports where time isn’t an issue. As the great racing driver Keiichi Tsuchiya
 
(considered to be the father of drifting) mentioned, “I drift not because it is the quickest way around the corner, but because it is the most exciting!” Drifting has nothing to do with being the fastest. It’s an exhibition sport where individual runs are judged on various criteria.
These criteria for judging the runs are...
- Car's angle & line
- Entry- and exit speed
- Amount of tire spin/smoke
- Distance from the walls or barriers
- Showmanship
Tuning a car for drifting:
Not All About the Power
It’s a common misconception when tuning a car for drifting that you must have the most powerful engine available in order to get maximum results. In truth, while ample horsepower is a plus, and while you MUST have a car with either rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive but with the majority of the speeding power going to the rear wheels, there are three essential elements to look at when tuning a car for drifting, and none of them has anything to do with hp.
They are limited slip differential (LSD), suspension, and tires.
Let’s take a look at each:
*Limited Slip Differential:
The LSD in any car controls the amount of power sent to any given wheel, with the most power going to the wheel that has to rotate the greatest distance. The downside of LSD is that if one wheel has no grip, but can spin, all the available power is sent to that wheel – this is something that happens often in snow and mud, and it generally leaves you stuck. On a fast road, however, you can get a tighter turning circle and can drive at higher speeds if you moderate the amount of power going to each wheel, and that is what LSD allows. For drifting, however, you need an LSD system that can be locked, which will help prolong the duration of your drift by encouraging the back of the car to slide over the road surface. While fully adjustable LSD systems are available, and recommended for the best results, but they can be extremely expensive, and not all cars can support them. Instead, fit your car with a two-way LSD system that gives a final drive ratio of 4.788. This will be especially helpful if you’re doing any kind of track work, or if you’re driving in wet conditions.
* Suspension:
For practice when you’re new to drifting any older American car with rear-wheel drive will do, but as you progress you’ll want to be able to tweak the suspension system to lower the camber (it doesn’t have to be negative) and reduce body roll. (Camber refers to the angle of your car’s wheel, as compared to the vertical axis of the car itself. Positive camber is when the top of the wheel is further out (angled away from the car) than the bottom. Negative camber is the reverse. Negative camber improves the wheel’s grip on road surfaces.) Anti-roll bars, stiffer sway bars, and strut braces are helpful as well, but not truly essential. A firmer suspension is always going to yield better results.
* Tires:
For optimum drifting you want race-quality tires, though for practice purposes having a quantity of tires you can change as needed is probably more beneficial than having the best quality, especially if the car you use for drifting is the same car you also use for your daily commute. This may help get you cheap car insurance and reduce costs. Keeping your tires well-maintained will help ensure you have good grip on the road, which will lead to better control of your drifts, as well as your standard driving. If you’re doing track work, you may want to have a spare set of wheels and tires so that you can drive home afterwards, but even if you’re not at that level, invest in extra tires, and keep the pressure in them at the recommended level. Also remember that you want to maximize the amount of tire that is in contact with the road at any given moment.
While modifications to your suspension and LSD systems and stocking up on tires can help you avoid car accidents it maybe also be a significant investment for someone new to drifting, there are also low-cost things you can do to improve your car’s performance: always keep your car clean and waxed, which not only reduces drag, but also helps fight corrosion, and do what you can to lighten your load – don’t keep anything extra inside the car.
Of course, the best way to improve your drifting technique has nothing to do with any kind of modifications. Just practice, as much as you can.
Are you ready yet?
Contact us today for more inormation about drifting in your area abd how we can set up your ride for it.
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