Monday, July 2, 2007

Drift Techniques

With drifting being based around oversteer pretty much makes this exclusive to RWD, but FWD'ers can get driftin with liberal usage of the handbrake or trays or crates under the rear wheels;) The best drifters will not just oversteer the car into corners - all four wheels should be drifting. Keiichi Tsuchiya aka Dorikin (Drift King) presents on Japan's Best Motoring videos and is considered a legend.

Given the quality of hardcore drift websites out there, here is just an outline on the drift techniques used.


Braking Drift
By trail braking into a corner weight is over the front wheels inducing loss of grip at the rear. This is then balanced through low to medium speed turns with the accelertor and steering.

Choku-Dori (a.k.a Swaying Drift)
This is a slow side-to-side feint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a strait.

Clutch Kick
Dipping the clutch pedal and releasing it suddenly (hence the kick) on approach to a corner or used mid drift provides a sudden burst of power losing rear traction.

Dirt Drop Drift
Dropping the rear tyres off the track into the dirt to maintain the drift and carry speed into the next turn.

E-Brake/Handbrake Drift
Pulling the handbrake to lock the rear wheels and lose traction before balancing the drift with steering and the accelerator. Using the hand brake is one of the basic methods to get used to low speed sideways car control.

Feint Drift
Flicking the car to the outside of the corner before turning into the corner carries the weight of the car to the outside of the turn allowing the drift to begin. This is known as a Scandinavian Flick in rally circles where it is widely used.

Heel Toe Shifting
Drifting is about balance and smoothness. Making your gear shifts as smooth as possible means you can concentrate on the correct steering and braking rather than a dodgy gear shift upsetting the balance.

Jump Drift
The jump drift is a technique used in drift races - bouncing the inside wheel over the kerbing to shift the weight over to the opposite side, inducing oversteer.

Kansei Drift
The foot is lifted off the throttle when entering a high speed corner resulting in a weight shift to the front to induce a mild oversteer which is then balanced with the steering and accelerator.

Long Slide Drift
Carried out at high speed, pulling the handbrake allows a high drift angle to be accomplished on the straight to carry though the turn.

Power Over
With enough power, using full throttle (on boost where applicable) on entry to a corner oversteer will be produced. This is again a basic technique, although not mastered many will have experienced.

Shift Lock Drift
Allowing the revs to fall on a downshift before releasing the clutch slows the drivetrain down and inducing oversteer.

No comments: