TRACKMAN2

looks interesting might give it a shot next year..might be somthing to learn there.....

ghoffman

No, but I want to go to Sprint car school.

Wicked Weasel

not on purpose

RAFTRACER

Drifting is not a sport, but rather a judged measure of stupidity.....Timers, timeclocks and checkered flags are the only way to win motorsports.......Unfortuneatly some think I would be real good at drifting............Whatever. The only drifting I do is on the corner-exits, and only a 'lil bit.

TRACKMAN2

had afriend that went said it was awsome, i got a chance to drive a nascar this summer, i think there is merit to every aspect of motorsports, in road racing you brain is sloshed from left to right it was an unusuall sensation just turning to the left, i got kind of woosy after just a few laps it was interesting.. amasing how you had to turn the wheel far to the right just to get it to go straight....

TRACKMAN2

dont you think i might benifit from the car control aspect of drifting.last sunday i was comming out of the sicane an ra and the car rear end went way out to the left i thought it might snap back and send me into the wall at the base of the bridge.... i think i would like to know exactly how the car is going to react,or be able to react to it.... instead of hopeing what it will do..

c4cruiser

Car control comes with knowing the limits of the car at any given speed. Drifters really only need to know the limits of the tires and for the most part the speeds aren't that high.

Any motorsport that is judged in part on style is not about knowing how your car (and you) will react in an emergency situation.

And you can bet that the tire companies have to make a lot of money off drifitng.

VetteDrmr

Car control is always a thing to strive for, but I don't think drifting improves that much at all. The slip angles are so extreme, and the speeds are fairly slow, that I think it doesn't translate very well to autox or road racing.

Car control in those sports is about getting the car right on the edge, and keeping it there.

That said, all motorsports is about having fun. Track, autox, carting, drifting, drag racing, etc. is all just different ways of automotive recreation. The main reason I don't get into drifting is cost. I'm amazed at what I find out on our autox lot after a drift competition: brake caliper bolts, sheared lugs, etc., not to mention shreds of corded tire and steel belt shreds.

Have a good one,
Mike

TRACKMAN2

[QUOTE=c4cruiser]Car control comes with knowing the limits of the car at any given speed. Drifters really only need to know the limits of the tires and for the most part the speeds aren't that high.

i respectfully disagree... i know the exact limits of my car at any speed ,but its what comes after you execede those limits... that i'm worry about..and when you drive on the edge its common to do so the faster you go the smaller margin for erorr you have....

Mojave

I would also have to respectfully disagree. I haven't been to a drift event, but I have spent a fair amount of time at auto-x practices just hanging the tail out as far as possible (while still running the course). Knowing when the car will oversteer, how much it will oversteering, how much throttle to remove/add/modulate, and where to put the steering wheel all come from practice. When running track days, I am not afraid of oversteer at all. I know it is not the fast way, but when it occurs, it is sure nice to be confident in dealing with it with a minimum of drama.

While I agree with the sentiment that pro drifting is the motorsports version of figure skating, practicing it can greatly improve car control skills. I also encountered understeer if I didn't get things right, so it is more than just oversteer practice.

I want to take my Vette to a drift event and beat up on some import guys.

RAFTRACER

[QUOTE=TRACKMAN2]
SO .................You need to pick safe areas of the roadcourses that you go to and try to scare yourself.....pick-up the throttle earlier and drive the car hard through the corner exit, purposely "pitch" the car into a corner and catch it with the throttle, "flick" it through a high speed offset, for christ's sake go run some autocrosses. You'll learn more about your car and your driving doing these things routinely, than going out to a "drifting" competition......something about "pitching" it back and forth on a straightaway , rather than accellerating all the way to the braking zone seems queer to me....... Until you learn what over the limit is, how can you know exactly where the limit is ????? I understand you already have people puking in your car....you must be doing something right

Maybe I'll come up to Nelson and show you and Dave a little "drifting" lesson early next year............Stay away for the ricers

John Shiels

did it 35+ years ago in parking lots full of snow and it was easier on the tires too than pavement. I can see it being fun. knowing you can handle a car that is loose is great then you won't panick and oversteer it. That's why dirt track is great too.

TRACKMAN2

[QUOTE=RAFT

Maybe I'll come up to Nelson and show you and Dave a little "drifting" lesson early next year............Stay away for the ricers[/QUOTE]
please do!!!! i think that would be a blast ....dave just went to slicks and turned a 1:12.6 i got a 1:15 flat but have much room to improve..it would be great to learn a few things from you!!!

robvuk

[QUOTE=RAFTRACER] Completely. I don't believe anyone knows where the limit is until they've exceeded it.
The problem with this is that at HPDE's they REALLY frown upon activities that send you off track. Ask me how i know. The dreaded black flag. :o

I posted about my experience with a "hurler" in my car at CMP a few weeks ago and some of the responses weren't very nice to me.

Solofast

Drifting is really artificial. A good drift car has big bags of understeer. That way the driver can hang the back end out and not have it pass him...That in no way relates to a car that is seriously trying to generate g's. It is about like the WWF (or maybe NASCAR OOPS did I just say that?) or like "Dancing with the Stars".... OK you know you did well if you were an American and got a 10.0 from the Chec judge.....

Hemingway said there were three real sports, mountain climbing, bull fighting and autoracing... All else were mere childs games where you had to keep score to know who won.... I think of drifting as being in the second category...

crznZ06

I've gone to a drift event run by driftday. It was $100 and I probably got over 50-60 runs. I didn't have to **** cones either. When it wasn't my group that was on the course, I was free to do donuts or figure eights on a portion set aside from the course. That being said, I say just give it a try - I thought it was fun, and it was good practice hanging the tail out.

0Randy@DRM

I love sliding around in the winter time. Even my pile of crap 2wd s10 will drift at 60 mph. Stock clutch 263,000 miles and still drifting!

Randy

Wicked Weasel

I use to take a front wheel drive car and apply the emergency brake on ice/snow and then see how I could handle the car with the backend swaying all over the place....


Now my stupid truck kicks into all-wheel drive so I can't play as much

RAFTRACER

Dont get me wrong, I'll slide around with the best of them in the winter....I use winter driving as sport for sure, but more along the lines of pro rally than drifting.............My beater Honda CRX si, typically will have a quarter taped over the e-brake handle button so that it releases as quickly as it can be applied

TedDBere

I wonder where drifting is on the Pyramid? Below or above 1/4 milers? It's santioned and it's car control, so would it be between drag and Autox?