Drift racing or drifting is a form of motorsport in which oversteer is used to make the car slide or "drift". It originally became popular in the winding backroads of Japan.
Two cars in a controlled drift.
The driver maneuvers an automobile to oversteer through an apex or straight, often with opposite lock. To perform this type of driving requires precise control over a vehicle, and sustaining such a drift for an extended period of time (and in a controlled manner) is often the object of drifting competitions. Because drifting is not the quickest way to take a turn, drivers are judged more on car control, technique, and style.
Although nearly any wheeled vehicle can be placed into a drift for an instant due to loss of control, in general only rear wheel drive (RWD/FR) and some high-power all wheel drive (AWD/4WD) automobiles are capable of maintaining a controlled drift for an extended period of time. For this reason, sporty RWD cars such as early Toyota Sprinter Truenos/Corolla Levins, Mazda RX-7s, Nissan Silvia S13/S14/S15 and Nissan 240SXs, are especially popular with amateur drifters because they are relatively inexpensive and offer good handling characteristics.
Other, more expensive cars used for drifting include the:
All of these models have been used in professional drift competitions such as the D1 Grand Prix (D1GP). It is notable that an AWD drift is performed differently than a RWD drift, but is still spectacular when properly executed.
Recently, as American enthusiasts have become more involved with D1GP events, American cars have followed. In December of 2004, Rhys Millen drifted his RMR/Pontiac GTO taking 3rd place at the US vs. Japan event. Sam Hubinette also drifted into the top-10 at Irwindale Speedway with his Mopar Dodge Viper in February of 2004.
The sport is particularly popular among young automotive enthusiasts in Japan, and the popularity has spread to the United States, Australia, Europe and elsewhere.
In the 1930s, Tazio Nuvolari was the first driver to intentionally drift an automobile in order to corner faster. This technique became heavily used in the 1950s and 1960s before aerodynamics became prevalent in motorsports. Keiichi Tsuchiya, nicknamed the "Drift King" is one of the most famous drifters and is now an official D1 Grand Prix judge. He helped bring drifting to the mainstream by drifting his Toyota in Japanese touring car races, and participating in illegal mountain racing and drifting while still racing professionally.
Drifting techniques
There are many different ways to drift a car, including: (NOTE: ABS and TCS should be turned off before attempting to drift.)
- Braking drift - This drift is performed by trail braking into a corner so that the rear wheels lose traction, then controlling the drift with proper steering and gas inputs. It is probably the most typical drifting technique for RWD cars.
- Power Over Drift - This drift performed when entering a corner at full throttle to produce heavy oversteer through the turn. It is the most typical drifting technique for AWD cars.
- Inertia (Feint) Drift - This is done by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the inertia of the car to swing it back to the desired drifting line. Using this technique, you can chain up many drifts into one long continuous drift where traction is never fully regained at any point. This is ideally done at the mountain passes where the continuous corners facilitates this type of drifting.
- Handbrake Drift - This technique is pretty straight forward; pull the handbrake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. Some people debate the fact that if using the handbrake creates an actual drift, or just a power slide . This is generally the main technique to preform a controlled drift in a FWD vehicle.
- Dirt Drop Drift - This is done by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Only permissible on roads without barriers and lined with dirt or other materials which to lose traction. This is commonly done in WRC rallying.
- Jump Drift - A dangerous maneuver to accomplish and only permissible on certain race tracks. This technique requires the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex to be bounced over a curb to lose traction, thus resulting in the desired oversteer.
- Clutch Kick - This is done by "kicking" the clutch (pushing in, then out) to send a shock through the drivetrain, upsetting the car's balance. It causes the car to go into oversteer.
See also
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