But this is not drifting. This is what happens during a normal turn. So when does a turn into a drift? When you overcome the friction between your tires and the road. And you do that by entering a curve at an unusually sharp angle or an abnormally high speed. Think of a car moving on a surface where the force of friction is very low, like on ice. A driver may turn their tires in order to avoid an obstacle like a stopped car, but the traction between the ice and the tires is so low that it's easy to overcome it.
The car is in a slide. The same thing happens when a driver takes a curve too sharp or too fast on an asphalt racetrack. Now, a regular driver probably wouldn't know what to do during a slide and would likely lose control and go off the road. But professionals like Leona Chin can turn that slide into a drift by taking back control of the car.
By turning the driving wheel in the opposite direction of the bend. The best thing to do is to hire an area of tarmac, which you can do at many race circuits or airfields and lay out some cones, then try to drift around them. A road car is more difficult to drift compared to a purpose built drift machine, which would have truck loads of power, a purpose built diff and an E-brake.
Road cars are softer, less powerful and more likely to understeer. Therefore, you need to be quite aggressive with your throttle and steering inputs — the opposite to my normal track driving advice! Starting the drift is relatively easy. Approach the corner with some speed, brake to transfer some weight to the front and away from the rear, and flick the steering to initiate the drift.
When you brake, the front of the car lowers on the suspension, and the rear of the car rises a little as shown below:. This is exactly what we want for drifting — low grip at the rear of the car. So, you brake before the corner and while the front of the car is lowered, and the rear is light, we flick the steering into the corner. If you are too soft with your inputs at this point, the car will understeer.
Too rough and the car will spin quickly. Raise the engine revs to near the red line, and then release the clutch at the apex. The resulting shock load of torque sent through the driveline should break traction at the rear wheels, thus invoking oversteer.
Entering a corner fast, then lifting off the accelerator at the apex can cause oversteer due to the resulting forward weight transfer which reduces grip at the rear tyres. If you drive a particularly stubborn car, a quick dab on the brakes may help. A sudden sharp application and release mid corner will break traction at the rear wheels, but remember to keep your thumb on the release button! Get on the throttle as soon as the back steps out. Flicking the car the opposite direction to the corner, just before turn in will generate a rapid lateral weight transfer which can unsettle the car enough to flick the back out.
As soon as you turn in, get on the gas and prepare for the resulting oversteer. This is probably one of the more risky methods — the trick here is to put two wheels onto the inside edge of the track while cornering, with the resulting bump unsettling car enough to break traction at the rear.
Use with caution! Once the back starts to come round you need to act quickly. Keep the power on you might be surprised how much power is required to sustain the drift , quickly counter-steer in the desired direction of travel, and balance the throttle to alter the attitude of the car. If the car is rotating too far ease off the gas then reapply as necessary. The SX has become the hallmark of any good drift event. Go to any Clubloose weekend and you'll run into tons of them, all modified differently for drifting.
A balanced chassis, long wheelbase, and massive aftermarket are big reasons why. The Focus RS was one of the first mass-production cars to offer a standalone " drift mode " for people who want to go sideways. That should tell you all you need to know. It's solidified itself as a legitimate collector's car, but that hasn't stopped owners from having fun with it.
The Z may not be the greatest driver's car on earth, but it's pretty great for drifting. Prices are low, and it checks all the boxes needed for you to go have fun on a twisty course. Of course, if you want to drive something vintage, Nissan has a good selection of rear-wheel drive, front-engine compacts to choose from. The SX is one of the best.
No matter the generation, the BMW M5 is a full-blown drift weapon. Big power going to the rear wheels combined with a long wheelbase makes for one hell of a time. Though the new one is all-wheel drive, it has a rear-wheel drive mode to ensure you can still get sideways on demand.
Depending on how you feel about a live axle, the Mustang can be a wonderful car to take drifting. The V-8 has enough power from the factory to keep you sliding, and aftermarket support is plentiful. Like the Mustang, the GTO has the perfect formula for spinning tires: A big V-8 with a manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels.
0コメント