Saturday, January 27, 2007
* The art of drifting(autosportz.com) 27 Jan *
This guide is provided to give you general information about drifting. It is DANGEROUS if not done in a supervised area with professionals and safety crews. We ask that you do not try this unless you are serious about competing and learning the art of drifting from highly skilled trainers. Basically we are telling you not to do this at home.Drifting is the not so simple art of controlling your car around a corner. It doesn't sound very hard does it, but it is. Drifting requires a highly skilled driver with a high powered car which will have enough rear wheel power to slide sideways through corners at high speeds. Some compare it to Rally Racing, but instead of getting to the finish line first the judges decide on execution and style who the winner will be. All drifting competitions take place on closed courses where pros maneuver their cars into spectacular powerslides around several corners. In order to successfully execute this type of driving, a driver must figure out the balance of the cars engine power, gears, brakes and steering to go beyond the normal limits of the suspension and tire traction.This sport dates back approximately 10 years and started in Japan. Since then, the motorsport has evolved into the D1 Grand Prix Event Series where top competitors complete for the title of best drifter. Drifting has since then spread to Europe, Australia and now the USA with several amateur competitions being held throughout the year. If you want to race in the Pro Series, you'll have to go to Japan to do so.Although drifting has been in the U.S. for the last few years mainly underground, it wasn't until Spring of 2003 that the sport came out into the mainstream. Since then, top professional drivers from Japan have come to Irwindale Speedway for the D1 Grand Prix All Star Invitational. They demonstrated their unique skills in front of thousands of fans.What is Drifting?Instead of a driver causing a drift into one corner and then countering to straighten out, he will instead over-steer his car so it will go into another drift around another corner. The best explanation of a good drifter is someone who has the ability to maneuver their car around a series of 4 to 5 corners without ever really having any traction.How is Drifting Done?Drifting can be initiated in two ways depending on whether you have a front or rear wheel drive car. The first method is to depress the clutch and gear down into second gear when approaching a corner or bend in the road and rev your engine to about 4000-5000 RPM. As you are coming up, slightly turn your steering wheel so the car is going away from the corner and then cut back towards it while at the same time releasing the clutch causing the rear wheels to spin. Basically you are doing a burnout. At this point you should feel a loss of traction in your tires giving your car a hydroplane effect as you begin sliding around the curve. Don't let the drift go because this will give you momentum to take on the next corner. Keep your foot on the accelerator as you control your car keeping it from spinning out as you approach the next turn. Now cut your steering wheel in the direction of the turn and your car will powerslide right through it. If you came out of your first drift too slow, just pop the clutch again to get your wheel's spinning.The other method is to use your handbrake. If you have a front wheel drive car, this will be the only way you can accomplish the drift. As you approach a bend, pull-up on your hand brake until you feel your car lose tire traction. Normally you will only be able to drift through one corner this way as using the hand brake will cause you to slow down.Drift TechniquesHeel Toe Shifting: A form of proper race shifting to get your car into the right gear for drifting, as well as setting up for a turn while racing. May also include double clutch shifting.Power Over: Executed when entering a corner and using full throttle to produce heavy oversteer through the turn. You need horsepower to make this happen.E-Brake Drift: This technique is very basic, pull the E-Brake or side brake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. This can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles. Main drift technique used in FWD vehicles.Clutch Kick: Executed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during a mild drift, then the clutch is "popped" to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction.Shift Lock Drift: Executed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires inducing over steer. This is like pulling the E-brake through a turn, but this should be performed on wet ground to minimize damage to the driveline.Dirt Drop Drift: Executed 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. This technique is very useful for low horsepower cars. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.Feint Drift: Executed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of grip to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is heavy rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering.Jump Drift: In this technique the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer. Do not attempt this technique at the Drift Session.Braking Drift: Executed by trail braking into a corner. Loss of grip is obtained and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. This is mainly for medium to low speed corners.Kansei Drift: Executed at race speeds. When entering a high speed corner a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild oversteer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. The car that is being used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car therefore the oversteer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn this technique will not work.Long Slide Drift: Executed by pulling the E-brake through a strait to start a high angel drift and to hold this to set up for the turn ahead. This technique can only be done at high speed.Swaying Drift (Choku-Dori): This is a slow side-to-side faint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a strait.