What Is Drifting?
Drifting is a high-skill, high-powered motorsport that calls
for drivers to control a 450hp car while it slides sideways
at high speed through a marked course. It is similar to rally
racing, but is done on a closed course and judged on execution
and style rather than who finishes the course fastest. Drifting
takes all the thrilling moments of traditional motorsports
and packs it together into non-stop competition.
Drifting pros finesse their cars into spectacular powerslides
around a series of corners of a set course as powerful engines
roar and the tires bellow smoke. The driver controls engine
power, shifts gears and feathers the brake pedal, while at
the same time spinning the steering wheel in a precise fashion
from left to right linking corners with pinpoint accuracy.
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. A drifter drifts into one corner
and then instead of countering to straighten out, he will
instead over-counter so his car goes into another drift around
another corner. So a good drifter has the ability to take
five or six opposing turns without having traction at any
point in time.
How is it Done?
There are two ways to initiate a drift. The first is the gear
down/clutch technique. When approaching a bend the driver
will depress the clutch, gear-down into second gear, and rev
the engine up to around 4000-5000 rpm. (it all depends all
the type of car being used) Then slightly turn away from the
bend and then cut back towards it hard while at the same time
releasing the clutch and causing the rear wheels to spin.
The drifter has a loss of traction and is beginning to slide
around the curve. This is the hard part. You have to hold
the drift until the next bent. To achieve this you must keep
your foot on the accelerator while at the same time controlling
your car with the steering wheel so you don't spin out. It's
not as easy as it sounds. Then as the drifter reaches the
end of the bend and approaches the next bend which is in the
opposite direction he must cut the wheel in that direction
and in some cases, if the previous drift was to slow and they
start to regain traction, he must pop the clutch again to
get the wheels spinning. And that is how you drift a rear
wheel drive car.
The second technique is used by a few drifters in rear wheel
drives, but it is the only way you can really drift a front
wheel drive. You have to use the hand brake. A front wheel
drive car can not swing it's tail out because the tires are
being driven in the front rather the rear. So when approaching
a bend you pull-up the hand brake to cause traction loss.
The rest is quite the same except that it's much harder to
take more than one corner with a front wheel drive car.
History
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.
See the Quicktime Video Clip!
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