Auto Racing: How to Drift (Part 2)
Now there are different ways to drift in both a front wheel drive (FWD) and rear wheel drive (RWD) car, with both automatic (AT) and manual transmission (MT). A RWD MT car is the best for drifting and is the only car that can be used to do a proper power
drift.
The first thing that you must learn in order to drift is to do a 180. A 180 is a simple term for driving the car and then pull the handbrake and control the car’s slide until you are facing the opposite direction of where you entered the 180. If you are
driving north, after a successful 180, you will be facing south. The best way to learn this is to place a cone or other marker in the center of a safe area of tarmac. Drive up to the cone at a speed of about 50 to 60 km/h and then pull the handbrake. Control
the steering and the handbrake input until you are able to do a 180.
Next, you must learn how to counter steer. Drive up to the cone, again at about 50 to 60 km/h and pull the handbrake to slide around the cone, instead of doing a 180. Try to control the car to a set destination while the rear end is sliding. Placing another
cone at the designated stopping distance would be helpful, so you will know that you have to stop before hitting the cone.
Try the 180 again at a higher speed and then the counter steer maneuver until you are comfortable with doing it at about 110 to 120 km/h.
Now, we will take a look at how to drift with a MT in a RWD car. The best car to do with this is a sports car with an even weight ratio of about 50/50. Also a high power car is ideal, to keep the tires spinning throughout the drift.
Make sure to drift only in a enclosed, legal place, that is free of motorists, pedestrians, and police! Fines for drifting are high and could include jail time and confiscation of your car!
The easiest way to do a drift is to use the handbrake. Once you start accelerating, find a gear that has room to rev. The first gear will not get you fast enough, and any gear higher than the second is for higher top speed instead of acceleration, which
is why the second gear is used the most. It allows extensive use of the engines power and gives a wide variety of speeds.
As you are ready for the drift, push in the clutch. As soon as you have pressed the clutch, quickly turn the steering wheel into the direction of the turn. While turning the wheel, pull the handbrake to lock the back tires. As soon as your car starts to
skid, release the handbrake and clutch, while pressing the gas pedal, and turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction of the slide. If you are drifting to the right, start turning to the right, and as soon as your car starts to slide, turn the wheel
back to the left.
If you press the gas more, the back tires will spin more, allowing the angle of the slide to be larger. This will also cause the car to slide away from the center of the turn. Using less throttle does exactly the opposite, with a reduction in the angle of
the drift and moves the car closer to the inside of the turn.
That’s about it for the handbrake technique in a RWD MT car. Using the handbrake is the easiest way to do a drift, but it is not the best way. In the next article, we will take a look at using the “clutch kick” technique during the drift to increase the
length of the drift, and also drifting in a RWD AT car.
Tags: