Had a conversation about Drifting today...

[Brer Rabbit]

So myself and another board member were discussing the fact that a friend of ours was caught watching The Fast and the Furious --Tokyo Drift, and the issue of drifting came up. We attempted to understand the reasoning behind the fasination of sliding a car around a corner and tearing up the tires well before the normal life of the tire. It was proposed that it is actually the fastest way around the corner. I disagreed but really dont have any hard facts to back it up. I feel that if a car is set up to corner as well as possible, then it should be able to go into a turn and come out faster than a drifting ricer. So if there are any reformed ricers or just knowledgeable members out there that can explain this drifting thing I would appreciate it.

 

[BlackMetal]

It's just about style and the skill it takes to keep the car from spinning out of control. I don't really think it's the fastest way around a corner but I guess technically they ARE braking less than someone trying to take the corner while maintaining full traction.

Whether or not it's a faster way to take a corner that's not what the sport is about. Time is not even judged it's just about how much of an angle you can get your car at, the speed at which you take the corner, the amount of time your tires are sliding, etc.

No real reason for it except I guess some people got bored with regular racing.

 

[little]

I think drifting is popular because it's fun. Turbo six said pretty much everything I was gonna say. I would doubt it's the fastest way around a corner, but that's not the point. And come on rabbit, if you have a tr I know you've wasted some rubber before its time.:biggrin:

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

its probably the fastest way around some turns [ie hairpin turns] where otherwise you would have to slow waaaaaaaaaay down. if youve ever watched rally races on SPEED, where you have cars flying around little european streets.......its basically the same thing.

 

[troGNman]

What they call drifting, we used to call a "powerslide".

 

[GNJimC]

World of outlaws, sprint cars. (not the Sprint cup nascars) Late Model Dirt cars. They all slide, or powerslide around the corners. Not an expert but these guys have been around for years and have produced some of the top notch drivers such as: tony stewart, jeff gordon, newman, edwards, kahne, K shrader, etc etc. However when I see these drift cars, they are not "racing", but it looks like they are judged on style. Sort of like the motorcross guys getting judged on freestyle. I cant get too interested if they are not racing to the flag.

 

[jdpolzin]

So myself and another board member were discussing the fact that a friend of ours was caught watching The Fast and the Furious --Tokyo Drift, and the issue of drifting came up. We attempted to understand the reasoning behind the fasination of sliding a car around a corner and tearing up the tires well before the normal life of the tire. It was proposed that it is actually the fastest way around the corner. I disagreed but really dont have any hard facts to back it up. I feel that if a car is set up to corner as well as possible, then it should be able to go into a turn and come out faster than a drifting ricer. So if there are any reformed ricers or just knowledgeable members out there that can explain this drifting thing I would appreciate it.

Dude I hate drifting! I get stuck in the damn things on these gravel roads here in Iowa everytime it snows!

Wait till my car is done, I show everyone how a car can corner!

 

[GNTIM]

I'm gonna stick my neck out here and say I don't think it is the fastest way around a turn, just more dramatic. Take a look at the chase scene from the movie Bullett, they specced those cars with single track rears and you can see how fast they go around turns...also rarely fishtailing.

 

[dgoodhue]

World of outlaws, sprint cars. (not the Sprint cup nascars) Late Model Dirt cars. They all slide, or powerslide around the corners. Not an expert but these guys have been around for years and have produced some of the top notch drivers such as: tony stewart, jeff gordon, newman, edwards, kahne, K shrader, etc etc. However when I see these drift cars, they are not "racing", but it looks like they are judged on style. Sort of like the motorcross guys getting judged on freestyle. I cant get too interested if they are not racing to the flag.

Drifting is based on style and mimicking what the other driver does.

Obviously in dirt track racing, its quick to drift/power slide around the corner. It is quicker to drift when their are low traction elements and tire wear is not a factor. I think years ago I read that on pavement a slight 5 degree slide is the fastest way around flat corners.

 

[turbofish38]

It is the slow way around a corner. And I've proven it many of times on the track. Get out your stop watch. I'm no egghead but the way I look at it, is if the tires have grip or traction than the car is accelerating. If they are spinning than they aint got no grip and the car aint accelerating. I dont think you can compare dirt track racing with drifting. In dirt track just because the car is sideways doesn't mean it's drifting per say. You only have a short distance to set the car up to go through a turn. You just start turning on the short 20 or 30 feet of straight away you have. The tires aren't spinning so it cant be drifting anyway. Drifting lost me when they went to GPS to score the angle of the cars on a given course. Plus that whole Nick Hogan yellow P*ssy magnet thing pretty much defines what losers idolize that sport if you can call it a sport.

But really if Drifting was the fast way around than everybody would be doing it. Lewis Hamilton from FormulaOne doesn't. None of the NASCAR guys do it.

 

[87natl]

Hmmm, shows how much I know. I thought these kids were just doing it because the steering wheels in their junky ricers were broken???

 

[shasta]

So what your saying is....having a faster car isn't the objective, well no wonder the ricers are drawn to it!

 

[UNGN]

Drifting isn't the fastest way through a given corner, but for a given level of adhesion a car in a 4 wheel drift around a corner is going faster than one that isn't in a 4 wheel drift.

That isn't to say that a huge slip angle, tire smoking slide (that scores big drifting points) is the fastest way through a corner, because it DEFINITELY is not.

But with tires of a given amount of traction, a small slip angle slide will be faster through a corner than going slower through the corner (and not allowing a slide).

It will also be easier slide too much or to crash, which would be slower than not sliding.

People that make a living driving, do so in the sliding region of driving. If they followed the rule that not sliding around a corner is the fast way around a corner, the first one that slid around a corner would win every race.

 

[Pitbozz]

The reason drifting was invented is because it is the ONLY thing the ricers can be competitive at. There are VERY VERY VERY few fast street ricers. They bought into the whole fast and furious crap and then had to invent a whole new style of racing (if you want to call it that) when they kept getting there asses handed to them on the streets.

 

[BlackMetal]

If you ever watch some of the professional competitions you might not think of it as such a joke. Some of these guys are sliding through turns with another car in front of them and getting 4-5 inches apart. I know the cars get close to each other in track racing too but things can get a little trickier when your car is sliding sideways.

Sometimes someone will lose control and spin out and you'd swear you're about to see an awesome wreck but the other drivers are almost always skilled enough to avoid a collision, it's pretty impressive.

I don't have a problem with it, it's something new. Life would get boring if nobody every tried something different. Instead of building and tuning for all-out speed it's more about suspension and the individual drivers spending so much time with their car that they know how to control it even when sliding at 45MPH.

 

[little]

Turbo6 is right on. It's a different style of driving. I think a drifting gn would look pretty frickin sweet!:biggrin:

 

[BuickMike231]

A few of my buddys up here at school are into the whole drift thing, it's all about style as mentioned above. I think it's pretty goofy as a sport, but as an exhibition it's pretty fun to watch for about 10 minutes. Then you realize that every single car there is a Nissan 240sx, and then it gets boring. I agree, a GN drifting would always be cool. I've been tempted myself to go out to these drift practice events and make a few laps, just to show the import guys what an American turbo car can do.

 

[RTCarlin]

Hmmm.. so from what I get out of it and the way it's judged and all, it's basicly the vehicular equivalant of figure skating or cheerleading.... Interesting...

---Ron

 

[Aztlanahauc]

Sport Compact Car magazine did a test to see who was faster around a track. Drift vs Grip I believe was the name of the article. Well anyways the car set up for grip was faster by 4 seconds around the track.

 

[Pitbozz]

Sport Compact Car magazine did a test to see who was faster around a track. Drift vs Grip I believe was the name of the article. Well anyways the car set up for grip was faster by 4 seconds around the track.

That couldn't have been a surprise to anyone. I guess that's why Lil' Dale and Jeff don't slide around the track in NASCAR.