Drifting is an advanced driving technique that should not be attempted by someone who has no performance driving experience.

I cannot stress that enough. The BEST thing you can possibly do is get hooked up with your local sanctioning body ( http://www.nasaproracing.com http://www.scca.org ) and do a HPDE (high performance driver education) class at a major racetrack. They will sit you down and explain things like braking points, how to accelerate out of a corner, weight transfer, balance, track etiquette, look through a corner, bla bla etc etc. Most importantly they will pair you with an instructor who will ride with you all day and give you pointers on how to find the racing line, when you should be braking, etc. This is the best first step to becoming a good drifter. You absolutely MUST understand how a car works while at the edge of its performance before you can attempt to drift. It also helps knowing how to find the line and such.

After you run a HPDE class the next step is to try to find a local drift organization. Almost every state has something going on monthly during the racing season which is different depending on where you live. This is important for 2 parts. 1) because it keeps you from doing it on the streets where bad things happen. 2) it will give you a chance to get feedback from more advanced drivers.

ANY RWD car can drift! you dont need a overpriced JDM suspension, fancy clutch differential or 400whp. all of those things only make it easier. they are not a necessity untill you develop as a driver beyond what the car can do. a LSD should be your first "drift" orientated modification.

some tips from the pros

Ken Gushi wrote:Invest your money in a used LSD. it makes drifting alot easier to learn. You dont need coilovers, so pick up a good set of shocks and springs. I used stock brakes and had a stock engine, but i always spent money on new tires.

Calvin Wan wrote:Start off with used tires because thier cheaper to burn up, then switch to newer ones in the front for more steering control. Steering angle is important so i used spacers on the tie rods. Instead of buying an aftermarket LSD, welding your stock one will provide a cheap , 100% locking 2 way option. Instead of buying aftermarket wheels, you can use spacers to widen the stance of your stock wheels.

here is some more usefull info, all can be found in this thread these are direct links.


please, if anyone has comments or suggestions on stuff to add, dont hesitate to post it! i wanna see this forum to succeed and it needs backing from everyone for that to happen.

Initiation techniques:there are 6 basic techniques; power over, clutch kick, feint, shift lock, e-brake, braking drift.

here they are, starting with the most newbish ones first

Ebrake: This is pretty basic and should be a starting point for most newbies. turn the steering wheel into the corner, press the clutch down, yank the ebrake quickly (just fast enough to get the rear wheels to lock, should be a quick up-down motion, dont hold it), release the clutch and mash the gas, let go of the steering wheel to get the rear to come out.

Clutch kick: just before your turn in point press the clutch all the way down, floor the gas, turn the wheel into the turn, before you get too high in RPM release the clutch quickly. stay on the gas to begin the slide be carefull tho, you have alot of rear end momentum with this one so it takes less throttle to bring the car to full lock.

Power over: this one wont work on low HP cars (works great for me ). you pretty much stand on the gas and turn the wheel. its a very easy initiation but alot of cars cant do it because they dont have the power/torque to break traction in the rear while moving.

Feint: this one is all about weight transfer (again, why its important to know the basics! why i say DO HPDE!). if you are going into a left turn you move down away from the racing line (left, way early), turn back into it (right), then at the turn in point turn the wheel twords the corner (left) then stand on the gas. the large, sudden weight transfer will overcome traction in the rear and cause it to begin to drift.

Shift Lock:this is like a clutch kick but instead of revving the engine you let go of the clutch. heading into a corner when downshifting for said corner instead of slowly releasing the clutch, or rev matching you release the clutch fast, turn into the corner while releasing the clutch then step on the gas. it shocks the rear wheels and drivetrain to slow them slower than the car is traveling then while traction is broken you stand on the gas to speed them up.

Braking Drift -Thanks to Liquidus

This one is tricky because it involves weight transfer to the front wheels. Getting the weight off of the rear wheels helps them be able to slide, but too strong of a transfer off of the rear and onto the front, while braking, and turning will cause the front tires to exceed their available grip and lose traction and get major understeer. Especially in cars without ABS, where it is easier to lock the front wheels.

When you come into the corner you need to be going too fast for it. You will be braking through part of the corner, so if you aren't going fast enough, you won't be able to drift. Let off of the gas and get onto the brake lightly while you turn in. This part takes major practice time. Too hard on the brake and you'll get understeer (braking and turning at the same time exceeds the tires limits). Too light on the brake and the weight transfer won't happen and you'll get understeer. This also depends on how sensitive your brakes are and if you have ABS.

Keep in mind right now you should have just entered the corner. As soon as you start to turn in you need to heel-and-toe downshift (maybe i'll make another post on how to do this), but instead of moving your foot back to the gas after the heel and toe blip keep it on the brake for an extra second. This is where the drift initiates. Remember, the amount of pressure you apply to the brake pedal is still critical, practice, practice, practice. Once the drift is initiated get back on the gas and start to countersteer to hold the drift through the corner.

This is more of a tip for moderate drifters, ones you can control a drift from pulling the ebrake or power over. But it's something i just recently learned to do so i thought while my mistakes and experiences were still fresh i would elaborate on your explanation.

so you have initiated, now what?just getting the rear end out is only half the battle. now you have to keep it there and not spin out. this is what I have found to work the best. take it as opinion only as it may not be the "correct" way to do any of it.

lets say you have clutch kicked in the middle of second gear for a standard corner. the kick starts to push the rear end out, you stand on the gas, now what? gently release your grip on the steering wheel letting the car take control of the steering. dont fully remove your hands but rather let the wheel slide through your hands. the rear of the car trying to move past the front will cause the steering wheel to spin faster than you can turn it. once it reaches full lock (you will know when it does ) let off the gas a little bit and turn back away from full lock a little. this will give you playing room if you need to twitch the wheel in eithre direction to help control the slide.

so now you are at full lock, probably full throttle. here comes the part that i cant explain its just something that comes with practice. you have to modulate the throttle. just staying at full throttle will cause the car to spin in most cases. so you need to feather and pump the gas to keep the rears spinning, but not loose control. im usually only at full throttle mid drift for a short period of time unless its a high speed corner.

once you have control of the drift its time to start concentrating on the exit. check your line, and speed, make sure its safe (i.e. arent heading for a wall or off track) if everything looks ok let off the gas a little more and turn out of the slide. once you start to regain traction lay into the gas a little more to get your exit speeds up. it probably wasnt pretty, but its a drift.

LSD - By Liquidus

Liquidus wrote: Limited Slip differential, connects the two wheels together when they lose traction. With an open diff only one wheel spins, the other is just dragged along. Open differentials are frustrating and boring to drive.

1-way: Connects the wheels together only when you are pressing the gas. If you are off the gas they can move at different speeds.

1.5-way: Connects the wheels when you press the gas, but allows more difference in wheel speeds when you aren't pressing the gas. Hence the 1.5 way, connects when on the gas, connects partially when off. This is my personal reccomendation as it always has the wheels connected, but allows them to move more when off the gas so you can get a sharper turn in.

2-way: Connects the wheels when both on and off the gas. Some people like these but i think they create a little too much understeer. if you have a good suspension you can compensate, but you need good car control skills too to keep it under control.

Viscous LSDUses a viscous fluid that essenitally gets more viscous as the wheels turn different speeds. The thickening fluid connects the wheels together. This is okay if your on a budget, and alot of people use them, but most come out of older cars. The fluid in the LSD, like all viscous fluid, looses viscosity over time. Plus these don't hold all that hard to begin with. So get one if your on a budget, otherwise don't bother. Also, these are only 1-way.

Clutch typeThese use clutches to connect the wheels together. These usually lock very soon and very hard, which can create some understeer, but its also good for drifting once you get past that initial understeer. The hard and fast locking keeps both wheels spinning for good drifts. Popular ones are KAAZ and Nismo.

Torque Sensing (Torsen)These are a little more complicated then clutch types. Since they don't use clutches they don't need to be rebuilt. They don't lock as fast or as hard as clutch types, so their usually used more for autocross than drifting, but they work well and don't need as much maintenence. The only company that i know of who makes these is Quaife.

its important to note those are his reccomendations, for a drift only car id reccomend only a 2 way, for grip and drift a 1.5. but thats also my opinion on the subject

Here are some addendums- They go into a little more detail (I don't take credit for it, but I believe I did spell checks and minor adjustments, maybe not )

The HandbrakeThe handbrake turn is the foundation for all tail-out action, and getting the car sideways. If you can learn how to do a handbrake turn properly, then it will be the basis for pretty much most of your thrashing skill. If not, then you will suck. Better learn. The basic instruction for doing a handbrake turn is as follows:

Drive your car in a straight line at a speed of about 35-40 km/h (20-25mph). Place your left hand on the handbrake. When you feel ready, turn the steering wheel sharply to the right with your right hand. When you feel yourself rock sideways in the chair, press the button on the handbrake in with your thumb and pull on it fairly hard, it won't need to be too hard because you're on a slick surface. Do not take your left hand off the handbrake or release the button and do not take your right hand off the steering wheel. If done properly, the whole car will spin around between 150 and 180 degrees. Remember to put the clutch in just before you stop if you're in a manual, you don't have to in a front wheel drive but it's a good habit to get into. If you don't do it and you're in a rear wheel drive..then you'll stall when you pull the handbrake on and look like a toss. It's best to be in second gear the whole time. The car will turn as far as it can and then slide to a stop. Congratulations, your first handbrake turn. Normally now is a good time to relax and let your heart rate slow down, it's a scary thing to slide out for the first time.

Now try it again, this time a little faster. Try to get the timing exactly right, if you put it on too early, you won't get all your force into the corner, and if you put it on too late, you'll just turn and then it will slide in the wrong direction, rather than just sliding around and rotating. This time it should feel a lot better. Try it several times, in each direction, left and right until you're satisfied that you can do it properly. It's best to stay with just doing these handbrake turns for at least a few weeks until you're confident that you can handle them. You'll be spinning properly in no time. As soon as you've mastered that, try taking off in the same motion. Execute the turn and keep the power down in 2nd gear, in an auto, keep it locked in 2 on the selector. Try to take off immediately following the handbrake turn (herein referred to as a "handbrakie") See if you can do it in first gear without spinning too much. Most people find first gear too low to start from after a handbrakie and just take off in 2nd with the accelerator flat to the floor. It should still spin, but much less and it will soon become useable acceleration.Well, now that that's out of the way, you can move onto the next section.

The 90-Degree TurnThe next step from here is controlling your handbrakie. Naturally, a perfectly executed handbrake turn will spin you around to nearly exactly 180 degrees. This is fun, but only useful for quick turning around and changes of direction. More realistically, the handbrake turn you will use most often is the 90 Degree Tail-Out. Most people will call this a "handbrakie around a corner" and this is essentially what it is. The 90 Degree Handbrakie can be used in a variety of situations on the real road, but is mostly useful in the wet. Dry roads can be difficult to effectively lock up the back wheels with the handbrake, but more on that later. Here's the correct technique for a 90 Degree Tail-Out, which herein will be referred to as a "90".

Like before, drive along at about 40km/h(25mph) in 2nd gear in a straight line on your field. Put your left hand on the handbrake, and your right hand on the top of the steering wheel. Just as with the handbrakie, turn the wheel sharply to the right and pull on the handbrake. The back of the car should start to swing around, so after it has really started to move, and is about 90 degrees to the way you started, quickly turn the wheel with your right hand back around in the OPPOSITE direction. You should be able to do this while actually holding the wheel, but if not, then simply push against the wheel with the palm or base of your hand and lift your fingers over the wheel as it comes into contact with them, allowing you to turn it further without lifting your hand from the wheel. The back of the car will stop sliding when you release the handbrake, so release the handbrake when the car is about 120 to 135 degrees clockwise from the direction you started off facing. Your front wheels should be facing the direction you want to go now, 90 degrees to the right of where they were when you started. The back end of the car will remain at that angle for a little pause, and then snap back in to line with the front wheels fairly quickly.

Remember not to take your hand off the handbrake, or release the button; it is essential that you can release it exactly when necessary. If it's a front wheel drive, keep the same amount of power on the whole time, and put the accelerator down a bit more when you're trying to exit the turn. If you're in a rear wheel drive, make sure to put the clutch in for while you're doing the turn and make sure your foot is OFF the accelerator when you release the clutch and the handbrake, because if you put any power down it will have the same effect as the handbrake and you'll spin around to 180 or even 270 degrees. Apply the accelerator gently after you're moving straight forwards again. This is one of the easiest and classiest tricks to do on dirt, gravel or grass. Try to do this one over and over, in each direction multiple times to get the hang of it. Try imagining you were on the road and pick a certain point as the edge of a corner that you'd like to try and swing around. You shouldn't come closer to that point than about three feet. On the road it becomes much harder, but we'll deal with bitumen later. This can also be done, in RWD only, using oversteer, which is discussed next.

Well, now that that's out of the way, you can move onto the next section.

Natural OversteerThis is where it gets harder. Natural oversteer is easily done with a RWD but is quite difficult in a FWD. We'll discuss the rear-wheel-drive technique first. RWD Natural Oversteer, or just oversteer, is a result of too much power being diverted to rear wheels that don't have enough grip to handle that power. Generally it handles a lot like a handbrake turn when it happens, the difference being that the lack of traction is obtained by excess forward force, rather than backward force. The car will slide further when you get oversteer and it will push you forward slightly. The rear wheel drive instructions are completely different to the front wheel drive instructions, so we'll cover FWD technique after RWD technique.

Rear Wheel DriveFor RWD, pick a point on your field, and drive towards it as if you were taking a normal 90-degree street intersection corner. Be in 2nd, (auto: selector to 2 or S) at about 3000 or so rpm. Just before you get next to the apex, your point, tweak the wheel even further, very sharply to the right. At the exact same time, mash the accelerator to the floor and you should feel the back wheels start to slide out. As they do, steer back the opposite way and keep the power down. You should slide out all the way and end up backwards, remember to put the clutch in. That's just to test how much the car will slide out. Now repeat the task except this time, when the back wheels slide out, steer back the opposite way and keep the power down, you can back off from the floor 'cause you won't need that much power, unless the field you're on is grippy. The car will follow the direction the front wheels are in. As soon as the back wheels are sliding out a decent amount, quickly back off and the back wheels will snap back into line with the front wheels rather quickly and harshly. This is the principle of oversteer, the more power, the further out you go. Now go back and try it a third time. Approach the corner the same way, and press the accelerator hard to make the tail (back wheels) slide out. When it has slid out a decent amount, steer back the other way to correct and take the accelerator gently off. You should drift sideways for quite a while. You can slowly release the accelerator and the tail (back wheels) will slowly drift back into line. Remember that the more throttle you give it, the more it will slide out. It's best to learn this on dirt or wet grass.

Front Wheel DriveFront Wheel Drive is a different kettle of fish altogether. It's difficult, nay, not difficult, ****ing hard to get the arse out in a FWD without the handbrake. It's the basis of my fish-tailing technique in FWD's and is a good learn for anyone. It's simple. Get up a decent amount of speed, like 60km/h on your field. Then turn to the left, and then when the weight has rocked to one side, turn so that the suspension makes the body roll significantly to the other side. Basically the trick is to get the weight distribution to rock to one side of the car, and then back to the other. You have to make it so that when it rolls back, it does it hard, so make that second turn really hard. If you want it to work well, make it three turns, to get it moving hard. That's basically the fish-tail technique, but it's a good example of oversteer without the handbrake in a FWD. The other way is to be turning around a gradual corner at a high-ish speed, 80km/h(50mph) or so, and to keep tweaking the steering wheel sharply into the corner, almost making it understeer, going to the very edge of understeer. This combination of tweaking will set the back end out, if you do it well enough. It's best to avoid natural oversteer in a FWD unless you've been thrashing one for ages.

Rear Wheel Drive on the RoadFor a dry road, approach the corner like you usually would, and then hit back to second gear, and hammer around the corner at full throttle. With any luck, the back wheels should get loose, and slide out maybe a foot or two, and come back in with a sudden jerk. If that doesn't work, then your car isn't powerful enough to do it on it's own, so you need to do some tricky clutch work to make it. What you need to do in this case is to slow down for the corner like you were going to go around it decently fast. Change down out of 3rd into 2nd and leave the clutch in. When you feel the body rock completely to one side, and you get pushed sideways in your chair, floor the accelerator and a tiny bit after, drop the clutch. The back end of the car should get very sideways. As for correcting, only tiny corrections need to be made in either situation because of the grippy nature of the road. A small correction, a tweak of the wheel back in the other direction will be more than enough to bring the tail in, in most situations. The worst thing you can do is correct too much because it will cause the car to snap back the other way because of over-correction. This is dangerous and uncontrollable, and should be avoided.

Front Wheel Drive on the RoadNatural oversteer on the road in a FWD is nearly impossible. I've only ever done it once, and that was by accident. The only way to get oversteer in a FWD on the road is with the handbrake. The technique is identical to the 90 on dirt or grass, turn, get the body roll and weight transfer, use the handbrake, back off it and simultaneously correct. Simple. The important thing to remember is that if the back wheels do keep going, you've got no way of bringing them back, so be careful. On a dry road, you will require a VERY harsh and quick pull on the handbrake, and some hefty steering to get the back end out. If it doesn't lock up back wheels, reach for the brake pedal cause you'll need to stop in a hurry if you've committed to the turn. In the wet, the back will go easily and quickly. It won't require much to make it get loose and once it is, it will slide easily, so take the handbrake off a little earlier than you might normally. I scared a local conservative woman, you know the kind, the ones that are always "up in arms" about something, be it music, or the 'net, or cars, or food or something. She **** her pants. I laughed. She backs away from the sidewalk when I drive past now. It's one of the most rewarding things that can ever happen, having a moralist deliberately avoid you.

If the road is wet, however, that's another situation entirely. Wet roads are the best source of fun. The technique for getting sideways is exactly the same as with a dry road, except the water on the surface will make the rear wheels spin easily, not more easily than on the grass, but it will slide out more. Use all of the skills you learned on the grass for getting oversteer on a wet road. Wet roads are slicker, and more consistent than dirt or grass so they make for a much smoother sideways experience. You can hold the car sideways for quite a long time in the wet if you can co-ordinate the throttle and steering properly. With the wet, you'll be able to get the back end out, and bring it back in smoothly, without so much as a jerk in the steering. Remember, you will need to correct more because you'll have more hang-time with the tail out.

Well, now that that's out of the way, you can move onto the next section, Burnouts.

BurnoutsThis is the stuff that legends, and tire-smoke, are made of. A burnout, as you may well know, is a car being stationary or near stationary whilst the drive-wheels are spinning at a speed considerably greater than the rest of the car. This produces large amounts of heat, large amounts of tire-wear, large amounts of smoke, and large amounts of cheering from passers-by. Unfortunately it also produces excessive noise and dangerous driving charges. Oh well.

Rear Wheel DriveThe classic burnout: A rear wheel drive V8 with both back tires smoking heavily on the spot...god it's nice to watch...and you don't need a V8. For an auto, put the transmission into L or 1, and have your power/economy switch to power. If you have air-con, turn it off. The basic auto technique is to apply pressure to the brake pedal with your left foot, then suddenly slam your accelerator to the floor with your right foot. With any luck, the car should remain still and the back wheels should liberate themselves, and at least one of them should start spinning. If this doesn't happen, back off the brake pedal a bit, you may be pushing too hard. If it doesn't work then, stop. Get out and pop the hood, and check if your throttle cable is extending fully. It's the thing that comes out when you press the accelerator down. If it is, then you're at the end of your tether, except for one last little trick: Get a pair of vice grips, and find your brake lines leading to your rear wheels. First, locate the master cylinder, and follow the pipes. When you DO find them, clamp the vice grips on the line nice and hard so as to restrict the flow of brake fluid. This will effectively put the back brakes temporarily out of action. Go and start your routine again, and if it still doesn't work, well, sell your (carbureted Toyota tercel ) and buy a real car.

Front Wheel DriveFWD burnouts are simply a matter of reefing on the handbrake as hard as you can, getting every available kW of power to the front wheels and dropping the clutch/flooring the accelerator. The main difference between FWD and RWD burnouts is that non-use of the brake pedal. The handbrake should be sufficient to hold the car if it is a powerful car IE CRX or 3.5 litre Magna but anything less than that should attempt this burnout either with the front wheels in some sort of wet patch on the road, or with the back wheels "chocked". This means you have to get something to hold the back wheels still, a speed bump which is preferable, or if needs be, simply do the burnout on a roundabout and chock the wheels with the edge of the roundabout kerb. Oh, and if you're in the USA and you don't know what a roundabout is, it's a round thing that you give way to everyone on your right to drive around that's sometimes used instead of stop signs.

Now the manual technique. Nearly any rear-wheel drive car should be able to hold a static burnout with at least one wheel if it has manual transmission and a decent clutch. Put the heel of your right foot on the brake pedal, and lean the top of your foot over so that it's on the accelerator. Put the clutch in with your left foot, and push down on the accelerator and the brake at the same time. Rev the engine to about 5,000 rpm and then drop the clutch with your left foot, whilst flooring the accelerator. This should break the back wheels loose. You'll have to back off the accelerator fairly quickly to avoid redlining. Hold it at about 4/5000rpm for premium torque. Congratulations, you're now doing a burnout! You've just attracted the attention of every conservative and every revhead in the nearest 400 metres..now leave the scene before the law arrives. And make with the leaving already.

Well, now that that's out of the way, you can move onto the next section.

DoughnutsThe principle of doughnuts is simple: Put one end of your car around the other one with the drive wheels spinning as many times as you want/can before you are sick. Sound like fun? It is.

Rear Wheel DriveSee the section on burnouts for starting a RWD donut. First of all, get your burnout started, and then slowly release the brake until you start moving forward. Start to turn the wheel and release the brake pedal more, and as you accelerate more, turn the wheel to full lock and back way off the brake. The car will lurch forward and turn sharply, and the back will fly around. Keep going onto the brake more as you start to slow down, so you can get more force for the next turn and release it more as you start to get thrown around. You can turn the wheel back the opposite way when you're going through a turn to just drift with the wheelspin if you like, and then turn to lock the other way for a nice reversal. It's really up to you to experiment with different combinations of how you like to get the car moving, but that's the basics of it.

Front Wheel DriveFWD doughnuts (herein referred to as doughies) are fun, if you can stand the sickening lateral motion. They're better in long wheelbase cars, like Magnas, Camrys or Telstars, and I know from experience. On the downside, they aren't good for your universal joints. Front wheel drive doughies are often called "reverse doughies", mainly because they're performed in reverse. The universal joints are fully turned when you do reverse doughies, which means that they are redirecting the power at an angle, which means power loss. This power loss goes towards damaging the joint; it's not that bad for it but you shouldn't do it too often. But if you're going to do it, do it well. Turn the wheel to full lock and put the car into reverse. Now, floor the accelerator and drop the clutch, if you have one. The car will launch backwards, and turn about 90 degrees before the front wheels will start to slide. When they do, you'll feel a sickening lurch of lateral force as you rotate around the back wheels. Back off the accelerator a bit now, you don't want to redline, you've only got one reverse gear. The lateral motion will slow down, and the action will repeat. If you want, after the car has slid in one direction, you can turn the wheel rapidly to full lock in the other direction, and the car will slide around the other way. Another way to do doughies in a FWD is to use the handbrake. Unfortunately it's hard to do and requires a slippery surface. Turn the wheel to full lock start in L or 1st. hit the gas, and you'll turn sharply. As the body rolls away, use your handbrakie skills to get the arse out quickly. Basically you have to keep pulling the handbrake on and off at the right moment to keep sending the back end sliding. This is fairly useless on dry cement or bitument, but on grass or a wet road (or a dirt lot ) it's fairly effective. Just keep the power up to a good level and keep using the handbrake to throw the car around. If you want, and this is for grass or dirt only, you can just LEAVE the handbrake on, but it ****s your tires, fairly quickly.

Well, now that that's out of the way, you can move onto the next section, Fishies.
Modified by PantherRacer at 12:47 PM 5/28/2006

Fish-TailingI guess the next section is on Fish-Tailing. Basically this is the process of sliding the back wheels of your car out from one side to the other, repeatedly. It's a difficult manoeuvre which requires concentration and to know your car well. This move is famous for claiming many a learner all around the place, more often than not causing them to lose control and slide into a sand bank, causing minimal mechanical damage but maximum embarrassment. Here's how to do it properly.

Rear Wheel DriveOnce again, the easiest fishy you'll ever do is in a rear wheel drive manual. Be in 2nd gear, or lock the selector in 2 or S. Drive along your field at about 40km/h so you have a decent amount of revs. Like with the 90 or oversteer, first turn and then let the body rock to one side, and as it does, press the accelerator to get the tail moving. As it starts to move, steer back the opposite way, and back off the accelerator when you want the tail to come back in. When the tail starts coming back in, you press the accelerator again to send it out in the other direction, whilst steering so you keep moving forwards. The trick is basically to keep your front wheels facing the same direction the whole time, and let your tail slide around behind it. Pretty soon you'll learn to co-ordinate the two, and realise that they fit together and help each other. The steering needs to be constantly adjusted so that the steering wheels are always pointed forwards, and the accelerator should be rocked on and off accordingly to control the tail-out. Hard **** to do...it works in the following order: first, accelerate and steer left, then: continue to accelerate as you steer to the right, back off as you correct to the center, accelerate and steer left, back off as you correct to the center, repeat as necessary.

Front Wheel DriveAgain, the natural non-oversteering tendencies of FWD cars prove difficult. Oversteer in FWD's is, at best, difficult to control. You have to get oversteer using the techniques outlined in Natural Oversteer. Basically, if you're in an auto, lock it in 2/S and if you're in a manual then stay in 2nd. Just keep the throttle heavy and constant, start from going slow-ish and get faster as you go. You have to keep rocking the car, turning from nearly full lock one way to nearly full lock the other way, in time with the body roll and balance of the car. See? Told ya it was hard. You just have to keep turning back and forth as the car rocks, and it will remove it's back wheels from traction and slide them out good. Once you're going, remember, if you pull on the handbrake during a slide, you'll just pivot around 180 and stop, so do this if you ever start to lose it. If you feel you are losing control, you may be over-correcting. Once you actually are getting oversteer and the car is fishtailing, you don't have to correct that much to keep it going out in either direction. To counteract an increase in maximum slide angle, don't turn the wheel as far, and if you feel like you're getting too far out, just only correct half as much as you normally would have, and the back will come straight in, and you'll be on your way, but 30 degrees off center. The other method is using the handbrake; it's almost cheating though. Using the same theory as RWD, rock the body in either direction and pull the handbrake on at approximately the middle when the weight transfer happens. Keep a steady, heavy throttle and try to keep your speed low, you won't need much. Keep practising with the handbrake, it's a difficult thing to do, but once you've mastered one of these techniques, the other one will come easily.

I've read a lot of about "rev-matching" I'm sorry if this comes as an extremely noobie question, but I'm trying to do more research before I start trying to drift around.

What exactly is rev-matching, in terms of heel-toe shifting. I understand it matches the revs of the engine with the speed of the wheels, but how do you know when this occurs? Is there a magic number of RPM I should be aware of or something.

Thanks guys.

ArcherV20 wrote:I've read a lot of about "rev-matching" I'm sorry if this comes as an extremely noobie question, but I'm trying to do more research before I start trying to drift around.

What exactly is rev-matching, in terms of heel-toe shifting. I understand it matches the revs of the engine with the speed of the wheels, but how do you know when this occurs? Is there a magic number of RPM I should be aware of or something.

Thanks guys.

rev matching and heel toe are kinda the same thing, heel toe is just a racing technique to press all 3 pedals at once.

ill just re-explain heel toe just in case people are confused.

heel toe:you are driving along in 3rd gear, you have to brake hard for a corner, but the exit of the corner is at 2nd gear speeds.

you hit your brake with your right foot, hit the clutch with your left, then twist your right foot to press the gas pedal.

basically what this does is allow you to downshift without any jerk or lag out of the car. its the same thing as rev matching just a ton faster.

its a trial and error thing as to when and how hard to press the gas. it takes alot of practice to get right.

Kamin wrote:
rev matching and heel toe are kinda the same thing, heel toe is just a racing technique to press all 3 pedals at once.

ill just re-explain heel toe just in case people are confused.

heel toe:you are driving along in 3rd gear, you have to brake hard for a corner, but the exit of the corner is at 2nd gear speeds.

you hit your brake with your right foot, hit the clutch with your left, then twist your right foot to press the gas pedal.

basically what this does is allow you to downshift without any jerk or lag out of the car. its the same thing as rev matching just a ton faster.

its a trial and error thing as to when and how hard to press the gas. it takes alot of practice to get right.

Exactly what he said Archer.Just practice rev-matching under normal driving conditions before practicing heel-toe.You need to get a feel for how much you need to blip the gas pedal to match were the rpm is going to be in the next gear down. I.E. not reving the piss out of your motor to rev-match

This also greatly reduces the wear on your clutch and motor/tranny mounts

lol maybe i should do a write-up on rev-matching for the noobs

cody-if you have big feet you don't have to turn your foot at all. i just use the left and right sides of my right shoe to operate the two pedals. been doing the "toe and toe" downshift for years.

panther-true, the power isn't spinning the rear wheels, but it is causing them to lose grip (almost the same thing but not i guess). let off the power, the rears stop sliding and the fronts start sliding. add it back, the fronts come back and the rears slide. ANYways . . . . how 'bout them Yankees?

95lstegman wrote:cody-if you have big feet you don't have to turn your foot at all. i just use the left and right sides of my right shoe to operate the two pedals. been doing the "toe and toe" downshift for years.

I wasn't explaining how to heel-toe, that was Kamin's post that i quoted. I was explaining to practice normal rev-matching before you start to practice heel-toeing.

I don't hell-toe like that either because im penguin footed, and if i were to do it like that i'd have to turn the crap out of my knee and it would be all up in the steering wheel. So i brake with my heel portion of my foot, and blip the gas with the toe portion of my foot near the top of the gas pedal.

PantherRacer wrote:Burnouts Get a pair of vice grips, and find your brake lines leading to your rear wheels. First, locate the master cylinder, and follow the pipes. When you DO find them, clamp the vice grips on the line nice and hard so as to restrict the flow of brake fluid. This will effectively put the back brakes temporarily out of action. Go and start your routine again, and if it still doesn't work, well, sell your (carbureted Toyota tercel ) and buy a real car.

So i take it this wont hurt your brakes or brake lines, will it??

ive been very much informed by this post, i want to start drifting my z32! it is a fun sport and there arent to many z32's out there drifting to my knowlege, do you guys know how a z32 would handle as far as drifting, i heard there is massive understeer due to its weight, and bodyroll!

koukicody wrote:
I don't hell-toe like that either because im penguin footed, and if i were to do it like that i'd have to turn the crap out of my knee and it would be all up in the steering wheel. So i brake with my heel portion of my foot, and blip the gas with the toe portion of my foot near the top of the gas pedal.

Yeah, that is how I do it too. I don't really have the room to twist my foot around the proper way. Still is effective though.

TchouikoS13 wrote:So i take it this wont hurt your brakes or brake lines, will it??

You should only try that if all else fails when trying to do a burnout (and if you have to resort to that, buy a new car)

It really depends on what type of break lines you have...if they're old and dry-rotted, well, you need to change em anyways.

I drift the hell outta my z32 n/a... If you can master drifting a z then you can most likely be owning kids if you get in a 240.

i love the pics. it kinda helps the ugh... visuall learners. haha.

phanatikz32 wrote:ive been very much informed by this post, i want to start drifting my z32! it is a fun sport and there arent to many z32's out there drifting to my knowlege, do you guys know how a z32 would handle as far as drifting, i heard there is massive understeer due to its weight, and bodyroll! <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.nicoclub.com/forums/image ... nfused.gif" BORDER="0">

i have a 87 300zx and i just got a 93 and i just put a jdm moter in the Z32 its a NA but i still love driftin in it and in my Z31 just as much but my Z32 dosent have much body role because of my aftermarket suspension but when you start drifin in urs n u think it has to much body role for u then just upgrade ur suspension.... problem solved.... but u asked how they were to play with... mine are great ive had three 300zx's in the past five years... n ive drifted in all of them.... just make sure you have money for tires because once you start slidein around ur not gonna wanna stop trust me i know.... as a matter of fact i went out n bought two falkens for the rear....

SHIFT = GET SLIDEWAYZZZ