History
For years drivers have intentionally used oversteer in motorsports such as dirt track racing, motorcycle speedway, and rallying. Early Grand Prix drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari also used an at-the-limit form of driving called the four-wheel drift. It has also featured prominently in stunt driving and other forms of exhibition.
Modern drifting started out as a racing technique popular in the All Japan Touring Car Championship races over 30 years ago. Motorcycling legend turned driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi, was the foremost creator of drifting techniques in the 1970s. He was famous for hitting the apex (the point where the car is closest to the inside of a turn) at high speed and then drifting through the corner, preserving a high exit speed. This earned him several championships and a legion of fans who enjoyed the spectacle of burning tires. The bias ply racing tires of the 1960s-1980s lent themselves to driving styles with a high slip angle. As professional racers in
One of the earliest recorded drift events outside
Present day
Drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete in rear wheel drive cars to earn points from judges based on various factors. At the top levels of competition, especially the D1 Grand Prix from Japan and others in Malaysia, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Formula-D in the United States, and New Zealand, these drivers are able to keep their cars sliding for extended periods of time, often through several turns. Drifting is not recognized by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) motorsport's governing body, as a professional form of motorsport.[2]
Amateur drifting on public roads is a significant problem in
Drift competition
Drifting competitions are judged based on line, angle, speed, and show factor. Line involves taking the correct line, which is usually announced beforehand by judges. The show factor is based on multiple things, such as the amount of smoke, how close the car is to the wall, and the crowd's reaction. Angle is the angle of a car in a drift, Speed is the speed entering a turn, the speed through a turn, and the speed exiting the turn; faster is better.
Team Drift Competition in
The judging takes place on just a small part of the circuit, a few linking corners that provide good viewing, and opportunities for drifting. The rest of the circuit is irrelevant, except as it pertains to controlling the temperature of the tires and setting the car up for the first judged corner. In the tandem passes, the lead driver often feints his or her entry to the first corner to upset the chase driver.
There are typically two sessions, a qualifying/practice session, and a final session. In the qualifying sessions, referred as Tansou (speed run), drifters get individual passes in front of judges (who may or may not be the final judges) to try and make the final 16. This is often on the day preceding the final.The finals are tandem passes, referred as Tsuiso (chase attack). Drivers are paired off, and each heat comprises two passes, with each driver taking a turn to lead. The best of the 8 heats go to the next 4, to the next 2, to the final. The passes are judged as explained above, however there are some provisos such as:
- Overtaking the lead car under drift conditions almost always wins that pass.
- Overtaking the lead car under grip conditions automatically forfeits that pass.
- Spinning forfeits that pass, unless the other driver also spins.
- Increasing the lead under drift conditions helps to win that pass.
- Maintaining a close gap while chasing under drift conditions helps to win that pass.
Points are awarded for each pass, and usually one driver prevails. Sometimes the judges cannot agree, or cannot decide, or a crowd vocally disagrees with the judge's decision. In such cases more passes may be run until a winner is produced. Sometimes mechanical failure determines the battle's outcome, either during or preceding a heat. If a car cannot enter a tandem battle, the remaining entrant (who automatically advances) will give a solo demonstration pass. In the event of apparently close or tied runs, crowds often demonstrate their desire for another run with chants of 'one more time'.[4]
There is some regional variation, for example in
Cars
Usually, drift cars are light to moderate weight, rear-wheel-drive coupes and sedans. In Japan and worldwide, the most common drift machines are the Nissan Silvia/180SX/200SX, Toyota AE86, Mazda RX-7, Nissan A31 Cefiro, Nissan C33 Laurel, Nissan Skyline (RWD versions), Nissan Z-car, Toyota Altezza, Toyota Chaser, Toyota Mark II, Toyota MZ20 Soarer, Honda S2000, Toyota Supra (MKIV), Ford Mustang and Mazda Miata. US drift competitions the same cars, plus Chrysler LLC's Dodge Charger, General Motors' F-Body cars from 1967 until 2002, Pontiac Solstice, Holden Commodore, and Holden Monaro . Drifters in other countries often use local favorites, such as the early Ford Escort (UK and Ireland), BMW 3 Series (other parts of Europe), Porsche, early Opel cars, the later Russian market Lada (Hungary) or Volvo 700 series (Scandinavia), modified Proton cars (Malaysia) and the Holden Commodore in Australia.
As an example, the top 15 cars in the 2003 D1GP,[5] top 10 in the 2004 D1GP,[6] and top 10 in the 2005 D1GP[7] were:
Nissan Silvia S15 drifting
| Car | Model | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| S15 | 6 cars | 5 cars | 3 cars | |
| AE86 | 3 cars | 3 cars | 2 cars | |
| FD3S | 2 cars | 1 car | 2 cars | |
| ER34 | 1 car | 1 car | 1 car | |
| Nissan Silvia | S13 | 2 cars | | |
| JZX100 | 1 car | | | |
| GD (RWD) | | | 1 car | |
| SXE10 | | | 1 car |
The Top cars in the 2006 Formula D Championship: DriftLive (English).
| Driver | Make | Model |
| Nissan | ||
| Lexus | IS350 | |
| Nissan | 240SX | |
| Ford | Mustang |
| Nissan | 350z |
Like the D1GP the most frequent nameplate in the top rankings is Nissan, but in
FWD cars do qualify for entrance into D1GP events, but are rarely used due to the drivetrains inability to allow the car to accelerate out of a drift. They are not eligible for Formula D events.
AWD vehicles, such as the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution can drift but usually requires different suspension tuning (when compared to RWD), higher amounts of power, and, in some cases, an adjustable center differential. In D1 Grand Prix, these cars are modified to RWD specification.
One of the more widely known AWD drifts cars, is the JUN HYPER LEMON EVO V, that won 1st place in the Drift Challenge in
Techniques for inducing drift
The basic driving techniques used in drifting are constant, though each car and driver will employ some subset of these techniques. A similarity for all drifting techniques is to be smooth and practice. These techniques include:
Beginner techniques
These techniques do not use weight transition, so are typically the first thing the novice drifter learns.[8] However they are still used by the most experienced drifters, and require skill to execute properly. These techniques aim to induce a loss of traction on the rear wheels, either by locking the wheel (e-brake drift), or using enough power from the engine to break the traction force (power-oversteer and clutch kick).
Hand-brake drift
While the clutch is depressed, the hand brake (or Emergency brake) is pulled to induce rear traction loss. As soon as traction is lost, the driver releases the clutch, depresses the accelerator, and countersteers. This technique is used heavily in drift competitions to drift large corners, or to trim the car's line mid-drift.[9]
Power oversteer or Powerslide
It is usually done at the corner exit by stepping on the gas hard, to slide side ways out of the corner. It is most commonly employed by beginners because it teaches steering and throttle control without the danger of an actual entry oriented drift.
Nissan 240SX Shift Lock Drifting
Shift lock (compression slide)
Initiated by downshifting (usually from third to second or fourth to third, and using a very fast shift) instead of braking, without rev-matching, causing the drive wheels to lock momentarily. Helpful for very tight corners, allowing the driver to approach the corner at a slower speed and lower revs, while allowing quick acceleration when exiting the corner. This technique can be very damaging to the engine if mis-used as the ECU is unable to rev limit when the engine is oversped by the rear wheels. Premature downshifters are called "Rod Stretchers".[10]
Clutch Kick
This is done by "kicking" the clutch (pushing in, then out, usually more than one time in a drift for adjustment in a very fast manner) to send a shock through the powertrain, upsetting the car's balance. This causes the rear wheels to slip. The foot should be at an angle so the brake and gas may be pressed as well, this being needed to control speed and stop from spinning out in the drift.
Weight transition techniques
These techniques employ a further concept of weight transition. When a vehicle has the load towards the front, the back wheels have less grip than the front, causing an oversteer condition that can initiate a drift.
Braking drift
This drift is performed by braking into a corner, so that the car can transfer weight to the front. This is immediately followed by throttle, which in an RWD car causes the rear wheels to lose traction. FWD cars can also use this technique as it does not depend on the rear wheels being driven.[11] In FWD cars the front wheels are not allowed to lock due to the continuous power, the rear wheels locks easily due to weight transfer and due to the general front heavy design of FWDs.
Inertia (Feint) drift or Scandinavian flick
- This is done by transferring the weight of car towards the outside of a turn by first turning away from the turn and then quickly turning back using the inertia of the rear of the car to swing into the desired drifting line. Sometimes the hand-brake will be applied while transferring the weight of the car towards the outside to lock the rear wheels and help the rear swing outwards. This type of drifting causes the car to accelerate faster afterwards, because of momentum built up while drifting.
Kansei, Lift off, or Taking In
[13] - By letting off the accelerator while cornering at very high speeds, cars with relatively neutral handling will begin to slide, simply from the weight transfer resulting from engine braking. The drift is controlled afterwards by steering inputs from the driver and light pedal work, similar to the Braking drift.
Other techniques
Dirt drop
This is done by dropping the rear tires off the sealed road onto dirt, or whatever low-grip surface borders the road, to maintain or gain drift angle. Also colloquially called "Dirt Turbo".[14]
Choku-Dori/Manji (Pendulum)
Otherwise known as over-sway, this technique is done by swaying the car's weight back and forth on straightaways, using countersteer and throttle to maintain a large angle. This is a show maneuver that usually involves many cars following the same line.
Sewer Gripping The driver drops front tires into sewers on mountains to increase grip and to enter the corner at a greater speed.
Drift tuning
Drive train
A proper mechanical limited slip differential (LSD) is almost essential for drifting. Open diffs and viscous diffs cannot be controlled during a sustained slide. All other modifications are secondary to the LSD.[15] Popular drift LSDs include OS Giken & Cusco.
The most popular form of LSD for drifting is the clutch type, in "2-way" form; this is preferred for its consistent and aggressive lockup behavior under all conditions (acceleration and deceleration). Some drift cars use a spool "differential", which actually has no differential action at all, the wheels are locked to each other. Budget drifters also use the welded differential, where the side gears are welded to give the same effect. This makes the car very easy to slide at high speed, but difficult to park, and is hard on the driveline. Torsen and Quaife (available on cars such as S15, FD3S, MX5, JZA8x, UZZ3x) diffs are also adequate.The clutches on drift cars tend to be very tough ceramic brass button or multiple-plate varieties, for durability, as well as to allow rapid "clutch kick" techniques to upset the balance of the car. Gearbox and engine mounts are often replaced with urethane mounts, and dampers added, to control the violent motion of the engine/gearbox under these conditions.
Gearsets may be replaced with closer ratios to keep the engine in the power band. (Japanese drifters confuse the "L" and call these "cross-mission"[citation needed].) These may be coarser dog engagement straight cut gears instead of synchronised helical gears, for durability and faster shifting at the expense of noise and refinement. Wealthier drifters may use sequential gearboxes to make gear selection easier/faster, while sequential shift lever adapters can be used to make shifts easier without increasing shift speed.
Suspension
The suspension in a drift car tends to have very high spring and damper rates. Sway bars are upgraded, particularly on the rear. Caster is often increased to improve the car's controllability during a slide. Most cars use an integrated coilover/shock (MacPherson strut) combination. This type of suspension allows the ride height to be adjusted independently of the suspension travel. There is no perfect height setting or spring/shock combo for any car, but each driver will have their own personal preference. Many suspension manufacturers offer suspension tuned specifically for drifting, allowing many people to enter the sport competitively.
Bushings can be upgraded with urethane parts. Most Nissan vehicles have a floating rear subframe which is usually fixed in position with billet aluminum or urethane "drift pineapples", to prevent the frame moving during drift.
One suspension tuning method, still popular in
Generally drifting consumes tires rapidly and multiple sets may be necessary for a single professional event.
Cockpit
Because of the large sideways forces, drivers find it preferable to be retained firmly by a bucket seat, and five point harness. This allows the hands to merely turn the wheel, as opposed to bracing oneself against the wheel. The steering wheel should be relatively small, dished, and perfectly round, so that it can be released and allowed to spin through the hands as the caster returns the front wheels to center. The locking knob on the hand brake is usually replaced with a spin turn knob, this stops the hand brake locking on when pulled. Some drivers move the hand brake location or add an extra hydraulic hand brake actuator for greater braking force. Many drivers make use of additional gauges to monitor such things as boost levels, oil, intake and coolant temperatures.
Engine
S13 Silvia bay with modifications for drifting.
Engine power does not need to be high, and in fact if a car has too much power, it can be very hard to handle during a drift. Each driver has their own preference, and drift cars can be found with anything from 100bhp (74kW) to 1000bhp (745kW). Typically, engine tuning is oriented towards achieving linear response rather than maximum power output. Engines also must be equipped with upgraded cooling systems. Not only are the engines pushed very hard, creating lots of heat, but being driven at an angle reduces the airflow through the radiator. For turbocharged engines, intercooler efficiency is similarly reduced. Oil coolers are almost essential. V-mounting the intercooler and radiator improves flow through these components, and keeps the expensive intercooler out of harm's way in the case of a minor accident.
Steering
With increased steering angle it is possible to achieve greater angle with the vehicle, it will also aid in spin recovery. This is often done with spacers on the steering rack, custom steering racks, custom tierod ends, or machining the spindles. Increased steering angle often requires other modifications as at some point the tire or wheel will come in contact with other suspension pieces or the inner/outer fenders.
Body
Cleaning up severed bars during drift meet.
Chassis preparation is similar to a road racing car. Roll cages are sometimes employed for safety, and to improve the torsional rigidity of the car's frame, but are compulsory in events that involves the 2+ cars tsuiou runs in the event of a side collision. Front and rear strut tower braces, B-pillar braces, lower arm braces, and master cylinder braces are all used to stiffen the chassis. The interior is stripped of extraneous seating, trim, carpet, sound deadening; anything that is not essential is removed to reduce weight.
Body kits are often attached with cable ties. When the body kit meets the wall or curb, the cable ties snap, releasing the part, as opposed to breaking it.
As drift cars are pushed faster, aerodynamic tuning becomes more important as well. Rear spoilers and wings usually are useful only in large, open tracks where the cars develop enough speed to create a need for more downforce. Wheel arches are often rolled or flared to allow the fitment of larger tires. Airflow to the engine is critical, so the hood is often vented. The popular "whale tail" spoiler is only practical at high speeds (+130 mph), and in street use create drag and/or add weight to the car.
Due to the nature of the hobby, drift cars are typically involved in many minor accidents. Thus, those involved with the sport tend to avoid expensive or easily damaged body kits and custom paintwork.
Tires
S13 Silvia - tire stretched over a wide rim, increasing sidewall rigidity. The rim has a low offset to increase track.
The cars quite often have different tires on the front and back, and the owner may have quite a few sets. This is because a single afternoon of drifting can destroy a new set of tires. As a rule, good tires go on the front for good steering. On the back, hard-compound tires are used, quite often second-hand ones tend to end up in a cloud of smoke. 15" wheels are common on the rear, as 15" tires are cheap. As a driver gets better, they will most likely want to upgrade the tires used in the rear for a higher grip compound. Although cheap/hard tires are fun purely for their slipperiness and ease of drifting, they quickly become a hazard for high-speed drifts. More advanced drivers require the most grip possible from all 4 tires, so as to retain control adequately during high speed drifts. Competitive drifters often run DOT approved tires closer to racing tires, which is permitted, with the exception of some major championships including D1GP which only permits commercially available tires that are approved by them. The grip is required for control, speed, and a fast snap on the initial entry. Some companies have started to create tires with special effects for drifting. One such company is Kumho. They recently released tires designed especially for the drifting crowd. These new tires produce colored smoke instead of regular grey smoke when drifted. Lavender-scented tires have also been developed.[16] They are not permitted in many competitions, as they are seen as giving an unfair advantage to teams with the funding to use them; now, they are currently expensive, but available to the public.
Drifting in popular culture
Because of the showy, spectator-friendly nature of drifting, it has received some exposure in mainstream culture both in
Anime and Manga
- The manga series Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno, later adapted to an anime, an arcade game, and a Live action film, tells the story of a young kid taking on the Touge of Japan's Mt. Akina in the Gunma prefecture. Keiichi Tsuchiya acts as a consultant and makes a voice cameo in one episode of the anime.
- The manga "Over Rev!" prominently features drifting as a way to attack turns in mountain touge battles, this series is praised for its realistic view on street racing and drifting techniques
Videos
- Best Motoring International as well as JDM Option frequently features drifting events with Keiichi Tsuchiya (nicknamed the Drift King). BMI also released the Drift Bible, a well-known reference DVD explaining drifting in a step-by-step fashion. JDM Option covers the D1GP Professional Drift series regularly.
- Race Factory, a US based company documents the lifestyle of everyday
Video games
A drifter performing a Feint Style drift in the simulator Live for Speed
- Driving simulators like Gran Turismo, Enthusia Professional Racing, Forza Motorsport and its sequel, Live for Speed, Race Driver: GRID and other racing games (certain Need for Speed series, etc.) include the physics necessary to simulate drifting. Live for Speed has online multiplayer servers specifically for drifting.
- Other drifting games include Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift and its sequel, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Project Gotham Racing, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, D1 Grand Prix, Crazyracing Kartrider, and Drift City.
Television
- The presenters of British TV program Top Gear are known to enjoy powersliding cars on their test track. In the final episode of series 6 Richard Hammond tested the Vauxhall Monaro VX-R and was taught how to drift in the same car by D1 Grand Prix driver Yasuyuki Kazama. Despite being unable to speak English, Kazama was able to teach
- Drift events have been covered by major TV sports networks worldwide, as well as through a regular program on US-based cable TV network G4techTV.
- One of the earliest coverage on drifting was at the first episode of Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld, at the early segment of the episode which deals with Japanese car culture, Jeremy Clarkson visits a touge where drift runs took place and remarked that its like joyriding but with their own cars, he then interviewed a boy of 19 when his 180SX is waiting for it to be recovered. He then attends a drifting event where he interviewed Dorikin.
- The children's TV Series Roary the Racing Car has a character - Drifter - who is so named because of his ability to Drift around corners. He is often shown to be almost perpendicular to the intended direction of travel.
Movies
- Overdrift (July 2007) a short film by the Duncan Brothers about a drift racer who must cross over into a mythical dimension where dinosaurs drift all the time and it's impossible to drive straight, or the "D-Dimension", in order to solve the mystery of his brother's disappearance.
- Slide
- Drift Alliance Bad as Hell (May 2006) is a documentary about Drift Alliance, a popular drift team composed of Vaughn Gittin Jr., Tony Angelo, Chris Forsberg, and Ryan Hampton. The documentary features Drift Alliance at competitions as well as demonstrations.
- Drift: The Sideways Craze (2007) is a documentary HD film that features the art of professional drifting. National drifting champion Samuel Hubinette and drifting rival Ken Gushi prepare for the D1 Grand Prix, while they teach a young fan the basic elements of drifting. The film can be found on Discovery HD Theatre.
- The third film in the The Fast and the Furious series, Tokyo Drift, is set in a romanticized version of
- Drifting and Touge driving are featured in the third, fifth and final installment of the Shuto Kousoku Trial series.
- In the Pixar movie Cars, Lightning McQueen learns drifting from Doc Hudson.
- Impak Maksima (literal translation from Malay language is Maximum Impact) and Evolusi: KL Drift (Evolution: Kuala Lumpur Drift)
- In the Initial D live action movie, a Toyota Corolla Trueno/GTS(AE86), Mazda RX7Gen2(FC3S), Mitsubishi Lancer EvoIII, and Nissan Skyline GTR32 are drifted.
- Men and Motors program titled "Pro Drift" Show's how the Drift Scene is progressing in
- In the Impak Maksima movie, there are a Toyota AE86,NIssan Silvia S15,Nissan Cefiro A31 and special drifting show by Malaysian D1 GP DriverTengku Djan Ley Proton Waja R3.
R/C drifting
Main article: Radio-controlled drifting
R/C drifting refers to the act of drifting with a radio-controlled car. R/C cars are equipped with special low grip tires, usually made from PVC or ABS piping. Some manufacturers make radial drift tires that are made of actual rubber compounds. The car setup is usually changed to allow the car to drift more easily. R/C drifting is most successful on 4WD (Four wheel drive) R/C cars. Companies such as Tamiya, Yokomo, Team Associated and HPI have made drift cars and supported the hobby.[18]
