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Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:30 pm
by miswuevos
Hey guys

Probably the reason why I thought about selling my car was because I have not done "anything with it". Meaning that for a corolla owner anyone would have expected that they would have gone and participated on a track event at least once in their lifetime. For me I haven't been that lucky, it has been nothing but all commute(school and work). For the time being, I am keeping my ae86 and I will be going back to stock on suspension and other goodies just because "I want to start all over again". Before so, I would like to see what I can do with my car.

I know there is K.R.O.P.S that hold events, but I missed the deadline to participate, and plus I am about to tackle my papers and finals.

Also I know about Adams Motorsports every Thursday, but the thing is that I have not gone to track ever...ever..ever. I do not know what to expect, I do not know what my car will do, I am practically a noob. Therefore I would like to know whether there are skidpad events or anything along those guidelines in which I can freely practice.

Any thoughts?

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:28 pm
by burdickjp
Autocross?

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:43 pm
by jondee86
Drifting is one particular aspect of car control that has been isolated
and developed into a niche sport. It is related to the 4-wheel drift that
was once part of GP racing, and driver induced oversteer was the standard
cornering technique for RWD rally cars. In both cases the "drift" was
essentially a by-product of the lack of traction.

So if you are keen on learning how to drift your car, you need to set your
car up for the least amount of grip, and then find a low-friction surface
for practicing. Install the classic 8/6kg spring combo with some shocks
designed for a car twice the weight, and get a set of narrow, hard tires.
Pump them up to 45psi in the rear.

That should slide pretty good on a wet road, or any hard surface that has
a bit of dirt, sand or loose grit on top. Find a place where you can drive
circles safely, and practice getting the back to slide out while turning. To
begin you will most likely just spin out, but after a while you should be
able to catch it, and extend the half spin into a slide.

If you have an indoor kart track near you, that is a fun way to learn how
to drift on a low friction surface :mrgreen:

Cheers... jondee86

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:35 pm
by yoshimitsuspeed
Private/safe dirt roads, snow, gravel etc is really great because you can drift at slow speeds.
I would really recommend a HPDE because knowing how to drive is much more important and once you know how to drive you will know how to drift. Then it's just a matter of improving your technique.

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:14 pm
by LongGrain
Setting your car up for the least amount of traction is the worst drifting advice I've ever heard.

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:35 am
by Deuce Cam
Not necessarily for a beginner. A low traction surface and/or setup will make it easier for a beginner to test the limits of the car at lower speeds.

Besides in terms of parts jondee86 basically described the drifter special setup anyway: high spring rates, stiff shocks, and narrow/hard tires (stretched fits the bill).

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:46 am
by LongGrain
Well, since I get the impression that none of the people posting replies in here actually drift, I'll lend my .02

First. Don't be afraid to go to events. Events are not just for advanced drivers, they are for everyone. You don't get good in a parking lot somewhere and then show up to a track knowing the ropes. You learn it by doing it, so go to those Adams events. You are extremely fortunate to have a venue where you can go drifting every week. Here in the Midwest we have 1 real track and we get to have 5-6 events per year and that's it. So don't take that for granted. If I were you I would attend every one of those events you can possibly afford.

As for car setup. For a beginner, I would recommend decent suspension, coilovers if you can afford them, but not necessary. Manual rack with ps knuckles, a good grippy tire up front (rt615, star spec, etc) and a decent performance all season in back (falken zeix or similar). You want to have a decent amount of grip, because grip moves you forward. A bucket seat is HIGHLY recommended and an lsd or welded diff is a necessity. A good clutch and flywheel will also be your friend.

And for Christ sakes, you need to learn on normal dry pavement. Practicing on gravel or snow or wet pavement is only going to teach you bad habits due to a false sense of power. To learn proper initiations, weight transfer, steering inputs, scrubbing speed, etc etc you need to be on dry pavement.

But as I said earlier. The most important thing is seat time go to the track as often as you possibly can and you will progress quickly.

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 3:30 pm
by miswuevos
Thank you LongGrain your answer gives me the right motivation to tackle this drift bug

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:11 pm
by mad_86
Yeah +1 what long grain said!

But yeah defineity LSD or welded for sure
get your e-brake to lock
(to help loose traction/break tires loose starting out and it can save your ass if you make a mistake lol)
Find a industrial area/ parklot (usually late night is best lol)
Try doing 90deg. Turn then 180deg. Burnout (refer to drift bible vid)
So get the feeling of how it feels , and what happens , these are low speed stuff.
Get those down then look for track events you do get a lot more seat time !:)

And last don't forget Tu wuevos. Lol

Go have fun!

Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:12 pm
by Moto_Club4AG
I like everyone's answer. And my basis is that all of these answers are correct for a newbie. And that's because ALL of those answers above involves YOU to get out there and DRIVE. No one improves driving by filling the brain with facts read in books or articles. You need to get out there, apply the thoughts based on action, and treat this as a physical activity and a sport.


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Re: Practice drifting, basic car manuever skills

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:14 pm
by Moto_Club4AG
If you have time waiting for somebody to post replies to this, grab the car and go do a drive. Things don't have to be all about abusive driving to learn.


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