inertia drift question

[driftninja666]

i have a question about the straight line inertia drift . ive been practicing and i cant get the timing right.here's what i do.... top of 2nd or 3rd i faint let off throttle and then press the throttle when it slips and counter steer but i cand get it to sway back the other way and suggestions or help would rock thanks in advance...

[drftrconspracy]

well what are you doing to try to get it to swing back the other way? after you get sideways the first time while in the drift let off the throttle completely. It scared the piss outta me the first time it happened. i started going too sideways and i let off the throttle and it threw me the wrong way into a snowbank . idk if thats the best advice out there but give it a try.

[Drift For Food]

Getting on the throttle is the problem. Braking is actually more benificial...well depends exactly on what you're doing. Inertial drifting or feint is mostly a steering technique and a technique of tossing the weight side to side. Throttle and braking influence the weight shifts some but primarily front/rear shifts.

I'm not exactly following what you're trying to do. Just to clarify:
1) this is being done on a straight road, not preparing for a corner(at least not yet)
2) I assume this is just the show type of drifting, i.e. tossing the car back and forth down a straight while you wait for the next corner to come up.

It's really just a matter of getting used to the feel of the weight being thrown around and how much steering input you need, how fast you need to steer, and when you need to steer to get the weight shifting at the right time and with force.

It takes time to get comfortable with this technique, not something you pick up right away as it requires a good feel of the car and good timing and need for adjustments to keep it going and relatively even both ways(hard at first as one way seems to work easier than the other- you'll get used to matching both directions up).

It can be done with throttle, with no throttle, or with braking. All that changes is the steering input: amount, speed, and timing will vary depending on how the weight is balanced front and rear.

Ok, how to fix what you're doing:
Let's see, you get it to slide in one direction first. That's a good start. You're on the throttle and have it sliding. Now what you need to do to get it to flip over to the other direction is to just steer more into the drift and/or let off the throttle for a second. Think as if you're trying to stop the drift. It works the same way, but you're essentially over correcting and throwing it into another drift in the opposite direction.

Something to work on:
Try this first. Don't drift. Start at whatever speed you want to go, relatively slow at first, a little safer. Now start weaving back and forth down the straight as if you're going through a slalom course. Start off with easy, large turns back and forth. Slowly quicken the turing while taking the same width of the road. As you approach the limits of the tire's traction, you'll start to cross over into sliding. Hear's where you start to fine tune what you're doing. Work at this limit point and play lightly with the throttle, brakes, and steering. See how the car shifts when you get on the gas and how the steering changes in connection. Let off the gas and keep steering. How does it change. Start to brake lightly and keep steering hard. How do you have to change the steering to keep control of the car?

From here, push it slightly farther into a slide. Again, you're still just turning back and forth with the wheel as if you're doing a slalom course. However, the timing is a little out of phase from normal and the rear end is sliding. Back and forth, back and forth you go. Slide, slide, slide, slide. Your steering is controlled and deliberate. You should notice that you use the steering to break the drift. Slide, hold, and flick steering in and toss the car the other way. The car rotates around and you catch the drift with the countersteer, hold, flick into the drift and throw it the other way. You just repeat this down the straight.

A couple pointers:
-focus on where you are going/where you want to go. The car will flop back and forth, but you just keep looking down the road.
-both the path you travel and the steering inputs are in a smooth motion. You're making little S shapes down the road as you drive. The steering remains as smooth and controled as if you were grip driving a slalom course.
-start off easy. Grip first, then progress to drift. Learn how throttle and braking affect the needed steering inputs.
-if something goes wrong, remember that you can stop the action just like any other drift: let off the throttle to straighten the car out, or if you're too far, a good 4 wheel lock-up will bring you to a stop in a straight line, even if you're facing sideways at this time(non-ABS cars)

[TireFrier]

what an awesome writeup!!!
you get 5 stars from me! *****

[Drift For Food]

Neato!

(sticks the five gold stars to forhead)
remember that stuff from kindergarden?

[SidewaysGts]

I wont say the obvious, but i know a lot of people are thinking it..

[eric240]

yep

[SilverGhost]

for me, the key to good manji or choku dori (fishtailing, or racking side to side) has always been making suremy steering input is one step ahead of what the car is doing. like while still sliding one direction, turn the wheel back the other way as you let off then get back on the gas. this way when your car swings the other way, essentially you are already countersteering, which helps keep you from spinning. I always intiated with clutch kick like a normal drift, then just used on-off-on-off throttle impulses to swing the back end while steering nearly non-stop. hope that helps