Corner entry.

[s13/350z]

I know this is simple for most, maby not the noobs though. I was just tired of not seeing any articles in here, so no flaming. But feel free to correct any errors. FOR BEGINNERS TO PRACTICE:
(before entering a corner I suggest turning towards the turn then away then back to the turn and go into the drift. All of this done close to the "racing line' entry point and done very quickly to gain momentum)

When in a smaller (or underpowered) car you should enter the corner somewhat wide at a higher speed. The turn into the drift and try to maintain speed with alot more throttle/clutch input (and some e brake to balance it out)as the underpowered car will have a hard(er) time maintaing (or making) speed in the corner. In a car that is under powered you MIGHT get away with just turning in hard starting the drift, then just throttle all the way and steer properly untill your out of the turn.

for a more powerful small car enter wide and begin to drift. You can use e brake, or the regular brakes(i prefer foot brake). Then throttle and clutch to pick speed back up as needed and continue to slide through the turn with slight taps of the brakes and gas (and possibly clutch) as needed to maintain your line, speed, and control.

for larger cars I would suggest to enter the corner with a higher speed, then turning into the drift using the e break to help slide. then be mindful of the foot brake because you do not want to lose too much momentum. Give good amounts of throttle and clutch as needed to maintain the speed of the heavier cars.

also if you are drifting on a street like atmosphere I would suggest not setting the suspension too hard as it will just cause the car to bounce(bumps) and more than likely lose control. start out with softer suspension and get low speed drifts down then try faster longer drifts. I suggest using an empty(of cars poles curbs etc) parking lot(with permission of course ) to practice some easy technique.
I am by no means an expert and thought I would write this up just in case you need some advice feel free to add your own tips and correct mine(its hard to do a write up when you havn't drifted in a while lol). THERE WILL BE NO FLAMING OF ANY KIND. thanks alot.

[s13/350z]

53 views and no one bit ches, comments, or proves me wrong..wow everyone must be drunk.

[B DRIFTIN]

Thanks!

I thought this was on point for newbies like myself, thanks.

How long have you been drifting?

[s13/350z]

about 6 years now...started when I was 15 (early liscense in a small country town). First car was a toyota corolla sr5(yeah I kknow no real brakes and no lsd). Then a 240 then a 350z then a 300zx then.a motorcycle lol..now well It may be another 300zx Ill know this week.

[Drift For Food]

If it's for beginners, I think a hard thing is judging entry speed. If you know the corner well, it's easy, if not, you should really run through the corner several times grip driving to figure out not only capable grip speeds but also corner shape(tightens, opens up, narrows, widens). If you're at the limit of grip for the corner, drift should be as easy as stepping over the grip level. When practicing techniques, you always want to go a little slow. It's always better to end the drift early or exit on the inside of the corner rather than sliding off the road to god knows where.

I guess how you initiate the drift really depends on the car and the corner. If it's a high speed sweeping corner, feint, a simple let off of throttle, or light braking. You may even just have to stab the throttle a couple times or clutch kick to pop the rear end loose. How you do it really depends on the car(underpowered, adequately power, understeers, neutral, oversteer, front heavy, rear heavy, etc.).

I don't really think in terms of small cars or big cars, although that is a concern for inertia and weight shifting.

Underpowered and adequately powered will make a difference in what you could easily do. If you have no power, you can't simply press on the gas and toss the rear end out. You'll have to work at upsetting the rear tires. You'd modify your techniques to adapt to the low power. For entry you'd focus more on braking and feint techniques or e-brake on tight corners or corners with no wiggle room. During the drift, you'd just gun it the entire time, or if there was a regain in traction, you'd stab the throttle or clutch kick to keep the rear unsettled. You'd turn in more(less counter steer) to pull the front end in tighter and keep the rear end out.

If a car understeers, is neutral, or oversteers, you'd adapt your technique accordingly. With understeer, you're always trying to shift weight forward or using heavier throttle and such, kind of similar to an underpowered car. You brake harder on entry to bring more weight foward, you feint harder to throw the rear end out harder, you run more throttle and countersteer less to keep the rear end out during the drift. As it goes from neutral to oversteer, it completely changes. Now the car can drift very easily and you're using almost no throttle and countersteering a lot to keep the rear end in check.

Front heavy or rear heavy changes techniques. Although, it would kind of attribute towards an understeering/oversteering car. With front heavy, you're always trying to keep more weight on the front of the car, heavier braking, stronger feints, all similar to general understeering. When drifting, you're heavier on the throttle as you're creating a loss of traction to keep the rear end sliding out more than the heavy front end. A rear heavy car is opposite. Then there's suspension tuning for every type of car. Spring rates, swaybar rates, even brake bias will all modify how a front heavy or rear heavy car behaves. A front heavy car may oversteer and a rear heavy understeer, and it could be different under braking.

In the end, it all comes down to traction circles and where the weight is and what it's doing. You just modify it as needed.

Complicated, ain't it. You just kind of have to work through the thought process of your car's physical setup and how you can manipulate it throught the various drifting techniques. Does your car have adequate power to freely break the tires loose? Is it front heavy or rear heavy? Does it understeer or oversteer? Is the brake bias front strong or rear strong? Then apply your car type to each technique: feint, braking, e-brake, throttle-over, clutch-kick, etc. Figure out how you have to adapt each generic technique to your particular car. Example, if your car's rear heavy, you wouldn't be doing any strong feints, or if you do, you better be quick with your countersteer as you'll need to catch it. Or, if your car oversteers, you may need to brake quite moderately into a corner to get the rear end to step out and the car to rotate. Rear biased brakes help in this situation. A front biased brake system may actually prevent you completely from using a simple braking technique. You work around what your car can do.

[s13/350z]

that was in wayyy more detail than mine Nice write up..

[Drift For Food]

Just me talking, lol.