Why do you drive - What got you started in drifting?

[Drift For Food]

This comes partially from boredom, but I'm also curious how and why people got into cars/driving and how/why you got into drifting. It's as simple as that.

Me first

I can't really say why I drive the way I do. I just sort of have this driving spirit, was born with it I guess. I think it comes from my mom's side, cause my dad drives like crap. My mom on the other hand has a natural wee-zoom sort of driving style, grandma on my mom's side too. It's always fun co-riding with a 70 year old running 80 down a back road and nearly getting air-borne over a bump with the minivan. I seemed to have gotten the gene. Yes! Thank God! Haha.

My actual driving days started a little over 10 years ago. I got my license and a an '86 Buick Somerset(Buick incarnation of the Grand Am chassis, two door Skylark), and I promply quit riding the bus and started beating the tar out of my car. My brother and I(twins) each had one and we'd kind of race home from schoold down the gravel back roads between our house and school, pretty much 6 miles of straights and 90's, couple of sweepers, all gravel. It was a blast. We got crazy fast too, stupid fast, maybe just stupid, lol. I never really slowed down from then on.

Even today, I still blast down the same back roads. I just have a little more inkling of self preservation and preservation for my car and other people's property. I also have a far greater understanding of science and physics and the way a car behaves.

I am always progressing with my driving ability. Drifting was just a natural progression. You get to a point where you just stay at the limits. It was time to cross it and see what was on the other side.

I accidentally came across drifting by somehow seeing an episode of Initial D. That got me hooked, but I had no clue what it was or how it worked. It was also the start of my journey through the physics if cars: springs, swaybars, roll stiffness, traction circles, momentum, etc.

Till this point, my desire to know how cars worked was minimal. I drove fast and accepted what the car did. I didn't understand it. However, by this time I knew physics. Drifting peaked my interest and physics let me understand, comprehend, and build my ideas.

For several months I've been playing this PC game called Live For Speed(LFS), a racing simulator built by 3 guys over the course of a couple years. It was suprisingly accurate and about as true-to-life as you can get on a PC and provided a venue for the more dangerous driving escapades. As well, it had a slew of vehicle platforms: fwd, rwd, awd, and it supported tons of car tuning: springs, sways, tire pressure, camber, caster, brake bias/force, steering,... I started drifitng in that and got quite good over time. I started drifting my old Lesabre on the back roads. I'd apply techniques and get a feel for the way the car behaved. I'd try something and see how it worked. If the behavior was odd or I didn't understand what happened, I'd think about it and figure out what I was doing wrong, how could I change it, and how I could make it work the way I wanted it to. I'd test it in LFS, and try it in my Lesabre. I'd adapt and change my technique to fit the car. It was a real-life, virtual, and conceptual learning experience. Suprisingly, real and virtual mimiced each other almost seamlessly and accuratly. Physics and some conceptual thinking brought understanding to car behavior. Practice and adaptation brought smoothness and accuracy. It really all came together very nicely. I and my driving ability advanced. In a few months time, I was tossing that boat of a car around like a toy, and I was having a blast. There's nothing quite like tossing a +2 ton tank sideways flying towards a 90 near highways speeds with gravel bouncing off the floor pan/wells and billows of dust pouring out from behind.

The rest is history.

My only wish was that I could have gotten into some real racing, anything. I would have loved to race carts or midgets when I was younger. I'd still currently love to get into rally. I just neither have the funds nor time to do so currently. That pesky college and work keep getting in the way, lol. AutoX'ing, ameture rallying, some actual drift events in a couple years, oh yeah! Till then, I'm creating my future and trying to pay for it.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Started driving at 13 with my grandfather on back roads in GA. My first car was an RX-7, 81. Then from there I started basic racing, SCCA stuff, solo, little things. Went from there to one of the assistant instructors at the United Stuntmans School for precision driving and then into this. I have had over 60 cars since I was 18. I trade them around, buy and sell. I drive a 96 S14 and a 74 260Z with an all steel widebody. I also have a BMW (Big Money Wasted) bike, a Jeep and a 53 Chevy pickup truck currently rusting quietly waiting for attn. My Z is getting a 400 small block stuffed in it hopefuly before our next event in Atlanta so I can have some fun with it and the 240 is on the backburner since i'm having a car built. Other than that, San Dimas High School Football RULES!!!!

[NHDrifter]

first car i drove was also an RX-7 FC3S (87) my current car.Ive always had an interest in cars.I got started into drifting when i saw a video of Tsuchiya himself drifting a blue FD3S...after that i was hooked!... i was into drifting before it hit the states.

[SilviaLove]

I starting driving when I was at least 14 and was fanscinate with racing ever since then. I, like every other kid, was into drag racing, but then i figured out that it is very narrow aspect of motorsports. So, I started watching LM and F1 when I was 16. I eventually learned of drifting through the rise of popularity in import/JDM interest of the mid 90's. I fell into the category of a 2nd generation of import enthusiasts. I want about to buy a car untill I was 19, and you know what i wanted, the solid S14. When I got my car it wasn't as popular, it was pretty much forgotten, compaired to the all the big H cars. I started drifting thereafter and it's been fun. I'm glad it has become popular.

[Mike_S13]

i drive because i would really hate to walk to work and school. i'm a monkey... what i see is what i do. ofcourse my first car was a 240SX and my second car is still a 240SX. Is that monkey see monkey do? well... most people i know will agree with this: going sideways is more fun than going straight. but that was just base on comments i get from drifters and some drag racers. some people might find it better the opposite way. Drive in whatever way to get your blood pumpin is the way to go.

[illegalgarage]

Dukes of Hazard

Max

[my 1 88 u]

when I was very young I saw a on tv a rally car do a flick and slide around a mountain hair pin. When my father used to drive us up mtn Washington for camping trips I dreamed of being a rally race car driver sliding all of those corners. years later thousands of dloaded clips of what the Japanese do and 2 rps13s, drifting is my new thing.(2 years new)

[s13/350z]

(I was always into real racing like F1 and LeMans)I was 14 when i stole my moms car(mitsubishi mirage) to drive while she was gone and it was a standard and I learned in 1 day by my-self. Thats how it started. after a month of being grounded I drove my sisters 3000gt and was hooked on real cars. I then got my liscense at 15 and got a toyota corolla (85) and just naturally drifted because it was fun and I basically live on a race course out here in the country, and if you have drivin a corolla you know they love to slide, especially in the rain. I also loved to take the corolla down very scary, narrow, dangerous dirt roads and practice my handling skills. I will drive fast when alone in secluded areas to work on my skill. Then after all that I sold it to a friend(who blew up the motor) and I got a 240sx(92), and at this point I was into drifting and scca type racing. After about 3 motors in my 240 I got rid of it and bought a 350z, I had one of the very first ones and it was plauged with transmission problems but not before I became decent at drifting it back in 2002/2003. And after I got rid of that I bought and old school 1984 300zx which I am half modding and half looking to get rid of so I can buy a faster top end type of car. I will get into some type of pro racing at some point.(well thats what i tell myself everyday).

[slideways2004]

pretty much like everyone else. started driving at 14. my dad's friend was going out of town and he left his at out house. it was a bmw 3 series, manual. we took it to a library one day and i wanted to listen to the radio outside in the car. so i'm alone with the keys. i start it and put it in 1st and start playing. after that, i would practice everyday. taught myself how to drive. fast forward to present. knew what drifting was in 2003 but didn't really like it. after the first drift showoff i was in love. since then i have been trying to drift. been getting some practice here and there, nothing really special. but now i'm building a car for drifting and auto-x. i also keep saying to myself, you'll be somebody someday. i just hope that day comes pretty soon

[FluffyBunnyFeet]

Since i was about 8, my dad would always bring me to dirt track sprint car races, if you have never seen that, they drift litterally, every car turns in and goes throught the corner by controlling the throttle. Anyhow, i loved watching them and wondered if it was possible to do it in a car, my dad had showed me in his truck (kinda sloppy) but it gave me the idea that it could be done. I had seen a picture of a BMW oversteering and correcting in a magazine and quickly showed my dad (i was 14) i couldnt explain what it was but i kept telling him thats what i wanted to do. He kept telling me that he was loosing controll and about to spin out but i kept telling him that he was wrong and he was able to drive like that through the corner. That is no joke, you can ask my dad that one, and i still got the picture. Then a year later, my freind asked me if i wanted to watch something about racing. Sure. He handed me 2 CD's one said 1-5 and the other 5-10 with the title Initial D.
I had finally found it, Drift was what it was called and im not the only one who liked it. So i started trying it in everything i could on my friends circle dirt track, gokarts (future broken axle) my dads truck, and even my freinds 69 cutlas. Searched for the longest time to buy a on-the-cheap drift car, and i stumbled upon a 85 celica supra p-type. (im 16 at the time) and attempted a drift, i found how much easier it was to do and i wanted to try it on pavement. Found it was not so easy almost putting my 85 in a ditch. Almost gave up after i did that. My interest struck again after the Drift Bible came out and i watched it 20 times. Almost a year later (this year) I bought 2 more supras for engines and parts that i know ill need. Then my dad and i got into a big fight and now we arent allowed to see each other, so my supras were gone. All the money invested and time, so i took the last bit of money i had and went and bought a 84 Corolla (in my sig) and ive been drifting that when its not broken down (fixing the radiator today)

Thats my story, thanks for reading it

[funkymonkey]

My old man used to be a engineer for a local Rally team there's only so many races you go to before you get bitten by the bug.

Got into drifting in 1999 when I got my 180sx, and it came from japan with a Young Version mag in it. it had mild drift setup, but because I was just starting out, didn't like the 2 way LSD too much, so had to get rid of some parts to make it more streetable.

Nowadays I'm more into circuit racing the R32, but with the AE86 entering my garage I'm getting back into the drift side of things again.