American Drifting heading the wrong direction?

[Hollywood]

this is not Japan, this is America, and things have to be done the American way if you wana make it big.
You have sponsors, companies, and other investors putting alot of money into this thing. they see it as an investment (I like to think it is a good one) and they want to be abble to make money off it.
Cars that put down big numbers atract alot of attention, and have a bit of an advantage, which make them very atractive to potential investors.

[Ihatehippies]

As an occasional lurker this post caught my eye.

The attitude of many posters comes accross the same as a goth teenager that just found out that his favorite band is now being played on MTV and their records are now being bought all the preppies in school. Your favorite band has sold out. Your relm as been invaded by the infidels. Like big dumb jock beating people up in the mosh pit at a punk rock show, Americans just don't "get it". I think it's great that American Manufactures are getting involved it will improve the sport, and hopefully inprove the cars. Look what happened when manufacturers got invovled in the crazy new fad of drag racing .

As to Nascar fans not understanding "drifting". We had drifting in this country for a long time, only we call it dirt track racing.

[Deluxe_247]

I think american drifting is going in an awesome direction.

I go out at least once a week to practice in my 91whp AE86 and have the time of my life.

Events are as often as once a month around Wa.

Hangin out with all my rolla buddies and kickin it is the highlight of my week, I wouldnt have met them without drifting.

My living room has car parts strewn everywhere. haha

I love it.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by malcolm

I find nascar boring because the cars aren't moving around at all. they are totally gripping, all the time. not even a subtle drift (drift used in a different sense here). I like F1 because you can tell that the driver is really pushing the car, and you can see the car moving around and twitching.

Unless Tsuchiya is driving

[baboon's a$$]

Okay I haven't posted for a long time cause of dumb shite like this so I'll put my foot in the fire and see how it comes out:

The ONLY REASON drifting could become lame is that the people actually watching, driving etc. MAKE IT LAME themselves. I bet half u pantywaists pissing and moaning are armchair driftin' "I play NFSU and watch videos all the time so I know what I'm talkin' about" ppl. F##K u ppl. You're the ones draggin this sport down. It's also the ppl who DO drift that think they're too cool for f##kin school cause they can (maybe) get thier car sideways once in awhile. F##K u ppl too.

The only gripe I really have is that the organizers are lumpin everyone into the same category, professionals and novices alike. I could see having a class system set up to ensure fairness for all drivers from the bottom to the top. But on the other hand the only way u can get better is to be pushed harder by challenging ppl better than u and learning from them.

So in closing it's not about which direction the sport is going but the attitude of the people pushing the sport forward that determines how far or how good the "sport" of drifting will become in America.

One more thing. All u JDM freaks thinkin that drifting in japan is gonna be the same as drifting in america. PULL YER HEADS OUT OF YER F##KIN ASSES. Of course it's not gonna be the same, you're talking about a complete difference in culture and thinking. So stfuad, don't post on here like whiners go out there and (even though no one ever listens) do something about it. whinin a$$ bitches.

[GranMastrDrift]

its turning into a trend

[IzzyTrippin]

[Seriously, why don't American car manufacturers get anything the Japanese do, it isn't all about horsepower. I think that is why everyone booed at the GTO, they will never take interest in it or the Viper. It seem to me that they put themselves in quick-sand. [/B][/QUOTE]

I think the Pontiac Solstice will fit the bill. along with the partner GM's based on the platform, the Vauxhall 220, Saturn Curve, Chevy Nomad. Remember from design to market takes a while... it's coming, be patient.
Whats going to make the USDM market fun is the use of superchargers instead of turbos, and shadetree mechanics mixing and matching parts to build frankenstein motors.

If the big guys in the big cars are getting too much attention, and it's wrongfully deserved, the points system should reflect that. Maybe a handicapping for excessive horsepower?

My first time, I was doing 72 around a corner, and a cop was sitting on the corner with a speedgun. 84 Honda, rally suspension and rally trans, 5th gear stripped. All junkyard parts, and yes it was spray painted panda style before i got ahold of it for free. Took her 15 minutes to even catch up to me, only because 4th gear would only put me at 103 MPH with the engine redlined. She said she pulled me over to meet me, to find out who could do such a corner with such control, and never even make the tires chirp. I got a ticket for driving without a license, $69 and told not to do it again. The list of my violations she could have gotten me on is another paragraph in itself, nothing about me or that car was legal.
Whats my point? it's not about noise or smoke & mirrors (or flashing neon as the case may be), it's about skill, and the rush that no drug can match.

I'm not concerned with the direction drifting is going other then forward.

[malcolm]

Ford I can buy with a 351 V8 in it, I'd love to know

it won't be a 351, but you can get a wicked Ford Falcon from Australia with a 305 (or something close to that, I think). The V8 Supercar series over there is what Nascar should be, not homoginized tube-frame racecars.

</nascar discussion>

[mercutio]

Okay, no more NASCAR, I promise. I just like to promote accurate information when I can. Let the drift discussion resume.

[pony]

Originally posted by mercutio
Dodge doesn't race the Stratus, it races the Intrepid, which is a much bigger car and has a wheelbase longer than 103 inches. I think your info is just a little bit out of date. In 2002 or maybe 2003, NASCAR finally got sick of Ford, Dodge and GM whining about whose aero package was better, so all of the cars now use a common body with the exception of the front and rear bumpers. The roof and pillars are identical on all current NASCAR stock cars. In fact, this similarity is why the big three are currently upset with NASCAR--why spend $75 million a year each if the cars all look alike save for headlight decals and grille openings? Dodge wants to race the new Charger when it debuts, but it looks so radically different from the NASCAR cars there wouldn't be any point. Supposedly Dodge is the closest of the big three to pulling out of NASCAR. I'd much rather see the cars go back to at least resembling their stock counterparts. As for engines, at least NASCAR used to have the homologation rule, meaning that so long as an engine (ie the 429) was available in any car (Boss 429 Mustang) the automaker could use that engine in competition with a different car (Torino Talladega). Now the homologation rule no longer applies, since the Ford 351 is no longer available in any car or truck.

Good call, thanks for the info. I remember when the Monte Carlo changed body styles, that wing was really f'ing the Chevy drivers up.

[AlexPfeiffer]

Well said Feint, and thanks for getting this thread back onto a drifting topic and not Nascar.

[feintmotion86]

Its really funny. So many people on this board (with the exclusion of a few) are the same as armchair quarterbacks. You don't drift. Be honest. To make matters worse, you don't drift and you have an opinion on the drift scene. an undeduated one at that.

bottomline is that many of the peeps on here are purists. therefore we don't like to see the drift scene go in a different direction cuz it doesn't stay true to what drifting is.

No, most people here are not purists. You got into this stuff far after the majority of formula D drivers got into it. Consider the average age of the forum members here. then consider how long Alex, Andy Yen, Hiro, Taka, and other formula D drivers have been doing this. The purists are the ones who spend every paycheck on their cars and for events. The purists are the ones who drive from so cal to nor cal to drive in an event, only to come back the next day so they can work on monday. The purists are the ones who don't *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* and moan about stuff, they just drive. That's a large part of the reason they are purists.

bottom line is, US drifting is growing fast, and in the right direction. there is an organized drifting series now, with professional sponsors. Several drivers are getting PAID to drift. We have a series that allows US drivers to compete against japanese drivers. There are some bad things, but mostly they are positive. the Sky really is the limit at this point.

Concerning the viper, yes some may argue that it isn't D1 spec. I 'm not familiar with all of formula D's rules, but sam has the advantage because he's already an extremely talented driver, and he has a competent car, and he has a great crew. That usually equals success. for those of you who just complain about the legality of the car still, we'll see how he does against the japanese. Then you can shut up.

with the driving styles, the US drivers are exceeding the growing speed that the japanese had. as a whole, US drivers are where japanese drivers were at probably 5-6 years into the sport, and its only been pro for 2 years now here in the states.

While I'm basically saying drifting as a whole is headed in the right direction, there's only one real qualm I have. I don't like the mentality that two drivers in particular seem to exhibit, and that's the passing mentality. Alex VS sam in atl and Rhys vs Calvin in sonoma come to mind. Come on people, passing is not the point of drifting. You watch the pros, and they pull up to their opponents door, then back off usually. passing only happens when there is a clear and present lane do the the error of the other driver. These two examples I stated above are forced moves where there was no clean lane to pass, it was forced, and in turn put their opponents in danger and to the casual viewer mad it look like they lost the match.

[mercutio]

Dodge doesn't race the Stratus, it races the Intrepid, which is a much bigger car and has a wheelbase longer than 103 inches. I think your info is just a little bit out of date. In 2002 or maybe 2003, NASCAR finally got sick of Ford, Dodge and GM whining about whose aero package was better, so all of the cars now use a common body with the exception of the front and rear bumpers. The roof and pillars are identical on all current NASCAR stock cars. In fact, this similarity is why the big three are currently upset with NASCAR--why spend $75 million a year each if the cars all look alike save for headlight decals and grille openings? Dodge wants to race the new Charger when it debuts, but it looks so radically different from the NASCAR cars there wouldn't be any point. Supposedly Dodge is the closest of the big three to pulling out of NASCAR. I'd much rather see the cars go back to at least resembling their stock counterparts. As for engines, at least NASCAR used to have the homologation rule, meaning that so long as an engine (ie the 429) was available in any car (Boss 429 Mustang) the automaker could use that engine in competition with a different car (Torino Talladega). Now the homologation rule no longer applies, since the Ford 351 is no longer available in any car or truck.

[pony]

Originally posted by nissanguy_24
oh yeah pony there practically stock! *eye roll* i mean afterall 5 inches difference is nothing... not to mention they made a 2 door race car and called it a 4 door street car. of course i could mention the drive train and power plants too but i think you made my point well enough.

I mentioned the powerplants in one of my first posts.

[pony]

Ford Taurus - 108.5 in wheelbase
Pontiac Grand Prix - 110.5 in
Chevy Monte Carlo - 110.5 in
Dodge Stratus - 103.7 in (Coupe)