What are american drifters lacking?

[spock]

Honestly, I think they lack the attitude of the Japanese. I hardly ever see the American drivers screw around. Just take Ken Nomura dressed up in a monkey suit ,for example, or Kazama going crazy. When can we see you [,Alex or Andy,] acting like morons? It would be great to see you all sliding around dressed up like a clown or something. It just doesn't seem to me that the Americans are in it for the fun as much as the Japanese are.
Another thing I think most Americans lack in general is the respect for the skill. That's exactly why 100,000+ fans will go to see NASCAR and a small fraction of that number go and see something like ALMS.

[MrodDrft]

they act crazy after hours


lol

[Poweredby007]

Time and Learning from mistakes.

I think that you guys in america need to work as a team to help each other improve. Stop so much of the east coast west coast / hawaii west coast type stuff.
One thing I can say here in japan EVERYONE HELPS EVERYONE!! when your up in the mountains or on the track the sense of being humble and not better allows you to greatly improve. The whole sempai / kohai relationship is very strong here and when the sempai talks the kohai listens. which means take the advice from more experienced drivers because they know.. dont be afraid to swallow your pride and say.. (*&(&, can you help me out??

This is probably the biggest thing I have learned living in japan. people will not laugh at you if you ask for help.
Even if they are somewhat dumb questions to some people..
Everyone started at one time.

Also,
Seat time.. do anything you can to get seat time!! of course BE SAFE and RESPONSABLE.. but seriously, in japan you can go up in the mountains almost everynight of the week that its dry and drive with very little worry of cops!!
weekdays they really dont even bother as me and my friend have noticed.

My Sempai told me that my problem is that I seem to stressed and I am not consistantly holding the same line which makes it scary for him. Consistancy comes with seattime. I do EVERYTHING i can when my sempai tells me something. I consider him a PRO driver in japanese terms but just one of millions you would never hear of. I am greatful that he takes his time to teach me!! Now, I meditate for 5 min before i run.. I visualize my execution. I talk about lines with others and angles and starting points!!

I am very happy to see that there is a school event for drifting with alex and ernie .. ect.. as the teachers.. learn from those that DO!! and take advice and run with it.


As stated above as well.. car set-up...
about 10 years ago many japanese cars were boroboro.. not much unlike what you see in america now. but today, people dont accept make shift
SH!T.. when they do it they do it right.


and dont think the japanese drivers are not competive when it comes time to compete.



oh.. a side note about judging..
not sure if this is accurate in america but I was told that this is how it is in japan. When 2 cars of basically the same skill .. IE.. execution of lines . speed ect.. are the same.. they will ask the drivers to do it one more time.. THEN, if they still are basically the same.. they will pick the car that is more FLASHY.. looks cooler. it is PRESENCE.. how YOU and your car presents itself is very important after the driving skill.

well.. sorry if i ran on too long but I took some NYQUIL, you can not get this in japan.. so I was stuck with weak sh!t until recently when my friend got me some.. well, my point.. I have a nyquil high!!!

007

[Nismo_r34]

I think the american is lacking on car and setup. To me it like the american just choose the best part for the car and race without practice. The japanese choose the part and practice to see if the part is good or not and then switch to a different one until they are satify with it.

[driftfreak]

its more of tuning the set up
most americans are bolt on and go..they dont take time(or have the know how) to dial in the set up they have to 110%

all most american drifters care about is name brand and JDM bling...

[HKS-NOB]

i think it's all about experience......
lack of angle, lack of spd, taking race line = experience.......
all the d1 drivers from japanese have atleast 10yrs of driting experience.......(well maybe just 1 guy, forgot what his name is at the moment......but he drives the s13 for RE......he has like 7 yrs of experience.....) also setup is a big problem too..........these are hardcore japanese that we are talking about here..........they've many yrs of tuning drift cars experience........money is also a very big issue too.........just take alook at apex and hks.......or even blitz........they have one of the biggest tuning company in the world the back them up with their every needs........they even have 2 d1 cars just incase if the other one fails........

i really think american's should start from the basics though.......dont just go for power..........light weight and fast response are the keys to better drifting.........just take alook at ueo.....performing wide angles and high entry spd without pumping any hardcore horsepower to his car..........

i really think drifting should be kept simple........big v8s and v10s are only going to slow down the response of the car........keep it light keep it simple and go sideways......

[DoriFuta-]

Originally posted by Drift IT
I think our boys lack in Angle,Takeing the right lines when needed,and Entry/Exit Speed...

I agree with the Above but along side is...

Honor,Loyalty,Integrity,Purity,Devotion,Respect...
Take your pick.

[MrodDrft]

The RE S13 is suenaga

[nissanguy_24]

We lack respect, patience, kindness, honor, loyality, Community.

Along with practice, skills, knowledge. We can get those three things quicker if we follow the other 6 things..

If you dont believe me then look at this forum and driftcentral.com Most the people dont like each other. alot of them dont like us, and alot of us dont like them. If thats not messed up idont know what is. There is too much hate. No one is humble. Most have an elitest attitude. You want proof of that, go to the "rsx taillights on a S13" thread, and look how agressive people are to someone who like something different then them! i had to close it because it went from "i dont like that" to "THAT GUY IS A GHEY" in about 10 post.


I dont know if every japanese person has those things we lack. But i do know very few Americans do. Perhaps theres still the lingering effects of Bushido and of there fedual era. Im not saying Bushido and Fedualism, Or our ancestor's code of chivalry was the greatest thing in the world. But there were alot of ideas in those days we can take into our selfs.

We each need to be alot more humble. From the newest newbie with the civic yanking on the handbrake to the greatest pro.

Then again thats just my personal opinion. But i think im going to try to live by those ideas. Its difficult because i tend to shoot my mouth off, but im going to try to think things out before i say them. And just in general live off those ideas.

Perhaps we need to look to the east, as well as the past of the West, as well as modern day society to find out what we are missing as people. THEN we can look at what we are missing as drifters.

[swifty949]

gymkahna...is what we need.

[AE86_drift]

It's time and knowledge. The Japanese have been drifting for years. Americans have just found drifting, so as stated earlier, just give us time to catch up.

Rhys is an idiot. I was watching a show about him drifting his GTO and it made me laugh. In the interview, he was asked what made a drift car. Part of his response was "4-5 hundred horsepower", but in reality, most D1 level 86's are making about 250-300hp. Ueo's is like 240 I think. Aparently, Rhys has never heard of things called power-weight ratio and weight distribution.

[swifty949]

Originally posted by AE86_drift
It's time and knowledge. The Japanese have been drifting for years. Americans have just found drifting, so as stated earlier, just give us time to catch up.

Rhys is an idiot. I was watching a show about him drifting his GTO and it made me laugh. In the interview, he was asked what made a drift car. Part of his response was "4-5 hundred horsepower", but in reality, most D1 level 86's are making about 250-300hp. Ueo's is like 240 I think. Aparently, Rhys has never heard of things called power-weight ratio and weight distribution.

i think rhys knows that...you were watching a show, they could have edited it, to make it sound like another question. They might have asked him the avg horsepower for competitve drift cars. Don't believe everything you read or see. Rhys is a smart guy, he's been racing for years, and runs a business. He knows his stuff.

[MrodDrft]

i saw that show, he did say that. D1 hachi roku;s without turbo or swap have more liek 180 220 hp

[Cade]

Not that I really know or have any exsperience to judge. But I think Americans are lacking; 1.) Exsperience (also safe places and tracks at decent price where they can push their car to the limits and grow their skills w/out having to pay for car repair). 2.) Good competitive growing attitude (I dont think we are gonna get anywhere being a**holes to each other in our own community, if you ever watch BM or anything of the sort, they are all laughing and having a good time while being competitive). Few other things...besides #1 from my post and cash is my biggest holdback so far.
I just cant wait to see where Drifting is in America in 10 years. Is it gonna be a past tale of the good times, or a Sunday afternoon weekly event shown on Speed Channel right after Nascar.

[swifty949]

Originally posted by Cade
Not that I really know or have any exsperience to judge. But I think Americans are lacking; 1.) Exsperience (also safe places and tracks at decent price where they can push their car to the limits and grow their skills w/out having to pay for car repair). 2.) Good competitive growing attitude (I dont think we are gonna get anywhere being a**holes to each other in our own community, if you ever watch BM or anything of the sort, they are all laughing and having a good time while being competitive). Few other things...besides #1 from my post and cash is my biggest holdback so far.
I just cant wait to see where Drifting is in America in 10 years. Is it gonna be a past tale of the good times, or a Sunday afternoon weekly event shown on Speed Channel right after Nascar.

There is a place in the us where drifters hang together, and places for them to practice safely every month...Hawaii.