physics and drifting?

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by malcolm
also, matt, you brought up a good point about forces, and how to initiate a drift. Enter a corner at the limit, not over. All four tires are at their max. let off the throttle, and brake a bit. Now the front tires have more weight on them, and are well under the limit of traction. The rear tires have less weight on them, have less traction, and thus start to slide because they are over the limit of traction.

For the record, I didn't say overloading your tires was bad... You're a road racer and you like to always be on the limit of adhesion where in drifting, overloading is part of the game...

This depends on your driving style... I personally enjoy overloading the tires when I'm taking off. Too bad my truck doesn't have any torque... Where Malcolm probably enjoys breaking adhesion after clipping the limit...

[Takahiro.Ueno]

sorry guys took so long for me t osay something, i made the thread and like right after it wouldnt let me relog, so i had to make a new SN. any ways has any one really looked online for information? i found a really good artical on physics and racing

at:http://physicsof.net/autoracing/racing.htm

and theres also one at:

http://phors.locost7.info/contents.htm

its got some good stuff on it about lateral grip and G force effects, along with weight transfer and such.

regardless i think weight transfer is one of the most important part of drifting, pitch and body movement do tell alot about how the car reacts.

[malcolm]

matt, I don't think I said that clear enough... sorry... I wasn't saying that what you said was incorrect, but it just made me think of something. what meant was that it is possible to enter the corner when all four tires at at the limit, and then alter the balance of the car (by tapping the brakes, or lifting off the throttle abruptly) so the front tires are under the limit, and the rear tires are *over* the limit, and thus initiate a drift.

You could enter a corner over the limit, and then alter the balance of the car so the front tires are right on the limit, and the rear tires are way over, but that's something to work up to when you're closer to being a pro.