How heavy before your car is considered a heavy drifing car?

[9ine Deuce]

???

will 3217lbs do it ?

[GRiDRaceTech]

I think that a car that weighs any more than 2900lbs loaded is heavy.

This is an opinion-based question.

[Tuner]

I agree, anything over 3000lbs is pretty heavy. My '02 WRX rolled the scales at 3425, and I could feel it.

[kairles]

hahahahaha

my car is about 3500 to 3600 lbs but I have more torque than the adverage non-pro drifter just over 350 at the crank

[soultron]

I would think power to weight would be a big factor after 3000 pounds.
I can't remember the formula for it, but as long as it was a low enough figure,
it shouldn't be a problem.

[Wickdmarz]

Mines stock at 3800...but it might be close to 3000 when I'm done.

[9ine Deuce]

I would think power to weight would be a big factor after 3000 pounds.
I can't remember the formula for it, but as long as it was a low enough figure,
it shouldn't be a problem.

this is the ratio Im tryin to figure out, I have about 190lb-ft of torque at the crank, my car is just over 3500lbs with me and the system in it, Im tryin to figure out it how much torque I need to really break the wheels lose in the dry, Ive never really tried it in the dry with my car right now cause I know 190 isnt enough...

[kairles]

when my car was stock it was rated at 285lb-ft torque at the crank and has a 3.06 first gear(auto) and a 3.23 final drive gear and it would light up the tires through first gear but the tpi has a good low end torque, peak is about 3000 to 3500 rpm, but your car is a 5-spd so you shouldn't have to much trouble breakin the tires loose if you bring the revs up and dump the clutch

[9ine Deuce]

yea I think I could do it in the dry with the power I have right now, but I dont see the need to do it in the dry and bust *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* I dont wanna fix, plus I got this damn open diff...

[C2POWERHAUS (H)]

Weight is important in drifting, but it doesn't mean you can't drift it if its heavy... It's just gonna take more skill to hold it sideways. Good example is JR from DA who is going to be drifting a new mustang for next season. A lot of it deals with weight balance as well. Weight balance has to be close to 50% front and 50% rear, otherwise it would be like drifting a civic (no offense to those who do of course).

[Appleseed]

Oooh, you guys are making me feal fat. But that's what you get with a cop car at an even 2 tons!

[Drift For Food]

Well, weight generally only affects cornering speed. It's not a matter of being too heavy to drift or not. I started on an old Lesabre, yeah fwd, but it's what I had. That tipped the scales at something like 4200 lbs, not light by any means. Heck, the old 2wd Ranger I had came in around 4500 lbs with several hundred pounds of sand in the back during the winter. It spent most of its time sideways without a problem. That thing was tremendously underpowered too(rated 70 hp from a 2.0L 4 banger, probably 50 hp to the wheels if I was lucky). If they had a good front/rear weight ratio near 50% and if the Lesabre was rwd, they would have done alright. However, with the added weight comes additional persuation to get the car moving and a tendancy to take corners a little slower than a lighter car. Simply put, a lighter car will corner faster and respond quicker and more easily to user inputs. Going to my current Subbie being +1000 lbs lighter, it became immediately noticable. It was a whole lot faster around corners.

However, that's only one part. Other factors such as weight distibution, suspension tuning, and avaible power all play parts in a car's ability to drift and drift well. Each aspect just gives the car certain characteristics.

Weight:
Lower weight means faster response, quicker rotation of the car, and a faster maximum cornering speed. Generally, lightest is best, but there are benifits to having more weight as well. More weight adds stability and more forgiving handling because everything moves slower and requires greater input. It won't feel as "twitchy" as a lighter car. However, once you get it moving, it likes to stay moving longer.

Front/Rear Weight Balance:
This is the percentage of weight over the front and rear ends of the car. Basically, the car behaves like the above weight characteristics but thinking in a front/rear seperate idea. For example, a front heavy car generally requires more effort to get the rear end out when shifting weight(feint). Since less weight is in the back, you can't really toss it around as easily. However, it would respond better to engine power as you would have less weight over the rear end and thus less traction over the rear. Around corners, the front end would want to slide out more-so than the rear end. It can create understeer. Looking at a rear heavy car, you gain the opposite attributes. You have lots of rear traction from weight requiring more power to break the rear tires free, but the rear becomes more easy to toss around. This has the bad side-effect of making the car spin happy. If the rear end comes out on you, it comes out fast.

Suspension Tuning:
I like to think of this as the part where you can make the car behave any way you want it to. You can control how the weight moves around and how the tires keep in contact with the road. There are tons of aspects to this, not only springs and swaybars but also dampers, alignment, and even physical suspension geometry changes. If you want your front heavy, tank of an underpowered car to drift easily and on command, this is what you can focus on to achieve that goal. Still, it's not an end-all solution. You are still bound by the laws of physics and a rear heavy car will still be spin happy if you start tossing weight around or getting heavy on the gas. However, you can make it a bit less "happy" to do so.

Power:
Power is nice to have. It can make up for some things. Having the ability to spin the tires on command has its benifits. Still, it's not a solve all, and it can have its problems. Raw power and the ability to freely spin the tires does not make a good drift car. It should still be well balanced and well tuned to perform well. As well, tons of power can be hard to tame. You may find yourself spinning the tires when you don't want to or you may have a sudden power surge(turboed cars) that may come unexpectedly or abruptly. You may have to spend some time learning how it behaves to adapt your technique to how the power is output. It could prove challenging. Still, underpowered, isn't the way to go. You may find it difficult to get the rear end out or even keeping the rear end out with too little power. Suspension tuning can help this, but enough power is good to have. The meaning of enough is up to you. Basically, there should be enough to do what you want but not so much that you have a hard time controlling it.


There are other factors as well. For example, a person may naturally drive a certain way and perform better with a certain car type or setup. Everyone will be different. A good driver should be able to adapt his technique to the car. I like to think any car is driftable if the driver is good enough, reguardless of how crappy the car setup. However, a driver shouldn't have to bend to the car if he/she doesn't have to. By setting up the car to behave in a prefered manner, the driver can make their life a little bit easier. It will do what they want it to do, and the car should be able to perform better as well.

There is one resounding goal to all this: balance. This is a balance between all of these aspects. They work together and need to be seen as a system of parts that work together to achieve one end result. Power isn't the only thing you should be concerned about.