Strapped on cash... best car for drifting?

[300zxttfreak]

go with the mr2...just cause im stingy like that
jk
i would have to agree with shimos, get teh car you like teh best and make it drift

[driftex]

i'd say the cheapest would be(please dont kick me out)... an EF civic. it's deffinalty way harder to drift than anything else you guys have mentioned and even if you get good it still wont be as good as FR cars. but its light, lots of parts and cheap swaps. i know its FF but try something new, challenge yourself. from what i've heard it's the easiest to FF to drift, thats not saying much but still. It is probably the cheapest out the the things you've mentioned. plus not many people actually drift FF, so you'll stand out of the crowd.

[illegalgarage]

What about an F body CAMARO or MUSTANG.
a 1980 81 82 83 84 corolla 2 or 4 door, corolla wagon?
A pinto???
Yes i said PINTO.
AMC eagle?

hahhahhaha

Max

[ToplessFC3Sman]

an RX2, 3, 4, older datsun (510 would be hot as hell), nissan 200sx (1980's only, before they became the 2 door sentra), maybe an old alfa romeo spyder or fiat 124 or something.. you can usually find junkers or pairs of em on ebay lol,

Seriously, theres a reason the 240 is king... its cheap, you see em all over, and it works well. I love my 7 (FC) and recommend that, its not hard to learn how to work on rotarys (3 moving parts... hmmm), and as long as you do some preventative maintenance (oil, coolant, make sure the engine stays cool and lubricated etc), they can be reliable, and handle great, even without much in the way of mods. So you know where my heart lies...

[VIP C33]

Drifting is expensive. if you don't have the money, then stick to Gran Turismo. If you are truly devoted to drift, buy something like a camaro or mustang. an 89 5liter mustang gt can be had in manual form for under 2g, and they have an LSD and are good for getting sideways at low speeds. spend the rest of ur money on tires, fines, and repairs.

i bought my rb20det laurel for 1200, within a year i spent $5700+or- on basic upgrades, tires, track time, repairs, fines, and i still have a stock motor other than exhaust and filter, and only have chopped springs. Over the last month i've spent another 3000 on suspension, motor upgrades, safety items.

word to the wise: if you're on a budget, drifting is not for you.

[Ghost of Duluth]

I would say if you want something cheap get an old 240. Learn on the open diff and start there. Odds are you are going to break it anyway.

Don't get a Civic to learn to slide in. Gee whiz thats a dumb idea. I'm all about ff's being able to slide if they want but don't start there. That would be the worst mistake a person starting out in Drifting could make. Well, maybe not the worst but a big one. Don't get me wrong, there are some that can slide a FF well but they aren't the norm. So don't go there unless you are sure that you want too.

[driftex]

i wasnt trying to suggest that you sohuld drift FF. it just probably would be the cheapest. you are deffiantly better off geting something that a lot of people drift, it should make it way easier for you to learn, and get good.

[pom_sandhu]

i have seen a 300zx drift pretty well. (after weight reduction)
(even though i havn't been able to drift in mine... yet)

also i was looking around (on the forums) and i found this video of a 300zx drifting...maybe this might help you chose.

http://franzonline.net/private/Fran...0ZXDrifting.wmv

[EidolaDream]

To point out what someone said about awd drift action being hard.. Well yes it is.. When an awd drifts most of the time its an opps.. My personal mechanic (Andrew From Dyno4mance) used to rally drive and he took me for a test drive in my own car (05 lancer evo MR) after a small build on the motor it was test time and we did a little drifting. He explaind to me the awd evo just inst good for drifting for the simple fact it doesnt like to be in a drift and trys extremely hard to get out of one..

However on the other side of the tree when he did go sideways the car pulled and pulled and pulled it was like an uber power over drift at all times.
off topic but I thought someone might wonder about it.

B

[AE86_drift]

If you want a 300ZX, get an NA. If your new to drifting, a TT Z32 would just be asking for trouble. Same goes for an MR2. Too much trouble if you've never drifted before. Although I guess an NA MR2 would be ok. That's how my friend learned to drift. But it was an AW11, so that's totally different from an SW20.

Toyota Cressida. Cheap, old, and powered by the 7MGE. It has like 200hp and is pretty easy to get sideways. The only downside is that they only come in auto. But you can always get the MA-70 manual tranny. Plus, it's a 4 door, and I have yet to see someone drifting a 4 door here in the states.

[Drift For Food]

I'd also suggest something cheap and old. When starting out, something expendable is the best thing you can buy. Basically, look for anything that's rwd and has a manual transmission, cars, trucks, whatever. This will get you started.

fwd? eh...
I first started drifting in my fwd Lesabre. It's what I had at the time I got interested, so I used it. Any platform will work. fwd, rwd, awd, manual, auto, car, truck, anything will work. However, depending on the platform you choose and the default setup of the vehicle, you may be limited in some ways.

For example, you get a fwd Civic. Their nice cars. You can drift them. However, they can't do some things other cars can. Basically, with a fwd vehicle, you pretty much aren't allowed any on-throttle techniques. Everything is all weight shifting and braking. That's all you got. It's a start, and it covers the core basics you'll need for any platform. Howerver, when you go to a rwd, you are allowed a whole bunch more techniques to work with. Now you can actually use the throttle during a drift. Rwd is natural for drifting. I'd almost tell you to start on fwd. That way when you do go to a rwd vehicle, you'll appreciate the rwd platform that much more. As well, fwd forces you to learn techniques other than just mashing the gas and spinning the tires.

I guess a second note about what to get would be the idea of certain vehicles work better than others.

Example, a school bus is rwd and manual transmission. However, it doesn't make for a good drift machine. Certain attributes help make a vehicle more driftable, more easily driftable.

Weight balance is one. Getting something near 50/50 is good. Something a little front heavy will be safer to slide around as it won't spin so easily, but it may have tendencies to understeer at times. A rear heavy car like the MR2 works in the opposite manner. That extra weight in the rear helps get the rear end out easier for drifting, but that weight can make the rear end come out quickly and can prove hard to catch before spinning out.

Vehicle weight determines a few things as well. A heavy car tends to be a little more easy to control. It's not so quick to move and requires a good deal of effort to toss around. Things move a little slower. However, cornering speed is slow as you try to move a lot of mass around a corner. More weight also means more forces and more wear on parts. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have light cars. They're small, fast, and quick to throw around. Nimble is a good word. However, this quickness can be a problem. The car does everything faster. It speeds up faster, it brakes faster, and it corners faster. It also spins out faster. Still for top performance, light weight is key. As well, low weight means low forces and lower wear on parts like brakes and tires.

So...what to get?
That's up to you. I can only suggest.