Miata Drifter Needs Help

[Ran Kizama]

Hey everyone, I'm new here so bear with me.

I'm 19 and currently drive a 1995 Miata Miata 1.8L (Gen.1) with no modifications what-so-ever excluding some foglights. Use to drive a 2003 Spec-V with mondo parts but it got totalled in April thanks to some punk in a Chevy Suburban. Anywho, I need some help formulating the best method of drifting my MX-5.

Currently, I've been using the Shift-Lock technique. Charge in, turn-in, clutch-in, clutch-out, slide, then counter-steer. It's been working fairly well on wide-angle cornering but it's putting a lot of strain on my driveline(CLUTCH) and I need something that won't slaughter it so badly. The Power-Over doesn't work since the Miata has no power at all and the e-brake is just about useless. I want to say maybe try a Feint-Drift since the Miata has near 50/50 distribution but I dunno.

If anyone could provide some advice or tips, then I'd greatly appreciate it.

[JDM EUNOS]

try searching there is a lot of information on this in here

[MarshallMX5]

Tap the brakes after a little flick at the beginning of a turn. I find them to be quite useful in sliding. You have to enter the corner a little too fast though, so this is definately a parking lot only thing. (Not that anyone here drifts on the street anyway.)

And treat that Miata right, every one is precious.

[Ran Kizama]

Thanks guys. I'll try the brake and see what it does for me. Like I said, I'm good at the shift-lock, but it's just too much stress on the clutch. Maybe I should just supercharge it and work on power-over.

BTW, where do you guys get those avatars?

[malcolm]

dude, I would work on weight transfer/feint (same thing). turn to the outside of the corner, and then turn in hard so it rocks the car. Perhaps tap the brake at this point as well, and it should kick you sideways. might not work the first time, but keep trying.

forget power-over... anyone with power can do that...

[Ran Kizama]

Originally posted by malcolm
dude, I would work on weight transfer/feint (same thing).

I did that today as a matter of fact. Went and practiced with some cones at the old closed Wal-Mart parking lot. With my stock suspension, the car lurched and leaned heavily through the feints and since I'm not used to the quick slide with the snap-in, I found myself spinning around more times than I can count. I did manage to get it to slide around the wider-angle corners I made but when I adjusted the cones to form a sharper angle, I wound up with a cone in the fender-well. Ah well, seems like it will work in theor. I just gotta practice. ^_^;;

I still want one of those car avatars. Those are sweet. ^_^

[SidewaysGts]

Timing is pretty important on this.

try braking in as much of a straight line as possible (kind of a given though isnt it?), then at the very end try and add the "flick" into your motion, trying to time your braking so you can release the breaks JUST a bit after the flick, a bit of trail braking really. If this isnt enough (gotta be quick or it wont work as good) once your off the brakes do as malcom said and tap them quickly again once, then just get on the gas using the throttle to try turn the car.

[conandd]

hey I have the same miata .....95 with no mod (not even a fog light :[) and I just passed 20
------
tried again in rain today
and again Im sometimes able to slide and not able to sometimes...
some questions I think I better post here instead of opening a new thread...

1. Im fine with ebrake now I can control the way I want anytime! improvement ! BUT question : Do you disengage the clutch when u pull the ebrake?

2. clutch lock : well I dont know if I was going too slow? I think I was at 40mph on straight, slightly brake to 30mph or sth.....slam the steering wheel to one end while clutching in...release the brake....UNDERSTEER at that time of coz.....then I let the clutch out , the rev brought up a little and the car choked a little but then it was still UNDERSTEER.....I gave it some gas then it tend to slide the tail out but I know I did not do it right so I stopped.....what should I do ??

3. braking + feint: I went 40mph on 2nd ...hard brake.....turn .....tried more than 20 times and NOTHING happened except the front tires rubbing the floor.....Am I that bad -_-...?

4. power-over? : I think miata can do it in rain... when I understeer I slow down a little bit then slam on the gas...the tail can easily get loosen ...but then if I didnt control it fast enough I always spinned .....anyway I think this is not really a good technique to learn and to have fun as this is ..."way too easy?" ...

ps. over the period of time of practice Im ALWAYS on 2nd gear becoz I cannot go farther in that parking lot... is that a problem too?

[Ran Kizama]

Originally posted by conandd

1. Im fine with ebrake now I can control the way I want anytime! improvement ! BUT question : Do you disengage the clutch when u pull the ebrake?

I push in the clutch when (if ever) I use this method. It works well in the rain, but not on dry pavement. When using the e-brake, I push the clutch it, pop the e-brake which swings the back end out a little (may cause understeer if going too slow), then as the car loses traction get back on the throttle and pull myself through. I works from time to time but it's a little difficult to predict when the road is dry.

2. clutch lock : well I dont know if I was going too slow? I think I was at 40mph on straight, slightly brake to 30mph or sth.....slam the steering wheel to one end while clutching in...release the brake....UNDERSTEER at that time of coz.....then I let the clutch out , the rev brought up a little and the car choked a little but then it was still UNDERSTEER.....I gave it some gas then it tend to slide the tail out but I know I did not do it right so I stopped.....what should I do ??

This is my favorite method to use with the Miata since it has no rear-weight. I charge into the turn at 40mph in 4th. Push in the clutch while throwing it into 2nd. Turn in early and quickly. This will cause the car to understeer heavily. TAP the brake, release the clutch and feather the throttle. The brake tap should only bring you down to about 35mph, just enough to push some weighs onto the front wheels. When you let off the clutch, the car will swing out rather quickly and your REVs will skyrocket. Go smooth on the throttle through the drift while lightly counter-steering. When you need to get straight, just SLOWLY let off the gas. If you let go too quickly, you'll spin out.

3. braking + feint: I went 40mph on 2nd ...hard brake.....turn .....tried more than 20 times and NOTHING happened except the front tires rubbing the floor.....Am I that bad -_-...?

Eh, I'm working on this one too. I usually put it in 3rd at around 40mph as I start to sway. When I begin to lose traction I dump it into 2nd and turn into the desired drift corner. I not good at this, but I have found out that if you give it more gas, the better chance of your rear tires losing traction and sliding out. Like I said tho, I'm still experimenting.

4. power-over? : I think miata can do it in rain... when I understeer I slow down a little bit then slam on the gas...the tail can easily get loosen ...but then if I didnt control it fast enough I always spinned .....anyway I think this is not really a good technique to learn and to have fun as this is ..."way too easy?" ...

See, I don't like to drift in the rain. Kind of feels like cheating, no? As for power-over, the Miata cannot power-over on dry-pavement while stock. It just doesn't have the cojones.

ps. over the period of time of practice Im ALWAYS on 2nd gear becoz I cannot go farther in that parking lot... is that a problem too?

Probably. Your parking lot sounds too restrictive. I can get to 4th in our parking lot. It's almost like a mall. ^_^

[conandd]

YAY I did it today !

succeeded to drift by clutch kick !

really I have to go faster (less brake) and have to shift DOWN....(not kick the clutch on same gear) .....
the way I did (not shifting down when kicking the clutch) would initialize a MILD (very mild) oversteer at moderate speed (like 30mph+ something) but the rear will grip back very soon and the car go understeer!

today I made early shift to 3rd and then made it to a corner. Then I can initialize the drift very easily (in rain :] ) !

today I learned to adjust my steering angle at the entry of a corner too. I used to steer a lot before but now I just steer like 30 degree with shift lock drifting! WTG XDDDDD

but using the shift lock drifting , if I give gas too soon the car will easily spin out.

I practiced the braking + feint drift again but AGAIN I dont get it AT ALL.....lol I suck XDD anymore detailed tips anyone ? XDD

[Ran Kizama]

Nah, that's about all I got. My car is in the shop right now. A Mustang cut me off on the way home from work yesterday and forced me to hit a curb. F***ed up my alignment, bent my factory rims, and probably bent the entire front-end. F***ing street racers.