Awd Drift?

Hello,

I know RWD are best for drifting but AWD drift can be done just as well. For example, the little d1 guy drifts the four door skyline just as good as any drifter out there.

Obviously there are setting modifications because it is pretty hard to get an all wheel drive car to slide. Does anybody have any drift setting tips or have any technique tips? Any help would be apperciated.

- David Chen

Ya AWD cars can drift, as far as I know the world record for longest drift is held by a wrx :evillol:

Edit: He drifted around a skid pad till he ran out of gas

Remove the front halfshafts. That will make it easier to drift. AWD drifting can be done, but it requires significant compromising of the overall havdling ability of the car.

4 door Skylines are RWD

4 door Skylines are RWD

I was thinking the same thing. :2cents:

The best technique is to unsettle the car. This breaks the traction between the tires and the surface of the road. They call this a Scandanavian Flick. Left-right-left or vise versa when approaching the turn. You can make the rear end come around better by lifting off the throttle when turning into the turn.

Some AWD cars, you're able to use the e-brake. One of those are the WRX STi with the DCCD. When you engage the e-brake, this disengages the center clutch pack thus puting the car in a FWD mode allowing you to lock the rear tires. Depending on if you have turned into the turn, or have not turned into the turn will determine how fast the rear end kicks out when you engage that e-brake.

You can also use trail braking to kick the rear end around while still maintaining control of your traction levels. This is best performed with ABS off or cars without ABS braking system allowing you to lock the rear tires when braking hard.

If you understand vehicle dynamics well, it's not hard to get the car sideways. You just have to experiment, but experiment in a controlled environment.

FuJi

That's good to hear but do you think an AWD car could ever drift like a d1 car?

why?

ive never really tried to drift my wrx on dry surfaces due to the fact its really hard on parts and parts for this car are expensive but, when i had my 240sx my set was very simple. kyb agx struts set at 4F and 8R (stiffest), cheapy strut bars, eibach sportline springs, and tire pressure adjustment. the tire pressure helped me out alot. i had the fronts at 26psi and the rear tires set at 40psi. by having the tire pressure so high in the rear this promoted tire spin/ loss of traction. hope it help you out.

I've heard about AWD cars can't drift but RWD cars is the perfect at drifting but I don't know if AWD cars are good at drifting or can be manuvered well.

There are higher speed drifting competitions where AWD cars are commonly used. The low-speed drifting competitions that you're used to seeing are more RWD oriented.

the awd system is utilized for primarily one thing...traction. so to go out on a totally dry piece of asphalt and expect to slide sideways at 100mph in an impreza seems pretty ridiculous. fuji k listed some of the most common techniques taught by rally instructors, but these techniques are really not meant for paved roads.

you could always do what i did and weld the center diff., then take out the front axles.

talk about unsettling the car...

fuji k listed some of the most common techniques taught by rally instructors, but these techniques are really not meant for paved roads.


If they are not meant for paved roads, why do they work on paved roads?
You shouldn't be using them if the car isn't set up for it and you're inexperienced, but they do indeed work on paved and loose surfaces.

i've never managed to pull off a scan-flik on a paved road. call me inexperienced, but i've never really had to...but i havent run any 'tarmac' rallies, and all the auto-x's and road courses have never required this maneuver to be done by either me, or my instructors.
i dont doubt it could work, but on a surface where you can usually pick a tight line and your car won't be under or oversteering i don't see a need for it.

It works easily for me with a 24mm rear sway bar

Drifting in an AWD car is relatively easy once you know how to do it. I've never heard the term "Scandinavian Flick" before, but basically that's the technique. What I do is more of a powerslide than a show drift. It works on any surface, but the degrees and speeds may vary for different surfaces. For a more step-by-step idea of the technique:

1) Brake. Hard. Like you're in race conditions, but don't slip the tires.

2) Heel-toe downshift into the gear you want to be in for the turn. If you don't know how to do this, then you need to learn to heel-toe pretty well first. If you granny-downshift, you screw up all the fluidity of the powerslide.

3) Nudge the front tires just a few degrees the *wrong direction* at relatively high speed. This works particularly well in the Impreza because the steering is so precise, but it also works in lesser vehicles. Keep your foot off the gas for this step.

4) Stomp on it and whip the wheel too far in the correct direction for the turn. The car should slip out from under you and scare the bejeezus out of you. Feather the throttle and the steering to keep the car pointed towards the inside edge of the turn, but still travelling through the correct line to complete the maneuver pointed down the exit of the turn.

Practice in a parking lot with no obstructions, because if you're just learning to do this you're going to screw it up a lot more than you'll get it right at first. Besides, the first time you do it on street or track, you'll probably wet your pants (Oh, *$%@! The edge of the track is coming up way too fast!). And you eat up a lot more tire in an AWD car than in a RWD car, just to let you know. This technique also works in FWD cars, by the way.

i guess i just never understood the need to drift on a race track that wasn't a gravel/dirt/mud path?

i know it's cool, but i've never been to drift day at a racetrack lol

I have been to a drift event in my 99 GSX and it was a blast. I previously owned a 1982 320i Turbo(RWD) and i drifted that at a few events. It was much different than the GSX.

I drift for the fun of it. It survs absolutly no purpose other than to show off. I mean doing a faint drift out of a corner of a race track will help your times but going completly sideways is no help at all.

I have done auto X, drag, rall-e, and drifting. I have also compeated in a few track day events as well.

Drifting is fun but pointless. And AWD can drift, i know, i do it:D

Well, a *slight* drift is good on the tarmac. But the technique works just as well (if not better) on loose-pack surfaces. Rally racing rocks, but it's terror on the paint job (which is why I do it in the Saturn... with plastic side panels that don't dent or scratch)

The best technique is to unsettle the car. This breaks the traction between the tires and the surface of the road. They call this a Scandanavian Flick. Left-right-left or vise versa when approaching the turn. You can make the rear end come around better by lifting off the throttle when turning into the turn.
If you understand vehicle dynamics well, it's not hard to get the car sideways. You just have to experiment, but experiment in a controlled environment.

FuJi
That would be also known as Feint drift, which is commonly used to beginner drifters. All you do is throw the weight of the car into the corner. Used quite on paved roads too.
Id see AWD even more of an advantage for drifting, mainly because if you skill yourself to direct the car while drifting, you have the awd system for even quicker corner exiting speeds. Main reason why Im leaning toward the STi as the next purchase.

Drifting is fun but pointless. And AWD can drift, i know, i do it:D

THAK YOU!!!! Someone that finally understands drifting.

AWD can drift, but it's still easier to do with a RWD car. Getting the back of my Miata (140 HP, sticky DOT track tires) in the proper orientation for drifting is significantly easier than my STi (300 HP, currently on snow tires). Snow (like it's doing here now :biggrin: ) makes sliding the STi around a lot easier, but it still has a surprising amount of grip.