Snow Drifting?

[2of9]

well, it snowed up here in Minnesota already. I can drift in the snow!! well sort of, with my dad's 92 Accord...the e-brake is awesome, and the feeling of drifting is fun too. i think i might stop IF it gets too dangerous. well, any snow drifters here?

[2strokebloke]

You don't need the e-brake, just lift off of the gas at the start of the turn - to correct the oversteer just step on the gas again.

[Amish_kid]

YEAH BOY!
Man the only thing I like about my car is the fact it's rwd it might be gutless but it still got enough to get sideways in the corners in the snow hmm Man I need my own rwd beater.

[2of9]

drifting in the snow is obsessing. I put on the e-brake and make the front-wheels help me, then turn off the e-brakes. this happens in like 1-2 seconds. my big bro does it. if u leave the e-brake on too long than u'll spin out. the front-wheel drive helps me get out of the spin out (w/e-brake), wich i think is drift, because im goin sideways!

[dfdtrumpet]

hmmm, gonna hafta try this, we just got our first bit of snow to speak of here...

[Timberland65]

I love drifting in the snow. It's really the only time that FF cars can actually drift. I do it a couple ways depending on the situation. Most of the time I pop the e-brake real quick and jerk the wheel towards where the corner. If you stay on the gas and work the brake/e-brake you can hold it for a while. Another way is left foot braking, where you stay on the gas and use the brake to help you slide. This way is a bit harder, but it allows you to keep both hands on the wheel. (In case you can't already tell, my car is a FF automatic...)

[raysoh8]

how do drifters turn the wheel left and right so fast and precise with one hand on the wheel and the other flying to grab the stick and handbrake at the same time? i cant even turn the wheel moving at 5kph!

[Suislide]

Originally Posted by raysoh8

how do drifters turn the wheel left and right so fast and precise with one hand on the wheel and the other flying to grab the stick and handbrake at the same time? i cant even turn the wheel moving at 5kph!

years and YEARS (did i say years?) of practise practise practise. and don't expect to be a super good drifter by e-braking your FF car in the snow. while it is fun, it's no-where NEAR the same as a real drift, and obviousley drifting in the snow is alot easier since the road is slick.

[raysoh8]

did i mention im a kid and i dont own a car?

[madbikr007]

I love drifting in the snow, here in NJ its snowed twice in the last 2 weeks and it makes for some fun driving. I usually head over to the local pool parking lot which never gets plowed, the first time i tried it was in my dads suburban, lol, i put it in 2wd and had some fun, the next time i tried it in my moms allroad, i habe yet to try it in my porsche tho, as its just awfule in the snow and i have to drive up a hill to get home. Snow is a great place to learn cuz you can "drift" even at low speed. have fun!

[2strokebloke]

Originally Posted by raysoh8

how do drifters turn the wheel left and right so fast and precise with one hand on the wheel and the other flying to grab the stick and handbrake at the same time? i cant even turn the wheel moving at 5kph!

Because you're not supposed to use the ebrake.

Anyway since we're talking about snow, here's a really difficult, but rewarding drifting technique for FF cars (it can be achieved in RWD cars, but you have to use a totally different throttle technique)
It works best in the snow or on ice (for me) because none of my cars have much more than 60hp. However, if you have a FF car capable of doing a real burnout and with a stiff rear anti-roll bar, this technique can be used in dry conditions, probably with results that'd convince the rear wheel drive crowd that FF cars can make legit drifters.
Anyway, here's how it works (if you get confused just look at the illustration I'm providing)


Leftmost picture: heading into a turn, as normal
Center picture: Jam on accelerator to the floor to induce massive understeer. While the car is still heading forward, turn the wheel towards the inside of the curve (red dotted lines represent front wheels turned inward) if understeer is sufficient, the car will continue in the direction it was going prior to you jamming on the gas and turning the wheel.
Rightmost picture: let off of the gas (not completely) the wheels will stop spinning and grip - get ready this is where understeer changes to oversteer, and can be pretty hairy if you don't expect it. The front wheels will grip again! The weight has shifted forward onto the front wheels, which are pointed into the curve, the front end of the car now head the direction of the wheels. Also because the weight has shifted forward, there is less weight on the rear wheels, and the sudden change in direction will cause them to slip and lose traction, they will now want to go to the outside of the curve. Push back down on the gas once the rear wheels have lost bite (but not too fast you don't want understeer again, push down swiftly but smoothly, don't "jam" as before) This will keep you from skidding out of control.

If everything went right, you are still on the road. If your car failed to switch from understeer to oversteer when you let off of the throttle, you ended up off the road on the outside of the curve. If you were unable to get sufficient forward acceleration with the front wheels after the rear end broke loose, you ended up on the outside of the curve, but this time you're going backwards.
The whole and entirely important action with the throttle takes only a couple seconds - longer and you've just screwed up big time - unless you're going really slow. It is possible to drift in this manner at speeds below 20mph. Before you try it on a winding hilly road and total your car and injure yourself, try it in an empty parking lot at very slow speeds - it's hard to learn and it can be dangerous even once you know how.

For FR cars it's far less predictable, but can still work, this may be a way for understeer-happy cars to drift. Going into the curve, let off of the gas, turn the wheel quickly towards the center of the curve (remember for FR -but not RR- throttle off = understeer) you'll probably not have time to point the front wheels exactly where you want them by the time they begin to grip again, so apply power before you finnish steering, you don't need too much or you're just going to end up doing a regular powerslide (I know this technique is less exciting or needed in a rwd car!)
Oh, and don't say I didn't tell you that it can be hard and dangerous! (but then again, using the parking brake going around icy turns isn't exactly safe either)

[2of9]

so far...i have made drifting marks on my street...there are 5 corners and i have also made marks on them..hhehehe...so fun drifting...i've tried DOWNHILL...so hard, but fun..hehhe

[mcdoink]

Originally Posted by Timberland65

I love drifting in the snow. It's really the only time that FF cars can actually drift. I do it a couple ways depending on the situation. Most of the time I pop the e-brake real quick and jerk the wheel towards where the corner. If you stay on the gas and work the brake/e-brake you can hold it for a while. Another way is left foot braking, where you stay on the gas and use the brake to help you slide. This way is a bit harder, but it allows you to keep both hands on the wheel. (In case you can't already tell, my car is a FF automatic...)

ok. "Drifting" in the snow is not the only time of the year you can drift a FF. If u actually knew anyhting about drifting or have done it you would know that you can use diff tech like feint (momentum). you can drift a FF car in dry conditions if you can throw the car the right way and use its momentum. I dont know about the rest of you but if you take jsut one corner around a block thats not considered drifting. Drifting to me is linking many corners together or taking a long wide corner.

[Suislide]

don't even start the FF vs FR debate again or i will lock this thread so fast...

snow drifting is not drifting either. it's like running and sliding on a patch of ice and saying you floated. you obviousley didn't, but the lack of traction makes it seem like you did.

likewise with cars. try the same maneuvres you use in the snow when it's dry, and you will find they won't work. the only reason cars will "drift" so readily in the winter is because the roads are so slick. take away the snow, and bye bye sideways.

i also agree that going sideways around one corner isn't really "drifting". it's the art of linking multiple corners - or even a whole track - together into one seamless back and forth motion.

[carguyinok]

snow drifting is not drifting either. it's like running and sliding on a patch of ice and saying you floated.

THANK YOU