drifting with a sentra

[tipota]

my friend told me you could only drift with manual cars, and ive been thinking of how i could drift my with automatic 94 sentra. i never wanted to pull the e-brake while driving because i heard if you do its bad for the engine and the front axle. yesterday however, i figured out that i can drift if i throw the car in manual, start a turn, and pull the e-brake. ive only done it once, and before i do it anymore im wondering if its bad for the car at all. i figure that when the cars in neutral, its just like pressing the cluth and the engine is disengaged from the wheels so its not affected by the e-brake. is this true? and also, does pulling the e-brake while the car is driving have a negative effect on the axle?

[muphasta]

That isn't really drifting. That is sliding. I don't know if that will cause any problems, but it probably isn't a great thing to do daily.

[tipota]

well i wont do it daily, my main concern is that nothing bad is happening to the axle. how does the e-brake work? does it wrap around the axle or something? and also, what then is drifting? i thought it was a controlled slide, meaning that as long as you slide around a turn without spinning out.

[mi69camaro]

Yeah that's what i thought it was...but not like i know anything!?!?

[muphasta]

true drifting can only be done w/rear wheel drive cars. I am not sure of the exact process on how to do it, but they break the back end loose, and the rear wheels "drift" out and continue to spin while the car goes through the turn sideways.

ever seen those midget race cars w/the big wings on the roof? They race on dirt tracks generally, and those guys drift through the turns.

Basically, if you don't have rear wheel drive, you cannot drift.

[tipota]

so what am i do? controlled sliding?

[muphasta]

I can't really say how "controlled" your sliding is. But that is probably more accurate than drifting.

[qr25sentra]

yea its considered sliding.. just find a nice slipper road (slightly wet) and let go of the gas,pull the e brake and turn the steering wheel.

[97sentra]

it fun to slide with a front wheel drive. your axle will get mess-up not becuz of the e-brake but becuz of the way the axle are bent when you turn. but if you have money to buy axle, have fun sliding.

[Liquid_Neon]

ebrakes dont touch ur front end... they are directly attacted to your rear brake drums/discs via a cable.
when u pull it up, it pulls the brakes closed.

the axles only wear out because they are not designed to handle so much force and weight the way a slide does.

doesnt bother the motor, it isnt attached to the rear wheels at all.


also, another way to balance the car and slide around corners is with careful control of the brakes and gas at the same time. it allows for less understeer(going straight) and sometimes oversteer(rear end sliding out) if u need it. I do it in my pulsar NX, and with practice you can drive quite fast through the twisties.

[bbissell05]

why anyone would even attempt to "drit\ft" an automatic sentra is beyond me, but if you really want to do it here's the proper way...
leave the car in gear and accelerate while pulling the e-brakeand turning...this works best when you're already moving, and with enough power you can actually drag the rear wheels around behind you kind of like a "drift"

[tipota]

i onyl drift with it because its the only car i have. ive been looking for a 240sx lately though. i stopped doing it because i found out its bad for the axle, and id rather spend 1000 towards a 240sx than a new axle for my sentra

[klohiq]

if you do get a 240sx...make sure you have a little extra saved up for crashes...think about getting an s13 since they are 10x cheaper to fix (much greater parts availability).

lastly...some people in japan have installed skyline rear axles because their stockers keep breaking...but I think that's more due to the excessive hp they produce than the lateral forces.

[Fialchar]

True drifting is with RWD cars, automatic/standard wont make much difference. As you go around a curve, you would pull the e-brake and spin the wheel, then release the e-brake and tap the gas/foot brake to control the drift. Honestly, if you haven't drifted much before, get some training first. Lots of smaller annoyances can happen, such as: If you don't know how to counter steer or forget to, the road will grip your tire and peel it off of the rim. That's not fun when you're going 50+ mph..
Again, I'd HIGHLY recommen d you go to a racing/drifting school before you attempt to drift. Even experienced drifters make mistakes, and throwing a car around at those speeds with no grip can be fatal. Or worse, it could total your car.. (R.I.P. 1ZZFE and R.I.P. 2000 Saab 9-3 Turbo T.T)