Best Drift Car in USA

[NISSANSPDR]

Been looking for a project car/beater...I am very much leaning towards the AE86...but lets hear your opinions on the best drifter car in the USA.

Some choices from the Japanese side:
240SX
RX7
MR2

Any good drift cars from Europe or America???

[NISSANSPDR]

No opinions anyone??? Come on...

[blacksnake98]

I'm not too up to speed on the import scene, but what exactly is a "Drift Car"?

[NISSANSPDR]

Well I am not going to probably be able to express this in the most eloquent way...but it is simply being able to master turning around a turn/curve in a controlled slide manner.

In drifting you turn DUE TO your slide while power sliding is only sliding due to your turn (or power on at the end).

For an idea...go to http://www.driftworks.org/ and then click on videos and watch a few of the clips...they are not big or long. It will give you an idea. In Japan this is an art form b/c it's bringing your car to the brink of losing grip and control but not...and for people who know...drifting sometimes is not the fastest way around a turn...only around really tight ones would I say that drifting is faster. The better you get at drifting...the higher speeds you can take and so forth. There's plenty of drift videos out there...that show canyon runs where there are lines of cars drifting or industrial park drifting where there is also a line of cars just go through the turns drifting...

Hence from this...a drift car would most likely be a RWD car although it is possible to "slide" not drift a FWD car...AWD cars can do this but in the USA...we really dont have that many RWD or AWD cars...but I've named a few up top.

[Jay!]

I vote for the FC RX-7 Turbo II.

[Bishamon]

Get a 200SX and drop an SR20DET in there!

[NISSANSPDR]

Hey I am all for FWD "trying" to drift...but in reality and in physics...the FWD'ers really cant accomplish what the RWD/AWD'ers can...and that's nice graceful, controlled slides. I've seen some good drivers (ie test car drivers...read real skilled) try to drift FWD cars...but the just end up either sliding and not actually drifting or it ends up too jerky and choppy to be regarded as the higher form of art known as...

DRIFT!

[Bishamon]

No doubt about it, it has to be a rear-drive car to drift. FF cars usually understeer at high speeds. I mean, you could always pull the e-brake, but that's not exactly drifting.

[Gonthrax]

Originally posted by Bishamon
No doubt about it, it has to be a rear-drive car to drift. FF cars usually understeer at high speeds. I mean, you could always pull the e-brake, but that's not exactly drifting.

AWD and 4WDs can have some fun too You just need more speed, and larger balls to keep it planted when your gut tells you to back off.

[NISSANSPDR]

I never said AWD cars cant drift...look above and you will see that I mention AWD cars...I just didnt name any.

[Gonthrax]

Originally posted by NISSANSPDR
I never said AWD cars cant drift...look above and you will see that I mention AWD cars...I just didnt name any.

I know bro, I wasn't conterdicting you, nice Z btw.


Originally posted by Bishamon

[3.5litermoose]

buy a rear wheel drive car with substancial power...like 150-200, thats light, and put a limited slip differential in with high gearing.

with no limited slip, every time you give it gas in the corner, your inner wheel will just light up in a smokey manner. But with limited slip, power goes to both wheels, both wheels lose traction, and the rear end of the car slides around. Controling this is up to the driver...i would ask someone who knows how to successfully control oversteer before you try it, or chances are youll end up backwards in a ditch, or worse yet a wall or another car.

Aren't MR2's front wheel drive??? the only oversteer you will get with that is by use of the e-brake.


An RX-7 looks the best out of the ones you listed there, but any thing can do it with not a whole lot of mods.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by 3.5litermoose
Aren't MR2's front wheel drive??? the only oversteer you will get with that is by use of the e-brake.

MR2 = Mid-engine, RWD. :coolguy:

[Holyterror]

Being the ignorant redneck that I am, I don't really know much about mid-engine cars drifting, but I suspect the car would be more likely to spin thanks to less weight (and thus less traction) up front, and more in the middle.

There's no reason you can't mod the RX-7 to death, but there's also no reason why you would need to that I can think of. The handling is phenomenal for a production car. Now for drifting (or anyting if you're a red-blooded American), you probably want as much power at the rear wheels as possible. Give the engine some moderate porting, put in bigger injectors, and a boost controller. Simple stuff, really. The RX-7 is a little bit heavy as far as drift cars go (~3k lbs., depending on what year).

I think your best bet would be the 240SX. No, that's not my Nissan fanatacism talking, I really think it's the best drift car. Remember, 240SX = Silvia (roughly). And to my knowledge, the Silvia is still one of (if not the) most popular drifters in Japan. Your choices would be either drop in an SR20DET (a popular swap, so its cheaper than you'd think), or turbocharge the KA24DE (or KA24E if that's what you end up with). Amazingly, the turbo KA24 will initially give you more power than the stock SR20. Plus, it's cheaper to get a turbo kit and do some other mods on an engine that you already have. It's up to you, but the 240SX has drifting in its blood.

In drifting you turn DUE TO your slide while power sliding is only sliding due to your turn (or power on at the end).

It's difficult to describe, isn't it? You really have to see it to understand it. The best explanation I can give is this: Drifting is intentionally losing traction in order to slide through multiple, tight turns while maintaining lateral control, and regaining traction only after coming out of the turn. Did that make any more sense? Drifting evolved through racing in the curvy mountain roads of Japan. Look at all the S curves piled on top of each other, and you can understand how they slide through several turns in a row. Makes you want to take a vacation, doesn't it? :smoker2:

[Gonthrax]

Originally posted by Holyterror
Drifting evolved through racing in the curvy mountain roads of Japan. Look at all the S curves piled on top of each other, and you can understand how they slide through several turns in a row. Makes you want to take a vacation, doesn't it? :smoker2:

Oh yes, I'd love to go

Also in drifting compititions, the car must be sideways or sliding the entire run, points are awarded for style, smoke, and how sideways you get


I think my fav drift car is the AE86, classic drifting
Or perhaps an S14.