FF Drift

[ShibbySweet]

Does anyone know any techniques for drifing in a FF car??? i know it has to involve the side break but i kinda need to know more details. and can u 4 wheel drift a FF car?

[NSX-R-SSJ20K]

you have to use every technique for drifting a rear wheel drive

this means feint over power handbrake brakes ....everything its the most difficult drift and it still isn't really a drift

real drift are controlled FF ones are slightly mad believe me i tried it .......we didn't so much as drift as just skid over three lanes

at least i know i can do it

[Cbass]

Drifting FF isn't all that hard, you just need to retune your suspension. With more negative camber on the front, and stiffer shocks on the rear, combine that with good brakes and you're set.

You initiate drift just like you would with an FR if you were using the hand brake. The tricky part is maintaing a drift, it must be done using inertia only, because you can't use power. It comes down to weight transfer, using the brakes and and throttle to transfer the weight, and using the hand brake if necessary.

[NSX-R-SSJ20K]

Cbass! where on earth did you learn that from i want to know cuz i want to learn too !!!!! - (not the same attitude as in my high school years)

[ShibbySweet]

So i'm guessing you should pull the side break while you are still breaking with the foot petal and the weight is tranfered to your front wheels right? that way there is less traction on the rear wheels and when you pull the side break it would be easier for the back to drift out?

[Cbass]

This is what I have read from a number of places... they also went over this in the Shingo episodes of Initial D...

The suspension tuning is pretty simple, the negative camber is just a bit of suspension preload to keep from understeering, and the stiffening of the rear end just makes it easier to step out, because the back end is more resistant to taking the weight.

The FF part I picked up from reading about drifting. It's all about weight transfer... Do a web search for "drifting techniques", and you'll probably find a dozen pages detailing FWD drifting.

Watch the Shingo episodes, and watch how he brakes in mid corner.

[Marc-OS]

There was a technique my friend did while taking a sharp turn at about 80mph in his civic. He pulled the e-brake, released it, then went full throttle, released throttle, pulled e-brake again, released e-brake, and applied full throttle. He did this really quick and repeatedly throughout the turn, and we pretty much went sideways through the corner. It was really cool, but still not even close to the fastest way around the corner in a FF car. Check out, http://www.turnfast.com and http://www.drivingtechniques.co.uk/

[Kaneto]

Well, in reality drifting is almost never the fastest way around a turn in any car. There are certain turns that, if you're able to drift it perfectly, will be faster than traditional slow-in/fast-out grip driving. However, unless you're the drift king, you're more likely to just lose time.

[Cbass]

Actually, the fastest way through many corners is the acelleration off oversteering drift. Also, Active Yaw Control is a very controlled partial drift. The inner rear wheel spins, reducing the steering angle necessary for the corner, and speeds up the turn.

Drifting is simply exceeding the grip of the tires with speed. If you can carry more speed through a corner than your tires can handle, you'll be faster, and drifting. This is demonstrated well in rally on gravel and ice. The cars can travel much faster than the tires can grip, so they drift. On a very wet road, it is often faster to drift through some corners.

The major advantage of grip style, is the ability to use the best line, and acellerate early. Even Formula one cars drift, applying careful throttle off oversteer(kansei drift), before acelleration, and then using the AYC to spin the inside rear.

Man, I'm just a wealth of information...

[NSX-R-SSJ20K]

thing is i found one on drift techniques it states all the FR drifts and then says FF drift do all the above

[Kaneto]

Rally racing is different than most other kinds of motorsports and doesn't make for a very good comparison. Drifting works best in rally because the cars are almost constantly beyond their point of traction (what point of traction?), due to the surfaces they drive on. Also while rallying the drivers are often setting up maneuvers at the last second, which makes it difficult to set up a proper line through a corner. However, even in rally racing you'll find they always try to find the best line through almost all corners.

Following the proper line through the course is always the fastest. Yes, F1 drivers often drift a bit at the end of a corner, but really only to set themselves up on the line for the next corner.

Hairpins are really the only corner where it is generally quicker to drift than grip turn. Even in Formula 1, however, you'll see very little drift on a hairpin. A lot of it has to do with avoiding excessive tire wear, of course. But more important is keeping the proper line. In rally they drift through almost every hairpin, of course, because it is the fastest.

Hmm... I think to quantify my earlier statement... the showy drifting that you see guys doing in their silvias, with the back end hanging out all over the place... is almost never the quickest way through a turn. Small amounts of drift, used to keep you on the line, is beneficial. The majority of racing is still done with grip driving, though.

As far as AYC, that's a little debatable whether it actually counts as drifting.

[NSX-R-SSJ20K]

also in rallying they sometimes do their drift thang on tarmac surfaces and i wonder if those tires have any grip or are more like rudders ? ? ? ?


what are we talking about

[Kaneto]

They do drift on tarmac courses.... on the hairpins. Most other types of corners they'll try and stay on the best line. Watch them go through a chicane. They'll usually try and make as straight a line through it as possible, often running partially off the tarmac to cut the corner.

They do use a slicker tire for tarmac courses, though it depends on the weather. Tire selection is always a big thing with rallies, because of the different terrains.

[ShibbySweet]

Cant you keep a good line thru a corner while drifting?

[Cbass]

If you don't take a proper line through a corner while drifting, you'll be really slow...

I will summarize our thread here for the less knowledgeable... A car drifts because it's speed exceeds it's traction.

Full showy tail end drifting at high angles is usually not the fastest way to drive. However, exceeding your tires grip is common place, especially when driving at the limit. It is possible to carry more speed out of a corner drifting. However, drifting is much more difficult than grip style, and takes a lot more practice to be fast.

If you have really bad traction, but can still get going fast, then drifting may very well be the fastest way through a corner. Remember old sports car racing? The best drivers in the world drifted those things! It wasn't really high angle drift, usually not more than about 5 degrees, but they were 4 wheel drifting and countersteering.