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- The__Ghost__Z
This is the third installment in my series of threads, each one individually analyzing some of the more refined physics and intention of drifting in pursuit of a more precise, faster, and better drift style. Since my previous topic was rather technical and specific, I thought for this one I'd lay out a more practical analysis of specific drifting techniques. Today I am analyzing the initiation of a drift, and the various advantages, disadvantages, and requirements of each type. It should be an easier read, and this will focus primarily on the more basic, slower types of drift.
I'll start with the most basic and move to the more complex types of drifts.
1. The Power-Over Drift
This type of drift happens when a car enters a corner normally as if to grip it, and the natural roll of the car causes it to oversteer, breaking the rear wheels loose. Instead of countersteering immediately to correct the oversteer, or not countersteering and spinning out, a power-over drift has a moderate application of the throttle that maintains the spin with appropriate countersteer. It is the easiest and most basic of all drifting, but has some very specific requirements.
The drift is started because a front-heavy car maintains more grip on the front than the rear, and on a corner (particularly with an incline) has tires that can maintain more stress than the rear tires can, when they brake loose, the car pivots along its Center of Mass, the rate of which it pivots is related directly to its second moment of inertia. Because a front-heavy car has its Center of Mass near the front, the car's rear pivots at a wider angle relative to the front. When this rotation force exceeds the remaining grip forces of the rear tires, they begin to slip. In a perfectly balanced car, the front tires will also slip, which is why a front-bias weight distribution is best for this type of drift. However, even less front-biased cars can be made to do this by adjusting how weight transfers on the front and rear wheels during the drift. More pronounced weight transfer (note, WEIGHT transfer, not load transfer) on the rear tires will cause them to lose net grip faster than the front tires, prompting a smooth, predictable rotation even in 50/50 weight distribution cars. The smoothest and most novice cars will pivot slowly, and thus are done best in wide, long, and poorly balanced cars with loose suspension that gradually allows this roll to happen. This type of technique is often stumbled upon "accidentally" by someone oversteering a front-heavy car.
Advantages: Can be initiated on almost any corner, the faster the better, and can be initiated reliably and smoothly.
Disadvantages: Becomes more difficult the slower the corner is, and most cars when tuned to optimize this drift have glaring weaknesses (loose suspension, high center of gravity, unbalanced roll distribution, etc.) that will slow them down in most other forms of driving.
Requirements: Enough RWTQ/WT ratio to spin the tires once the rotation starts, sufficient wheelbase and weight distribution for the rear wheels to lose traction before the front.
2. The Weight Transfer Drift
During a normal corner, sharp, jerky inputs will prompt a greater weight transfer, and a faster load transfer, to a car. If that load transfer lowers the net grip of the tires enough that they no longer grip (for example, in some suspensions on higher grip tires the load transfer is such that it is possible to get negative weight, aka lift forces, on 1, 2, or even 3 wheels during cornering) they will begin to slip, obviously. The advantage of the weight transfer drift is that it can be initiated very easily as well and can be done in cars with not enough power to drift with a power-over technique. A Stock AE86 is a perfect example of this type of drift. A Scandinavian Flick is a variation on this idea. However, the inherent drawback to this type of drift, where the weight of a car is moved toward the inside wheels immediately before a turn, so that when entering the turn the sudden change of weight ot the outside wheels causes a loss of traction, is that it requires high weight transfer, which means either lots of body roll from a loose suspension, higher grip tires that cause greater load transfer (which is not an option for low powered cars, which should benefit from this technique most) or a high center of mass. All of these are relatively detrimental to the speed of a car when cornering however, so trying to optimize this type of drift is very, very difficult. More powerful cars need not use this type of drift either, as it has no real advantages over the power-over technique.
Advantages: Very effective for low-powered cars that do not have enough power for a power-over or even an E-brake drifts. One of the more stylish drifts as it produces a pronounced lean and has a great "throwing around" effect. Relatively easy to control.
Disadvantages: Loose suspension may not be suitable for speeding out of a corner exit or maintaining maximum drift speed. Such pronounced weight transfer is going to make the tires difficult to optimizing, requiring particularly smooth and gentle applications of the brakes and throttle, but precise enough that the necessary weight transfer is experienced by the car.
Requirements: High Center of Mass, large wheelbase, loose suspension, high level of body roll.
3. E-Brake Drift
The E-brake (or Parking Brake) Drift is an extremely common technique, and is related to a series of techniques I refer to as "Shock" drifts. The idea is to break traction in the tires by initiating a sudden shock to the tires while turning, causing them to experience wheel lock, lift, or a combination of physical effects that begins a drift. A Cluck Kick drift is another example of this, as well as a Shift-Lock drift. The primary advantage of an E-brake drift is that it both breaks traction, AND rotates the car along its center of mass at the same time instantly, with very little body roll or weight transfer necessary to lose grip. This means that it can be initiated with very tight springs and lowered center of mass, since weight transfer does not play so much of a factor. The way the suspension keeps grip on the tires, and the weight distribution, and the second moment of inertia, and a number of other factors determine the character of the car on the drift initiation and exit. This is, by far, the most common type of drift, as it is one of the most easily controlled, since in the middle of an active drift, the E-brake can be tapped to further increase the angle of the car if one needs to correct a poor entrance. The major disadvantage however, is that the car will almost always slow down below maximum drifting speed and obtain an angle higher than optimal slip angle. It is a stylish, fancy drift, but it is not efficient or fast. A poorly executed E-brake drift will cause the RPMs to drop quickly in mid-corner as well. This is a common mistake among new drifters using extremely high powered cars, as they can still rely on the wheels to receive enough torque as the RPMs drop to keep the wheels spinning. However, in a car optimized for speed in a drift, this will drop it below its maximum TQ levels and can cause sudden grip to cause the car to lose its angle, after gaining the angle from the initial E-brake. Using the E-brake determines a bad drifter from a good drifter. Knowing when not to use the E-brake, and using it as little as necessary, determines a good drifter from an excellent drifter. It is a useful tool, but can quickly become a liability and a crutch that prevents people from optimizing their drifts.
Advantages: Can be used to change the angle in the middle of a drift, requires little tuning and can be done on most tight racing suspensions, depletes speed at a very quick rate at drift initiation, proportional to the angle created. Very little body roll necessary to do. One of the most reliable and easy drift techniques, with a high skill cap for optimization.
Disadvantages: More beneficial to more powerful cars, not as fast or smooth as a properly executed body roll drift. Often becomes a crutch for poorly tuned drift cars with suspension too tight and bodies lowered too low for proper driving. Becomes a dependence for people to enter a corner poorly, and then just correct with the E-brake rather than using a proper technique.
Requirements: Very little, only a suitable amount of RWTQ/WT ratio to maintain the drift.
4. The Damper Drift
This type of drifting is special because it relies entirely on suspension tuning. The goal is to make the car roll and rock as much upon corner entry, but become suddenly stable and straight on corner exit. This is done by adjusting the front/rear tension, roll bars, camber, toe, etc. And by adjusting how the front compresses and rear extends in the corners. Much like how a weight transfer drift takes advantage of lateral weight transfer in a corner, this type of drift takes advantage of longitudinal weight transfer into a corner. What it does is use the fundamentally different weight distributions that a car has under entry and braking, and exit and acceleration. During entry the car can be made to suddenly lift off of the rear wheels while holding tightly onto the front wheels, initiating the drift, and then use the more rear-biased weight distribution under acceleration to provide a tight rear end and loose front end to produce a very high-grip and fast exit speed.
This is also a stylish drift, as it produces the very typical "lean-in" cornering shape of a car when the suspension is tuned properly. The best advantage however, is that its suspension tuning can be combined with most other forms of loose-suspension drifting, such as a weight transfer drift, power-over, or turn-in. This type of drift is best done by an experienced drifter tuning a car for a less experienced drifter. The experienced drifter knows enough to tune the car properly for the "toolbox" of novice-level drifters to use, and the novice-level drifter has a well-tuned suspension to learn on.
Advantages: Very fast exit speed, leaving a corner faster than apex grip driving, as you can accelerate earlier, right before the tires regain grip and when the car is still turning. Tuning can be combined with many other drift techniques. Gives a drifter more options on how to approach a corner.
Disadvantages: Loose suspension causes more pronounced weight transfer, and doesn't allow for extremely lowered, high-camber, high-spring rate cars, as they will constantly be hitting the ground.
Requirements: Only a properly tuned suspension.
There is one more variation on the damper drift, where a suspension's shock absorbers are tuned such that upon entry to a corner, the car slams the suspension to its max limit and creates a shock in the tires, much like gentle use of the E-brake, to initiate a drift. It however, requires suspension to be so loose that obvious performance drawbacks come to light, and in real life would be very abrasive and damaging to a car's suspension and frame.
In the next installment, I'll discuss the more complex drifting techniques, such as an off-course (Dirt Drop) drift, Brake and Brake-lock drift, Rail-bounce or Contact drift, and Jump Drift. I might throw a few special, unique types of experimental drifts I'm working on too, relating to particular tracks or corners.
I'll start with the most basic and move to the more complex types of drifts.
1. The Power-Over Drift
This type of drift happens when a car enters a corner normally as if to grip it, and the natural roll of the car causes it to oversteer, breaking the rear wheels loose. Instead of countersteering immediately to correct the oversteer, or not countersteering and spinning out, a power-over drift has a moderate application of the throttle that maintains the spin with appropriate countersteer. It is the easiest and most basic of all drifting, but has some very specific requirements.
The drift is started because a front-heavy car maintains more grip on the front than the rear, and on a corner (particularly with an incline) has tires that can maintain more stress than the rear tires can, when they brake loose, the car pivots along its Center of Mass, the rate of which it pivots is related directly to its second moment of inertia. Because a front-heavy car has its Center of Mass near the front, the car's rear pivots at a wider angle relative to the front. When this rotation force exceeds the remaining grip forces of the rear tires, they begin to slip. In a perfectly balanced car, the front tires will also slip, which is why a front-bias weight distribution is best for this type of drift. However, even less front-biased cars can be made to do this by adjusting how weight transfers on the front and rear wheels during the drift. More pronounced weight transfer (note, WEIGHT transfer, not load transfer) on the rear tires will cause them to lose net grip faster than the front tires, prompting a smooth, predictable rotation even in 50/50 weight distribution cars. The smoothest and most novice cars will pivot slowly, and thus are done best in wide, long, and poorly balanced cars with loose suspension that gradually allows this roll to happen. This type of technique is often stumbled upon "accidentally" by someone oversteering a front-heavy car.
Advantages: Can be initiated on almost any corner, the faster the better, and can be initiated reliably and smoothly.
Disadvantages: Becomes more difficult the slower the corner is, and most cars when tuned to optimize this drift have glaring weaknesses (loose suspension, high center of gravity, unbalanced roll distribution, etc.) that will slow them down in most other forms of driving.
Requirements: Enough RWTQ/WT ratio to spin the tires once the rotation starts, sufficient wheelbase and weight distribution for the rear wheels to lose traction before the front.
2. The Weight Transfer Drift
During a normal corner, sharp, jerky inputs will prompt a greater weight transfer, and a faster load transfer, to a car. If that load transfer lowers the net grip of the tires enough that they no longer grip (for example, in some suspensions on higher grip tires the load transfer is such that it is possible to get negative weight, aka lift forces, on 1, 2, or even 3 wheels during cornering) they will begin to slip, obviously. The advantage of the weight transfer drift is that it can be initiated very easily as well and can be done in cars with not enough power to drift with a power-over technique. A Stock AE86 is a perfect example of this type of drift. A Scandinavian Flick is a variation on this idea. However, the inherent drawback to this type of drift, where the weight of a car is moved toward the inside wheels immediately before a turn, so that when entering the turn the sudden change of weight ot the outside wheels causes a loss of traction, is that it requires high weight transfer, which means either lots of body roll from a loose suspension, higher grip tires that cause greater load transfer (which is not an option for low powered cars, which should benefit from this technique most) or a high center of mass. All of these are relatively detrimental to the speed of a car when cornering however, so trying to optimize this type of drift is very, very difficult. More powerful cars need not use this type of drift either, as it has no real advantages over the power-over technique.
Advantages: Very effective for low-powered cars that do not have enough power for a power-over or even an E-brake drifts. One of the more stylish drifts as it produces a pronounced lean and has a great "throwing around" effect. Relatively easy to control.
Disadvantages: Loose suspension may not be suitable for speeding out of a corner exit or maintaining maximum drift speed. Such pronounced weight transfer is going to make the tires difficult to optimizing, requiring particularly smooth and gentle applications of the brakes and throttle, but precise enough that the necessary weight transfer is experienced by the car.
Requirements: High Center of Mass, large wheelbase, loose suspension, high level of body roll.
3. E-Brake Drift
The E-brake (or Parking Brake) Drift is an extremely common technique, and is related to a series of techniques I refer to as "Shock" drifts. The idea is to break traction in the tires by initiating a sudden shock to the tires while turning, causing them to experience wheel lock, lift, or a combination of physical effects that begins a drift. A Cluck Kick drift is another example of this, as well as a Shift-Lock drift. The primary advantage of an E-brake drift is that it both breaks traction, AND rotates the car along its center of mass at the same time instantly, with very little body roll or weight transfer necessary to lose grip. This means that it can be initiated with very tight springs and lowered center of mass, since weight transfer does not play so much of a factor. The way the suspension keeps grip on the tires, and the weight distribution, and the second moment of inertia, and a number of other factors determine the character of the car on the drift initiation and exit. This is, by far, the most common type of drift, as it is one of the most easily controlled, since in the middle of an active drift, the E-brake can be tapped to further increase the angle of the car if one needs to correct a poor entrance. The major disadvantage however, is that the car will almost always slow down below maximum drifting speed and obtain an angle higher than optimal slip angle. It is a stylish, fancy drift, but it is not efficient or fast. A poorly executed E-brake drift will cause the RPMs to drop quickly in mid-corner as well. This is a common mistake among new drifters using extremely high powered cars, as they can still rely on the wheels to receive enough torque as the RPMs drop to keep the wheels spinning. However, in a car optimized for speed in a drift, this will drop it below its maximum TQ levels and can cause sudden grip to cause the car to lose its angle, after gaining the angle from the initial E-brake. Using the E-brake determines a bad drifter from a good drifter. Knowing when not to use the E-brake, and using it as little as necessary, determines a good drifter from an excellent drifter. It is a useful tool, but can quickly become a liability and a crutch that prevents people from optimizing their drifts.
Advantages: Can be used to change the angle in the middle of a drift, requires little tuning and can be done on most tight racing suspensions, depletes speed at a very quick rate at drift initiation, proportional to the angle created. Very little body roll necessary to do. One of the most reliable and easy drift techniques, with a high skill cap for optimization.
Disadvantages: More beneficial to more powerful cars, not as fast or smooth as a properly executed body roll drift. Often becomes a crutch for poorly tuned drift cars with suspension too tight and bodies lowered too low for proper driving. Becomes a dependence for people to enter a corner poorly, and then just correct with the E-brake rather than using a proper technique.
Requirements: Very little, only a suitable amount of RWTQ/WT ratio to maintain the drift.
4. The Damper Drift
This type of drifting is special because it relies entirely on suspension tuning. The goal is to make the car roll and rock as much upon corner entry, but become suddenly stable and straight on corner exit. This is done by adjusting the front/rear tension, roll bars, camber, toe, etc. And by adjusting how the front compresses and rear extends in the corners. Much like how a weight transfer drift takes advantage of lateral weight transfer in a corner, this type of drift takes advantage of longitudinal weight transfer into a corner. What it does is use the fundamentally different weight distributions that a car has under entry and braking, and exit and acceleration. During entry the car can be made to suddenly lift off of the rear wheels while holding tightly onto the front wheels, initiating the drift, and then use the more rear-biased weight distribution under acceleration to provide a tight rear end and loose front end to produce a very high-grip and fast exit speed.
This is also a stylish drift, as it produces the very typical "lean-in" cornering shape of a car when the suspension is tuned properly. The best advantage however, is that its suspension tuning can be combined with most other forms of loose-suspension drifting, such as a weight transfer drift, power-over, or turn-in. This type of drift is best done by an experienced drifter tuning a car for a less experienced drifter. The experienced drifter knows enough to tune the car properly for the "toolbox" of novice-level drifters to use, and the novice-level drifter has a well-tuned suspension to learn on.
Advantages: Very fast exit speed, leaving a corner faster than apex grip driving, as you can accelerate earlier, right before the tires regain grip and when the car is still turning. Tuning can be combined with many other drift techniques. Gives a drifter more options on how to approach a corner.
Disadvantages: Loose suspension causes more pronounced weight transfer, and doesn't allow for extremely lowered, high-camber, high-spring rate cars, as they will constantly be hitting the ground.
Requirements: Only a properly tuned suspension.
There is one more variation on the damper drift, where a suspension's shock absorbers are tuned such that upon entry to a corner, the car slams the suspension to its max limit and creates a shock in the tires, much like gentle use of the E-brake, to initiate a drift. It however, requires suspension to be so loose that obvious performance drawbacks come to light, and in real life would be very abrasive and damaging to a car's suspension and frame.
In the next installment, I'll discuss the more complex drifting techniques, such as an off-course (Dirt Drop) drift, Brake and Brake-lock drift, Rail-bounce or Contact drift, and Jump Drift. I might throw a few special, unique types of experimental drifts I'm working on too, relating to particular tracks or corners.
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Besides the fact that it's wrong from time to time :s
About what... trust me, most of us here don't have nothing to be jealous of this guy. 👎
