- 13
- United States
- Moldyhotpocket
I know both sides have their own benefits but could you guys help me with figuring out the pros and cons?
Heavyweight Vs. Lightweight drifting
- Thread starter antoniodgreat
- 43 comments
- 28,793 views
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
Heavyweight
Pros:
more power to the ground
lateral grip
more control over the slide
Cons:
Harder to stop
harder to spin the tyres depending on torque
Slower around the corner
Lightweight
Pros:
more agile
easier to spin the tyres
stopping is much faster
quicker around the corner
Cons:
Harder to regain traction during slide
understeer
weight transfer takes more work
These effects may vary from tune to tune but they are all the things to keep in mind when tuning. But, because your car is lightweight doesn't mean it will react the way I stated. It's a general observation.
Pros:
more power to the ground
lateral grip
more control over the slide
Cons:
Harder to stop
harder to spin the tyres depending on torque
Slower around the corner
Lightweight
Pros:
more agile
easier to spin the tyres
stopping is much faster
quicker around the corner
Cons:
Harder to regain traction during slide
understeer
weight transfer takes more work
These effects may vary from tune to tune but they are all the things to keep in mind when tuning. But, because your car is lightweight doesn't mean it will react the way I stated. It's a general observation.
Last edited:
- 204
I find heavy cars want to keep sliding (without applying power), and find weight transfer more difficult. Makes control more difficult. With comfort hard tires of course.
Am I wrong here?
Am I wrong here?
I find it the opposite. Light cars have trouble gaining traction and they keep sliding forever since they don't have the mass to help slow them down.
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
you probably have too much camber... When you have a lot of camber especially in the rear the cars tend to take more effort to slide but once they're sliding they slide forever.
- 6,293
- Canada
I agree with Drift Monkey. To me, the heavier cars tend to have more grip. I usually prefer fast, grippy drift cars, so I find the heavier cars "easier to control". I put that in quotations because it's more that heavier cars suite my style of drifting better than lighter cars.
As far as lighter cars go, I find them easier to be consistant and smooth in, but I'm usually much slower in them. I'm not very good at pushing the pace in lighter cars. That's just me though. I prefer bigger cars in general, so maybe I just need to tune better and practice more with light weight cars.
As far as lighter cars go, I find them easier to be consistant and smooth in, but I'm usually much slower in them. I'm not very good at pushing the pace in lighter cars. That's just me though. I prefer bigger cars in general, so maybe I just need to tune better and practice more with light weight cars.
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
- 6,293
- Canada
I've found the same thing. It's easier for me to slow down / stop a lot of my heavier cars compared to the lighter ones.
I think this illustrates how simple (and to a certain extent, wrong) the tire model is. Technically, the more mass a car has, the more momentum and inertia it has, therefore it should require either more force, or a longer distance (...or both) for it to come to a stop. Of course, more mass does also equate to more grip with the tires (which allows breaking force to be increased), but not to the degree it does in GT5 on CH tires.
If it maintains traction through the entire breaking period, a lighter car should stop sooner than a heavier car. However, in GT5, I think CH tires break traction much too easily without sufficient weight on top of them, which makes lighter cars go into a skid much sooner under breaking.
- 13
- United States
- Moldyhotpocket
Okay but what about elevation? I could imagine that heavier cars would win against lighter cars on an uphill and vice versa on the downhill. Taking your advice on lateral grip, wouldn't heavier cars also be better suited to courses that have more bank angle?
- 2,315
- Sacramento California
- FT_Ant
I like my bitches heavy
- 6,293
- Canada
Again, the grip available to the tires is more the issue rather than the weight of the car.
A heavier car can be faster on the uphill if it has more grip than a lighter car. In real life, this would be rare. But in GT5, it happens all the time. It happens in GT5 because the heavier cars have much less wheelspin than the lighter cars.
In theory, a heavier car should be faster on a downhill than a lighter car....but this theory goes out the window if corners are added to the mix. This is why Initial D style downhill racing is one of the most challenging forms of racing, as there are so many factors that come into play...driver skill and courage being the greatest of these factors.
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
spot on... the heavier cars in downhill take so much energy to stop that by the time they reach midway point of the course the brakes are worn. (episode with nightkids R32 is a good example of weight advantages in downhill)
In uphill, on GT5, the tyre model makes it harder for lighter cars to gain traction on inclines I'm guessing because of the algorythm for gravity vs grip. You can even see this when you're on a slope and you park perpendicular to the incline the car slide even without gas. The heavy ones slide slower than lighter ones.
DriftRyuji
(Banned)
- 1,208
- Pasadena, CA
- DUD-Naoki
ant 
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
how about more angle less speed
- 6,293
- Canada
How about angle AND speed. To me, angle without speed is as unattractive as speed without angle. Not aiming this directly at you DM, as I don't think you fall into this catagory, but these days, too many people focus on pure angle. To me, it's boring to watch, as well as boring to chase someone like that.
IMO, the best drift is one that finds that balance between speed and angle.
And just to stir the pot, purely from a driver's point of view, I'd say max speed drifting is more fun compared to max angle drifting, as you at least have the thrill of going fast...as opposed to going completely sideways at a snail's pace.
Most will probably disagree, but that's just my opinion.
- 1,109
- Trinidad
- MLD_DriftMonkey
I be speeding down the straight and swinging that bitch 90
- 316
- Antalya
- AkaiNekoTC
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