How to maintain long(er) drifts?

[TakahashiRyoske]

I'm a beginner drifter. I've read several posts, and have been practicing, and I believe I have the basics down for low- and moderate-angle drifts. I have one question at the moment: How do you maintain a drift all along a long, sweeping turn? For example, the second corner on Special Stage Route 5 (long lefthander). I'm sticking with SSR5 to practice on for the time being, but try as I might, I cannot maintain a drift all the way through that left hander. The best I can do is make it about 60% of the way, and then I either don't have enough speed, so I end up slowly going head first into the inside wall, or (to avoid hitting the inside wall), I lose my drift angle, and I re-initiate drifting with a powerover (thereby picking up a bit of speed to continue drifting around the corner). If I try to enter the corner with more speed, then I just end up contacting the outside wall mid-corner.

Any tips for this particular corner, or long corners in general? From the YouTube videos I've seen, it seems possible to maintain drifts forever (i.e. speed is maintained). e.g. all throughout the ascending ring at Cape Ring.

I am using a SAVANNA RX-7 INFINI III (FC) '90, tuned to 350 hp. Driving Force Pro, 900 degrees.

 

[Knight Spirit]

Hey, its Ryo from TXRF
For tracks like cape ring you do need a bit more power, for SSR5 though just enter at a higher speed and then hold more angle to begin with. before returning to normal angle. You just have to balance the counter steer and accelerator all the way round the corner

 

[SFX_Adavicro]

Do tiny steering inputs to repeatedly swing the rear end out little by little to hold the drift longer, for that particular sweeping left hander youre going to want to use just a moderate amount of countersteer, maybe only a full rotation. Continually cut back towards the apex then back to countersteer with little "3 inch inputs" if that makes sense. Youll have to slightly shallow up your angle around that turn because of the lack of power, but it should be possible. Little "corrections" are the key here I believe.

 

[IISLYDWAYZII]

^I have no idea what Adavicro is trying to do there....^


No steering inputs, lay down the throttle be sure to be on the right line, Keep the wheel as steady as possible and ride it out, If your car will only do so much don't pressure yourself into trying pointless drifts.

In some cases I may agree with twitching the steering but at the same time that creates friction, with friction you have loss of speed, without speed you have no drift.

To be honest, my opinion...Just drift.

Just let the car go, see what happens, try to be smooth with every action.

 

[ZSPaulus]

I would say; add more power!

 

[knukken]

or try another car? I use the M3 coupe with 591 bhp. Found drift settings on GTP, but the car is good without them too. I use it because it is easy to learn new tracks and tandem with it. SLS is also good, without enginge tuning, but more expensive.
Try a car without turbo.

 

[ROYALEFATALE]

put it in 4th or 5th gear, 350HP isn't alot, and if you're on anything other than comfort hards it's going to be harder to keep the wheels spinning through longer turns with such 'low' power, just keep it bouncing off the rev limiter and you should be fine

 

[TakahashiRyoske]

Thanks for the responses. I suppose it's quite possible that 350 HP won't take me all the way around that corner! I have managed to get as far as about 80% of the way before the drift peters out, but have never made it all the way. Perhaps one of you could try a 350 HP car, and see?

 

[nk4e]

^I have no idea what Adavicro is trying to do there....^


No steering inputs, lay down the throttle be sure to be on the right line, Keep the wheel as steady as possible and ride it out, If your car will only do so much don't pressure yourself into trying pointless drifts.

In some cases I may agree with twitching the steering but at the same time that creates friction, with friction you have loss of speed, without speed you have no drift.

To be honest, my opinion...Just drift.

Just let the car go, see what happens, try to be smooth with every action.

I believe that this equation works for drifting
more gas = Less counter steer
More counter steer= Less gas
I am still working on it though.

 

[Mysterious R]

I believe that this equation works for drifting
more gas = Less counter steer
More counter steer= Less gas
I am still working on it though.

I'm still at the MORE GAS! stage.

I'd say it depends on the wheel as to the steering inputs but I can assure ypu Takahashi that 350BHP is plenty enough in any RX-7 to take that corner. This corner is a little bit tricky in that you hit the drop off on entry and then it seems to ascend through the corner which causes you to get slightly more traction.

To fix this I would suggest trying to find a way in your suspension tuning to make the rear looser, this would make the car flick harder coming into corners but should help you carry more momentum with the rear mid corner to keep your angle and follow through the exit.

Just my advice from the tuning side as i'm on a G27 and the wheel acts totally different to Driving Force wheels. Good luck mate.👍

 

[daltonlm]

Thanks for the responses. I suppose it's quite possible that 350 HP won't take me all the way around that corner! I have managed to get as far as about 80% of the way before the drift peters out, but have never made it all the way. Perhaps one of you could try a 350 HP car, and see?

What corner you are talking? The tunnel one on SS5?
Well, i have several cars with 200 and something HP able to do all that with a decent angle...

I noticed that in the end of that corner the car tends to pull out to the external wall, so dont be afraid to almost lick the internal wall with your front bumper.

BTW i dont consider this corner the hardest one in this track... if you go reverse and face that chicane after the first corner and dive without know exactly what youre doing, be ready to smack up yor car. At regular direction also is hard, cose the visibility is not ok and you only stop to guess the line after a lot of train.

Oh, that hairpin also is hardcore to be well maded, specialy if you intent to link to the next corner.

 

[TakahashiRyoske]

Yes, I'm talking about corner 2, the tunnel right after the starting line going in the normal course direction. What's the weight of your 200 HP car? This one is 1230kg, 350 HP.

Anyway, I'll keep adjusting settings, and try different things with my steering and throttle. What Mysterious R said about the back end makes a lot of sense.

 

[AOS-]

You're Takahashi Ryoske.. you should know how to drive your FC already

 

[daltonlm]

You're Takahashi Ryoske.. you should know how to drive your FC already

Oh, about the weight of my cars... the lower HP ones really are light, ie my AE-86 colection...
If you are having understering issues, the best thing is increase the front camber, some ballast on front axis and decrease the dampers and anti-roll valors. Oh, and remove the wings incase youre using it. If you do all that, probably you will come back here to complain that your car is locking at overstering, now...

I always tot that his smaller brother was the drifter of the family, while Takahashi was a retired racer and a wise racing manager...

 

[SFX_Adavicro]

^I have no idea what Adavicro is trying to do there....^


No steering inputs, lay down the throttle be sure to be on the right line, Keep the wheel as steady as possible and ride it out, If your car will only do so much don't pressure yourself into trying pointless drifts.

In some cases I may agree with twitching the steering but at the same time that creates friction, with friction you have loss of speed, without speed you have no drift.

To be honest, my opinion...Just drift.

Just let the car go, see what happens, try to be smooth with every action.

When I first got my wheel and attempted to hold a drift one of my main problems was not being able to pull a corner, either the countersteer would feed out too far or I didnt apply the right steering/throttle. One of the things that helped me most were those tiny inputs cutting back into the turn.

For me, if I just let the wheel feed out some countersteer and try to hold it still I find it difficult to stay smooth, whatever I do with the throttle. However, if I keep doing small "corrections" by turning back towards the apex then back to countersteer, I can hold a much longer, smoother drift.

As an example, look at how most DS3 users drift. They often tap left or right repeatedly while balancing the gas to hold the drift. That "countersteer back to neutral" is whats allowing their drift to not bog down and keep its momentum.

The same concept applies to the wheel, by repeatedly cutting back into the turn and using the right throttle you can pull much longer turns. I know I had a similar problem to the OP and this helped me a lot. I would post some in-car videos of how drifters use the wheel but my iphone is acting up.

You're right though, you just have to feel it out and not think about it too hard. Youtube is your best friend here in my opinion.

 

[LR-SWD-007]

Yes, I'm talking about corner 2, the tunnel right after the starting line going in the normal course direction. What's the weight of your 200 HP car? This one is 1230kg, 350 HP.

Anyway, I'll keep adjusting settings, and try different things with my steering and throttle. What Mysterious R said about the back end makes a lot of sense.

Most small 200 HP cars are about 700-800kg and they drift great. I noticed that you have your weight set at 1230kg. I installed full weight reduction and is 1060kg using 360hp it's a monster on high or low speed corners. My suggestion is to lower the weight and buy everything for this car. Don't skimp out on anything. If you need a tune let me know, it's one of my favorite drift weapons.

 

[daltonlm]

Most small 200 HP cars are about 700-800kg and they drift great. I noticed that you have your weight set at 1230kg. I installed full weight reduction and is 1060kg using 360hp it's a monster on high or low speed corners. My suggestion is to lower the weight and buy everything for this car. Don't skimp out on anything. If you need a tune let me know, it's one of my favorite drift weapons.

This!

I respect who tries to emulate reality buying selective upgrades instead of get the best of the best. Except by the turbo, that i mostly use the lvl 2 or lvl1, all the other upgrades i usualy get the optimal. And CH tires, of course...

 

[IISLYDWAYZII]

No.

Adjust your counter steer to throttle inputs.



You guys need google.

I learned about "drifting" well before any video game, I think that helps me to.

 

[daltonlm]

I learned about "drifting" well before any video game, I think that helps me to.

And here is a guy that drift since 1971, hahaha...

 

[SFX_Adavicro]

No.

Adjust your counter steer to throttle inputs.



You guys need google.

What does this even mean?

 

[Jesus]

I just tried it in my 400bhp FC and I did it first time with the scrubbed off speed from the initial right hander. So I think you need that extra 50bhp.

 

[SFX_Adavicro]

I really doubt its down to horsepower, you shouldnt need 400hp on comfort hards to pull that corner. Its down to technique in my opinion.

Carry your speed. Be smart. The rest will fall into place.

 

[jarvis101]

i have the driving force pro also and i commend u for using it,
i think your problem sounds like your entry speed is to slow.
try and speeding it up a bit and u should be okay.
drifting is basic physics... inertia keep that in mind!!

 

[Vee.]

I really doubt its down to horsepower, you shouldnt need 400hp on comfort hards to pull that corner. Its down to technique in my opinion.

Carry your speed. Be smart. The rest will fall into place.

+1
I usually use ~300hp N/A cars for SSR5 and I drift the whole course with no problem staying sideways all throughout. HP and Weight are of course factors but the bigger factor here (imo) is the steering input. If you counter-steer too much, obviously the car would tend to go straight. Counter-steer too little, the car would get more angle. The key is to balance your steering and try to maintain your angle and speed. It's the same with every other corner, except in this case, you have to do it a little longer.

 

[DrifTa-AJV]

Just a comment but i like using a mid range turbo setup this gives you lots of mid rpm torque.
If your bouncing of the rev limiter early in the corner your going to run out of steam. Try taking the corner in a higher gear say 3rd or 4th with a mid turbo you can light the tyres up anywhere from 3000 rpm up.
Throttle control is the key to any long drift followed by steering input these 2 things will make or break a long drift.
Also 350 hp should be enough it all comes down to technique keep practicing and good luck. 👍

 

[Jesus]

I really doubt its down to horsepower, you shouldnt need 400hp on comfort hards to pull that corner. Its down to technique in my opinion.

Carry your speed. Be smart. The rest will fall into place.

Yes but the extra power will be easier for him to drift the corner at the moment instead of him trying to do it countless times.

 

[TakahashiRyoske]

Re: modifications to the car: I'm trying to emulate The White Comet's actual vehicle (for now).

I will keep practicing, guys, and trying different tuning settings. Thank you to those that say that 350HP is enough for this corner, and those that report that they have taken this corner all the way through.

 

[zedfonsie]

well what I do is use the handbrake to my COMPLETE advantage.

Sometimes my drift cars understeer or they can't hold the entire slide so I hold the handbrake for about 2-5 seconds then I go full throttle until I get back into the drift.

If that makes sense

 

[Vee.]

Re: modifications to the car: I'm trying to emulate The White Comet's actual vehicle (for now).

I will keep practicing, guys, and trying different tuning settings. Thank you to those that say that 350HP is enough for this corner, and those that report that they have taken this corner all the way through.

I recommend trying to "divide" the corner into two. For example, drift the corner until somewhere at the middle of it, then bring the car going straight. The next time you go there, do the inverse. Drive the car as you normally would up until the middle of the corner and then power out hard and bring the car sideways. Once you get the hang of it, try maintaining your drift from entry to exit without regaining too much grip. The first few tries may be a little rough, but I'm sure you will get it. Don't bother fiddling with setups first, they come after you get to drift.

I hope this helps.

 

[AutoGoose]

The chap talkin bout throttle control and steering input is on it. Although you can make the curve you initiate tighten or loosen with a greater or lesser attitude(angle), what makes your drift last longer is finding the sweet spot and staying in it.

To stay in it try adjusting your steering to compensate for your throttle, to much throttle an you'll spin out, not enough an you don't drift. Try feathering the throttle, dabbing your foot on it. It's easier to stay in the sweet band if you are oscillating either side of the balance point. You do the same with the wheel. As time goes on you'll find you have to make such corrections less. Start small and work up.

If you've ever played a game with a balance mechanic you can 'game' it by flicking either side of sweet spot instead of just reacting. That way although your reacting to the balance data your ahead of the game and you only have to modify. Essentially you end up upscaling your footprint in the balance range from a point to a band therefore you gain more of a space to sit in drifting

Soz for the rambling amateur words.