What would you recommend as the best car to start drifting with?

[Rogue8]

G'day all.

Well, i consider myself as a great "grip" racer, but when it comes to drift, i'm sub standard.

For noobs like me, what car would you recommend as the best car to start practicing drift with?

Thanks in advance.

 

[123abc]

Its all on driver preference. Try different cars out and see what works the best for you.

 

[Suzuki]

silvias,rx7's,supras, 240sx's are all good starter drift cars. put about 250 hp on each, N2's all around, tune the suspension and your set.

 

[slikaznricer]

i used a 1979 280z 225 hp....superhard racing tires

 

[d3p0]

Each car has a different learning curve. Cars with disadvantages will have a steeper curve; if you can overcome that curve you'll be better off in the end.

Easy to start with: S13 or S14 all stock w/N1's.

 

[boa129]

I started out with the Silivia i got from IA license, and it works pretty well. Later on I bought STI, and it is just amazing, 4wd drifts very easy and b/c of the 4wd, it can drift longer. With RWD, drifts very easy when tires are fresh, but once the tire is wear out, it loese grip and u will eventually end up hitting the wall

 

[194GVan]

I would say s14 or s15 silvia or 240sx. I havent played with the s13's but they are also popular. Silvias are quite the cliche drift car but they get the job done and make it easier than many other cars. Like d3p0 said, use N1 tires and if you do decide upgrade your car dont stray too far past the 250hp range.

 

[240drft]

i used a 1979 280z 225 hp....superhard racing tires

My bro ownes an 80' 280zx
we go drifting all the time

 

[240drft]

I have trouble drifting, i'm new to the wheel thing i just bought it yest
but even before when i was drifting i would get the tail out and i would drift half throu the corner then i would all the sudden stck and lose controle

plze give sugestions 💡

 

[Boundary Layer]

I have trouble drifting, i'm new to the wheel thing i just bought it yest
but even before when i was drifting i would get the tail out and i would drift half throu the corner then i would all the sudden stck and lose controle

plze give sugestions 💡

no idea what you just said - but i'm going to suggest the search button for starters. There's been lots of conversations to help out new drifters. You might also want to have a look at the reference link in my sig, or view the FAQ's sticky.

with regard to this topic about beginner cars, i think 123abc hit it square in the face.

i dont think the car you learn on matters a whole lot. The techniques still stay roughly the same on FR and MR, AWD might be a bit of a handful for beginners though as their behavior is more complex. Try out a few and see what you find comfortable. Every one here is an individual with individual tastes so there's no real right or wrong answer (just dont say a Civic, i'll slap you ).

instead of car selection, i think the biggest thing to focus on when you're learning is to turn all the aids off, dont mix tire compounds, and dont worry about taking to the grass. Its important to make a mental note of your entry technique and speed when you mess up so you can try to avoid it the next time around. As long as you have a car that will get sideways you should be all set, the actual model doesnt matter.

But if i were to suggest some they would be FR, possibly miatas or S14's if you want names. You want something with pretty neutral handling from the start so the actual setup takes less effort. btw, i have some decent beginner setups and example vids in the drift reference for a miata if interested

some other opinions on 'Favourite or Best Drift Cars' are in the 'Favourite / Best Drift Car Thread'

 

[Ketis]

Do the ice race with the Pugeot on the Super license. On the hard part of the track in the beginning i can drift that beautifly

 

[actjksn]

I think it's easiest to start with a car that has a short-wheel base, something that would get sideways pretty easily, like a Miata or an MR-S/MR2.

That's how I started, but iono, FD's are nice. 👍

 

[d3p0]

The techniques still stay roughly the same on FR and MR,[/url]

Seriously? I find them opposite.

 

[DRIFT GOD]

R32 skyline around 300hp 👍

 

[Boundary Layer]

Seriously? I find them opposite.

so what...you're trying to say that feinting, braking, countersteering, all that jazz is useless in an MR?

nah, same theory applies, just requires a slight adaptation from how you would drive an FR. And naturally, the setup will be different to account for the changed weight distribution.

weigth transfer...this..that......break things ~~degenerates into random incoherent mumblings~~

same technique, MR is just more touchy-feely. Gotta tiptoe around in them a bit more as they have a tendency to be less forgiving than an FR.
about the only thing literally opposite is the engine placement (ya, ima genious )...that about ends it for me

 

[actjksn]

so what...you're trying to say that feinting, braking, countersteering, all that jazz is useless in an MR?

nah, same theory applies, just requires a slight adaptation from how you would drive an FR. And naturally, the setup will be different to account for the changed weight distribution.

weigth transfer...this..that......break things ~~degenerates into random incoherent mumblings~~

same technique, MR is just more touchy-feely. Gotta tiptoe around in them a bit more as they have a tendency to be less forgiving than an FR.
about the only thing literally opposite is the engine placement (ya, ima genious )...that about ends it for me

I'm just curious, but with MR cars, they have more grip than FR cars due to the engine placement right? So is that kind of what you mean by touchy feely?

 

[Boundary Layer]

Sorry, maybe I should have clarified that more

ya, that bit you mentioned can probably play into it.

the bit I was getting at is:
once you break traction of the rear, MR cars require almost instantaneous countersteering and careful control. This differs a bit from FR's - with them you can wait a second to watch the cars behavior and then respond.

This is due to the weight distribution, which i think you were getting too. The greater rear distribution on an MR can whip the thing around like a pendulum. FR's dont experience this to the same level of intensity unless you play around with the ballast a lot.

[I was going to put some half-digested and rather farcical example in here to help explain this better, but I think it just confused things more. I'll come back to this if it still a sticking point for others]

 

[Sloth]

This is a good thread.

We need a universal drift car to recommend to people..


I'd say, if you wanna learn 'what' drifting is, try an MR-2 Spyder (MR-S) with N1 tires and mess around on Driving Park for a while.

If you want to learn how to drift, I'd say take any late model RX-7 with N2 tires and go to Deep Forest or Grand Valley. Just attack corners and see how long you can keep a drift going for.


It's hard to say really.

Everything drifts. Just some things drift better than others.

*shrugs*

 

[d3p0]

All the techniques to initiate a drift are mostly the same, but holding and adjusting angle is different.

For example; with MR, adding throttle increases grip.

 

[xcsti]

I'll recommend the car I wish I had learned on, the s2000. For me the silvias feel less forgiving (I still love them) where as I feel directly connected to the s2000.

 

[Rogue8]

Thanks all for your replies. But i guess this leads me to another question.... Most of you have recommended that 250hp is ample to be able to drift a car. However, which mod do i do to a car to get that power? Should i whack a stage X turbo on it? Or should i just do the port polising/chip and such. Is it easier to drift a turbo car, or an NA car?

So many questions... so little time

 

[actjksn]

All the techniques to initiate a drift are mostly the same, but holding and adjusting angle is different.

For example; with MR, adding throttle increases grip.

Well, just in a real life scenario, the driver of an MR car would usually use left-foot breaking to help break the traction of the car right? and then they would be able to add throttle more freely to control the drift?

I know I'm asking n00b questions, just trying to make sure what I hear is somewhat close to being true.

ps. I can drift...'OK' in GT4.

 

[actjksn]

Thanks all for your replies. But i guess this leads me to another question.... Most of you have recommended that 250hp is ample to be able to drift a car. However, which mod do i do to a car to get that power? Should i whack a stage X turbo on it? Or should i just do the port polising/chip and such. Is it easier to drift a turbo car, or an NA car?

So many questions... so little time

Well, an NA car is more responsive in the corners, whereas a car with a turbo, would have an advantage on the straights.

So it sort of depends, you can drift still drift either, I just think it depends if in a race, you wanna attack more off the straights or in the corners...

 

[Sloth]

There is no 'advantage' in drifting.

I didn't even understand the second part..

Double post as well.

 

[d3p0]

What are you talking about.. different powerbands will alter how you drift.

 

[Sloth]

It's basically just gearing.

Also, I would rather be drifting an NA than a turbo.

Kthx.

 

[d3p0]

Wrong.

Kthx.

 

[Sloth]

WRONG!

Where's R2D1 when you need him.


I wasn't disagreeing with you.

Try drifting the Ruf BTR (on N3's - proper match) on Deep Forest.

 

[Gen.]

This is my own personal study method.

Method for weight shifting : 300 Kw Tom's Chaser. This thing understeers like hell, so learning to shift the wight around will help you control the snapback on a lot of cars.

Method for throttle control : Supra Rz with a stage 2 turbo N3 tyres. Will break traction almost immediately, even with a little touch, therefore, once your can drive without TCS on this thing, your home and hosed.

Method for proper line : Take any low powered car, and find any possible way of breaking the traction without using power to assist you in breaking traction. I personally find the Trueno decent, and it doesn't even break traction at full throttle.

And finally, to get the proper feeling of drifting and what simply to do, take a low powered, light car onto the Chamonix track. You'll see what I mean. Just think of it as slow, slow drifting.

 

[Alfaholic]

You'd probably want to go FR, NA should give better throttle predictability than a turbo, but once you start tuning an engine, NA's get less tractable too. MR cars spin faster than FR cars more because of polar moment than axle load. An FR road car, even with a transaxle to get the weight distribution close to 50:50, has it's mass spread towards either end of the car. So it's heavy at the ends but light in the middle. In contrast all the heavy bits of a mid engined car tend to be in the middle. So a well balanced FR car is a bit like a dumbell, and an equally balanced MR car is more like, um, something with all its mass in the middle. This makes it easier to change direction in a mid engined car. It reacts faster to steering. An FR car is more benign, easier to control because it resists changes in direction more, so things happen more slowly. MR cars tend to find traction in all situations more easily than FR cars because they do, in practise, usually have more weight over the rear axle, which gives better grip on the rear tyres. So they spin more suddenly but will also grip sooner.