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stupid(good) stuff i learned while drifting..

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  • stupid(good) stuff i learned while drifting..

    ive posted this to a few other bords...but i feel this will help out a lot of people here

    ****************its snowing************************


    OK first car care..
    Drifting is going to put a lot of stress on the car so make sure you check everything as often as you can..the main problems will be found(if you dont hit anything) in the wheel barings, hubs, clutch and tires(duh).

    Make sure your cooling system is top notch as drifting(or griping) will put a big strain on it. it also helps to have a vented hood(JDM style cold air hood) to get more air flow over the raidatior or just off set the hood so the back end is higher than the front(el cheepo way but it works)

    Replacment radatiors help out a lot along with oil coolers and tranny oil coolers..just less wear on them.

    Ill start at the botton of the car..

    Tires/rims

    Tire choice is pretty open..when you start just get some hockey pucks out back and go..rim size is pretty much open but remember that the smaller the rim the less power it takes to turn it..so if your mostly stock then 15s are a good choice. Cheep JYD SPL(junkyard) rims are the best for this as they are cheep and if you curb one hard then it isnt going to put you out a lot of money..


    Later on having stickey tires in all 4 corners will help you out with better controll and speed in the drift.

    if youve noticed that on some Euro and JDM drift cars the tires are streched over a to wide rim..this is because if you have a more round shoulder on the tire it makes break away mroe progressive and eaier to control at the limit..but a square shoulder will give you a higher g load..its more a matter of trial and error and personal tast.

    SUS

    Suspension.. everyone say get coil over...honestly this is bad starting out as you probly dont yet know how to adjust your suspension for the best results for your driving style. also its not cheep if you get a new set of 1500 coil overs and on the first night out bend the hell out of them in a little accadent.. so my advise is to start with get a nice set of shocks/struts(koni/tokico are good) and sport springs. sway bars are nice if they make them for your car..

    I could honestly talk you ear off about SUS setting but i wont right now..cause its about 10pm and my brain aint working..

    Drive Train

    Easy..get a strong clutch..LW flywheel and some sort of LSD the lightweight flywheel is nice..but not needed the strong clutch and LSD are.the LSD is because you dont want your nice beatuiful drift ending in a peg leg smoke show and the clutch because its going to take some serous abuse!!

    Chassy

    STIFF STIFF STIFF

    You need the body of the car as stiff as you can make it..so it dosnt act like a 5th spring in the suspension and that way the sus changes you make you can notice the diffrence...and it wont just get absorbed by the chassy flexing.

    so add roll cages, stress bars or what ever else you can come up with


    body

    body kits are going to get trashed..but vented hoods are good..to keep you motor cool..other than that its personal tast

    guts
    get you self a nice sport seet and 4-5 point harnes..worst thing is having you *Censored**Censored**Censored* slide around in you seet..makes for a very non enjoyable ride.

    and having a water temp and an oil tem/pressure guage is a must..just to make sure you dont blow your motor..

    well thats just a little bit i got to pass on for now

    questions/comments?

  • #2
    Nice post,

    My advice to anyone,

    Suspension is the most important part of your drift car...

    If you know very little of suspenison,geometry and how a car reacts.. you should not go too in depth into a suspension...untill you know all of that stuff...

    Struts and Shocks are a starting point... but the main thing is learn about whats already on your car... learn the damper rate, spring rate... where the roll center is, have the alighment man set your car's caster,camber and toe on different settings and test them out... see what works best for you...

    Springs, In a non-realife situation harder would be better, when it all breaks down the least suspension travel is the most desired. but in real life, if you put 20kg\mm springs on your street car... and drive it on any american road or race track, the ride will be so horrid you couldnt hold the steering wheel or watch the track conciously. Ask around and find what most people use...

    Other parts, Learn about the parts which you want... dont go overboard and get stuff you dont know what it does... for every part you buy... know exactly how to use it...

    Oh and one last thing... USE SPRING COMPRESSORS !!! dont kill your self or your ride.. not using them...

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: stupid(good) stuff i learned while drifting..

      Originally posted by driftfreak
      and having a water temp and an oil tem/pressure guage is a must..just to make sure you dont blow your motor..

      questions/comments?
      The most informative post i've ever have read.

      Too late for me, motors blown hahaha!! where the hell where you when I needed this info... glad to have you here, welcome and stay forever!!

      Comment


      • #4
        RE:

        Thanks. Very informative. Should be stickied ^^

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        • #5
          Tires...

          If you drift alot... You know that those tires burn holes in your wallet...

          Rear Tires... Don't need to be good.. or.. hardly even tires... just as long as they spin and lose grip...

          I attened highschool.. and it dawned on me... that theres always a huge pile of tires in the shop. Those tires are old and have hardly any tread... but they are free and theres alot of them... If you go to school I reccomend you stop by your shop class and ask if you can take some of those tires off their hands...

          Also Junk-Yards always have a stockpile of used tires for sale.. you could drop by and see the slection

          NOTE: Spark's come from rear tires when the tire has be worn down so far its at the steel belts... its a good warning sign... and looks really cool...


          Front Tires... Need to be... Acceptable...

          I reccomend Wal-marts Super Duper Tires... like $30 a peice and should last a while...

          or really good junk-yarders...

          Rims...

          While your at the junk-yard... ask about their rims...

          I work next to a junk yard... and when im on the roof... I'm always checking the rims...I'm gonna go get me some...


          Now... A very good idea... is to get a bottle jack... or floor jack... which ever you like more... a Tire iron... and extra rims with your drifting tires on it...

          You can stuff all the tires in your trunk, hatch or back seat.. and the jack and tire iron also... then take them out of your car when you get to your spot... put the drift tires on... drift untill they pop... or you get sick of drifting... then put the street tires back on... and go home..

          Thats my ideas... but they might not work...

          Comment


          • #6
            Everyone on the boards need to read this thread. Every new guy especially. Great thread.

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            • #7
              glad i could be of help

              Comment


              • #8
                From my experiences, having complete suspension travel is very important unless the entire suspension setup is designed for shorter travel. If you limit the travel of the dampeners, they will not have the room to fully dampen. This results in pre-mature wear and bad dampening which can hinder the tuning of your car. I've seen cars that were tuned too stiff, with no enough travel, the wheels actually leave the ground if the bump is big enough! This can also contribute to increased tire loading which means they'll wear out faster. When you lower a car you should definately keep your suspension travel in mind. For example, if you dropped the front of a Camaro 3 inches, you would want 2 inch drop spindles, and a strut mount with a 1 inch raised top. This will retain your suspension travel and geometry. However, if your dampeners were designed to operate at limited travel, then it would be no problem with limited travel. It all depends. For my specific setup I am using custom valved 2" shortened struts and shocks. This means I can lower the car 3 inches, and to retain full suspension travel I only need the aftermarket strut mounts with a 1 inch raised top (which is good because the drop spindles are discontinued). I'm not sure if the aftermarket suspension for other cars are designed to dampen with limited travel, but I can guarantee the stock stuff isnt designed that way. Just my .02

                As for the tire stuff, nobody has mentioned that the contact patch is the most important aspect of your tire selection, with the compound being second. Changing the contact patch of your tires will make the biggest noticable difference over any other change you can make IMO. The size of the rim itself is not as important as the tire selection. Different sized 15" tires will not drift the same. Width, sidewall height, and psi settings play a major role in determining your contact patch. Unfortunately, a drifter usually has little say in what tires they will use since they are using someone elses used tires from the trash bin to practice on. For the most part, drifters have an acceptable range of tire sizes that will fit their drift rims and those are the tires they go for. I have 3 sets of 15x7 drift wheels (12 wheels). I look for tires in the 185-225/50-65/15 range. If I had a bunch of 14 inch rims instead, I would just be looking for a different acceptable range of tire sizes when I go tire hunting. But the difference between 14 and 15 inch rims is just weight as far as I'm concerned.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hey CrazyHawaiian...awesome info..in depth and shows you know what you're talking about...I love it!

                  I also see you're a network engineer...I'm surprised you have time to drift...lol....I assume you drift at Hawaii Raceway Park mostly, since you're in HI?

                  I'll be moving back to Hawaii soon....and I plan on heading there every single day that I can. I'm getting medically discharged from the military, at least I hope, and my wife is from there. I hope I get to watch you sometime soon...just wanted to say Hi!

                  Beautiful car by the way!!!

                  Lataz,

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey thanks for the compliments. I really do wish there were 30 hours in a day ... 24 just isnt enough. Lately I've found myself at the Drift Sessions spectating with a Vid Camera while my car is stuck on jackstands. Seeing those guys have so much fun really gets me worked up into a frenzy and soon enough I have to head home and continue work on the car. Cant wait to get out on the track again!! Definately come check out the Drift Session when you return to Hawaii. The 2004 schedule will be released pretty soon. This is going to be a great year for drifting! If you wanna ride shotgun when my car is done dont hesitate to come say hello. Look for the black Camaro, probably changing tires next to the white Camaro in the pits. Lates!

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