how did everyone learn how to drift?

[markeese180sx]

im just wonderin cuz i donno whats the best way to learn..im thinkin of goin to some tracks in japan somewhere and watch people...can everyone tell me how they learned?

[Nissan_Racer]

in the process of learning in friends cars, but we use huge a$$ parking lots, of course they are empty.

go to your local book store and buy as many books as you can about suspension dynamics, car control, tires, and chassis tuning. Then go and do some autoX. Thats how I learned. Yeah the occasional big a$$ parking lot helps too. Its a long hard journey, but if you really want to learn, you should study first.

[DoriftuEvo]

Whatever you do DON'T try sliding your parents FR volvo around a downhill turn your first time. Dam'n, I'm still paying for that one.

I'ts all parking lots for me until I can try some track drifting.

[J-BloodAE86]

parking lots parking lots parking lots, and talk to actual drifters (preferably with similar setups to your car), see what styles they use, don't go watch some option videos and think you can clutch kick a hairpin at 60mph just cuz you saw some guy do it in his super trick drift car

oh, and, you WILL crash, its unaviodable

[CrazyHawaiian]

You can read all you want (to prepare yourself) but the real learning comes with practice. Practice, practice ... and more practice ....

[JonnySlick]

it's all about industrial parks and access roads at 2 in the morning for us....just be safe and go slow with the technique...don't get in over your head too fast. oh, and be prepared to wreck...it will happen (if you're serious about learning new schiznit)

[markeese180sx]

how pissed do u guys get when you wreck..cuz i would be pissed...i wonder if there are any parking lots in virginia that are empty and not filled with po pos...well in japan..there ARE no empty parking lots xept in yokohama...man i wanna get my car...is there a scary feeling while taking your first slide...well yeah of course im a dumbass..man im gonna wreck so much cuz of no steering wheel control

[marshun]

Originally posted by CrazyHawaiian
You can read all you want (to prepare yourself) but the real learning comes with practice. Practice, practice ... and more practice ....

ooohhhh yeah. and lots of tires!

Originally posted by markeese180sx
how pissed do u guys get when you wreck..cuz i would be pissed...i wonder if there are any parking lots in virginia that are empty and not filled with po pos...well in japan..there ARE no empty parking lots xept in yokohama...man i wanna get my car...is there a scary feeling while taking your first slide...well yeah of course im a dumbass..man im gonna wreck so much cuz of no steering wheel control

idunno i've crashed quite a bit if times. im not phased too much. but if it was my only car... then i'd for sure be more upset

[BeerBringer]

Originally posted by DoriftuEvo
Whatever you do DON'T try sliding your parents FR volvo around a downhill turn your first time. Dam'n, I'm still paying for that one.

I'ts all parking lots for me until I can try some track drifting.

DOH!

But Volvos can actually be good drift cars. Have a look at this Volvo 142.

http://www.rallysson.net/filmer/142long.mpg

I am from Sweden and Volvo is (was) a Swedish car manufaturer so here there are alot of them. I might buy a 142, 240 turbo or 740 turbo to drift with.

Here is a picture of a nice Volvo 242 Turbo:

http://www.be-4-you.com/Sitefiles/Pi...er/1%20(4).JPG

[zenki_s14]

i grew up in japan on a navy base (i'm not japanese) had friends that drifted and would go out to nambu(the street they drifted on in yokohama which is now not driftable since the police put up barriers in the median...)

now that i live in tampa all its all about the industrial parks at 2 in the mourning like johnny said...i also talked to a lot of people about their set ups and questions i had when i was gettin my drifts the way i thought they should be

[hokiruu]

This is total noob question, but after you wreck drifting, what do you do? assuming you have smashed at least a fender and bumper, probably more, do you tell your insurance company? Get it towed out and try to keep it on the DL? Do the whole deer in the road BS? I could never afford to pay for damage like that right now without insurance $ after all I have put into my car.

[CrazyHawaiian]

Well you can report that you got in an accident but technically that would be insurance fraud. I've always said you should not be attached to the car you drift. If you cant stand the idea of swapping the motor/tranny/etc into another shell because you accidentally bent the frame really bad, then you might want to think twice about using that car. Of course you care about it, but you cant treat it like you treat a show car. Forget about keeping it perfect unless you're rich, sponsored, or good at drifting. When stuff breaks, fixing it depends on how much cash you have. Some guys will leave body panel damage, others wont. Some guys will just zip tie (duct tape) stuff backtogether and thats that. Of course if the drivetrain breaks you have to fix it to keep drifting. My drift car is a project car because the project never ends.

[markeese180sx]

oh yeah and another newbie question...negative cambers on both front and rear or just front? and how much?

[BeerBringer]

Originally posted by markeese180sx
oh yeah and another newbie question...negative cambers on both front and rear or just front? and how much?

More up front. How much you should have depends on what tires you are using. Different tires need diffeerent amount of camber.

You can use a "skidpad" to see if your have correct camber settings.
Drive as fast as you can in a circle a few laps so that the tires heat up, then you meassur the temperature of the tire on the inside of the tire and on the outside. If the temperatures are even then you have the correct camber settings for that particular radius of a turn. If the outside temperature is higher then you need more camber. If the inside temperature is higher you have to much camber.

Of course this only gives the correct camber for a turn that has the same radius as the skidpad you have used. The same messuring teqnuice can be used at a track olsow.

Remember that all tracks have different optimal camber settings...

[CrazyHawaiian]

Originally posted by markeese180sx
oh yeah and another newbie question...negative cambers on both front and rear or just front? and how much?

It depends. Here's what I recommend. First understand why people use negative camber when drifting. The momentum caused by the lateral motion will change the contact patch your front tires have on the ground. When drifting left, your right front tire will be the grip tire. Vice versa when drifting right. At 0 or a level setting, this lateral force will cause the outside tire to lean in, causing the contact patch to move from the center of the tire to the outside. On a tire with a big sidewall, you can sometimes see this (marks on the sidewall caused by the flex). This is bad because it lowers the ammount of contact the front tires have with the ground, effectively lowering the ammount of control you have. Dialing in negative camber will even out this contact patch while the car is sliding. The goal is to use the correct ammount of negative camber to give you the contact patch you want (while sliding) for your specific tire setup. Because of this, no single setting will work for everyone (though everyone is somewhat close). To determine the best setting for your car, I recommend you study your front tire tread wear after you've been drifting on those tires for a while. If all the tread wear is on the outside of the tire (or uneven heating), then you need more negative camber. If its all on the inside then you're using too much negative camber. If its even then you've found the right setting. The edges of the tire and sidewall should not look melted or defective. If you feel too much grip in the front, then think about making the contact patch smaller. As for the rear, it also depends on the car. Cars with IRS (like a 240) will allow you to change the camber of the rear wheels. Cars with a solid rear axle (Hachi or a Camaro) give you no adjustment. The changes you make will affect the contact patch of the rear wheels, sometimes making it easier to spin the tires, but also affecting how long they last. You can get the same results by playing with tire pressure.

[boro240]

for the most part, a little negative camber has no adverse effects on tire wear (within reason). its the toe that kills tires.

[rusticmeattank]

I have like 12 schools within about 10 mins. Huge parking lots, and alot of them are new so the parking lots are very smooth and well paved. Just took my 94 vert for a spin. It's rainy so I don't destroy my tires.

[driftnutz]

done lots of street but the real learning and improving was at a DWYB (drift what ya brung) at Santa pod. Amazing fun. My car is slowly looking battered like a drift slag

[rayray]

Originally Posted by zenki_s14

i grew up in japan on a navy base (i'm not japanese) had friends that drifted and would go out to nambu(the street they drifted on in yokohama which is now not driftable since the police put up barriers in the median...)

now that i live in tampa all its all about the industrial parks at 2 in the mourning like johnny said...i also talked to a lot of people about their set ups and questions i had when i was gettin my drifts the way i thought they should be

forgive me if i am incorrect but this is the area you are talking about, and these people dont seem to be stuggling too much
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ZmjkP2N1MXE

[Cavi Mike]

2003? Damn. Didn't know this place was even around that long. Happy 10-year d dot c.

[Lifer]

Crazy Hawaiian is my hero. Loved seeing videos of that Camaro.

[Ekun]

Skidpan is the best place to learn