Drifting Techniques

HEEL TOE-Learn proper race shifting to get your car into the right gear for drifting. Section also includes double clutch shifting so you can downshift before drifting without blowing out your transmission too quickly.

POWER OVER-A throttle induced drift, this is performed when entering a corner and using the accelerator to slip the rear wheels, producing heavy oversteer through the turn. You will often need lots of horsepower to make this happen.

E-BRAKE-This drifting technique is very basic, pull the E-Brake or side brake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. This can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles. Main drift technique used in FWD vehicles, however since it does decrease speeds, e-brake drifting is looked down upon during solo (tansou) type drifting competition.

CLUTCH KICK- This drifting technique is performed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during turn in to a corner. The clutch is "popped" to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction, causing the power wheels to slip. Drifting is maintained by balancing the throttle.

DIFF LOCK-This is performed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires inducing over steer. This is like pulling the E-brake through a turn, but this should be performed on wet ground to minimize damage to the driveline. Similar drifting technique to Clutch Kicking.

DROP DRIFT-This is performed by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. This technique is very useful for low horsepower cars.

Feint Drift This is performed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of the vehicle's suspension to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is heavy rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering.

Jump Drift In this technique the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer.

Braking Drift This is performed by trail braking into a corner. Loss of grip is obtained and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. This is mainly for medium to low speed corners.

Kansei Drift (Inertia Drift)This is performed at race speeds. When entering a high speed corner a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild oversteer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. The car that is being used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car therefore the oversteer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn this technique will not work.

Long Slide Drift This is done by pulling the E-brake through a strait to start a high angel drift and to hold this to set up for the turn ahead. This technique can only be done at high speed.

Swaying Drift (Manji Drift) This is a slow side-to-side faint like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a strait.