Drifting Today

Today, drifting has evolved into a competitive sport in which drivers compete in their cars to keep the cars sideways as long as possible. Rear wheel drive cars are used in this sport of drifting. At the highest levels of the sport, like the D1 Grand Prix in Japan, Britain, and the US, drivers are able to keep their cars sliding for extended periods of time, mostly through several turns. The judgments of drifting competitions are not base on the time taken to complete a course, but by judging the line, angle, speed and the show factor. Judgment of line usually involves the correct line announced by the judges. Angle is the drifting angles of the car in a drift, more the better. Speed judgment in a drift race is the speed of the car while entering a turn, the speed through a turn and the speed while exiting a turn, faster the better. The show factor judgment is based on various things, such as the distance of the car from the wall while in the race, amount of smoke emitted, and falling aero. It is based on how “cool” everything looks. The final rounds of competition mostly includes tandem drift runs normally called as “tsuiso”, which means chase-run in Japanese, where one car follow another through the course and attempt to keep up with the car in front or even to pass the first car. In the tsuiso drift rounds, the racing line is not at all a factor in the judgment, it only matters who has done the most exiting drift. The car in the front normally produces a maximum angle, but still closes off the inside a little too present passing. The car behind usually drifts with less angle, but will be very close to the leading car. It is not necessary to have the chasing car to keep up with the leading car, in fact in certain cases if the chasing car produces beautiful drifts on the straight enables the chasing car to win the round. The offended party is disqualified in case of collision, spin or understeer.

More Car Driving Tips and theories

1. Drifting
2. How Is Drifting Done?
3. Drifting Techniques
4. Cars for Drift
5. Handbrake Drift
6. History of drift
7. Manji Drift
8. Swaying Drift
9. Shakocho
10. Physics of understeering