Speed_Racer

Never having driven a RWD car, I'm curious. Is it easy to drift any RWD car? I mean can a 138 hp MR2 Spyder drift as easily as a V8 mustang? Just wondering because I saw a segment on drifiting on autoweek and it seemed like the RWD Corollas were being used a lot.

gsrblack

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is "drift"? I occasionally come across this word...especially in my racing video games.

Zapata

drifting is just upsetting the balance of the car to the point where you loose traction with the rear wheels and then control the loss of balance via power modulation and steering, if i'm correct. You can do it in any car but the grip/suspension setup will have a HUGE impact on your ability to do so. That is if you have really grippy tires and you suspension bias prevents the weight transfer to make the tires break loose then have fun drifting.

To drift a RWD you just take a turn and get on the throttle. As your ass slides--because of lack of traction--you you continue to keep on the throttle and steer. Obviously drifting can be done in open parking lots but on the street it becomes dangerous as predicting the behavior of coming traffic is a crapshoot at best. Quite fun! drifting safely that is..... that's one of the reasons why people love RWD so much

chef chris

There is an excellent write up in this months Turbo magazine. A drifting pro actually states too much HP is not what makes a good drifter. He focuses more on driver ability.

Figure most of the cars are 240's, old corrola's & such...HP can't be too big a player. 240 only has like 165 ponies stock, the corrolla has much less.

I used to do this in my 95 240 all the time before I even knew what the hell I was doing...

Zapata

Agreed......anybody can make the rear step out on a RWD.

sidemarker

i thought you were suppose to clutch in during a turn, rev it up and let clutch out to create the tires to spin like crazy during the turn while steering away from the turn???

sidemarker

soopa

you can drift anything... but its much easier to drift a powerful car then an underpowered one.

just because ya can lose traction that much easier

cusdaddy

I read a few places that the Z is very difficult to drift... Sometimes the smaller less powerful RWD cars are easier

Zapata

the differential......viscous V. mechanical

MarkU

FWD cars are very capable of drifting, just takes a bit more finesse and chassis settings to allow it. Most FWD cars plow excessively ("drift" the front wheels only and understeer).

When I was younger and more foolhardy, I would regularly drift my 1985 CRX-SI on wet exit ramps during or after a rainstorm. I had added larger sway bars on that car to neutralize the handling. The trick was to learn first in the snow in parking lots and then in the rain in parking lots before trying it on the street. (Mistakes can be expensive and painful.)

I wouldn't consider this in my CLS6, though it may be possible. I am not so foolish any more. The car is just too heavy and not nearly nimble enough. An automatic transmission would make it nearly impossible as you can't accurately control the torque to the wheels due to the tourque converter slipping.

Go karts are the best place to play around with drifting. Especially at the tracks with rubber tires outlining the course. The soften the inevitable impacts.

Zapata

hmmm CLS6 is VERY capable. I haven't gone 10/10ths but at 5/10ths it's not bad. Should try it a little Although it works much better with less sticky tires.

GreenLegend

Drifting is the controlled loss of traction around CONSECUTIVE turns. You can't REALLY drift in a fwd car. Yes, you can power-slide around a turn. But you considerably lose power and speed. Since the driving wheels are also used to steer you can't continue to power the car to or through the next turn. You tend to lose traction and all control of the car.

JaDia4

I saw a "drift session" about a month ago with 2 pros and a bunch of locals. All of the locals were driving tercels and 240s. The pros "the drifter twins - Japan", brought over some sylvia's I believe. The cars were so modded it was hard to tell, but definitely RWD. Those two guys were the shiz!

Zapata

well, i disagree. You can drift through ONE turn. I wouldn't really call it a drift session but it's still a drift. Agreed FWD and drifting aren't the same but with the HLSD in the front i have the ability to control slides and movement when I didn't have the ability to do so in my automatic with no HLSD. Don't get me wrong....i'm talkin like this car is gonna be in drift videos but it can do a lil more than a lot of people think.

someguy

It really depends on the car.

For example, it is easy to get the tail way out on an old STA rear suspension BMW with 115hp, but nearly impossible to get a Town Car moving.

Mostly, it has to do with the suspension settings, particulary at the rear.

Zapata

I am RobG

i drifted my friends 89 240sx with intake/exhaust.....which made me realize my next car is 100% RWD. E-brake slides are fun and all, buts still not as fun as drifting