RE: Chris Harris video: drift school
Discussion
Been driving RWD BM's for the last 16 years now in one form or another. Although I'm a reasonably competent drive.. I've never had the rear out on any of them over the years apart from a accidental slight twitch in the wet on roundabouts which often left me with the a brown patch in the seat!..so about a year ago me and some good friends all decide to get into drifting to have fun but also become much more confident drivers of RWD cars.
We all drive high performance cars..an E60 M5..E46 M3 and I drive an Impreza P1 so we felt becoming capable drifters would only transfer over to when we are driving our performance cars enabling us to enjoy them more.
We all set out to get hold of an old E36 3 series in either 328 or 325 form and get into drifting on a budget..we all sourced cars for around £700-900 each and after getting into the basics of drifting via forums like driftworks we started off with basic drift what you brung days at SantaPod where you can comfortably get to grips with the basics in the play pens and then move onto the tracks they have layed out.
As far as preparing the cars, we had the diffs welded up..this is a far better way of really drifting as you know the diff is fully locked and not just transferring some of the power (as little as 25%) to the unloaded wheel which most LSD's in road cars do..this makes for inconsistent initiation to a slide.
We fitted some budget coilovers and some additional modifications to the front steering geometry like rack spacers to add more steering lock and a good fast road geo setup. Adjustable rear lower camber arms were fitted to minimise the rear camber to get the best tyre wear. We use 15"/16" wheels on the back with a 195 or 205 width to encourage traction loss without putting too much strain on the axle and with a few under bonnet mods like an M50 manifold conversion the engine is more than capable with its 210 odd HP to get the car sideways which we've helped by partially stripping out some of the non essential interior for weight saving.
I can honestly say it is the most fun and enjoyable experience I've had in all my years of driving performance cars, yes trackdays are great for the out and out adrenaline rush of pounding your car round a track but once you've mastered the art of going sideways in a RWD car it really is addictive and so much fun!
The best thing is that after a year or so of doing it now we are all much more capable and confident drivers in every aspect and having the ability to control/manipulate slides or any RWD action whether it's provoked or accidental in our other cars (e60 M5/e46 M3/ Impreza P1) is a great thing to have and I honestly don't know how I've gotten away with driving RWD BMW's all these years without being able to control an accidental RWD slide/skid when driving on the road.
We are all now regularly attending organinsed drift trackdays at Lydden Hill race circuit and have moved up from novice to intermediate and are initiating mid/high speed 3rd gear drifts into long corners..this is only a year or so ago from being a total novice so the learning curve for drifting is fast once you've got the bug!
My advice to anyone would be to do like we have and get an old RWD car either a BMW or mazda MX5 or alike..have the diff welded and get yourself to SantaPod to get some real practice which does not have to cost much at all..Pod days are £70 a day and a full day at Lydden Hill is £120..we have all kept our drift cars to a real budget and do all the work on them ourselves to keep the cost down.
The vibe at drift trackdays is also much more relaxed than some trackdays I've been to in the past and everyone is always happy to help out and give advice in needed so it makes it much better for the novice to get involved.
If anyone needs any more info please ask and I'll be glad to help..
We all drive high performance cars..an E60 M5..E46 M3 and I drive an Impreza P1 so we felt becoming capable drifters would only transfer over to when we are driving our performance cars enabling us to enjoy them more.
We all set out to get hold of an old E36 3 series in either 328 or 325 form and get into drifting on a budget..we all sourced cars for around £700-900 each and after getting into the basics of drifting via forums like driftworks we started off with basic drift what you brung days at SantaPod where you can comfortably get to grips with the basics in the play pens and then move onto the tracks they have layed out.
As far as preparing the cars, we had the diffs welded up..this is a far better way of really drifting as you know the diff is fully locked and not just transferring some of the power (as little as 25%) to the unloaded wheel which most LSD's in road cars do..this makes for inconsistent initiation to a slide.
We fitted some budget coilovers and some additional modifications to the front steering geometry like rack spacers to add more steering lock and a good fast road geo setup. Adjustable rear lower camber arms were fitted to minimise the rear camber to get the best tyre wear. We use 15"/16" wheels on the back with a 195 or 205 width to encourage traction loss without putting too much strain on the axle and with a few under bonnet mods like an M50 manifold conversion the engine is more than capable with its 210 odd HP to get the car sideways which we've helped by partially stripping out some of the non essential interior for weight saving.
I can honestly say it is the most fun and enjoyable experience I've had in all my years of driving performance cars, yes trackdays are great for the out and out adrenaline rush of pounding your car round a track but once you've mastered the art of going sideways in a RWD car it really is addictive and so much fun!
The best thing is that after a year or so of doing it now we are all much more capable and confident drivers in every aspect and having the ability to control/manipulate slides or any RWD action whether it's provoked or accidental in our other cars (e60 M5/e46 M3/ Impreza P1) is a great thing to have and I honestly don't know how I've gotten away with driving RWD BMW's all these years without being able to control an accidental RWD slide/skid when driving on the road.
We are all now regularly attending organinsed drift trackdays at Lydden Hill race circuit and have moved up from novice to intermediate and are initiating mid/high speed 3rd gear drifts into long corners..this is only a year or so ago from being a total novice so the learning curve for drifting is fast once you've got the bug!
My advice to anyone would be to do like we have and get an old RWD car either a BMW or mazda MX5 or alike..have the diff welded and get yourself to SantaPod to get some real practice which does not have to cost much at all..Pod days are £70 a day and a full day at Lydden Hill is £120..we have all kept our drift cars to a real budget and do all the work on them ourselves to keep the cost down.
The vibe at drift trackdays is also much more relaxed than some trackdays I've been to in the past and everyone is always happy to help out and give advice in needed so it makes it much better for the novice to get involved.
If anyone needs any more info please ask and I'll be glad to help..
You can find drift experience days for around £60 (rather than £160) on GroupOn/Amazon deals. However I'd just ...
1. Visit the DriftWorks forum
2. Buy cheap drift car
3. Pay £60 at Santa Pod and attend a 'Drift What Ya Brung' session
4. Go through as many tyres as you brought with you, improving your skills
5. Repeat from step 3 onwards
1. Visit the DriftWorks forum
2. Buy cheap drift car
3. Pay £60 at Santa Pod and attend a 'Drift What Ya Brung' session
4. Go through as many tyres as you brought with you, improving your skills
5. Repeat from step 3 onwards
No harm in adopting a bit of sideways attitude on a wet track day
Good to see it de-constructed.
Stage 1 - yes, I get it, be brave and lob it in so the weight is thrown forward over the fronts, rears go light, on the power. Can do.
Stage 2 - exciting! IME this is just instinct, very hard to teach or even explain - just eyes on stalks driving with fingers and toes.
Stage 3 - hmmmm, this is the tricky bit - not much fun the first time you really get some angle on your dangle and suddenly think "I'm really liking this but I'm not entirely sure how to get myself out of this one.." This is the one that needs the practice I think.
Good to see it de-constructed.
Stage 1 - yes, I get it, be brave and lob it in so the weight is thrown forward over the fronts, rears go light, on the power. Can do.
Stage 2 - exciting! IME this is just instinct, very hard to teach or even explain - just eyes on stalks driving with fingers and toes.
Stage 3 - hmmmm, this is the tricky bit - not much fun the first time you really get some angle on your dangle and suddenly think "I'm really liking this but I'm not entirely sure how to get myself out of this one.." This is the one that needs the practice I think.
carlito said:
Been driving RWD BM's for the last 16 years now in one form or another. Although I'm a reasonably competent drive.. I've never had the rear out on any of them over the years apart from a accidental slight twitch in the wet on roundabouts which often left me with the a brown patch in the seat!..so about a year ago me and some good friends all decide to get into drifting to have fun but also become much more confident drivers of RWD cars.
We all drive high performance cars..an E60 M5..E46 M3 and I drive an Impreza P1 so we felt becoming capable drifters would only transfer over to when we are driving our performance cars enabling us to enjoy them more.
We all set out to get hold of an old E36 3 series in either 328 or 325 form and get into drifting on a budget..we all sourced cars for around £700-900 each and after getting into the basics of drifting via forums like driftworks we started off with basic drift what you brung days at SantaPod where you can comfortably get to grips with the basics in the play pens and then move onto the tracks they have layed out.
As far as preparing the cars, we had the diffs welded up..this is a far better way of really drifting as you know the diff is fully locked and not just transferring some of the power (as little as 25%) to the unloaded wheel which most LSD's in road cars do..this makes for inconsistent initiation to a slide.
We fitted some budget coilovers and some additional modifications to the front steering geometry like rack spacers to add more steering lock and a good fast road geo setup. Adjustable rear lower camber arms were fitted to minimise the rear camber to get the best tyre wear. We use 15"/16" wheels on the back with a 195 or 205 width to encourage traction loss without putting too much strain on the axle and with a few under bonnet mods like an M50 manifold conversion the engine is more than capable with its 210 odd HP to get the car sideways which we've helped by partially stripping out some of the non essential interior for weight saving.
I can honestly say it is the most fun and enjoyable experience I've had in all my years of driving performance cars, yes trackdays are great for the out and out adrenaline rush of pounding your car round a track but once you've mastered the art of going sideways in a RWD car it really is addictive and so much fun!
The best thing is that after a year or so of doing it now we are all much more capable and confident drivers in every aspect and having the ability to control/manipulate slides or any RWD action whether it's provoked or accidental in our other cars (e60 M5/e46 M3/ Impreza P1) is a great thing to have and I honestly don't know how I've gotten away with driving RWD BMW's all these years without being able to control an accidental RWD slide/skid when driving on the road.
We are all now regularly attending organinsed drift trackdays at Lydden Hill race circuit and have moved up from novice to intermediate and are initiating mid/high speed 3rd gear drifts into long corners..this is only a year or so ago from being a total novice so the learning curve for drifting is fast once you've got the bug!
My advice to anyone would be to do like we have and get an old RWD car either a BMW or mazda MX5 or alike..have the diff welded and get yourself to SantaPod to get some real practice which does not have to cost much at all..Pod days are £70 a day and a full day at Lydden Hill is £120..we have all kept our drift cars to a real budget and do all the work on them ourselves to keep the cost down.
The vibe at drift trackdays is also much more relaxed than some trackdays I've been to in the past and everyone is always happy to help out and give advice in needed so it makes it much better for the novice to get involved.
If anyone needs any more info please ask and I'll be glad to help..
FantasticWe all drive high performance cars..an E60 M5..E46 M3 and I drive an Impreza P1 so we felt becoming capable drifters would only transfer over to when we are driving our performance cars enabling us to enjoy them more.
We all set out to get hold of an old E36 3 series in either 328 or 325 form and get into drifting on a budget..we all sourced cars for around £700-900 each and after getting into the basics of drifting via forums like driftworks we started off with basic drift what you brung days at SantaPod where you can comfortably get to grips with the basics in the play pens and then move onto the tracks they have layed out.
As far as preparing the cars, we had the diffs welded up..this is a far better way of really drifting as you know the diff is fully locked and not just transferring some of the power (as little as 25%) to the unloaded wheel which most LSD's in road cars do..this makes for inconsistent initiation to a slide.
We fitted some budget coilovers and some additional modifications to the front steering geometry like rack spacers to add more steering lock and a good fast road geo setup. Adjustable rear lower camber arms were fitted to minimise the rear camber to get the best tyre wear. We use 15"/16" wheels on the back with a 195 or 205 width to encourage traction loss without putting too much strain on the axle and with a few under bonnet mods like an M50 manifold conversion the engine is more than capable with its 210 odd HP to get the car sideways which we've helped by partially stripping out some of the non essential interior for weight saving.
I can honestly say it is the most fun and enjoyable experience I've had in all my years of driving performance cars, yes trackdays are great for the out and out adrenaline rush of pounding your car round a track but once you've mastered the art of going sideways in a RWD car it really is addictive and so much fun!
The best thing is that after a year or so of doing it now we are all much more capable and confident drivers in every aspect and having the ability to control/manipulate slides or any RWD action whether it's provoked or accidental in our other cars (e60 M5/e46 M3/ Impreza P1) is a great thing to have and I honestly don't know how I've gotten away with driving RWD BMW's all these years without being able to control an accidental RWD slide/skid when driving on the road.
We are all now regularly attending organinsed drift trackdays at Lydden Hill race circuit and have moved up from novice to intermediate and are initiating mid/high speed 3rd gear drifts into long corners..this is only a year or so ago from being a total novice so the learning curve for drifting is fast once you've got the bug!
My advice to anyone would be to do like we have and get an old RWD car either a BMW or mazda MX5 or alike..have the diff welded and get yourself to SantaPod to get some real practice which does not have to cost much at all..Pod days are £70 a day and a full day at Lydden Hill is £120..we have all kept our drift cars to a real budget and do all the work on them ourselves to keep the cost down.
The vibe at drift trackdays is also much more relaxed than some trackdays I've been to in the past and everyone is always happy to help out and give advice in needed so it makes it much better for the novice to get involved.
If anyone needs any more info please ask and I'll be glad to help..
I have just completed my second DWYB :-)
E30 325i Sport
I can do donuts and figures of 8s.
The intermediate track I need more work on :-)
toerag said:
RyanTank said:
I'll just leave this here 
There's a challenge if ever Ive seen one Watching him slide a SW20 MR2 around is a thing to behold.
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