Monday 15th February 2016

Ice drifting - zero to hero in one day

Our man from the Med has never driven on snow before; can he master it in a day?

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The Finnish village of Ruka is within the Arctic Circle, has a greater population of reindeer than it does people and one giant frozen lake. This is where Falken has chosen to launch its new studded winter tyre and where I am to experience drifting for the first time. Being from the Mediterranean, my limited knowledge of ice driving comes from rally games. Can I keep it out of a snow bank for long enough to get the drift?

We drive onto an expansive area between towering fir trees, the sun barely creeping over the horizon, snow falling softly on a frozen lake. This is a sight to behold. The tranquility is about to be shattered however, as the three tracks laid out in the snow by the Juha Kankkunen Driving Academy become our playground for the next few hours.

First up, a set of manual Audi A3 Quattros, some with Falken's new studded tyre - the Espia ICE with 16 lines of studs - and others on rival Nokian's equivalent. On to the frozen lake in a convoy we go and now comes the moment of truth.

Baby steps ... and slides
I switch stability control to Sport to avoid any major mishaps on the first lap. The system works excellently in combination with the tyres; I throw the car into a corner and it cuts in, braking individual wheels to pull the car back into line. Reassuring, but not what I'm looking for.

Next lap I bite the bullet and commit to turning it all off. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. On the first corner, I heavy-handedly turn in, the car reacting with a slide. The snow bank looming ever closer, I drop into second gear and power through. It's exhilarating. I'm hooked.

With every corner my confidence increases; feeling like a true drift king already I'm throwing the car into slides and even a few four-wheel drifts. The way the car dances from corner to corner is a thing of beauty. To me, I'm in an Arctic rally, battling competitors for the best time and widest angles. One thing is for sure, studded tyres and four-wheel drive fill you with the confidence to attack the next corner quicker and at a more ridiculous angle. Switching between the Nokian and Falken tyres, I must admit the Nokian does offer more slip angle - good for showing off perhaps but demonstrating the Falkens' superiority in real world situations.

Steer from the rear
We like an estate car on PH. The Finnish have the same mentality, old Volvo estates rigged with rally-style spotlights popular among the few cars I encounter on the public roads. After the confidence building session in the Audis, it's time to take a seat in a BMW 316i estate on non-studded winter tyres. This is the car I've been looking forward to driving all day. Ok, it's no M car, not even a straight-six, but I'll leave the more powerful cars to the professional. Pirouetting at every corner is my speciality on the first lap. But after coming to terms with the need for smoother driving, accelerating and counter-steering simultaneously, and with DSC Sport I am able to hold a drift. The gearbox takes it upon itself to change up though and the car straightens up. So close. Slipping into manual gives me the freedom to hold the gear and reach the high revs required to push the car out wider and for longer - now this what drifting is about.

Passenger ride
Having tasted drifting for myself and experienced the challenge first hand, it's time to see how it's really done. Thunderous downshifts echo through the forest as a Falken-liveried Nisssan S14 with James Deane at the wheel powerslides into the car park. Sitting with him I find out it is also his first time on the ice, although he put in a few practice runs in the day before. The only changes made to his car were raising the ride height and fitting studded tyres. Would I like to go for a passenger ride? In a 700hp, 650 lb ft drift car with a drift champion? Yeh, go on then...

This is a completely different experience to the Audi or BMW. The S14 is fitted with a turbocharged Toyota engine and James proudly mentions the Wisefab extra lock kit that gives him an added 65 degrees of steering lock. There's also the matter of a full roll-cage, no sound deadening and only the smallest of slits between the sun-strip and windscreen wipers.

But that doesn't matter as he's looking sideways out of my window as his speedo indicates 120mph. Banging into gear, and tugging on the handbrake, it is a normal day at the office for him. Corners come and go in a blur. On the final set of turns I'm busy admiring the balance between man and machine until I look up and see the snowbank getting rapidly closer. Surely he isn't going to bin it? As I brace for the crash, James drops down a gear and roars out of the corner.

It'll take me more than one taster session to reach that level of expertise. But I've got the bug!

 

 

[My Evil Twin]

Did something simular a few years ago when a ex-pat friend over here arranged it for a few of us from the se7ens list to go to Kankkunen's lake and blast around is various cars/quads/skidoo's. excelent time had by all.

had a look around his garage also.. which was nice.