Monday, July 16, 2007

So, what is Drifting anyway?

Certainly this isn’t the first Drifting oriented site you have hit on the Web, so I am sure you have seen a few “definitions” thus far. The fact of the matter is that the definition of Drifting, as it is concerned on the World Wide Web, is quite varied. These so-called definitions range from the simple and not-so-accurate: “Drifting is driving out of control man—YEAH!!!” to the painfully detailed: “Drifting is when you enter a corner at speed, depress the clutch pedal and…” Okay, you get the idea. Although these Drifting def’s are all over the map, the enthusiasts who make this stuff up are on the right track (for the most part).

You see, Drifting is like love… it’s hard to put into words, but you know it when you see it. Why you ask? Pretty much because Drifting is new and before How To Drift, there really was no set definitions or terminology. As you know, Drifting came from Japan and, for the most part, started here in the U.S. as an underground sport. The only way early Drifters could read about their favorite past-time was to get a Japanese magazine, and learn to read Japanese! This lead grass-roots U.S. Drifters to make the terms up as they went. Even today, listen to the pro Drifters when they are interviewed after making a run, and they are pretty much just talking a combination of racing terms and slang. This might be good for street cred’ but it can make it hard for the rest of us to understand what is really going on.

So the answer to your… uh, I mean my question is: Drifting is the ability to maintain control of a vehicle in an oversteer condition, with a slip angle greater than 10 degrees.

Yup, that’s it. But why am I so special you ask? Why do I have the answer when so many others do not? Well, I’m not all that special, but I did take the time research Drifting, and the various elements that make it up when I wrote How To Drift. Like many others I felt I knew what Drifting was all about when I took on the assignment. But, when I sat down to write it, I had nothin’. I was like, “Drifting is…” “It’s when you…” No, no, that’s not it. Okay, I got it, “When you are in the turn and the car is sliding and…” Crap. It really was like love—I knew what Drifting was, but I had a hard time putting it into words.

What I needed were some terms and definitions. I needed the raw information that would allow me to explain Drifting on paper, technically and accurately. I knew Drifting mainly took place in the turns (yes, you can pitch it sideways on the straightaway, It’s called the Choku Dori my friends), but what were the technical elements of a turn? What were the technical terms for a car driving through a turn at speed, with the rear end hanging out? And where would I find such terminology?!?

As it turns (no pun intended, seriously) out there is an entire genre, with numerous bodies of work dedicated to answering these very questions, and more—it’s called racecar driving. Do you know what the difference between a racecar and Drift car in a turn is? Slip angle. Other than that, and the ways in which drivers use the vehicle’s controls to get increased slip angle, everything is the same.

So let’s put my definition to the test, shall we?

Q: What happens when you “Drift” at less than 10 degrees of slip angle?
A: That is simply oversteer. A racecar driver uses it to help trim speed and/or turn his or her car around tight corners while maintaining greater speed than he or she could without oversteer.

Q: Drifting is driving out of control, right?
A: Uh, no. Drifting is in fact driving under absolute control, if it wasn’t, even the best drivers would not be able to slide through a given track over and over, following the same line—it takes control (absolute control) do achieve this.

Q: Okay, but Drifting is when you depress the clutch pedal and…
Well, yeah, that can be true, but it might not be either—you don’t need to use the clutch to initiate a Drift with a Feint, or Power Over for example. That wasn’t a definition of Drifting as much an example of a specific technique.

Q: So can you Drift a front wheel drive car?
A: Ooh, ouch--now that is a tough one that has been under much debate since Drifting started. As per my definition, yes, you can Drift a front wheel drive car (oh, I’m gonna hear it over that one...) You can control and maintain a slip angle of greater than 10 degrees in a front wheel drive vehicle, if you know how to do it. But you are very limited in how you can initiate and maintain a “Drift.” Some will say it’s not Drifting, others will say an FF driver sliding his or her car through a corner is actually performing a power slide. Hey, what can I tell you, I don’t have all the answers.

Okay, I guess that will do it for now. Armed with your new-found knowledge you can go back through the Net and prove or disprove any definitions you have read, or are yet to find. Try it out, put your new found powers to the test on the Web sites and in the chat rooms of your choosing! And, feel free to leave comments, questions and requests here!