TheZ
14/01/2003, 06h11
One of the most important aspects of your suspension and ability to drive effectively is the tire. Overlooked my most people, a well balanced tire and suspension allows you to slide (drift) while maintaining control of your vehicle. However, there is the question of drift versus grip driving, but the outcome will most likely depend on the situation and or your opponent(s). Owning the most expensive tire with the softest grip will not always do the trick. Sometimes sport tires will be more than enough for an effective drift. Usually, with these cheaper tires the tread blocks will be huge, so they don't fall apart when you drive them hard at full tread depth. It's best to have these at the front of your car especially when driving an import with a front wheel drive setup. Also, equipping a higher end tire with a slicker base to the back two wheels will provide you with a drift machine even in an underpowered car. The front two tires with a larger tread block will provide grip when needed in order to enter a corner at the maximum amount of speed while the back tires allow you to drift around a corner while maintaining stability. Don't always underestimate an underpowered car, a car with a little less torque and horsepower give the driver an upper hand when entering a corner at high speed. Of course, when exiting a corner a car with a larger torque distribution will have the ability to pull away. Horsepower is not always the answer. Also, a tighter suspension heavily adjusted at the rear of the car will give the driver more stability and less friction. This eliminates the over steer factor and will again provide you with more control and stability. Of course when and over steer is desired, the suspension should be loosened a little.
Sticking to a smaller tire would also benefit you in that lighter wheels improve the ride, they improve handling on surfaces that aren't too smooth or even, and they improve acceleration and braking. So forget your 22' inch rims because if you feel like racing, your rims are just going to slow you down. I strongly recommend 16' or 17' inch wheels. A car with a bit more torque and a wider base could pull an 18' inch wheel but remember lighter is better.
- Applying techniques to this setup -
Let's apply the clutch kick to this wheel and suspension setup. This drift technique is executed by depressing the clutch peddle, best when on approach into a corner to deliver a jolt to your driveline upsetting the traction of your rear tires. With the suspension and tire modifications made your car should easily slam itself into a full drift. How quickly you depress your clutch will determine how hard you are on your driveline. With this suspension and tire setup you will reduce the stress anyway on your driveline so you don't increase wear on your car. This is a great technique for underpowered cars. -Another famous drift technique would be the "emergency brake drift." To accomplish this one must pull the E-brake while entering a corner in order to induce rear wheel traction loss. Well if you already have the rear wheels equipped with a slicker tire your car will easily enter a drift at a quicker rate then if you had a stickier tire in the back. In order to control this one must add throttle. DO NOT PUNCH IT!!!! If you are looking to spend a few grand repairing the back end of your car then go ahead and up shift to fifth gear and enter the corner at full throttle, but you WILL lose control. I'm all for going fast but to execute the E-brake drift effectively one must downshift while entering the corner. The reduced speed will give you more control, and the slicker tires will help you drift accordingly under that control. For another example I'll take the power over technique and apply that to the necessary suspension and tire modifications. This technique does not apply to the underpowered cars, especially cars with low torque distributions. Hence the name "power over." This is performed while entering a corner at full throttle in order to produce heavy over steer. (note: the more horsepower the better, this is a risky technique but if you have enough torque you will be able to pull yourself out of the drift when exiting the corner.) Make sure to take the outside of the turn because when you recover from the massive drift your car will slingshot to the opposite side of the road.
Sticking to a smaller tire would also benefit you in that lighter wheels improve the ride, they improve handling on surfaces that aren't too smooth or even, and they improve acceleration and braking. So forget your 22' inch rims because if you feel like racing, your rims are just going to slow you down. I strongly recommend 16' or 17' inch wheels. A car with a bit more torque and a wider base could pull an 18' inch wheel but remember lighter is better.
- Applying techniques to this setup -
Let's apply the clutch kick to this wheel and suspension setup. This drift technique is executed by depressing the clutch peddle, best when on approach into a corner to deliver a jolt to your driveline upsetting the traction of your rear tires. With the suspension and tire modifications made your car should easily slam itself into a full drift. How quickly you depress your clutch will determine how hard you are on your driveline. With this suspension and tire setup you will reduce the stress anyway on your driveline so you don't increase wear on your car. This is a great technique for underpowered cars. -Another famous drift technique would be the "emergency brake drift." To accomplish this one must pull the E-brake while entering a corner in order to induce rear wheel traction loss. Well if you already have the rear wheels equipped with a slicker tire your car will easily enter a drift at a quicker rate then if you had a stickier tire in the back. In order to control this one must add throttle. DO NOT PUNCH IT!!!! If you are looking to spend a few grand repairing the back end of your car then go ahead and up shift to fifth gear and enter the corner at full throttle, but you WILL lose control. I'm all for going fast but to execute the E-brake drift effectively one must downshift while entering the corner. The reduced speed will give you more control, and the slicker tires will help you drift accordingly under that control. For another example I'll take the power over technique and apply that to the necessary suspension and tire modifications. This technique does not apply to the underpowered cars, especially cars with low torque distributions. Hence the name "power over." This is performed while entering a corner at full throttle in order to produce heavy over steer. (note: the more horsepower the better, this is a risky technique but if you have enough torque you will be able to pull yourself out of the drift when exiting the corner.) Make sure to take the outside of the turn because when you recover from the massive drift your car will slingshot to the opposite side of the road.