Jonathan Ross discovers Drifting

[Mr Doricar]

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[American Oyaji]

technically drifting is NOT possible in a FrontWD car, right?

[halfnip]

technically drifting is NOT possible in a FrontWD car, right?

Not true, the drifting scene has quite a big FF following, although the bulk of them are indeed FR's though. Hey, where's Doricar when you need him? ;)

[Taro Toporific]

Hey, did anyone else notice all the translation mistakes in the over-dubbed engrish interpretation?
"...putting the car in a skid by turning the 'handle' [sic]..."

(meaning either 'turning the steering wheel' or 'pulling the parking brake ':rolleyes: )

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[Mr Doricar]

Here I am ;)

Hmmm well although FF drifting is possible...

Ce moi...

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I don't think it's really drifting. I think drifting should only be in FR cars. Doing a bit of a drift is about right in FF, but naaaah...it's not real drifting.

[halfnip]

I don't think it's really drifting. I think drifting should only be in FR cars. Doing a bit of a drift is about right in FF, but naaaah...it's not real drifting.

Don't tell these guys that....

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[DrP]

You can technically drift in anything. It just means that you've exceeded the traction limits of your tires and must counteract by applying a vector in the opposing direction. 2WD, FF,FR FWD doesn't matter. Initiating the drift by overpowering (or braking), oversteering or otherwise breaking the traction in a relatively controlled manner is all that counts. RWD is a bit simpler since you can maintain more control over the direction of the front and rear of your vehicle simultaneously by modulating the power, brake effort /balance and steering. A drift becomes a spin when you can no longer modulate or control your attitude and the vehicles momentum due to power or just plain motion causes the rear to overpass your center of rotation.

Biasing your brakes more to the rear and using judicious 'power braking' and you can very easily drift a FF vehicle. IN fact most rally drivers steer the car more with counter braking than they do with the steering wheel - at least when you get good at it , its easier than fighting a stiff-diffed FF car with 260+bhp and gives you much better decelleration capabilities as well. All about modulation - something most drivers fail to ever learn - especially Japanese Taxis. Why do they bother with pedals - they can drive the same with a simple off-on toggle switch.

[American Oyaji]

What is FF and FR?

I mean, I KNOW what they mean in theory, but what does that abbreviation stand for?

[sublight]

FF - Front engine, Front drive
FR - Front engine, Rear drive
MR - Midship engine, Rear drive

A VW Beetle would be an RR.

[American Oyaji]

Gotcha! Thanks! :D

[maraboutslim]

Are those the terms they use in Japan? Here people just say FWD (front wheel drive) or RWD (rear wheel drive) or AWD (all wheel drive). Rear and mid-engined cars are pretty rare. (toyota mr2? ferrari 360/430/etc., porsche 911, etc. but pretty uncommon in the drifting scene of course)

[Kanchou]

Yes, but they were made popular by Japanese video games (namely Gran Turismo).

If you're going to drift for the sake of drifting, there is absolutely nothing better than a rear-wheel drive car.

OTOH, if you just want to slide the rear tires in a corner (i.e., for rally driving), it doesn't really matter.

[Mr Doricar]

I'm a purist...

If it's FF it's not drifting! It's ass dragging ;) That said I don't dismiss it, as you can see from my videos I still enjoy sliding FF cars, but it's nothing compared to drifting a 300+ bhp FR machine.

I started racing FF back in 2000 and used to love to slide them a bit but it's not drifting. As for rally guys, well yeah it's just part of going fast on loose surfaces that you left boot brake to slide the car as part of a slowing down maneouvre or changing the line you're taking.

Nihonjins are the drift masters. Don't know of any other culture that has the cars so embedded as the Japanese do.

[DrP]

Personally my all time fav drift ride is the Mitsubishi Gallant 4wd in Group A trim. Nice long wheel base, plenty of torque, a bit soft in the middle and luscious center diff - made for a very forgiving 'family drifter'. The 4 doors didnt hurt either -- and its especially fun when your clocking 140+ sideways through the mountains going skiing :)

I wouldn't say the Nihonjins are drift masters at all. I'd put that crown on the Finns. Or perhaps the Swedes - you just don't have the roads here to make it really fun. If you've ever been in a Dart Hemi with Bjorn Waldegaard you'd know what I mean. I'll never forget watching 'Team Suzuki' roll out of the containers at the 84 Olympus and watch them stack 3 Swifts in a row...

[Mr Doricar]

Yeah, very cool stuff! I love that footage of the Gp. B Peugeot on Pikes Peak too and I take your point. Can't beat the rally boys, but even when they enter "drift" competitions they never beat the D1 guys, hence my comment on the Japanese guys being the drift masters. If we're talking about car control then I'd say the Norwegians and Finns are the best. But when it comes to drifting as in D1 / MSC competition style then I'd say the Japanese.

I'm really torn between rally and drift, but at the moment rally is out of the question as I don't have the budget or team backing anymore. So dori dori it is for me ;)

The Mitsi sounds cool though I must admit :)

[DrP]

Yeah - I do love the way the J-teams hang. It seems like this bizarre naivete of absence of control that makes it so cool. I had to give the Swift team some serious props - they just jumped in - pedal down and BLAM! No second thoughts -- you gotta have that attitude when drifting. Yeah , Rally is out for me any more. It was a 150% devotion of everything. Plus insanely expensive - even with sponsors. Rallycross is more my style now - wish there was an active group here in Japan for it. Would be great to have a 'Kei' class Rallycross event. I used to have a Honda N600 coupe (Hawaiin) that I used for Rallycross and ice events - compete with the Fiat 500's, Gordinis and Isetas. Damn, that was fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zvLI5ZAgEY

BTW - if anyone wants super cool 'Drift Back Packs' (shameless plug) I have them for sale in Japan. Made by Retaks. Fits all your gear and steering wheel too.

http://mixi.jp/view_community.pl?id=2355460
http://www.retaks.com

[Mulboyne]

Another new UK programme on Japan. This one features Justin lee Collins.

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[Coligny]

Another new UK programme on Japan. This one features Justin lee Collins.


Is it random thread bump week ?

[Mulboyne]

Is it random thread bump week ?

I meant to put it here (http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13891), which has other videos from "Japanorama" - the main UK TV effort which looked at Japan, hosted by Jonathan Ross.

At a rough count, Justin Lee Collins is the seventh UK comedian to do a TV series on Japan over the last 10 years.

[waruta]

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Now this was a good era in Rally Racing....

[gkanai]

Now this was a good era in Rally Racing....

Well... until the death of the Alitalia team which ended the class abruptly.