Drifting may not be an accepted form of motorsports (to some people anyway), because it's not always about speed, or beating the clock. I think the ability to drift well is the ultimate display of driving skills and is all about CAR CONTROL and a balanced amount of handling and power.
Driving a car with all tires at full adhesion to the road can be done readily. Controlling a car while using 105% of your tires' traction takes mad skills. A good drifter has already mastered racing techniques and MUST have an in-depth knowledge of their car and its behavior in all conditions.
Somebody once said that drifters make the best 'grip drivers' because they are masters of driving within that fragile area at or beyond the limits of traction. A lot of people don't understand it and really underestimate the skills needed to drift. But, like it or not, drifting is here to stay.
I would not say its the ultimate show of drivers skill, grip driving for best speed is hard. So is maintaining a tactical advantage while racing, where because of the situations, nearly every turn is takne differently and often off line. In racing sometimes you have to instantly make up your own lines which are not the classic line depending on your tactical situation. To do so without slowing down or crashing is hard. In racing you can be on the attack or being defensive. Its hard keeping up your overall speed while doing this.
Drifting is pretty hard, for instance I can't figure out how to change drift directions without spinning out. Until I figure that out, I will never be good at it. Drift skills are useful in racing as when you have to go off line, you often get real sideways. The only difference is in racing your are trying to catch and stop a slide as quickly as posible.
Mike
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I would not say its the ultimate show of drivers skill, grip driving for best speed is hard. So is maintaining a tactical advantage while racing, where because of the situations, nearly every turn is takne differently and often off line. In racing sometimes you have to instantly make up your own lines which are not the classic line depending on your tactical situation. To do so without slowing down or crashing is hard. In racing you can be on the attack or being defensive. Its hard keeping up your overall speed while doing this.
Drifting is pretty hard, for instance I can't figure out how to change drift directions without spinning out. Until I figure that out, I will never be good at it. Drift skills are useful in racing as when you have to go off line, you often get real sideways. The only difference is in racing your are trying to catch and stop a slide as quickly as posible.
Mike
There's a drift video called the Drift Bible by Option. It has a english translation and it's really well done. I think you would enjoy watching the video if you ever get a chance to see it.
There's a drift video cal the Drift Bible by Option. It has a english translation and it's really well done. I think you would enjoy watching the video if you ever get a chance to see it.
I actualy have it!
Mike
__________________
There can only be one Icy Hot Stunta, Don't Hate.
I would not say its the ultimate show of drivers skill, grip driving for best speed is hard. So is maintaining a tactical advantage while racing, where because of the situations, nearly every turn is takne differently and often off line. In racing sometimes you have to instantly make up your own lines which are not the classic line depending on your tactical situation. To do so without slowing down or crashing is hard. In racing you can be on the attack or being defensive. Its hard keeping up your overall speed while doing this.
Drifting is pretty hard, for instance I can't figure out how to change drift directions without spinning out. Until I figure that out, I will never be good at it. Drift skills are useful in racing as when you have to go off line, you often get real sideways. The only difference is in racing your are trying to catch and stop a slide as quickly as posible.
Mike
Mike,
Has the drifting trend bitten you too? Hmm do I see a project Silvia coming up in the near future? Keep us posted on your drifting progress, I'd like to hear more of what you have to say on the subject! You have a great talent of explaining complicated concepts in a very easy-to-understand manner.
You are right, competing on a track with other drivers, I've read, is an entirely different experience than racing against just the clock. I didn't consider that aspect.
But between different forms of motorsports in general, I would still say drifting well (gracefully and/or effectively) does require an entirely different set of skills than any other form of racing. I'm no expert at all, but I really do believe competitive drifters and rally drivers are some of the most talented drivers out there because of the low-traction conditions they have become accustomed to.
I assume that drifting contests and rally racing require so much from the driver, that it's the reason why head-to-head and wheel-to-wheel battles are not asked of them. Major drifting contests may involve 2 drivers competing head-to-head but it is more for style over speed... and time is not the ultimate judge in this case.
Thanks for reading, and for your input
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Mike,
Has the drifting trend bitten you too? Hmm do I see a project Silvia coming up in the near future? Keep us posted on your drifting progress, I'd like to hear more of what you have to say on the subject! You have a great talent of explaining complicated concepts in a very easy-to-understand manner.
You are right, competing on a track with other drivers, I've read, is an entirely different experience than racing against just the clock. I didn't consider that aspect.
But between different forms of motorsports in general, I would still say drifting well (gracefully and/or effectively) does require an entirely different set of skills than any other form of racing. I'm no expert at all, but I really do believe competitive drifters and rally drivers are some of the most talented drivers out there because of the low-traction conditions they have become accustomed to.
I assume that drifting contests and rally racing require so much from the driver, that it's the reason why head-to-head and wheel-to-wheel battles are not asked of them. Major drifting contests may involve 2 drivers competing head-to-head but it is more for style over speed... and time is not the ultimate judge in this case.
Thanks for reading, and for your input
I know for D1 speed is considered as a judging critieria. The two dirction continuous dirft is very hard, I wish somone could teach me that.
Mike
__________________
There can only be one Icy Hot Stunta, Don't Hate.
I assume that drifting contests and rally racing require so much from the driver, that it's the reason why head-to-head and wheel-to-wheel battles are not asked of them
Well, the main reason we don't go head to head in a rally is because there usually isn't enough room on the road. When a pass happens, things can get very interesting.
Hmmm....real drifting is definitely not rice, but not really a sport either-unless you would also consider figure skating or ball room dancing sports too. It falls somewhere in between a true sport and an art form.Kinda more like "Autocross meets demo derby" than anything else, it extracts a toll on lots of cars that slam the wall and get totalled. It's not something I would do in a car I spent a huge amount of time and effort on making nice with, but I think it would be a really fun thing to do in a old beater that I didn't really care about.To me, a real motorsport is about extracting the maximum a vehicle can give doing something "useful" (I.E. cornering, accelerating etc.) rather than something judged almost purely on style.
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Hmmm....real drifting is definitely not rice, but not really a sport either-unless you would also consider figure skating or ball room dancing sports too. It falls somewhere in between a true sport and an art form.Kinda more like "Autocross meets demo derby" than anything else, it extracts a toll on lots of cars that slam the wall and get totalled. It's not something I would do in a car I spent a huge amount of time and effort on making nice with, but I think it would be a really fun thing to do in a old beater that I didn't really care about.To me, a real motorsport is about extracting the maximum a vehicle can give doing something "useful" (I.E. cornering, accelerating etc.) rather than something judged almost purely on style.
yah, ppl judge by style, autocross is good enough, make sure you have corners where power drifting is the best way to take it. but drifting and being judged by style sucks, who cares bout it, just drift the damn corner and keep on goin. a drift is a drift, just drift it, period.
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