Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed. A car is drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle prior to the corner apex, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa), and the driver is controlling these factors. As a motor sport, professional drifting competitions are held worldwide. Drift challenges drivers to navigate a course in a sustained sideslip by exploiting coupled nonlinearities in the tire force response.
Formula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that brought D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own, operate and launch the first official drifting series in North America. 2010 will be Formula Drift's eighth year of competition.
With more than 60+ drivers competing [1] in 2010, Formula Drift is recognized as the premier North American professional drifting championship series. The series consists of a seven round championship played out at race tracks across the United States. Judged on execution and style, rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time, Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports.
Formula Drift works closely with a huge variety of endemic and non-endemic business partners. Most notably Formula Drift works with the largest amount of tire suppliers to a single series. BFGoodrich, Cooper, Falken, Hankook, Maxxis, Kenda, NEXEN, Nitto, and Toyo all work together to supply teams and field test their products.
Kunimitsu Takahashi born in Tokyo, January 29, 1940) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing driver from Japan who is also considered as the "father of drifting". He was the chairman of the GT-Association, the organizers of the Super GT series, from 1993 to 2007.
Usually, drift cars are light to moderate weight rear-wheel-drive coupes and sedans over a large range of power levels. There have also been AWD rally cars that have been converted to RWD.
Despite the export of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) vehicles to continents outside Japan,[6] it is notable that drifters within other countries prefer to use local examples as drift cars.
A high volume of JDM imports were brought to countries such as Australia, however it is not unusual to see Australian domestic vehicles such as the Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon utilised in drifting competitions.[7]
The American market enjoyed a relatively high volume of JDM cars being imported over the last decade, despite Japanese domestic vehicles being right-hand-drive only.[8] Locally sold imports such as the Lexus SC and Nissan 240SX feature heavily in American drifting, however they are usually modified with JDM engine transplants to mirror their Japanese domestic equivalents (usually with a Toyota 1JZ-GTE/2JZ-GTE or Nissan CA18DET/SR20DET respectively).
| Car | Model | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Silvia | S15 | 6 cars | 5 cars | 3 cars |
| Toyota Levin/Trueno | AE86 | 3 cars | 3 cars | 2 cars |
| Mazda RX-7 | FD3S | 2 cars | 1 car | 2 cars |
| Nissan Skyline | R34 | 1 car | 1 car | 1 car |
| Nissan Silvia | S13 | 2 cars | ||
| Toyota Chaser | JZX100 | 1 car | ||
| Subaru Impreza | GD (RWD) | 1 car | ||
| Toyota Altezza | SXE10 | 1 car |
The Red Bull Drifting World Championship is a non-championship all-star drifting contest sponsored by Red Bull energy drink and hosted by IMG and Slipstream Global Marketing, the organizers behind Formula D. The event is scheduled to take place at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California at November 15–16, 2008.[1]
Announced prior to the Las Vegas Formula D round on July 14, at $50,000,[2] it boasts of the largest prize money in a drifting contest[1] and the largest TV production for a drift contest.[2]
The inaugural event was won by Rhys Millen, incidentally sponsored by Red Bull, taking home $25,000.
The Top cars in the Red Bull Drifting Championship:
Drifting competitions are judged based on line, angle, speed, amount of smoke, and show factor. Line involves taking the correct line, which is usually announced beforehand by judges. The show factor is based on multiple things, such as the amount of smoke, how close the car is to the wall or designated clipping point, and the crowd's reaction.[4] Angle is the angle of a car in a drift, speed is the speed entering a turn, the speed through a turn, and the speed exiting the turn; faster is better.The judging takes place on just a small part of the circuit, a few linking corners that provide good viewing, and opportunities for drifting. The rest of the circuit is irrelevant, except as it pertains to controlling the temperature of the tires and setting the car up for the first judged corner. In the tandem passes, the lead driver often feints his or her entry to the first corner to upset the chase driver, however in some European series, this practice is frowned upon by judges and considered foul play, resulting in deduction of points.
There are typically two sessions, a qualifying/practice session, and a final session. In the qualifying sessions, referred as Tansō (単走:solo run), drifters get individual passes in front of judges (who may or may not be the final judges) to try to make the final 16. This is often on the day preceding the final.
The finals are tandem passes, referred as Tsuisō (追走:chasing race). Drivers are paired off, and each heat comprises two passes, with each driver taking a turn to lead. The best of the 8 heats go to the next 4, to the next 2, to the final. The passes are judged as explained above, however there are some provisos such as:
Points are awarded for each pass, and usually one driver prevails. Sometimes the judges cannot agree, or cannot decide, or a crowd vocally disagrees with the judge's decision.[citation needed] In such cases more passes may be run until a winner is produced. Sometimes mechanical failure determines the battle's outcome, either during or preceding a heat. If a car cannot enter a tandem battle, the remaining entrant (who automatically advances) will give a solo demonstration pass. In the event of apparently close or tied runs, crowds often demonstrate their desire for another run with chants of 'one more time'.[5]
There is some regional variation. For example in Australia, the chase car is judged on how accurately it emulates the drift of the lead car, as opposed to being judged on its own merit, this is only taken into consideration by the judges if the lead car is on the appropriate racing line. Other variations of the tansou/tsuiso and the tansou only method is the multi-car group judging, seen in the Drift Tengoku videos where the four car team is judged in groups.
Western Adoption
One of the earliest recorded drift events outside Japan was in 1993, held at Willow Springs Raceway in Willow Springs, California hosted by the Japanese drifting magazine and organization Option. Inada, founder of the D1 Grand Prix in Japan, the NHRA Funny Car drag racer Kenji Okazaki and Keiichi Tsuchiya, who also gave demonstrations in a Nissan 180SX that the magazine brought over from Japan, judged the event with Rhys Millen and Bryan Norris being two of the entrants.[3] Drifting has since exploded into a massively popular form of motorsport in North America, Australasia, and Europe.
Present Day
Drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete mostly in rear-wheel-drive cars, to earn points from judges based on various factors. At the top levels of competition, the D1 Grand Prix in Japan pioneered the sport. Others such as Formula D in the United States, and the NZ Drift Series in New Zealand have come along to further expand it into a legitimate motor sport worldwide. The drivers within these series were originally influenced by the pioneers from D1 Japan and are able to keep their cars sliding for extended periods of time, often linking several turns.
Competitive drifters often run DOT-approved tires closer to racing tires, which is permitted, with the exception of some major championships including D1GP which only permits commercially available tires that are approved by them. Professional drifting has come to a point where the maximum amount of tire grip is necessary to be competitive in terms of sustaining speed, and stability in a drift.
Grassroot level Japanese cars with low horsepower quite often have different tires on the front and back. The tires with more grip are used up front and harder compounds in the rear to be able to spin the rear wheels in a higher gear while still being able to maintain a relatively moderate speed in a drift.
R/C drifting refers to the act of drifting with a radio-controlled car. R/C cars are equipped with special low grip tires, usually made from PVC or ABS piping. Some manufacturers make radial drift tires that are made of actual rubber compounds. The car setup is usually changed to allow the car to drift more easily. R/C drifting is most successful on 4WD (Four wheel drive) R/C cars. Companies such as Tamiya, Yokomo, Team Associated, and Hobby Products International[14] have made drift cars and supported the hobby.
Radio-controlled drifting refers to the act of drifting with a radio-controlled car (R/C car). R/C cars are equipped with low-traction tires to aid in the ease of inducing and maintaining controlled oversteer. Car setups are often modified to allow the car to drift more easily, by replacing motors, shocks, tires, weight balance, brakes, and other factors. R/C drifting is typically performed with four wheel drive (4WD) electric R/C cars, although some practitioners use gas-powered (Nitro) R/C cars and/or rear-wheel drive vehicles.
As a hobby, radio-controlled drifting is one of many variations of R/C car types and activities. Informal or formal practice events and competitions are held worldwide. When one judging R/C drifting competitions, R/C drifting typically follows the guidelines and judging criteria set by professional drifting organizations like the D1 Grand Prix. These judging criteria often include drift factors such as racing line, drift angle, speed, and show factor. Some R/C drifting competitions include the use of "tsuiso" or tandem-drift competition in which competitors are paired together to drift in a lead-chase format.
For R/C drifting, most 4WD touring car chassis will suffice. Typical vehicles used in R/C drifting are 4WD, electric powered, 1/10 scale vehicles, although nitro (fuel) powered versions exist.[1] The use of an RWD drifting chassis is uncommon; unlike their real-world counterparts, RWD R/C cars behave much differently due to the R/C car's scaled-down structure, which in turn changes weight distribution and general behavior.
The cost of a 4WD chassis can range from $100 to $250.[2] However, it is possible for the intermediate or advanced RC car hobbyist to convert any touring car chassis into a drift car fairly easily, using easily sourced tires, wheels and bodies from a model shop or online store.
There are several companies that make "Drift Specific" chassis. These chassis are generally based on already existing 1:10 Scale R/C Touring Chassis feature drift-specific tires and modern or 'retro' style bodyshells to represent popular street racers or professional drift cars.
Unlike R/C racing where rubber or foam tires are constantly changed and have short life spans, R/C drifting can be done with tires made of ABS plastic piping.[4] ABS piping can be purchased pre-cut from various R/C drifting companies or you can also fabricate your own tires with ABS piping purchased from a plumbing or hardware store. For 1/10 scale R/C vehicles, 2-inch-diameter (51 mm) ABS piping fits snug over the appropriate wheels for that scale vehicle. Drift tires can also be created out of white PVC piping due to the inherent frictionless behavior exhibited by PVC on concrete; however, the inherent white coloration of the material can be undesirable. Some users will paint these wheels to compensate.
Most pre-fabricated drift tires are made of rubber, plastic or polymers and come in many varieties of traction as well as tread. ABS tires last for hours, and PVC for longer, due to their physical hardness. Other types of plastics such as PVDF, PE, PP and their derivatives are also used due to their amount of traction and sliding combination. Fabricated drift tires are comparatively cheaper than manufactured drift tires. Manufactured drift tires promised a more realistic and controllable driving experience under certain circumstances. There are many makers of drift tires especially from Japan as the main source of RC drifting.
The development of tires within Japan itself is staggeringly fast compared to the rest of the world that have little access and yet couldn't relinquish its dependencies. This has reflected to less growth of development of drift tires either being use or make between the two sides.
However, R/C drift is still a new art, and advances in the state of technology for drift tires are still in the works.
A notable aspect of R/C drifting is the creation and customization of the vehicle body or shell. Using paint, decals, and other craft type items some enthusiasts make replicas of their favorite real-world drift cars or come up with their own unique designs. Additional aesthetic modifications include LED light kits, ground effects, wide body kits, FMICs (Front Mounted Intercooler), decals, flared guards, and roll cages so they can achieve a realistic looking drift car. The aesthetics of painting one's own car is also a point of interest for some hobbyists. Some will go as far to create their own shells.
Another aspect in customization of a R/C drift car is the modification of the car's handling. Most R/C enthusiasts prefer of using "Counter-steer conversion", a kind of gear ratio customization by means of changing the default front and rear gear ratio settings, depending on the desired gear ratio to make a realistic drifts (usually seen of slower front drive and faster rear drive to make a rear wheel drive-like handling). However, some R/C companies doesn't support this kind of modification and doesn't give any qualification for their officially sponsored events because most enthusiasts can create this kind of modification from recycled parts or parts from third-party companies, that makes the R/C car out-of-warranty; so most of the R/C drifting events are usually in open category.
Many RC drifting hobbyists share videos of their racing and practice sessions on YouTube and other video sharing websites. RC drift videos on YouTubeSource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_%28motorsport%29
