FC_fan

iTrader: (2)

spread the knowledge tweak, spread it. I don't care how I look, useless posts are useless posts and they don't help. you know ****, why do you even open noob threads if you don't want to help?

good info on coming in hotter, did not cross my mind to tell him that. if you are hitting lock and still can't catch it, you might either need modded knuckles or be cheap and just try to not get quite that much angle. might be your problem right there as well. your front steering angle can only catch so much rear angle, try starting with shallower angle drifts and see if you can find how far you can get your angle from there maybe.

skunks

I ususally tried to come in at about 25-35mph, don't know if I have very much more room for run out if I do screw up and not hit something which will total my car. also am not sure really how to come in at less of an angle, ususally i just turn in, pull ebrake, start to countersteer and watch my rear end come around on me before I can do anything really. not very much space in Hawaii to pratice in (very small parking lots) and there are just so many cops here. Also, there is no track in Hawaii anymore so I can't really get any track time which sucks.

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

When you pull your e-brake are you countering at the same time, or pulling the e-brake and then countering? Oh we are talking first gear 25 - 35 mph """drifts""" ... sorry I'm out.

skunks

I'm pulling the e-brake, waiting until i feel it start to slide and then countering. I think I might be waiting too long and not countering fast enough.

1st/second gear beginner drifts for me as I'm just a beginner; I'm wasnt planning on starting out doing 3rd gear, 50+mph, drifts in the small parking lots I have to work with. We all have to start off some where. I wasn't aware only professionals were allowed to post here.

Valkyrie

If you're a beginner and you don't have that much room to practice, you need to draw circles... which you shouldn't do unless you are in a place where you're allowed to leave rubber on the ground.


Basically you do a donut but in a larger circle where you control your drift with throttle and counter steering.

It's really hard to do without a mechanical LSD, but I think a stock FD helical might work. You could always do it when it's raining though.

FC_fan

iTrader: (2)

didn't even look at your locale dude. its gonna be hard to get seat time without getting tickets. going at those speeds, I feel its actually even less of a margin for error. counter faster, don't give as much throttle when dropping the e brake and unlocking the tires. like, if you are flooring the throttle right now, try to back off just a hair so you don't push the car out as fast. understand? hard to explain, and not as easy to do in the moment as it is to say either. your throttle is going to control the car almost as much as your steering wheel does. you give it too much gas and not enough steering angle or not fast enough counter, its gonna come around. thats why I think maybe try to messing with the throttle and altering that as well as countering a little faster. as said before, its all about the balance.

Valkyrie

Also remember not to come off the throttle too fast, or you'll drift more ("accel off" drift, my favorite kind besides braking drift...).

I've read in a racing book that using a little MORE throttle on a well set up car while oversteering can actually shift the weight to the rear, increasing rear grip, and can control oversteer. OTOH, letting off the throttle shifts the weight to the front and can be used to reduce understeer. Of course this is talking about a neutral-steering car being used on a race track for times, not for drifting. But it's important to remember that it's not as simple as throttle = spin.


For the record, the easiest corners to drifts are medium sweeping turns (in my opinion). High-speed turns are too fast (duh), and low-speed hairpins take a bit too much skill to drift through, but medium-sized sweepers can be drifted with just careful throttle and a bit of counter-steering.

But only with good tires...

Summit HEART

iTrader: (5)

cheater stuff LOL PBM knuckles. Sliding a stockish FD is a hard task, Diff sucks and is snappy when lifting. No angle body roll pretty much everything working against you. I dont run a rear sway bar and have changed everything I just complained about. My thread has alot of what I changed and might help https://www.rx7club.com/drifting-226/summit-heart-stuff-917510/ GL have fun.

Valkyrie

Keisuke Takahashi makes it look so easy, doesn't he... hehehe

skunks

What do you mean by the diff is snappy when lifting?

Vell

It's a 1 way ... when you lift off the gas it's like an open diff.
It can be a bit tricky sometimes (combined with the stock shocks / springs it becomes a 360°/720° maker).

Digi7ech

iTrader: (1)

I prefer to get some spring traps and put peanutbutter on them. Then leave then along edges of rooms to catch slides. It doesn't always work though. Sometimes they nibble on the trap without setting it off.

mikerbike

I think you're confusing FDs being bad drift cars and STOCK FDs being bad drift cars. SteveSimon brought a stock FD to an event here and spent most of the day off course and backward (from what I saw.. He probably has a different story.) Looked like a first timer in a stock S13/FC/AE86/ANY popular drift car in stock form. No offense, Steve.

All the FD drivers I see who seem serious about drifting do just fine. I've even seen videos of MR2 guys doing good things with drifting.

Trooth. FDs are expensive and rotary engines aren't poor-drifter-kid-friendly.

skunks

who is SteveSimon?

skunks

could you explain why when lifting off on the gas on an open diff, why it might throw the car into a spin? The only thing I have read is that that if you have an open diff and try to slide a car it will just spin one tire and not really do much. I haven't read much as far as what happens when you lift off throttle in a corner when sliding in a 1 way, 1.5 way, or 2 way diff. Which would be better and why?

mikerbike

SteveSimon is my friend.

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

it did take some getting used to, no doubt but i had it down after a few runs. you probably were watching my bro when you saw it backwards and high-centered on boulders. we had to dig him out a few times on the south track.




now that i think about it. i think the s14 was harder to drive but it also had horrible horrible alignment. something like 3.5* toe in up front. made for a very snappy and unpredictable transition

mikerbike

That makes a lot more sense.

Vell

Some guys knows -way better than me- how to explain : http://www.kaazusa.com/intro2.html

burtoncr

I will echo this same opinion. I love my FD. I learned to drift with it for 2+ years (at least 18 events where track time is limited by the amount of tires you bring and gas not staging lines). I became decent, but it is a very hard car to drift compared to the S-chassis. The car rotates very quickly and can easily catch you out if you aren't on top of it at all times.

Even with eyecandy's custom tie rods you get to a point where you need more angle which then requires spacing out wheels, knuckles and over fenders. I didn't want to deal with cracking fiberglass and making it a purpose built drift car. There are cheaper, easier platforms to build that can be replaced all day long (read s-chassis) and the FD is better at other things (grip and looking awesome). So I decided to leave the FD as is and build an S14.

Moving to the S-chassis was great. It was infinitely easier to drift even with a stock KA.

In all honesty, if I were build another drift car that was cheap, reliable, and fun, it'd be a 350z. They are super cheap these days. 350z + Coilovers + diff is equivalent to a swapped s-chassis with 8k in parts and they are 10 years newer.

Basically, I feel like you need to spend a significant amount of money, effort and time to get the FD to perform at stock S-chassis levels in drift. To me it made more sense to build another car.

FC_fan

iTrader: (2)

^ QUITTER! jk lol, you got to spend money to drive the cool cars. I'd take my FC over anything Nissan just cause the lines don't click for me on s chassis cars and I'm not very fond of the 350z or 370z either. imo. Do love me a R33 though but not for drift.

knuckles are needed to compete with s chassis I guess since we don't have as much steering lock. and coils too would make it easier. personally I'm going to get an s4 t2 diff (clutch type) and flip the springs and get mazdatrix' shimming discs/plates so it locks harder and faster. but I'm FC.

skunks

still trying to figure out why letting off on a 1 way will cause a spin. would a welded diff be better then a 1 way?

Valkyrie

Uh... no. If you're going to weld the diff on an FD... then you...well, that's just wrong.

Generally speaking a two-way is the best choice for drifting and racing (although for racing a 1.5 can be a better choice, but it's a matter of preference). Since 2-ways maintain full lock on both acceleration and deceleration, they're easier to control drifts with.

A one-way only works on acceleration and while it prevents understeer on cornering, it's provides less control for drifting.

You don't want the diff to unlock while you're sliding because you let off the throttle... this would be... unideal.

Having the diff stay locked through the whole slide makes drifting more predictable.


Basically if you're going to drift seriously, you need a 1.5 or 2-way aftermarket LSD. The cost of the LSD and the cost of maintenance on it is a strong downside though. You have to change the diff oil every couple thousand miles just like engine oil, and eventually you'll have to rebuild the LSD when it stops locking.

The 2-way is better for drifting bu the 1.5 is the best choice for a mix of racing and drifting. 1-way is more for FF cars that need to eliminate understeer in corners.

skunks

I wasnt going to weld a Fd's diff, possibly a FC or a 240's if I went that route. Wouldn't a welded diff act more like a 2 way then a 1 way?

Vell

If you want the exact symptom of the 1 way : when you lift off, depending on how you threw the car in the corner, it will try to rotate a bit more (which means you're gonna have fun with a 360°) or it will loose the drift.

About the FD "hard to drift" thing :
I've tried a friends FD with stock suspension, 4mm spacers for steering lock, and it was very easy to initiate, very easy to handle in the corner, but when I was out of the corner, I had to be gentle with the gas pedal : the 1 way diff + the stock suspension are -almost- literally making the car "jumping" from side to side.
If I was keeping a very weak angle it was fine, the bigger angle the harder.
On top of that, with that sucking steering lock you can't really rely on the e-brake to save you by controlling the suspension rebound (on wet surfaces, on dry it's ok).

In the other hand, mine is very easy to handle. (only on coilovers + moded knuckles, stock diff).
(I run a lot of toe out front and a bit in the rear btw)