BarryNorman said:And the perceived "outlaw" lifestyle? Really? (a decade on; HBO presents "Drifters of Anarchy")
Insert any Street Racers of X Town cable show title here. That's even dumber and trades just as heavily on the "Oooh, we won't go to the drag strip because we're sooooo badass" mentality.
I think a key to it's popularity, at least on a lower level is that it's more about action than it is about competition. There's less need to do latest widget for competitive speed and it's more have fun hooning
ShawnG said:In reply to JesseWolfe :
It's the automotive version of the "ribbon onna stick" event in the Olympics.
I don't get it, some folks do.
I always equated it to automotive "figure skating", but I can see the:" ribbon on a stick". That being said if it keeps the car "hobby" alive for another generation... I am all for it. I think it's fun to watch, I can't do it myself being a FWD junkie, but I can dig it.
It's not my jam, but I'm happy other people enjoy it, mostly.
The problem with drifting is that it chews up cheap rwd cars faster than anything else, including Miata rocker rust. The drift tax has claimed all of the 240SXs in the US and has started putting pressure on the bottom of the Miata market.
AaronT said:It's not my jam, but I'm happy other people enjoy it, mostly.
The problem with drifting is that it chews up cheap rwd cars faster than anything else, including Miata rocker rust. The drift tax has claimed all of the 240SXs in the US and has started putting pressure on the bottom of the Miata market.
Please, please, please use up all the Mustangs so nobody will ever bring them to me to fix.
The one thing that bothered me about drifting events near me was how they were mostly held on figure 8 circle tracks, it just didn't look interesting to watch from the facebook videos posted. However, on a work trip to OK, I was able to spectate an event on a go kart type track and it was far more exciting to watch. But like with autocross and the lack of available sites, they probably face similar issues and take what they can get.
Also noticed with drifting events was how more casual loose feeling it was vs autocross. Might be due to the younger attendees and demographics participating and watching, but some safety rules that seem frowned upon at autocross was allowed like driving with a selfie stick or cell phone out the window of a car to photographers being able to stand right in front of the action to take close up shots.
In reply to No Time :
I feel there is a difference between being entertaining and for entertainment.
Does a bear E36 M3 in the woods?
I wouldn't bet on its purity.
Everytime I'm up at Road Atlanta there's a drift event at Lanier speedway across the street and down the hill, fun to eat lunch between runs and watch the madness.
How does aero even help a drift car? I thought they had those fiberglass front and rear ends cause they're cheap to replace when you tap the wall. I can see maybe wanting aero in the front, but at those angles can it do anything? I figured any rear spoilers were just there to look cool.
I'm not exactly an expert on drifting
Remember the grin on your face the first time you intentionally induced oversteer? Now imagine being able to do that for an entire day for $20-$50 plus gas and a few sets of outdated tires with no judging, no competition and a social, feel-good atmosphere. If you have a RWD hooptie, amateur drifting is awesome.
In reply to GCrites80s :
Looks. It's about looks. Looks get sponsors, and sponsors bring money. I think it looks rad, despite knowing it's useless when you're sideways.
I'm taking my 16yo to NH tomorrow to watch drifting.
He is excited about it and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to spend time doing something with him that is he wants to do.
The one thing as relates to autocross is that it can cause challenges with site retention.
Our club has a site that allowed a drift club to have an event. Well the neighborhood next door doesnt really discriminate about which club's event it is filling it with the stench of tire smoke/etc or discern that its only the drifters allowed cars that (at least sounded like) had no mufflers. They started clamoring against ALL car events. Lot was also used as a commuter lot during the week, the tire marks from the drifters make the parking space lines non-visible (yes, there was THAT much coverage) and left scraps of torn up tire all over the lot that remained for at least a month. The site wound up resealing the lot as a result and with having had to do that the rental price went up and there was due to be a town hall with the neighborhood concerning noise complaints surrounding automotive events before covid canceled it...
I think the site may have mentioned to us that the drift group wouldnt be welcome back, but we are concerned that its too little too late and another group might have cost us the site.
In reply to NickD :
Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I stopped watching when it became about "four corners and were done". Miss having it on an actual mountain road. Would be next level like that.
G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) said:Remember the grin on your face the first time you intentionally induced oversteer? Now imagine being able to do that for an entire day for $20-$50 plus gas and a few sets of outdated tires with no judging, no competition and a social, feel-good atmosphere. If you have a RWD hooptie, amateur drifting is awesome.
After spending today watching drifting and seeing th smile on my sons face face I can see the appeal.
There was no judging, just line up, take your run, and get back in line to do it again. They split it up by skill level, beginners were grouped together and and team one at a time, intermediates ran one car at a time, and then the advanced ran single, double, triples, and quad.
The paddock was a very friendly place, and people were happy to talk about their cars, answer questions, and just be good people.
The majority of the cars were nissans and BMWs. There were a lot of 240sx, 350/370z cars, a variety of BMWs, a Genesis, a couple Infinities, two mustangs, two RX7s, a Miata, and a P71 with a manual swap.
My some wants to build a drift car, and to be honest, I'm thinking it could be a lot of fun to help build and co-drive.
Oh yeah, if you want to see enthusiasm for drifting at the grassroots level check out the YouTube channel for our friend that helped make it a great day for my son:
The one part I don't get is putting so much effort into building a car (engine swap, paint, sometimes importing a car from japan, nice wheel, etc) to take it out and demolish it so fast. It seems like if it's a car intended to be quickly trashed it would make more sense to use cheaper cars and not put so much work into them, but who knows.
Tk8398 said:The one part I don't get is putting so much effort into building a car (engine swap, paint, sometimes importing a car from japan, nice wheel, etc) to take it out and demolish it so fast. It seems like if it's a car intended to be quickly trashed it would make more sense to use cheaper cars and not put so much work into them, but who knows.
I'd say this applies to many forms of racing, drag racing, road racing, I know I don't take my car to the track and wail on it for the economic and preservation part of it. To each their own.
Tk8398 said:The one part I don't get is putting so much effort into building a car (engine swap, paint, sometimes importing a car from japan, nice wheel, etc) to take it out and demolish it so fast. It seems like if it's a car intended to be quickly trashed it would make more sense to use cheaper cars and not put so much work into them, but who knows.
Other than their tires (or unless they crash), drift cars don't get demolished any more quickly than any other competition car.
When I was a kid, the first thing we'd do when winter arrived was find a snow covered parking lot somewhere and practice going sideways. Drifting isn't really all that much different.
In reply to Tk8398 :
Over the course of the day we only saw a couple cars contact the barriers.
One contacted the plastic barriers that were the style that get filled with water. They were just marking the edge of the pavement so they were empty. That one had no damage.
The second one hit the concrete barriers, leading with the front corner. It was a hard hit and move the barriers 12-16" and squashed the front end. The driver was fine, I'm sure he'll be sore, but the bigger hit will be to his wallet since he was driving someone else's car.
You could see that some of the cars had preexisting damage, and most were not cosmetically perfect. They used zip ties to hold bumper covers on, or had them removed.
The focus seemed to be on having a good time.
I definitely prefer people drift their cars than hard park them, but I just don't see the appeal. The culture around it is a huge turn off for me: mismatched panels, mismatched wheels, zip-tie stitches, and any number of other questionable engineering attempts. I also hate watching any sport that involves judged scoring. I just hope some of these drifters will eventually transition away from it and into proper road course racing.
I feel like it will go the same way skateboarding or motocross did in the early 2000s: bang then bust. Sadly, a lot of great RWD chassis will die at the hands of the drift community before that day...
On a personal level I have no interest in drifting beyond a snow covered parking lot on my own. But as an extension of motorsport in general, I'm delighted it exists as a way to entice more people into the hobby.
To those saying 'is it still a thing', or 'I haven't heard about it in years' I think that's disingenuous. It has at the very least held it's popularity, and in a world where NASCAR is hemorrhaging viewers, F1 is struggling to build up a solid fan base in this country and Indy car is only now really getting it's feet back under itself after Tony George tried to kill it a couple of decades ago, that has to be seen as a success. I'd bet that over the last 20 years Drifting at a top level has been a better ROI on sponsor $$'s than any other form of motorsport. At the grass roots level it's still apparently something that people want to watch, unlike autocross that no matter how much fun it may be to do, it rates below paint drying (have you seen how the color, texture and shine changes over time, so cool) in spectator interest unless your into restoring slide rules as a hobby.
Not my thang, but damn glad it's out there. Now come onto my lawn and enjoy a cold one with me neighbor.
stuart in mn said:Tk8398 said:The one part I don't get is putting so much effort into building a car (engine swap, paint, sometimes importing a car from japan, nice wheel, etc) to take it out and demolish it so fast. It seems like if it's a car intended to be quickly trashed it would make more sense to use cheaper cars and not put so much work into them, but who knows.
Other than their tires (or unless they crash), drift cars don't get demolished any more quickly than any other competition car.
Our club is allied with a local amateur drift club. I comprehensively disagree with that statement.
In reply to Duke :
Can you elaborate on what damage you're seeing. Is it arguments with immobile objects, or engine and driveline parts crying enough and exiting once solid casings?
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:Is it arguments with immobile objects, or engine and driveline parts crying enough and exiting once solid casings?
I would say yes on both counts. Also, bouncing off each other.
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