Get sideways

[band1t]

Was out at the auto cross and there was someone
there in a BMW kicking the rear out and winding up the engine aka drifting
just haven fun. People were flocking to him after his run.
and I just didn't feel like bugging him

Now I know my old fire chicken has more torque than his silver BMW
unless he has spray or something.

But my question is can ya kick the rear out and smokem in the old cars like ya can the new ones??

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

kick it out is easy.. its the ability to keep it going in the direction you want thats hard.

[WS6]

Sure. Why would you not be able to? Really, it's just a question of power, gearing, and tires. However, like Amir said, it's going in the direction you want that's the hard part.

[band1t]

I can get the old turkey to slide in the turns
I just don't know how to break the tire lose and smokem like he did
I have 10s in the rear so that maybe to much rubber to do that kinda stuff

[Derek69SS]

Maybe they were all going over to tell him to stop driving like an idiot...

[Trevon]

At my 1 auto-x I did, lol, my fastest run was 8 seconds faster and I was sliding on a lot of the corners. I absolutely hate drifting and everything about it, but my slides were very controlled and very mild.

[band1t]

hate it or not its just fun

[novaderrik]

Maybe they were all going over to tell him to stop driving like an idiot...

or maybe they thought he was the second coming of Jeremy Clarkson?

[WS6]

The 10s in the rear will be harder to spin than the 7s or 8s that were on the car originally. I'm betting you just need different gearing.

[Croaker]

Maybe they were all going over to tell him to stop driving like an idiot...

or maybe they thought he was the second coming of Jeremy Clarkson?

How are those two things mutually exclusive? Quite the opposite, really.

[NJSPEEDER]

At my 1 auto-x I did, lol, my fastest run was 8 seconds faster and I was sliding on a lot of the corners. I absolutely hate drifting and everything about it, but my slides were very controlled and very mild.

You are talking about a very important difference that gets lost far too often when talking about high performance driving, getting the car to rotate. A car like an f-body can be tricky to control in the tight spaces of an autocross so the answer to getting through those little Miata gates is often to induce some oversteer to get the car to pivot a bit on the front tires.

Rotating a car is a hard thing to learn when you are hunting for it but the first time you do it you will know it because it just feels so right.

-Tim

[Scott Parkhurst]

Put 60 psi in the rear tires the way the drifters do and the rear tires will spin a lot easier.

Oh- there's also a reason all the drift guys have tire sponsors...

[DarkBuddha]

But my question is can ya kick the rear out and smokem in the old cars like ya can the new ones??

If ya gotta ask...

[John Wright]

Some of our old cars push so bad that it is hard to get the rear to hang out there and when you do, it snaps around. Add a large rear bar and over inflate the rear tires and I bet you'll be wagging the tail in no time.

[01amberfirewv]

Put 60 psi in the rear tires the way the drifters do and the rear tires will spin a lot easier.

Oh- there's also a reason all the drift guys have tire sponsors...

I would love to get some sideways action in my bimmer but I always worry about the tires, suspension and drive-train. Its got to be hard on all that stuff.

[SS PUNISHER]

I got my first taste of drifting in a 85gt stang on with a 3speed and 3.08 gears. It would slide 295/50/15 cooper cobras but wouldnt do a burnout on 225s!! LOL! 295's were on stock ten holes too, understeered like a mofo but once it got loose it would go where ever I wanted it to. On the 225's it would just go around, figured there wasn't enough steering to keep up but on the 295's i could keep it at full lock without spinning around. I then went with a 8.8 with a spool and 4.10's and 255/60's or 65's. Spool was great, 255's did ok but the 4.10's were too much. It would just blow thru one gear to the next. Be carefull with a car that understeers and pushes straight, you will destroy the fronts before the rears if you are too aggressive on entry. I rolled the steel belts up to the center of my brand new tires the first time out trying to get it to oversteer. just dont go into a turn in too hot, go in easy then throttle is what I learned to do(no e brake). Good luck trying to get your old school slideways! I hope my ramblings are helpful here! I will be getting my monte driftable soon and hope to join to few domestic drift cars there are out there!!

[Zee]

From what I hear, it is all about rear roll stiffness.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

go out there and try in a parking lot.. spin the car around a couple tries then get the hell outta there..

then youll know if you can.. kick it sideways.. lol!

[Anchor]

I plan to slide my nova more than i will track/autocross it.. Doesn't matter what you have, with enough skill and a half assed setup you will be able to slide. Oh, and you'll need a bit of power to make it easier...

Here's my lame attempts (first ever try) with my old ute(pickup). 275's on the back. Best place to learn is a track. Don't do it on the street....

[wmhjr]

Well, anybody watching my runs at Heidts knows that an old '66 A-body can be made to slide pretty easily. Because of brake knock-back, at turn 3 or 4 (forget) I just came out of a hard right then left, then a short straight. Only way to get around the next bend was to slide it because I had no brakes. Just practice and it'll come. I was running 34psi on the back of my 275s. Torque on demand helps a lot.