Can I drift with my car? How?

Drifting is a driving technique in which the driver intentionally overseers the car to cause loss of traction while maintaining total control of the car.

In other words, drifting is when the back of the car slides followed by a regain of control. To maintain an accurate drifting while going sideways is tricky.

It will take lots of practice to master the art of drifting.

Drifting in UAE is a popular motor sport as it is around the world. When done in a proper and safe way, drifting can be really thrilling. The most important thing to keep in mind when drifting is safety. It has to be acted upon in a safe manner and at a safe location.

There are many different methods of inducing over-steer, your choice depends on the properties of your car. If you are thinking of drifting but don't know what to do, we got your back. In this article, we'll explain how to drift with rear wheel drive, how to drift with auto and manual transmissions, and we'll go over different drifting techniques.

Can I drift with my car?

If you own a front wheel drive car, you won't be able to drift properly. While you can over-steer temporarily in a front wheel drive car, it's very hard to sustain a drift correctly without either rear or four wheel drive.

So here is what you need to have in order to drift a car:

1. Rear or four wheel drive car

2. A limited slip differential to keep both rear wheels spinning

3. Cheap rear tires

4. A car in which you can turn off any electronic stability control systems

Keep in mind, the more of the car power, the better the drifting.

How to drift with my car?

Things to do before starting

Before you start drifting, there are 3 steps you need to practice to make sure you are ready:

1. Go to a safe area of tarmac and put a cone in the middle. Drive up to the cone and proceed to rip the handbrake in order to do a 180 degree handbrake turn

2. Learn how to counter-steer. You learn that by ripping the handbrake from a speed of 45-65 km/h and trying to control the car until it stops

3. Increase the speed when doing the 2 steps above until you feel comfortable and in control. Try to do a 180 cone too

Drifting with rear wheel drive and manual transmission

You can drift with any rear wheel drive car that has a manual transmission. However, a powerful sports car with close to 50/50 ratio is ideal. There are two methods to drift with a manual transmission rear wheel drive car: The hand brake technique and the clutch kick technique.

Hand brake technique

1. First thing you need to do is to accelerate and shift into a gear with room to rev. The general gear used is the second one. This comes from the fact that it allows the widest space of speed and is considered best for harnessing the torque

2. Push the clutch

3. Go to a turn and flick the steering wheel to the inside of the turn as if you wanted to turn around it. Make sure to be simultaneously pulling the hand brake while doing this

4. Put some pressure on the gas pedal straight away and let out the clutch while steering the car in the direction of the slide. By doing this, you are actually using throttle to control the direction of the drift

5. More throttle means you can turn the car more and move it away from the turn center

6. Less throttle means you get reduced angle and your car will be able to move towards the inside of the turn easier

Clutch kick technique

1. The clutch kick technique is generally used while you are already moving. It increases angle or revive wheel spin when needed

2. Sometimes when you are drifting, you may feel a loss in drift angle and power. To fix this, you kick the clutch in an attempt to revive tires spinning speed

3. In order to keep the car drifting, kick the clutch pedal in and out a few times as fast as you can while you still have the power put on

4. End with your foot off the pedal

5. If you want to continue drifting but you feel the car is losing power or angle, try to clutch kick again until you're comfortable

Drifting with rear wheel drive and automatic transmission

Drifting can also be done with automatic transmission. After you go to a large and open area, do the following:

1. Accelerate to a speed of 30-50 km/h depending on the road and area available.

2. Lock the transmission into a low gear is possible to make sure you have maximum torque available

3. Turn the wheel hard and floor it. If this step is done correctly, you should feel the read end of the car sliding around

4. You use full throttle only to start the drift. After that, you should use proper throttle control to continue drifting through the corner