Daily/drifter of dedicated drifter?

M

mcleansc

Member
Im looking to get seriously into drifting as Driftland in Falkirk has been opened for ages and I haven't had the sack to take my sx up.

So as a track beginner I'd like to get some opinions on wether to buy a cheap RWD and use it as a dedicated drifter while i learn (trailer it there and back) or use my 200sx s14a daily? Drive there and back? Or buy a cheap daily and turn my 200 into a dedicated drift car but keep it road legal? But then iv got insurance and stuff to pay for when i want to drive it for the day?

Im leaning more to daily/drifter for the moment as im only a beginner and won't be doing anything too lary and theres no initial expenditure for a car. Anyone else have a daily/drifter and can share some of their experiences? Its quite expensive to keep running tip top just on the road as is lol. I understand u must get a lot of guys saying they're getting into drifting and asking for advice then they vanish so i appreciate the time taken for any advice.

Regards, Scott
 
I use my 13 as a daily/drifter/van, have done for 3 years, it does deteriorate though, picks up marks and scratches, dents. I take out the back seats to put wheels in so they don't get dirty and try and keep the cabin clean.

Trailering is expensive, and if the car is not road legal it is hard to keep it reliable, because the only testing you get is at an event.

Lots of people do it differently depending on personal circumstances but I think drift/daily is a good way to go, especially at the start as you are more keyed in with the car as you drive it everyday. Also driving to an event means the gearbox, diff, wheel bearings are warmed up as well as the engine which helps them last.

Get 4 spare wheels in the back of the 14 and go to driftland, you don't need big budget build or trailer, just have fun!
 
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Completely down to your personal situation.

If you need the car to get to and from work don't go down the daily drifter route. You will break something at some point and the car will be out of action.
If you decide you want to go down the daily drifter route you'll have to put up with a stiff ride and the diff etc.
Generally as you progress and want more from the car it tends to become worse on the road. I used to drive my beemer on the road with ebay coilovers, poly bushes, welded diff and drifty alignment settings and I didn't like it at all, but each to their own.
The draw back to non road legal drifters is you can't go out and have a cheeky play, however if you're trailering to the track you can have more fun as you're not going to get left high and dry when it all goes tits up.

My preference is a dedicated skidder and cheap daily hack. It's nice when you're not too bothered about the exterior of the car. In my experience you only tend to crashes when you're pushing to the limits of your ability. Other components will probably break though you can limit this with preventative maintenance.
 
Depends on your budget mate. Being at the same situation before, I am using the s14a as daily but its nissan so expect lots of time off the road after every event, compare to beemer I used to own. I feel a cheap drift daily beemer is the way to go. Not relying on big power torque, reliable german machine, get used to it as driving more often. Once you have more experience in drifting skills and knowledge, you can use the s14a as a daily drifter because by then the chance to smash it will be less.
 
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If you buy a second car, you'll end up spending money on it and not doing anything with the other car..

I like £200 shitters.. Like e36's.. Buy it, weld diff, smash it on the floor, drift it till its dead, then scrap it for most your money back. Key is not to spend any money on it.

Trailer will cost loads to buy/maintain/store, plus cost of licence if you don't have one already. That's money you could plunge into a shitter and rest into decent car..
 
Driftland is nowhere near Falkirk.
Why not do a day in the 200 see if you like it enough to permit buying a drift car or turning the datsun into one.
 
Tbh I've had daily drifters for, I dunno, ever. Never had a problem.

The key is don't build some hunk of shit that barely lasts a drift day, never mind can function as a reliable daily.

I'd do a day in the SX and then decide, for all you know you won't get in to it and never bother again.
 
As I'm a beginner I'm in the similar situation, But having a dedicated drifter works out better for me... I have a trailer albeit only small so can only fit something of mx5 size on it, my daily car is my supra which easily drifts but I've spent too much money on it to start collecting dents, scratches and losing bumpers.
I want something that doesn't matter if it gets battered about so I can push myself which is what stops me in the supra.

Go down the route that suits your circumstances the best.
 
Andy318ti oops lol Fife. I knew it started with a 'F' haha.

I think ill take the advice of going in my 200 for a days drifting and see how i get on. I had thought of a cheap e36, even started checking them out on gumtree, i have a cat c and trailer licence and my mate has a l200 and trailer so was sorted for transport.. then realised i had my 200 sitting outside and thought 'why not just use that'. The only thing that worried me was as DtheBUK said, i need it to get to and from work. The bodywork is showing signs of wear and tear anyway so banging it up doesnt bother me much.

Ill give it a shot in the 200 and take it from there, like u say i may think i want to get into drifting then shy away.

Anyone heading up to driftland in the next few months i could tag along with?
 
one of the best things of using a drift car daily is (assuming your motivated) that you can sort out problems and make it reliable.

it never ceases to amaze me even at competition level the amount of people who build a drift car in a garage, trailer it to a track and bits fall off/break on the first corner. Even so called big teams.

If you daily your shit, you can make lots of adjustments and get some confidence in it working. So id recommend that unless your rich
 
Yeah mate i totally agree with that. Owning an s-body means u gotta learn how to do the majority of work urself unless you want big bills for simple things like replacing turbo gaskets. I love working on the car and sorting problems on it but living in scotland the weather is terrible lol, i was out out removing my manifold and turbo in november there, it wasnt fun haha.

But i suppose keeping it tip top as a daily and fitting good quality preventative maintenance parts would make it a lot more reliable and let me test new parts iv put on.. As opposed to fitting parts, not testing it then as you say my flux capacitor falls off leaving my mass effect generator exposed!

Right now im a total beginner, i dont need a big fancy fast car, just something that'll get then job done, id rather spend money on rubber and track time than a set of coilovers that only an experienced drifter would get the full benefit of... its about bang for buck and cost effectiveness at the moment.

Has anyone driven a car on the road with a welded diff? How was it to drive? And for an event would an sr20 owner recommend upgrading the OEM rocker arm stoppers? Iv seen guys saying they're a weak point? Or will that matter if im just using it once or twice? And cooling, how does the standard rad running around 260-280bhp hold up on a drift day? Oil cooler needed? SO MANY QUESTIONS haha.. I really appreciate the response guys, means im not going in blind and can make the most of my first drift day.
 
You don't nee. all that stuff mate. You have a powerful rwd car with limited slip diff. Its good for drifty fun for ages. If you read too much you will decide you need so much stuff you will never actually get to a drift day.

All you need is:

AA cover.
Check oil and water.
Spare tyres in back seat. Might as well get a new pair of the ones you use in the road.
2p piece and insulation tape to jam handbrake button in.
Full tank of Fuel.
Little trolley jack and wheel brace (don't forget locking wheel nut key)
Crash helmet.

Go driftland.

Once you do a few events you will know what you want, welded diff is good but if you drive with standard limited slip first you will know why you want a welded diff, then you will understand how to use it. Everyone is very friendly at drift days and you can chat to people at the same stage as you or with the same car
 
literaly thousands on here have had welded diffs on dailys.

i have for the last ten years and they are absolutely 1000 percent fine and un noticeable after a couple of weeks. do NOT let anyone else tell you otherwise, theyre talking bollocks if they do.

i would strongly advise welding diff as a stock 14 diff is bound to be worn to buggery by now and not exactly amazing anyway. its much safer to run a welder as they are constantly locked so you can predict the behaviour a lot better than an lsd that sometimes locks up and sometimes doesnt.

only things i ever say anyone needs for an sbody:
coilovers,
welded diff
bucket seat to keep you in place.

thats all you need. anything else is a bonus. yep stock power and stock rad are fine, it wouldnt hurt to get an uprated rad and oil cooler but you dont need to if your just doing the odd day and on a budget. it wont kill your car. infact stock rads are normaly better as you have the fan cowling

people often buy expensive ally rads, bin the fan cowling and run pissy little electric fans which are far worse.
 
To start out drifting i would stick with the open diff. Tighten your handbrake and try not to burn out your clutch or crash, no need for big budgets or welded diff's when your learning, and by the time your able to connect corners you could've saved a enough for a cheap locker etc , open diff just means faster drifting
 
Depends what you do for work, but i have my mx5 as a daily drifter, and a yammy 125 (bike) as a back up for when i break the car.. costs peanuts to run (talking 17 quid tax, fuck all insurance and 200 miles ish on 10er petrol)
 
Jiimmii said:
To start out drifting i would stick with the open diff. Tighten your handbrake and try not to burn out your clutch or crash, no need for big budgets or welded diff's when your learning, and by the time your able to connect corners you could've saved a enough for a cheap locker etc , open diff just means faster drifting
Click to expand...

Ignore this
 
Why ignore mate? Good mate of mine told me this back when I had a r31, a locker takes more skill and control where any half wit can slide an open, that's how we start out in aus anyways! Got a mate with an s13 drifter/ daily just has an open, know heaps of beginners all running opens. Don't see why this should be ignored!
 
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