How hard is drifting on a car??

TwinturboCH

TwinturboCH

Active Member
I've done a fair bit of drifting (mainly on 'private' roads and 'private' carparks plus a few drift practice days here and there) in the past three years since I've had my S14. I was just wondering what sort of things take a beating when drifting because I've seen a couple of instances of mechanical failures now and it's starting to worry me. About two years ago I saw a guy drifting his S12 Silvia and his front right lower ball joint broke :eek: (bad results) and I've seen something similar happen to an evo VI :eek: (crashed). It's just that I'm trying to decide whether to 'sort' my road car or just build a drifter from scratch. I'd rather use the road car :nod: but I worry about stuff breaking on the road where there is no margin for error :( What experience of this sort of thing do you guys have so I know what to watch for/upgrade or whether to just get a new one.
Cheers guys
James :thumbs:
:D
 
Well in my experiences so far it's just wear and tear, if you know your car and can be confident with it then there should be no problem. But it's as with any form of motorsport/track driving/etc that if there is a failure then it's going to be worse than if you were pootling down the road at 30mph.

So far, on my old car, thanks to track use and old age I've killed the rear diff mount, worn the rear subframe bushings & front control arm bushings, totally killed the shocks especially on the front. Last night with a mate we almost got the car to hit the ground, just from pushing up and down and getting a bit (lot) of bounce going... :eek: My welded diff is making some noise, my radiator is leaking when cold, but in all honesty it's nothing that wouldn't have happened anyway, I've just accelerated it by driving it hard.

If there's safety related stuff that's sketchy on your car, then get it fixed, but there's no reason drifting in itself should break things on your car. Bear in mind that my list of failures on the suspension are mostly related to shitty rubber bushes that weren't designed for this kind of use, and 17 year old shocks, springs, radiator, etc.
 
Most of my sideways abilities have been crafted on wet roads with absolutely minimal worries to the car's wear and tear. Only things needed for such conditions really is clean LSD oil and perhaps an oil cooler for the higher revs.

Recently, I have found myself drifting in the dry more and at drift-days and comps and even though I'm pretty smooth and quite easy on the car, I've managed to kill 2 rear axles. A notoriously weak area on AE86's, but the dry seems to overload drive-pinion bearings which, to be fair, were probably on their way out anyway.

Other than that, look at replacing clutches more often, changing oil & filter, LSD oil after every serious session. Driveline will take more of a hammering. Make sure the shell is sound and the suspension and bushings are fresh. Seat mounts may fatigue if you're a fat bastard like me and steering pinion bearings don't appreciate harsh rendezvous with the lock-stops.

Or just go the more economical drift-shitter route and keep going till it breaks, then break it for parts and get another one...
 
My s14 has so far only worn the rear subframe bushes. I give the poor thing death at every opportunity, regularly hitting as many limiters on the car as I can find (lock stops, bump stops, rev limiter, injector duty, oil temp, diff oil temp Etc.) and it still gets me to work every day!

I do keep it very well maintained mechanically, with a full fluids service etc. after every drift day, full weekly checkover etc. But I am in a position to do this whenever I feel the need, and at very friendly rates (thanks boss :thumbs: I love Norris Designs!!)

Basically, if you keep an eye on whats happening with it, you can sort any problems before they develop.

I have, however, decided that a dedicated drift sh*tter is the way forward, and have just got my hands on an s13 facelift for £200!!
 
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wise words will,my bushes and rack are broke from drifting(360),steering rack makes a weird sound when on the lock stops,probaly new rack is needed or needs re -aligning,
 
Some good info there :) If you're really giving it some for prolonged periods then overheating can be a big problem and can get very expensive if ignored.....
 
James said:
Some good info there :) If you're really giving it some for prolonged periods then overheating can be a big problem and can get very expensive if ignored.....
Click to expand...

or not noticed ;) :D
 
I'm having issues with the MR2 over heating at the moment.

I took it to a garage and they sorted the front fan and wiring out (but messed up most of the rest of the wiring) but it will overheat if I spank it.
I have to run with the heaters on most of the time too.

I have this horrible feeling that the head gasket might be in trouble :(

I fully intend to fit an oil catch tank to help, and then get some oil and water temp guages too. But I'll have to see what I can afford.

Perhaps mid-engined car's aren't ideal drift car's after all............. but it wont stop me trying ;)
 
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