Total newbie here. I have questions of course

[Bmsluite111]

Hey guys, new guy here. I built up what is essentially an autoX car but recently have started "drifting". Quotation marks because I suuuucccckkkk.

My ride: 04 BMW 330I ZHP
Adjustable rebound suspension with springs 20% than stock
LSD diff with 3.38 gearing
Upgraded bushings all around
Eibach sway fr/r
Race oil in everything
Exhaust
Maintenance is perfect and almost anything that can fail has been replaced

Theres a huge empty parking lot near my work that I have been trying to drift in. Nobody seems to care that I go fool around in there everyday at 5:45.

I am bad at it. I can finally get a doughnut but I am kind of all over the place.

There aren't a ton of videos on YouTube to help me out. They just say "rev up while moving, turn wheel hard, drop clutch, try to catch wheel and maintain drift. It will all just" click" eventually". Which it sort of has "clicked". I have found I need to chuck the wheel hard in the opposite direction as soon as the wheel come around. For better steering feel I have changed my front end geometry with special bushings for added castor. Is this normal?

I am having a hard time figuring out wheel to catch the wheel. Any tips?

Also, I have been setting the rear dampers to one click from all the way stick and the front Koni's to like a little over medium. Is this right?

Oh yeah and I normally run 255 summer tires out back on lightweight wheels but have them swapped at the moment with some 225's on crummy OEM wheels and I have them at 45 PSI. Is this good enough?

I do know helical diff is not 100% suited to drifting but I just want to be ok at it. Not a drift king.

It would be very helpful if anybody had any helpfull tips, videos, online literature they could send my way.

I apologize for the length of this and that I am probably asking super basic questions. My normal motorsports mostly deal with minimizing oversteer for faster lap times. I just want to make oversteer my friend like you guys have done. Thanks!

 

[miffy]

best thing you can do is go to a beginners drift day and take advise from people there

 

[BenRice]

You've done more than most would as far as testing, modifications and investigation. So completely understand why you're reaching out for help now

Yes going along to a beginner day would be helpful, but as an instructor i can give you a couple of pointers to start with:

1. Have a point of reference. Grab something, preferably an old cone, and plonk that in the middle when you do doughnuts. It gives you somewhere to aim
2. The car will go where you're looking. In speed racing you're taught to raise your focus point away from what's in front of you to further up the track. The same basics apply, but in a different way. When doughnuts, focus on the cone. When you're wanting a wider arc, shift your focus to a point further away from the cone, but in the same direction you're moving
3. It's wheel speed vs road speed, and grip vs power. Too much wheel speed and you'll spin, too little and you'll grip up. You need to balance this with keeping the engine in the power band to over come the grip too. The easiest thing out of grip or power to change is grip, and that's through tyre pressure. Start at 55psi and drop it from there until you don't spin constantly and start getting a bit of feedback through your butt.

If you can take someone along to video inside and out that'd help too