Drifting 101: A definitive video, picture, and text guide.
Before we begin, I would like to point you towards another great guide on the racing line.
http://www.oneshift.com/articles/article.php?artid=28&pageid=1&view=1
I would strongly recommend taking a second to look at that guide before we begin as the information on the racing line goes had and had with drifting.
Introduction
More and more People are drifting in Project Torque. With the newly added drifting timer, and the possibility of a drift mode coming out I thought it fitting to have some information on the subject on the forums. Drifting is not only a cool looking way to go around a corner, but it is a valuable tool in racing. Using drifting correctly in races can give you an edge and allow you to get around faster than your opponents. I spent some time trolling around the internet finding some simple videos, pictures, and text for beginners to intermediate drifting. It was fun, and I learned a fair bit, I hope you do as well.
The all-important acronyms
- RWD- Rear Wheel Drive
- FWD- Front Wheel Drive
- AWD- All Wheel Drive
- 4WD- Four Wheel Drive
- FR- Front Engine, Rear Wheel Drive
- FF- Front Engine, Front Wheel Drive
- MR- Mid Engine*, Rear Wheel Drive
- RR- Rear Engine**, Rear Wheel Drive
- LSD- Limited Slip Differential
- VLSD- Viscous Limited Slip Differential
- VCD- Variable Central Differential
- ABS- Anti Lock Braking System
- AYC- Active Yaw Control
- TCS- Traction Control System
- ASM- Anti Spin Mechanism
- RPM- Revolutions Per Minute
- PSI- Pounds Per Square Inch
- BHP- Brake Horsepower
- RWHP- Rear Wheel Horsepower
- HUD- Heads Up Display
- BOV- Blow Off Valve
*Mid being in front of the rear axle
** Rear being behind the rear axle
The basic drifting techniques
“Braking drifting”
To perform this, trail brake into a corner. As you do this, you will lose grip. When that happens, balance the car by steering and using throttle motions. This is normally used on medium to low speed corners.”Clutch Kick”
To do this depress the clutch pedal while approaching or during a mild drift. Then pop the clutch to give a sudden jolt. When you do this, the jolt makes the driveline disturbed and the rear loses traction.”Dirt Drop Drift” (If you have seen Initial D they refer to it as the “Gutter Technique.”)
This is performed by “dropping” the rear tires off the side of the road and into the dirt to keep or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Note that this technique is very useful for low horsepower cars. (Just like the “86.”)”E-Brake Drift”
This is a very basic technique. Just pull the hand break (a.k.a. the E-Brake) to make the back of your car lose traction and balance the drift by steering and quick throttle motions. This can also be very useful when you need to correct errors or fine tune you angle of drift.”Faint Drift”
To do this, rock the car towards the outside of the turn and then, using the rebound of grip, throw the car into the regular cornering direction. Quick note: This is a rally racing technique that is used to change your car’s approach during cornering, normally used on tight corners.”FF Drift” (Front wheel drive drift i.e. ***dragging)
The E-brake, steering, and braking techniques must be used to balance your car through the corner. The E-brake however is the main method used to balance out your drift.”Jump Drift”
In this technique bounce the rear tire on the apex (this means the inside) of the turn over the curb to lose traction resulting in over steer.”Kansei Drift”
You have to be pretty fast for this. When entering a high speed corner lift your foot off the throttle. This induces a mild over steer. Then balance the drift by steering and throttle motions. To do this however, your car should be a neutral balanced car. Therefore the over steer will induce itself. If the car plows through the turn this technique won’t work.”Long Slide Drift”
Yet another use for the E-brake. Pull the E-break through a strait to start a high angel drift and hold it so you set up for the turn ahead. Now remember, this can obviously only be done at high speed. Otherwise you won’t slide too far.
Rules to a Project Torque drift room
There aren’t any actual set rules for a drift room in Project Torque, but there are a set of rules that most drifters follow.
- Don’t bump, hit, smash etc. other drivers. (use common sense, slow down when others do and avoid bad situations.
- If you spin out reset asap to keep others from crashing into you.
- Generally drift rooms have a “leader” the leader goes around the track and the rest of the players try to keep up, not pass.
- The leader usually stops about twice a lap to let the slower racers catch up.
- Generally passing is a no-no, but there are acceptations.
- All in all it’s about having fun and driving, so don’t think of it as a race. Think of drifting as a break from the competition.
Drifting “how-to” videos.
Absolute basics with Keiichi Tsuchiya. This is a very informative for basic e-brake info, and is shown using a ae86. (ps. We could use a track like Drift-Land in PT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBWRO0TlCn4
Part one and two of a two part beginner drift lesson from drift king Keiichi Tsuchiya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bVvtx7CfkE
(#1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGqeQAfMgEk&feature=related
(#2)Some FF how-to footage from Tiff Needle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgXI1RlseE&feature=relatedNot quite drifting, but has some good info about under/over steer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGSnLGgeai8&feature=related
These ones are a little bit harder because I don’t have a clue what he is saying.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy7zANjiJJw&feature=user
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYpGbrYPSwk&feature=user
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWLdvBg0MP8&feature=user
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pqXqz1Ox80&feature=user
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Ack_i4dOw&feature=user
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6gzwWv9UrI&feature=related
Drifting “how-to” text.
Wonderful how-to and why for brake-drifting
http://www.drifting.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6480AWD drifting information (good for the soon to be wrx and evo).
http://www.drifting.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6479
Drifting “how-to” images.
Drifting and general racing how-to images.
http://www.drivingfast.net/techniques.htmDrifting car-technique chart
For R/C drifting, but same technique applies.
Conclusion
That brings this long, but hopefully somewhat helpful guide to a close. It looks to me like Project Torque will garner a fairly passionate following given its good graphics and not-so-bad physics, and the shifting of the focus away from solely street racing. Obviously as new things are discovered for the game, and as more cars come out I’ll update the guide as much as possible to keep on top of these trends. Let me know if you have any suggestions or additions to this guide.
Until next time, take care!
Other guides that may interest you. Rundown on resolution
http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=48218
Tweakguide
http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=48318
How to make a video
http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?p=344587
Article by deadlyquasar
GameSage: Project Torque
