Adrifting in Carolina

The entry speeds at this event were 50mph or less of which most speeds were 30ish. The previous event offered a much larger course layout so the top speed seen on the course was the very first section before initiating their first slide.

Tires can run all over the place depending on what the driver is able to score at the used tire source. Many of these guys pick up used tires from just about anywhere because it’s still very new on the East Coast and so sponsorship is a bit more difficult to find.

Suspensions are similar in that you want as much adjustability as you can get, spring rates and sway bar dimensions are upgraded to prevent body roll and consistency in body behavior. Obviously you want to encourage oversteer so camber in the rear is closer to zero then you’d see for someone who wants to adhere to the pavement.

The course layout would be closer to road course than autocross as you will not see Chicago boxes, slaloms, or other tight obstacles. Road courses have hair pin turns and sweepers which is why you will see some drift events held at VIR, Road Atlanta and the like where portions of the venue can be sectioned off.

Autocross and road courses really are not spectator motorsports like drifting is. Drift tends to be packed in to a smaller area where spectators can see the entire course, taste the burning rubber and smell the exhaust as the cars go by. The crowd eats up the controlled loss of traction and constant popping off of blow off valves and revving engines to the point of rev-limiting.

While Drift is not a timed motorsport nor a point-a to point-b before the next guy type of event it still requires a tremendous amount of skill. The transitioning of a car from oversteer in one direction to oversteer in the next requires a lot of skill in car control to prevent completely spinning around.

The idea is pretty simple that the front wheels are taking the car down the course all be it while the rest of the car is sideways. In the event that a car “straightens out” and actually gains a good bit of momentum the driver ceases to gain points needed to win the event. In addition to not straightening the car out, the driver must also pay attention to apexes and outer limits of the designated course. “Sticking a line” occurs when the car stays as close to a preferred line as possible without spinning, straightening or clipping cones marking the course.

While loss of control is pretty easy to do in most any car, control of a loss of friction is not which is why so many safety features such as stability, traction, and yaw control have all started showing up on cars as standard safety equipment.

Much like taking to an autocross and developing “car control” these drivers are developing “car control” by running a course but also learning how to handle a car when the car is sideways. Just think of how many fewer accidents there would be if we all just learned how to control a car going sideways.
Doug