Andrew Latreille December 15, 2010 Block 2 English 12
Why Go Straight? When You Can Go Sideways. Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed (Wikipedia Drifting 1) Drifting has been around for over thirty years and is one of the most popular forms of motor sport racing in the world. Drifting has changed the motor sport world, the way companies make new cars and parts, and created a new form of R/C car toys. Drifting began in Japan around the 1970’s. Kunimitsu Takahashi was one of the first “drifters,” he is also referred as “The Father of Drift.” Since him there have been hundreds of “drifters” throughout the world. From Japan to The United States to Africa to Europe. Drifting is becoming the most popular form of racing. Before drifting car races where either in straight lines, drag races, or in ovals, circuit races. I personally think both are boring and involve little to no skill. But with drifting more skill is required as you fly through the turns at high speeds. One wrong move can send your car spinning out of control or even flipping out of control. Drifting competitions are judged based on line, angle, speed, and show factor (Wikipedia Drifting 1) So skill is required if you want to win.
How is Drifting Done? Drifting can be initiated in two ways depending on whether you have a front or rear wheel drive car. The first method is to depress the clutch and gear down into second gear when approaching a corner or bend in the road and rev your engine to about 4000-5000 RPM. As you are coming up, slightly turn your steering wheel so the car is going away from the corner and then cut back towards it while at the same time releasing the clutch causing the rear wheels to spin. Basically you are doing a burnout. At this point you should feel a loss of traction in your tires giving your car a hydroplane effect as you begin sliding around the curve. Don't let the drift go because this will give you momentum to take on the next corner. Keep your foot on the accelerator as you control your car keeping it from spinning out as you approach the next turn. Now cut your steering wheel in the direction of the turn and your car will powerslide right through it. If you came out of your first drift too slow, just pop the clutch again to get your wheel's spinning. (Auto Sportz 1)
Most drift cars are rear wheel drive cars or front wheel drive cars that have been converted to rear wheel cars. Also most cars are Japanese tuner cars but a few American Muscle cars are raced in the events. The last big championship was won by Vaughn Gittin Jr. who drives a 2011 Ford Mustang. Many companies are now producing new cars and parts that are better suited for drifting. They do this because if a car is used in a drift event, or any racing event, and wins the company that makes the car get more notice and people go out and buy cars and parts made by the
companies. But it isn’t just main companies like Nissan or Ford. Tire companies, exhaust companies, and pretty much every aftermarket parts company makes specialty parts made for drifting, either for better performance or for better safety. If a company sponsors a racer and the racer wins the company makes a lot of money from the win. The driver also makes money for winning. So the company strives to make a better part than the competitors. That helps normal drivers as well. When a company comes out with new parts the older parts become cheaper and everyday people that want a boost in performance can buy the parts. This is more so for tires than other car parts.
Now everyone loves toys right? Well drifting has inspired a new type of toy, radio control cars or R/C cars. Well not them as a whole, a new type of R/C cars, ones made just for drifting! The little cars have different more enhanced parts then normal R/C cars. There are even competitions for the R/C cars just like for the real cars. “Informal or formal practice events and competitions are held worldwide. When one judging R/C drifting competitions, R/C drifting typically follows the guidelines and judging criteria set by
professional drifting organizations like the D1 Grand Prix.� (Wikipedia Radio-controlled drifting 1) These events like the normal drifting event are held all over the world. Sometimes the events are held together and the R/C races are held in between the real drift races. The R/C cars are very popular with kids because they are more fun than normal R/C cars. They are more fun because they slide around rather than going in straight lines. They may be a little more expensive than other R/C cars but they are still fun and are well worth the money. I love drifting and it a fun pass time or career for some people. It is hard to learn and is dangerous. But if you learn and get good you can make some money from it. Drifting has changed different things in our world. The motor sport world, car and parts companies, and even remote controlled cars. So I ask why go straight? When you can go sideways.
Works Cited Page
"Drifting (motorsport)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport)>. "Radio-controlled Drifting." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-controlled_drifting>. "Sports Compact Article: Techniques For Drifting Your Car." Auto Sportz. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.autosportz.com/article_what_is_drifting.htm>.