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Drifting??!! What do you want to know?

31K views 72 replies 33 participants last post by  Luke Skyline 
#1 ·
Hey up people,

Since taking on the 'Drift moderator' role, I've been very busy building my 2008 car and i've not had much time to be on here. So my sincere apologies.

If you have ANY questions in regards to car set-up, how to get into drifting, where to learn, how to get into competitions (BDC etc), what car to buy etc, Please post them up on this thread :)

I'll answer (or get the answer) to your Q you as soon as possible.


Thanks all :boogy:

Rich
 
#2 ·
Rich,

I'm really interested in having a go at drifting. My Mrs was transfixed by the drifting at Santa Pod last Sunday and she is well up for a little blast too. If we enjoy it, I would be looking to buy a car and start up. Where can we go to try it out/learn how etc..?
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
Sorry, didn't make myself entirely clear. I would really like to have a go but not in our car! Ours is a tiptronic so not ideal for drifting. You can go to Thruxton etc.. and blast around in a ferrari for a day. Is there somewhere we can go to drift. They do something at Silverstone but it looks a bit pants. I don't want to go to the expense of getting a car and setting it up etc... and then finding out i'm rubbish. I'm also reluctant to drift another member's car (Big Chief kindly offered) just incase I stack it. Would rather pay a decent sum of cash for an organised event type of thing......
 
#9 ·
Hello, I am just wondering what would be the best tyre setup, I have an R32 with enough power but i recently had an accident with it so anyway the chassis now included driftworks front lower arms, tein tie rods and ends, and pillowball tension rods and tien superstreet coilovers, my tyres at the moment are federal in the front and hard as hell kendas in the back which are good for donuts but i am just wondering what would be my best setup?
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'm sure Chunk will help out with better or more in depth expanations but thought I'd answer here as I've spent the last 6mths learning the hard way what to do and what not to do with adjustable suspension stuff!

Any old tyres will do on the rear to learn with mate, they only last a couple of hours to a morning so whatever you can get for free. The adjustable arms you have are so you can set your suspension up properly when its lowered on the coilovers, and to how you like it. You'll need to take it to a specialist to get it set up properly. Obviously you wont know the different settings to start with but some I was given to start with are

0 toe front and rear
0.5 - 1 degree neg camber on the rear
1.5 - 2.5 neg camber front
5-7 degree of caster


Adjustables give you lots of flexibility but can also give you nightmares if you don't set them up right. Remember to loc-tight them, and also overall the less adjustables you can get the correct setup with then the better!


The Tein tierods effect the tracking and amount of steering lock - They probably have spacers on them that go into the steering rack so you have more lock. An alignement place uses the tie rods to adjust the tracking (also known as toe-in, toe-out, ie if the wheels point in towards each other or apart from each other), the rear tension rods do the same thing at the back.


The DW front lower arms are so you can get your camber right when lowered, this is done in tandem with adjustable top mounts on the front coilovers. The adjustable lower arms can also be used to make your track wider; the distance between the wheels.

The rears tend to get too much negative camber when lowered right down and this is adjusted with upper camber arms.

The adjustable tension rods (I presume they are adjustable) change the caster which effects how quickly the wheel returns to center. When the car is sliding sideways in a certain direction, if you let go of the steering wheel it will center itself and the car will straighten up in the direction you were sliding.

For learning you should set your coilovers fairly hard on the rear and softer on the front. I can't really comment on skyline particulars here because my car only has coilovers on the front at the moment but if you have it too hard at the front it tends to make it understeer due to lack of grip up front when there's no give.
Hope its helpful, there are a million different factors and this is just my very basic knowledge, also every bit effects every other bit!
 
#12 ·
Tbh mate you should avoid getting getting carried away with mods to start with. For the price of a couple of suspension arms you can pick up a tramper Beemer or something to learn in which will teach you a lot better than a skyline would. The great thing about drifting is that its a lot cheaper to get into than most motorsports. Once you get a bit more experienced you start to learn what bits you need suspension wise. Drifting trashes cars big time when you are learning, I bought a Bimmer for £300 which was a brilliant learner car (low power means you have to learn to use the techniques to drift instead of just man-footing it). I wrapped it around a lamppost after about 3mths and bought the S13 which was amazing after being in the Bimmer. after another 6mths that was a bit worse for wear and I've now got the skyline.
 
#13 ·
In answer to your question, you only need these bits if you can't get the setup you require on the car, eg if you've lowered it and can't get the correct camber,etc. I've got them on mine because I snapped all the arms on the s13 and needed to get back up and running quickly for a comp at Lydd a few days later. I couldn't find second hand ones on time so figured I might as well get all the shiny bits because they'd get to me the next day and I could get rid of the too much negative camber I had on the rear. As it turned out I didnt' do a very good job of fitting them and had loads of problems with things coming loose and putting the alignement out (£100 a session for four-wheel alignement :( ). If I'd stuck to normal arms all I would have had to do would be the toe/tracking which is only around £35 and not had such a mission with the adjustables. Hopefully now I've learn't my lessons I can do them properly on the skyline!
 
#14 ·
Ok royal, what you say is very helpful I will take in to account everything you say. That is the exact same reason i got my lower arms, i found it too difficult to get secondhand ones. I also notice how hard drifting is on the cars but this isnt my everyday car, a e46 325 is and i sure as hell wont be drifting that, not much anyway. But do you think it will be harder for me to learn in the skyline or is it just that I have so much power that it makes it easy but will mean i will not ever properly learn the techniques?
 
#15 ·
The only thing either cars needs to drift really is a 2way or welded diff. Get yourself to a DWYB day and it'll all become clear :) You can drift the skyline without fear of smashing it and then can decide how commited you are and what's best to do. My first DWYB was in my Rx7 which I insisted on drifting despite peoples advice (too much money tied up in it) the decision was made for me when the engine blew a month or so later at a track day so I bought a cheapo Bimmer and had more fun than any other car I've had. It wont be harder to learn in the skyline, its just that you'll learn things in an underpowered car that you will never learn in a powerful car. Pretty much any drifter will agree with this. Chunk had a Volvo that he learnt in I believe? Its super cheap and you can thrash hell out of it and have fun.
 
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#17 ·
So i take it the only reason you are on here is to sell your car since you are posting on for sale threads saying 'nice car' and in the supercharger thread saying 'turbo all the way' and have not even bothered to introduce yourself?

:banhim:
 
#27 ·
Its worth checking the bushes mate, there's been some talk about fitting locking collars over very worn bushes. This is second hand as I havn't done it but some of the guys were saying that the locking collars fit over the old bushes and squash them down solid but if they are knackered and weeping goo then the locking collars will make it worse by squashing them together and pushing more of the insides out. If thats the case it might be better to fit new powerflex bushes or similar?
 
#29 ·
If you fit poly bushes i think its a case of jack the car up. Undo the nut to the bush on one side. Fit the new bush. repeat for the other side. Never done it before though.

Also be careful not to snap or shear the stud because they are apparently a pain to change.

Im sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if im wrong though :cheers:
 
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