[QUOTE]Originally posted by elanderholm
[B]let's not post drifting videos...drifting is really not a good way to do anything fast around a track or on the street.

 

Too much GT3...

While it's sometimes advantageous to pivot the car by lifting, weighting the front tires, and then allowing the car to rotate (Omega at Willow, sweeper at BUttonwillow, etc.), it's far from a four wheel drift.

 

ok i guess i didn't make the distinction between throttle-controlled oversteer/understeer and drifting.

driving sideways *is* fun, though. and racing isn't always about making it around the track the fastest, even for purists. why else would lotuses, miatas, alfas, and all the other light, tossable, but anemic cars be so popular and considered more "proper" than say a Viper GTS that can routinely stomp them?

 

I understand the distinction but your initial comment ("in more powerful cars, sometimes it's necessary to use the drift to get yourself pointed in the right direction for a fast corner exit.") seemed to describe the ricer/racer fusion known as "drifting" with pivoting a car.

Light, tossable cars are popular because in their respective classes, there is an even playing field, IMO. Heavier, higher HP cars can certainly be tossed. It's just a little more exciting, in a dangerous kind of way.

 

oh, i'm not familiar with whatever that ricer/racer fusion "drifting" is... how is it different from four wheel drift? or is it?

what i meant about the light cars is that you can often go faster in an absolute sense with the brute force of a heavier, more powerful car, but many people are happy to compete in a slower class because they have more fun with more safely tossable cars.

 

Slower Class doesn't necessarily mean a slower car. Yes, the Miatas (for example) have slower straightaway speeds than the Corvettes which, of course directly translates into faster lap times(another example), but most of the heavy nosed cars are horrendous to drive through the twisties (this is why we call the American cars "point and squirts"), but (for the most-part) cannot stop as quickly or carry near the cornering speed.

The tighter the course the more the smaller/lighter cars will shine. I love tight courses; it is fun to embarrass the loud F-body GM cars, and the Mustangs.

Another example of this being, at our local roadcourse (Hallet Motor Racing Circuit- A quick plug for Mike) on Driver's School days (cheap open track time days) flogging the Camaros and Pre-C5 Vettes on the tighter portions of the track is fun. Sure, they run away from me on the straights, but I sure love to push them slightly harder than they want to go through the tight portions. There's nothing more fun than forcing an American sled to drop one or two wheels in the grass because they're too embarrassed to be passed by a "little jap car".

Cheers,
Brian.

 

"driving sideways *is* fun, though. and racing isn't always about making it around the track the fastest, even for purists. why else would lotuses, miatas, alfas, and all the other light, tossable, but anemic cars be so popular and considered more "proper" than say a Viper GTS that can routinely stomp them?" --dsp

Minus the lotuses...I think that the miatas and alfas are a bit more popular because of that price tag on the GTS!

 

one ugly car.