Drift technique

[SuperSmitt]

I know many people look down on drifting, but I have been looking for a simulation racing game that has realistic physics to allow for drifting. I just downloaded the demo to this game, but I still can't figure out how to initial the drift. How is this done? Do you need a specially tuned car? Keep in mind I am a noob. Thanks.

[96 GTS]

I'm not an expert drifter, so I don't know how good my advice is. I start drifts with a small scandanavian flick, if I'm coming into a lefthander, I steer right, then quickly steer back left again while lifting off the throttle, then I immediately floor it. The default setups work fine for drifting, too. That's about all I can give you, if you want more, ask a real drifter. VTCommodore springs to mind.
Have fun and enjoy LFS :D

[GTR Racer]

I know many people look down on drifting, but I have been looking for a simulation racing game that has realistic physics to allow for drifting. I just downloaded the demo to this game, but I still can't figure out how to initial the drift. How is this done? Do you need a specially tuned car? Keep in mind I am a noob. Thanks.practice on the car park set brakes so they are more set to the rear of car (30% should do)when entering a corner faint into it brake then u shuold start to slide then the car will hold the drift itself with u only havin to correct it at end of corner .

that should make it clearer :thumb: check out some of my drifting when i make my drift vid l8r if you wonna play on onlinme send me pm

[Lionclaw23]

The only thing I can suggest for sure is: Practice
There are many ways to start a drift that come in my mind (like using e-brake, using weight shift (ie. first go the wrong direction of the turn and then suddenly switch to the way you want to go), setting the brakes more to the rear of the car, using the dirt to lose the grip of the rear wheels, shifting down, just letting the acceleration go and turn in, etc.)
But everything just listed is a matter of practice and trying stuff out.
It as well can be of help just to spectate other players that are doing alright.
So, just keep on trying and don't be disappointed if you're not able to achieve a good way of starting a drift very soon :)

[Lola Popeye]

may god have mercy on his soul when the anti-drifting association members find this, so i'd suggest you have a look at this site www.lfs-torque.net

[XCNuse]

forget the ADA.. people are unique, posting against drifting like there was in RSC was just dumb.. it was such segregation it made anyone that talked against either racers ( "grippers" ) or drifters sound retarded or something and how its 'dumb' or 'bad' or 'not really a sport' i highly doubt we will have a problem here, but if we do its kinda dumb.. thats like .. fascism in a since.. if hes not like us.. kill him or .. whatever; obviously everyone is different.. and everyone is entitled to their own oppinions.. you can say that you dont like drifting.. and why.. but you cant say you cant drift and anything that would ruin the reputation of drifting much less that person

anyways back on topic.. i dont drift much; i did a good amount back in S1, but it began to bore me as S2 came and preferred racing and its thrill.. of course i drift every so often, im just not intrigued by it as much as many people are (nothing bad about it, im just not to interested in it all to much) but yes; practice practice practice.. and always pay attention to your tire temps and wearing of the tire and make/get a good setup and thats most certainly always helpful
and speaking of setups, if the differential is locked.. your tires will NOT last very long; vice versa, if its open .. although the inside wheels will lift and lose alot of traction and you will rev your engine, you wont eat up tires

sorry for the long post lol

[xapexcivicx]

forget the ADA..
Not to be confused with ADA-Apex Drift Association.

If you honestly wanan learn drifting...then go onto a drift server and watch everybody and compare all their techniques. Drifting isn't quite something you teach, since everybody has a different style.

But in reality the sequence would be

Turn towards apex,
Lift off throttle
countersteer
hit throttle
Slowly bring wheel back until car is facing forward.

[Vendetta]

Turn, counter steer, throttle. In a nutshell :)

[XCNuse]

.. thats why i always see ADA guys drifting on servers... lol about to say.. that always confuses me

[xapexcivicx]

Never thought about that, and it was never brought to my attention


But I think It's Anti Drift Faction
AD=F

not Anti drift association
lol


Oh and get your ass back on the track xcn. I miss you <3 :) hah

[5th Earth]

Actually I think many people aren't necessarily against drifting itself, but the attitudes many drifters display, and the inevitable association with the following:

1: People who parrot everything they see and hear in Initial D, but don't actually know anything about cars.
2: People who wish LFS was more like NFS:U
3: People who barge into a race server, cause a wreck, and then whine.

Not that all drifters necessarily fit into one or more of these categories--but the ones who do tend to be very vocal and over-defensive, and are very, very annoying. I'm all for intelligent, civil discussion like this thread is, though I don't really consider myself a drifter.

[SuperSmitt]

Thanks for the replies. I just think drifting is very interesting and the fact that a car can lose traction for as long as it does, while the driver is still in control is also quite intriguing. I don't get how the driver can have the wheel turned AGAINST the skid (i.e. if the car is skidding around a left hand turn, the driver turns the wheel to the right) without the car straightening itself out. In the LFS demo, I have tried to replicate this but am still having little success, even after reading the instructions people gave here.

Here is what I do if I want the car to drift left: I accelerate to second or third gear. Then I steer to the right, then sharply back to the left, sometimes adding E-brake, and finally back to the right where I hold the wheel. I always keep the throttle at full. The car skids facing to the left of the direction it is heading but after a few seconds it straightens back out. What am I doing wrong in not being able to hold the drift? I have tried using more/less throttle, using the brake and/or ebrake, or adjusting countersteer (I think that is what it's called). Like I said, I'm a noob :)

[Vendetta]

Try not to keep the wheel at FULL countersteer. Maybe you could use a setup. What car are you using?

[Gabkicks]

i reccomend buying the "drift bible" dvd. To get used to slide control, i'd reccomend doing some 180°/360 turns, using the skidpad and trying stay the same distance away from the center while still drifting, and of course practice on a track.

Feinting (scandinavian flick) is a pretty easy way to ge the tail out. once you get good you can make the feint barely noticable or extremely exagerated depending on how you feel. Also, biasing the breaks more towards the rear will make break drifting easier.

after u get decent at drifting you can begin tweaking a setup to your own tastes.:scratchch or if your already good at controling a car do it as you go.

[Tweaker]

And.... a lot of fast drivers have started out drifting in their early stages of LFS too. Learning to drift whether you are a beginner or amateur... it has its benefits. Learning to slide the car period and be in control is what makes a good drifter. Anyone that can control the car sliding for a long amount of time... especially in S2 (S2 is harder, S1 was way easier), you show you have some skill to driving well.

I used to do a fair bit of drifting for fun way back in S1... and I have to say it does help when I am in slides or doing rallycross. Last night I was lapping the LX6 with knobbly tires at FE Rallycross REV, and I drifted all the way from the first turn all the way to where you come onto the dirt and kept sliding into that left-hand dirt turn. I saved a replay of it... the skid marks are through the entire right-hand turn sections :).

Drifting is fun, stylish and a different kind of driving... I have no problem with drifters or doing it myself :).

Some setup tips:

Use ultra-low tire pressure (Using high tire pressure just makes the car very hard to understand while using power in a slide... plus it overheats the tires faster and you have less controllable grip when needed)
Make sure your brakes are at least 55% in the front to about 80% in the front. How your brakes are setup is your own preference really. If you are going wide in a turn, you'd want to have more rear wheel brake to step out the rear more and give more power to make it into the inside. But this can be tricky. If you are going in too deep to the corner, you want a lot more front brake to 'slide' the front wheels and give you more room for entering the corner... hard to explain this one.
Use full steering lock settings
Use high rear wheel toe IN (using toe OUT will make the rear step out more but also make it very hard to recover a slide... it will want to whip you around too much)
Use high front wheel toe OUT (using this will make it so when you are countersteering the outside wheel has a much higher angle to bring the car back where you point it
-Make sure you have gearing that doesn't rev too high or rev too low for some corners
Don't try drifting with the race cars that have slicks, it doesn't slide so 'freely'. Use the road cars, way more fun to drift in.
Don't use an open diff or a differential setting that 'winds up then regains traction'... have a diff that is locked at least 50-90% of the time.

[SuperSmitt]

Again, some great replies. Thanks for taking the time.

Currently, I am using either just my mouse/keyboard or my thrustmaster joystick. I am liking the mouse better, since it gives me a larger range of movement relative to wheel turn. I have a very, very old wheel but it is not USB and my computer doesn't have the required port to connect it. Is just using the mouse OK, or will it make drifting near impossible? Also, if I were to buy a brand new wheel, what do you all recommend in terms of quality and realism?

Yes, I was using the GTi car solo to try and drift. Is it really impossible with this car? I used the GT turbo in online mode, and could feel an immediate difference in how the car handled. The GT turbo was much easier to get into a skid, but I couldn't get out of it! I kept spinning out, which never ever happened in the GTi. Lastly, I don't think I can make any car tune ups in the demo version, but someone please correct me if I am wrong. I intend to purchase the S2 eventually, and when I do the tips given here will certainly help me with my drifting goals.

Edit: Also wanted to add yet another noob question: What is full steering lock? Is that a setting only for users of an actual wheel?

[GTR Racer]

Again, some great replies. Thanks for taking the time.

Currently, I am using either just my mouse/keyboard or my thrustmaster joystick. I am liking the mouse better, since it gives me a larger range of movement relative to wheel turn. I have a very, very old wheel but it is not USB and my computer doesn't have the required port to connect it. Is just using the mouse OK, or will it make drifting near impossible? Also, if I were to buy a brand new wheel, what do you all recommend in terms of quality and realism?

Yes, I was using the GTi car solo to try and drift. Is it really impossible with this car? I used the GT turbo in online mode, and could feel an immediate difference in how the car handled. The GT turbo was much easier to get into a skid, but I couldn't get out of it! I kept spinning out, which never ever happened in the GTi. Lastly, I don't think I can make any car tune ups in the demo version, but someone please correct me if I am wrong. I intend to purchase the S2 eventually, and when I do the tips given here will certainly help me with my drifting goals.

Edit: Also wanted to add yet another noob question: What is full steering lock? Is that a setting only for users of an actual wheel?the gti is fwd(front wheel drive) cant drift it

[96 GTS]

You can get the tail out on the GTi, but since it's FWD, you can't really hold it as well. I'd reccommend the XR GT nonturbo to learn drifting in. As for wheels, a Logi Driving Force pro is a great value for the money. I have one and love it, the 900 degree rotation is addicting ;)

[StanleyCarter]

like what GTR Racer and 96 GTS had said, do not try and drift a fwd vehicle, it's pointless.

the rwds are there, if you're really interested in drifting, then learn your basics in a rwd, not a fwd.

and bear in mind, EVERY tip that's given in this thread applies to rwd, best to stay away from fwd if you're really into drifting. :)

[AndroidXP]

Yeah, you can't really drift a FWD car... it's more like assdragging. And it requires much LESS skill than drifting a RWD car.

But if you really like this game you should seriously consider getting a FF wheel. Not only will you be flattened by the sudden awsomeness of this game, drifting will become easier too :)

[5th Earth]

As an explanation of why you can't use a FWD car to drift, it's all to do with how they react to increased throttle. Hitting the gas in a FWD causes understeer, because you are decreasing the traction of the tires that are making you turn in the first place. You can use the e-brake to get the tail out, but going on the throttle will ALWAYS stop any oversteer you have, and turn it into understeer.

In RWD, hitting the throttle decreases the traction of the rear tires, which causes oversteer and is what you need to do to maintain a drift over a long period. The trick is to use exactly the right amount of throttle--too little, and the tires regain grip and the drift ends. Too much, and you just spin all the way around, as you have noticed. Drifting is more about throttle control than steering control.

(incidentally, AWD can also be drifted, although the technique changes a bit. It's generally considered faster and easier to drift AWD, but purists will often argue that RWD is the "higher art")

It gets complicated though... accelerating in a RWD also shifts the weight to the rear tires, which gives them more traction, so if you get on the gas too early, then the drift won't initiate properly, and if you accelerate forward too hard, the car starts understeering, which breaks the drift. You have to shift the weight forward to break traction in the back, then get on the gas fast and hard to get the wheels spinning due to being over-powered, and keep the gas high enough to keep them spinning--it's like doing a burnout that's not a straight line.

Another good method to break rear traction is the "clutch kick"--basically, you pop the clutch in and out without releasing the gas pedal. This causes a sudden loss of acceleration, which shifts the weight forward, followed by a sudden burst of power as the high-revving engine slams back into gear, which breaks the tires free. Just bear in mind duration is important--if the clutch is in for the wrong length of time, too long or too short, it won't really work right.

[Hyperactive]

Just couple of tips:
When coming into corner, apply throttle after you have turned in and the rear has come out some much. The throttle is not to be used to to initiate (spelling...) drift but to control it ;) The best way is to drive around the car park and try to make long drifts and short ones with different speeds...

And when people are talking about setups they mean changing the camber, tire pressures and gear ratios. In LFS you can't tune (change parts nor buy turbos and stuff) the cars.

[96 GTS]

One of the hardest parts about drifting for me, is figuring out when the rear wheels are about to start gripping again. If you wait too long, the rear tires will all of the sudden "hook up" and you will violently spin the other direction. What I do is probably wrong, so if any real drifters want to correct me, please do. When I feel the drift is starting to end, or when I'm coming to the end of the corner, I start lifting off the throttle, not all the way, just lifting my foot a little, I found this gradually reduces the drift angle until I'm pointed back in a straight line again, presto, no crash ;)

[Gabkicks]

^ this all comes from experience. you cant actually feel the g forces.. but you get clues...; the way the car slightly settles down to the inside tires again or from force feedback. The things you cant feel or see you have to just learn from experience to anticipate.:scratchch


you should feel in control at all times when drifting. the car should be going where you want it to from entry to exit.

[Moonclaw]

Once you get the hang of initiating, maintainin and ending a drift, try decreasing steer lock gradually to learn more finesse in throttle control and balance without the need to steer so much.

[bbman]

You're doing it right, just practise if you want to be able to hold the car like that for longer periods. I hope you're not doing this in the GTi because it's never going to work.
You can even drift very well in the FXO and the GTi... It's just harder to hold it for a longer period, but drifting with FWD ISN'T impossible at all... ;)

[Gabkicks]

"drifting" with fwd cars is just not cool. Its just looked down on... since its just nowhere near as good looking and there are things you can do in a rwd car when drifting that cant be done in a fwd car without heavy heavy tuning.

I dont even like using the word drift and fwd in the same sentence.:x

People cant drift well with the fxo or any fwd car... well i guess good and bad are all relative.

[bbman]

Well, maybe because you actually have to be very skilled for drifting with FWD's? :D

Nah, just joking... :D Besides, I'm not much of a drifter, racing is more fun to me... :)

[herki]

it's possible to drift fwds with huge amounts of positive camber in the back... looks quite strange though :really:

[SuperSmitt]

Some very good advice given thus far. The clutch technique has worked best for me. Very simple to initiate the drift. The problem for me now is ending the drift correctly. To regain traction, I let off the throttle but I tend to lose a lot more speed exiting the turn than the other players drifting online. If I try to maintain my speed and keep on the throttle, I either spin out or don't lose the drift at the turn's exit. I imagine exiting the turn has more to do with amount of countersteer so you can keep the revs up. Any advice on this aspect of drifting? You all have been very helpful to this point.

Edit: I was looking up prices of different racing wheels and following the advice of one of the posters here, looked for the Logi Driving Force pro wheel. I liked what I saw (minus the fact that it doesn't include foot pedals), but apparently this is a PS2 controller. Is there a version for USB?

[xapexcivicx]

Oh and more advice..


don't break your pedals :(:(:(

[Teufel]

Edit: I was looking up prices of different racing wheels and following the advice of one of the posters here, looked for the Logi Driving Force pro wheel. I liked what I saw (minus the fact that it doesn't include foot pedals), but apparently this is a PS2 controller. Is there a version for USB?

I don't know where you have this information from. The Logitech DFP comes with pedals and does have a USB connector (there is no version without). I have one and don't want to miss it anymore :thumb:

[SuperSmitt]

I don't know where you have this information from. The Logitech DFP comes with pedals and does have a USB connector (there is no version without). I have one and don't want to miss it anymore :thumb:

I'm probably just being a noob. I know nothing about the PS2, as I don't own one; does it have a USB port? Here is my search result for the wheel on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Logitech+driving+force+pro&btnG=Google+Search

Just about every link says it is PS2 only, with a couple saying it is compatible with some PC games too.

[Gabkicks]

they just say its for ps2 only but it even has drivers specificly for the PC (which give a lot of tweaking options)

[96 GTS]

Some very good advice given thus far. The clutch technique has worked best for me. Very simple to initiate the drift. The problem for me now is ending the drift correctly. To regain traction, I let off the throttle but I tend to lose a lot more speed exiting the turn than the other players drifting online. If I try to maintain my speed and keep on the throttle, I either spin out or don't lose the drift at the turn's exit. I imagine exiting the turn has more to do with amount of countersteer so you can keep the revs up. Any advice on this aspect of drifting? You all have been very helpful to this point.

Edit: I was looking up prices of different racing wheels and following the advice of one of the posters here, looked for the Logi Driving Force pro wheel. I liked what I saw (minus the fact that it doesn't include foot pedals), but apparently this is a PS2 controller. Is there a version for USB?
It does include pedals, and it's 100% compatible with a PC, the only reason they don't say so is it's a Sony liscensed product.

[xapexcivicx]

Works fine with PC. I have my foot on mine right at the moment. Justttttttttt treat it gently or it'll break haha

[5th Earth]

I'm probably just being a noob. I know nothing about the PS2, as I don't own one; does it have a USB port? Here is my search result for the wheel on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Logitech+driving+force+pro&btnG=Google+Search

Just about every link says it is PS2 only, with a couple saying it is compatible with some PC games too.

Are you sure they didn't mean the other kind of ps2?

http://www.ctips.com/ps2.html

[Vendetta]

DFP works on PC! Im playing LFS right now with it!

[96 GTS]

Are you sure they didn't mean the other kind of ps2?

http://www.ctips.com/ps2.html

Yes, I'm sure it's USB. I use it for LFS. There are no racing wheels that use a PS/2 port. It's 100% PC compatible, and easy to set up. I highly reccommend it.

[5th Earth]

Yes, I'm sure it's USB. I use it for LFS. There are no racing wheels that use a PS/2 port. It's 100% PC compatible, and easy to set up. I highly reccommend it.

Funny story... I realised this just after I made that post, and was about to edit it when my motherboard physically broke. One of the (non-CPU) heatsinks just spontaneously fell off. :pillepall

Writing this on a different comp. Ah well.

[shim]

hehe, ive had the orig logi DF since GT3 came out.. still werkin fine..

my personal technique is lift off.. this is where during the corner, you lift off the accel to unsettle the rear, and when pushing back on the accel it initialtes the drift.. im still fairly new at it but im startin to get half decent throttle control after a week of on and off practice..

with Drift.. if you keep f*****g up, take a min to collect your thoughts before trying again.. sometimes i sit a few mins on the side of the track while havin a smoke or just drive slowlyand let me mind wander off driftin then i get back into it..

[07MugenCivicSi]

Alright.. I've been drifting in LFS for a while and I am no pro but I have learned a few things so far.

The easiest way to start a drift as everyone knows is the e-brake. Turn the wheels, hit the e-brake and counter steer.

Next is the clutch dump.. Turn the wheels.. dump the clutch and counter steer.

Now these are good just to learn but than we come in to down shifting and dumping the clutch for when you approach a corner at a higher speed, some times you even need to throw in a shot of e-brake for good measure.

Than we move on to the fastest way to drift that I have found and it's known as weight transfer. Now this is rather simple to learn but takes a ton of practice to find exactly when to start your drift, how much you should slow down and so on. This one is all about counter steer, on your way in to the corner you turn hard in the opposite direction. So say you are heading to a long left bend, you pick a spot where you want to start the drift. Try not to be to far back or you will clip the inside of the turn and don't be to close or your going to go off the track. I suggest starting slow on this and working up to speed. So heading in to the left you pick your spot and start out with a quick snap to the right, sounds crazy I know but trust me, than once the weight of the car is forced to the left you bring the wheel hard left. Now this takes some practice because this should be done rather quick and will snap the rear of the car around fairly quick. Than it's hard to the right to counter the drift. This will get you in to the drift and now comes the tricky part this is where good judgment and practice comes in to play. Throttle and brake control are key here to keep you on a decent line through the corner. Extra heavy on the gas is going to bring the car in to the drift more, good for corners that are not a perfect bend, while letting off the gas or a quick brake will let the tires grab and help take you out of the drift. Than we come to the end of the drift, you want to pick a spot to start bringing the car out of the drift unless your going for points. POINTS you want to keep the car in the drift and bring it out close to the other side of the road so you can bring it around and continue the drift. SPEED you want to bring it out of the drift so you car is facing straight down the road so you don't over steer and end up keeping the wheels lose and losing traction and time.

Anyway I hope this helped and if anyone has any suggestions or corrections, rants or applause please let me know. This may not be the most well explained or the best method but I found it works just great and is rather fast.

[AndroidXP]

Uhm, okay. Why did you feel compelled to bump this 470 day old thread? :really:

[Gabkicks]

maybe he just felt like typing something thats been already been gone over thousands's of times to help himself or others?

[07MugenCivicSi]

Uhm, okay. Why did you feel compelled to bump this 470 day old thread? :really:

Why not? If it doesn't help the person who started the thread it could help a new person who may have the same question. :thumb:

[boogie van]

hey, it helped me find a link to lfs torque :thumb:

[zdarovas]

i just got LFS and i can;t connect to master server and i have no i dea why !! can u plz help me ??

[Jakg]

do you have version V?

[Drift_0k]

nice bump:)

[Qvarnis]

I give it a quick steer way before the corner, pull some handbrake, and go sideways using the handbrake untill I`m about 10-15 metres before where the corner starts. Then I floor it, I don`t give it full countersteer just in case if it`s about to spin. I also pump the gas too if it`s about to spin.

[ScorpioGT]

Guys, about the techniques.... wanna really REALLY learn?
Watch the Best motoring's DRIFT BIBLE, made by the great Keiichi Tsuchiya.
It's the killer application guide to learn drifting in my opinion :thumb: