I know I’ve been quiet of late, I apologise for that. I’ve been figuring some financial stuff out which needed my undivided attention (and developing some inter-panel rust-proofing techniques at the same time on the syncro – more on that once test is complete)
The money stuff is pretty much sorted so now my attention is back on cars 
We all talk about speed and bhp but out of interest are there any other *drifters* on these forums? I know theoretically it’ll kill the vc and supposedly you cant drift a 4wd but a) I don’t care, and b) has anyone else noticed the syncro drifts like a dream with the right suspension tweaks? Hell even the 16v gti does ok with decent suspension.
Basically I’m hell-bent on drifting, come hell or high water, and I’m wondering about putting something together for like-minded drifters to practise their skills, ideally at night somewhere on a track or private land with permission, but in the worst case not.
I work nights so the whole “get up early track days” thing doesn’t really work for me so I guess if I want something specific i guess i need to organise it.
There’s no real plan yet, just a motivation. If you fancy the idea of unprejudiced sideways against all technical odds then pm me or post your email here and we can go from there.
Please include how much you’d be willing to spend to have said action in a legit environment, and whether you’d be up for non-legit action (free) if we can’t do any better, and which your preference is 
Milton keynes is near us and has 309 roundabouts. Nuff said
If there’s sufficient interest I’ll set up a secure private forums deedicated to just this. I *live* for sidewayws and I’m looking to find like minded folks to get this thing moving beyond the odd roundabout here and there in the middle of the night on my own..
Atm I’m rockin’ my 16v gti which being fwd can’t do true power drifts, but does handle rather well and seems to be very good for learning general sideways handling in a non-dying stylee. So this isn’t purely about rwd action. This is about peaople doing what they can with what they have.
Leave all egos at the door, this is purely about the sideways. Come one, come all.
Merry Christmas
I think you might have misunderstood my point slightly danny – possibly I was unclear.
As I said in my post this isn’t really about “serious sideways” yet…this is about learning “some sideways” in what one has available, and hopefully finding an environment slightly safer and more legal than the street, but more lenient towards sideways than a regular track day for the reasons DH mentioned.
IMHO ultimately drifting is about car control, much of which (though admittedly not all) can be learnt in a fwd, 4wd or a transit van on a wet enough roundabout. Since this is about learning, I don’t see the type of vehicle being such a big issue.
*Of course* you can’t do true power drifting in a FWD but you can certainly get sideways enough to scare the **** out of yourself good and proper, but also get used to the sideways situation and begin to learn to control it properly…perhaps then with a view to getting more suitable vehicles further down the line for true hooligan tyre-shredding sideways action on proper drift track days (that’s my plan anyhow).
The techniques vary but the principles of balancing opposing forces endure, but that’s not really what I was asking anyhow…I was asking if you have an interest in going sideways and would be interested in pursuing it further (regardless of current vehicle). From your response I’d take that as a “no” (which is fine – I know it’s not everyone’s thing).
A number of my mates locally are into fast cars but to date none of them really do sideways…figured it can’t hurt to ask here before I try other avenues (or roundabouts as it were) []
quote:
A number of my mates locally are into fast cars but to date none of them really do sideways…figured it can’t hurt to ask here before I try other avenues (or roundabouts as it were)
Tha big jessies.
It’s all about the sideways. Until you go sideways you’re not *really* driving.
I should know – I have mates who are Zen in the art of sideways. I was out with one of them a few days ago:
It’s not every day that people stop at a junction to allow someone to pull donuts….. [}]
hmm interesting points all round – I’d been wondering about adding a bit of weight to the rear to give it a bit more “swing” – I guess that sub could go in after all – will test and report back
I found on the gti that with a bit of swedish flick, lift-off oversteer and a dab of handbrake it actually does pretty well sideways but the extra weight at the back could help it maintain course.
I haven’t tried this on the syncro but on the gti I found that mid “drift” it’s possible to rock the car sideways and place the power on the outside wheel to maintain the slide i.e. if going round a roundabout to the right, once the back is free rock the steering left momentarily and the weight goes left, if you feather the gas at the same time so that there’s power as the weight lands it puts power on the left(outside) wheel which keeps it going sideways, then ease off power as you return the steering, rinse and repeat.
If it’s already lost grip on the rear that should pretty much maintain the “drift” on tight “roundabout”-type corners.
It’s a bit different from the more consistent “churning” the syncro does during extended sideways and there is an obvious speed loss in play but it’s actually quite effective, and the bonus is that with fwd you can have the handbrake locked up and still play with power/lift-off unhindered
I’m glad there’s actually some interest in this – even discussing the different approaches is therapeutic and it’s interesting to see different people’s takes on it… [
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Ah ok – so it’s basically an alternative to straddling the pedals so you can play both accelerator and brake at the same time – ok. I only tried left foot braking once and got my feet quite confused, but I happily straddle the gas and brake most of the time…not with heel and toe either but that seems to be the common way to refer to it…