Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
So basically it looks like we need a gated, privately-owned bit of tarmac (and permission to be there) and we’re good?
Realistically no insurance would cover that and we’d probably have to indemnify the land-owner from any public-liability “misadventure” style claims and agree to remove any wreckage ourselves.
It’s a lot of requirements but still sounds a lot more appealing than any section 59 nonsense.
I guess it also needs to be away from houses so no noise complaints…and hey if we can go at night (in the wet) so much the better
Sounds like an unused multi-storey carpark would be ideal. Nice big concrete pillars to encourage accurate driving too.
google earth here I come…
hmm ok – well that really speaks for a hired-tarmac solution doesn’t it?
so did you actually lose your license then or did it not go further than a stern telling off?
re g60syncro’s post:
>> We could learn off each other by the sound of things!!
that was where I was hoping this would start heading
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…
I never really got the thing about left foot braking – what’s the benefit of that vs straddling the pedals?
mm a8 could be fun – 4wd isn’t it? certainly lots of momentum.. “something with a bit of shove” as they said in the film Ronin.
was that an old style rwd passat or a fwd one? What you say about “more rear end than I thought” kinda underlines the point of this thread…despite not being “ideal” spec I’m sure we have some quite sideways-able machinery on the road today.
Whilst I aspire to “be with the one I love” (syncro, in bits on the driveway) I’m quite content to “love the one I’m with” for the time being (identical car but 87 gti 16v, road legal, definitely goes sideways, Today)
So where’s everyone based? would it make sense to find some tarmac to hire and dictate our own pace & style? Or just invade MK in the dead of night? (lol)
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… [
]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) [
]Good feeeback DH, I’ve been looking at the dedicated drifting days but not quite sure I’m up to that yet…(esp as in a fwd at the moment, so it’s “ass-dragging” at best). I figured drifting on a normal track day wouldn’t be too popular but I don’t think the drift days even cater for fwd – hence my dilemma.
The “airfield days” sound like they could be promising though, lots of space and not-too rigid a structure but I haven’t found anything suitable yet, hence testing the idea of perhaps putting something together. If there were a few interested parties it might be feasible to hire somewhere, but I realise it’s not everyone’s cuppa.
