Is the manual clutch a necessity for drift cars?

[potong_pasirian]

Hi fellas!

 

I've been reading this article about drifting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport)

 

A passage says : "Wealthier drifters may use sequential gearboxes to make gear selection easier/faster, while sequential shift lever adapters can be used to make shifts easier without increasing shift time".

 

I'm abit confused about this part. I thought that drivers need to engage/disengage the clutch pedal in order to set the car into a drift? Isn't it more difficult to drift the car if you are using Semi-auto transmission as you can't use methods like "clutch kick" in order to make the car drift?

 

Members who have tried drifting before, please enlighten me!

 

Thanks!

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

I'll only deal with the theory of vehicle dynamics as I'm not a drifter (lol)

 

To slide the back end out of -any- vehicle you can do things to upset the balance of the machine (to induce oversteer).

 

Typically, competition drift cars are rear wheel drive and use manual transmission for maximum agility and control.

 

4WD cars like the WRX and EVO, or even tuned Audis can "drift" but 4WD drift looks totally different from RWD drifting because there's less countersteer involved. The Evos pull off impressive power-overs while Subarus and Audis need a bit of persuasion due to their tendency to understeer. The latter examples need tuning (and clever knowledge of vehicle physics at that) if you want them to oversteer. If you want a twitchy car just get the Evo, the Impreza and performance Audis understeer for a reason

 

This is relevant to your query because what if you were (for whatever reason) wanted to get the back end sliding out on a non-drift car? This is not technically drifting, but induced oversteer.

 

If you're not on a RWD vehicle then you can try things like weight transfer, braking and/or lifting off the accelerator just before a turn in, to induce oversteer on corner entry. To get the car back on a straight track (on a FWD vehicle like a Civic), just put some power on the front wheels.

 

This brings us back to the proper definition of "drifting" in the competition sense - to be able to sustain a certain slip angle of the back wheels through a sequence of corners:

 

You sort of need proper equipment for that, to maintain control of the vehicle through the course.

 

Or in the case of a non-competition drifter, lots and lots of torque (and yes you can use an automatic transmission), to induce power-over condition.

 

So in the end it all depends on what you intend to do, and how you intend to accomplish it. There are many ways to attain controlled oversteer and I hope it makes sense, it's all part and parcel of vehicle dynamics. Just, please do not try "drifting" on anything outside of a closed, private course, or worse, try drifting a non-properly equipped vehicle or one that has a high centre of gravity.

 

To get some ideas, Top Gear does a lot of "powersliding" to illustrate the agility and show-factor of rear wheel drive, and some performance 4WDs.

 

To answer your original curiosity, yes, you can drift with an auto trans and an easy demo example is a Mercedes Benz with a large engine. Plenty of grunt to induce power-over during a corner. You can't do a lot of the precise drift-control stuff like clutch kick to adjust the slip angle, but in the Mercedes CLS British motoring journalist/Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson basically brakes before a corner (weight transfer to front wheels), steers in and applies power enough to get the back end out, then countersteer. Get the car balanced then aim the car with the throttle.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kznOa3Mv7fs

 

Disclaimer: I deal with the physics of vehicle handling, not doing donuts in deserted carparks

[West Spec]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbr1K3uuOPk][/url]

I'll only deal with the theory of vehicle dynamics as I'm not a drifter (lol)

 

To slide the back end out of -any- vehicle you can do things to upset the balance of the machine (to induce oversteer).

 

Typically, competition drift cars are rear wheel drive and use manual transmission for maximum agility and control.

 

4WD cars like the WRX and EVO, or even tuned Audis can "drift" but 4WD drift looks totally different from RWD drifting because there's less countersteer involved. The Evos pull off impressive power-overs while Subarus and Audis need a bit of persuasion due to their tendency to understeer. The latter examples need tuning (and clever knowledge of vehicle physics at that) if you want them to oversteer. If you want a twitchy car just get the Evo, the Impreza and performance Audis understeer for a reason

 

This is relevant to your query because what if you were (for whatever reason) wanted to get the back end sliding out on a non-drift car? This is not technically drifting, but induced oversteer.

 

If you're not on a RWD vehicle then you can try things like weight transfer, braking and/or lifting off the accelerator just before a turn in, to induce oversteer on corner entry. To get the car back on a straight track (on a FWD vehicle like a Civic), just put some power on the front wheels.

 

This brings us back to the proper definition of "drifting" in the competition sense - to be able to sustain a certain slip angle of the back wheels through a sequence of corners:

 

You sort of need proper equipment for that, to maintain control of the vehicle through the course.

 

Or in the case of a non-competition drifter, lots and lots of torque (and yes you can use an automatic transmission), to induce power-over condition.

 

So in the end it all depends on what you intend to do, and how you intend to accomplish it. There are many ways to attain controlled oversteer and I hope it makes sense, it's all part and parcel of vehicle dynamics. Just, please do not try "drifting" on anything outside of a closed, private course, or worse, try drifting a non-properly equipped vehicle or one that has a high centre of gravity.

 

To get some ideas, Top Gear does a lot of "powersliding" to illustrate the agility and show-factor of rear wheel drive, and some performance 4WDs.

 

To answer your original curiosity, yes, you can drift with an auto trans and an easy demo example is a Mercedes Benz with a large engine. Plenty of grunt to induce power-over during a corner. You can't do a lot of the precise drift-control stuff like clutch kick to adjust the slip angle, but in the Mercedes CLS British motoring journalist/Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson basically brakes before a corner (weight transfer to front wheels), steers in and applies power enough to get the back end out, then countersteer. Get the car balanced then aim the car with the throttle.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kznOa3Mv7fs

 

Disclaimer: I deal with the physics of vehicle handling, not doing donuts in deserted carparks

 

Scandinavian flick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbr1K3uuOPk

Edited November 15, 2010 by West Spec

[MS]

Hi fellas!

 

I've been reading this article about drifting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport)

 

A passage says : "Wealthier drifters may use sequential gearboxes to make gear selection easier/faster, while sequential shift lever adapters can be used to make shifts easier without increasing shift time".

 

I'm abit confused about this part. I thought that drivers need to engage/disengage the clutch pedal in order to set the car into a drift? Isn't it more difficult to drift the car if you are using Semi-auto transmission as you can't use methods like "clutch kick" in order to make the car drift?

 

Members who have tried drifting before, please enlighten me!

 

Thanks!

 

Concentrate on your skills. Do not be limited by the machine you drive.

With good skills, you can get from point A to B in the shortest time. And flamboyance are reserved for aesthetics. Such as this is prevalent because of obssession with what is being shown on the media. And watching too much movies make you as good as the recent gangsters arrested by the police. Racers go for practicality. Fastest from A to B. See if Ayrton Senna ever kept talking about drifting or true adrenalin pumping racing.

[West Spec]

Concentrate on your skills. Do not be limited by the machine you drive.

With good skills, you can get from point A to B in the shortest time. And flamboyance are reserved for aesthetics. Such as this is prevalent because of obssession with what is being shown on the media. And watching too much movies make you as good as the recent gangsters arrested by the police. Racers go for practicality. Fastest from A to B. See if Ayrton Senna ever kept talking about drifting or true adrenalin pumping racing.

 

Hey hey how have u been? How recover fr C.P?

[MS]

Hey hey how have u been? How recover fr C.P?

 

thanks. I am now close to recovery. Been a tormenting 2 week ordeal.

[West Spec]

thanks. I am now close to recovery. Been a tormenting 2 week ordeal.

 

Thts gd to hear.. well wait till u recover we catch up again for coffee wif jB too

[jB]

Thts gd to hear.. well wait till u recover we catch up again for coffee wif jB too

OT I heard my name!

 

Manual is not a necessity dude. You can just handbrake to drift. Drop gear to drift, lose traction intentionally to do so as well.. read up a lil and try on your bike too(at yoru own risk) I've been drifting recently on my 2nd bike