Drifting is an awesome trick to pull off. Here, Hollywood stunt driver Danny Bopp kicks up some smoke and shows us how to unravel the standard doughnut into a delicious drift.
You need to get up to high RPM’s in a lower gear to get the rubber cooking and then tap the brakes on turn in to shift the load of the car – From then on it’s a balancing act. Practicing this technique is a great way to start out.
Competitive drifting has a huge following in Japan and is picking up stateside with the help of Formula Drift, a championship that has just concluded with Chris Forsberg topping the table. With a bit of practice, drifting can become an addictive practice in tyre smoke conjuring.
Countless movies have drifting scenes in them too, Need for Speed Tokyo Drift is the obvious one that also highlights the vast sub-culture of drifting.
Why is it such a big thing? First off, it forces a drifter into fully understanding the mechanical side of the car. Set-up is a massive part of the game. You need to lighten it up, make sure you’ve got RWD, a suspension that’s easily modified (slap on those struts dammit), a seriously heavy-duty clutch and that’s about scratching the surface. Even with all the gear, you need to have a feel for the car and get to know it. Perfect the Danny Bopp Drifting lesson until you’ve nailed it, then go buy some Kanji decals for your Civic.
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