What is the draw for "drifting"? The cars are sliding around and aren't very fast. Do they just burn tires?

Question

I could go faster in my truck! But I wouldn't burn up my tires on the corners to do it. It just looks silly. Slide ,slide ,slide and go slow.

Answer 1

The girls seem to like it, if that's not the reason then I don't have any idea why.

Answer 2

I haven't actually done it besides a few powerslides in my M5 but it's pretty fun to watch. It takes really good car control to get it right. I've seen them do it two years in a row at the Long Beach Grand Prix where it's a temporary street circuit with concrete walls all along the track. It takes fairly large attachments and skill to go through those turns sideways at the speeds they do.

They also do a lot of syncronization with team cars...so there'll be like 2-3 cars right next to each other going through the same moves and somehow not hitting each other or the walls. And yeah it's a lot of smoke and noise (squeeling tires and screaming motors bouncing off the rev limiter) that get's people excited too. And when you say not very fast...you must have been watching amatures or it was a tight track or something because the guys at LBGP were hauling ***.

Answer 3

Drifting is having all 4 tires spinning and sliding while cornering. It's not really focussed on speed, but more of controlling the car when it's in a "drift." It's fun to do and can be done with RWD cars. FWD cars can only power slide.

Answer 4

It's not even drifting. Drifting is when all four tire's slip angles are equal. If you look, the front tires are turned, which means their sliding. Racers have been doing that for years, on dirt.

Answer 5

I have wondered the same thing, but I would like to try it. In someone elses car of course!

Answer 6

It's really fun