Popular Drifting Techniques

Here you will find a pretty comprehensive list of popular drifting techniques. Some are easier to achieve than others, but try and see what works best for you. Most professional drifters don't incorporate all these techniques into their arsenal, so don't think you have to learn them all to be good at it. Although there are some need-to-know techniques that are a must such as the heel and toe shifting. Anyway, I hope this helps...Just practice in a safe and legal location.

Clutch-Based Drifting Techniques

• Heel And Toe Shifting
  A drifting technique in which the clutch is pressed with the left foot while the right foot presses the brake with the toes and the heel slides over to the accelerator to rev the engine up before downshifting the vehicle. This technique allows for smooth downshifting, without jolting the vehicle.
• Shift Lock Drift
  Approaching the turn, the driver downshifts and drops the rpm to slow down the drivetrain. She then releases the clutch, causing the back wheels to immediately slow down and lock up so they lose traction.
• Clutch Kick Drift
  Approaching the turn, the driver holds in the clutch, increases rpm and downshifts. She then releases the clutch, causing a power surge that makes the back wheels lose traction. This is a basic drifting technique.

Brake-Based Drifting Techniques

• Braking Drift
  The driver enters the turn and applies the brakes to push the car's weight to the front wheels, causing the back wheels to rise and lose traction. She then uses a combination of braking and shifting to hold the drift without the back wheels locking up.
• E-Brake Drift
  The driver enters the turn and pulls the emergency brake to lock the back wheels. She steers into the turn, and the back end swings out into a drift. This is a basic drifting technique.
• Long Slide Drift
  On a long straightaway approaching a turn, at high speed (up to 100 mph / 161 kph), the driver pulls the emergency brake to initiate a long drift and maintains it into the turn.

Other Drifting Techniques

• Choku-Dori (Swaying Drift)
  A swaying drift is a lot like a feint drift except that it begins on a long straightaway approach to a turn. Once the car starts drifting, the driver uses steering to maintain the drift in the form of a side-to-side swaying of the car's back end.
• Kansei Drift
  Entering a turn at high speed, the driver suddenly releases the gas pedal to shift the weight to the front wheels, initiating a drift as the rear tires lose traction.
• Power Over Drift
  The driver accelerates into and through the entire turn to make the back end swing out as the weight shifts on exit. This technique requires a lot of horsepower.
• Feint Drift
  The driver steers the car to the outside of the turn on the approach, pushing the car's weight to outside wheels. She then quickly steers back into the turn. When the car's suspension kicks back, the weight shifts so quickly that the back end flicks out to initiate a drift.
• Jump Drift
  Entering a turn, the driver bounces the inside rear tire over the inner curb to shift the car's weight to the outside wheels and induce traction loss, initiating a drift.
• Dirt Drop Drift
  The driver drops the rear tires off the race course into the dirt. This technique helps initiate a drift, maintain speed to hold a drift through multiple turns or increase the drift angle during a single turn.

Click here for more on Drifting Techniques!

Engine Specifications:

SR20DET Specs | AE86 Specs | RB26DETT Specs | Rotary Specs | Nissan Skyline Specs

Other Topics:

SR20DET Wiring Guide | Drifting Techniques | Drift Cars | History of Drifting | SR20DET Parts | SR20DET Installation | Popular Drifting Techniques | SR20DET Shops