LOL, this post doesn't nessecarily have to do with automatics. I just did that so it matches my other post.

Anyways, I just wanted to know... Does anyone have any experience with drifting thier cars? More specifically the 3rd Gen ones. can anyone try to describe how to start drifting? I get all the fundamental ideas on how it's done, in fact I'm an expert at it when it comes to GranTurismo 3. But I have never tried it with my Protege ES, except for in the winter on ice. Even then I find it really difficult to induce drift, the front wheels always loose traction, and I get a very wicked understeer. I wouldn't mind trying it on dry pavement sometime.

Is it bad for your car? Or is it gonna be alright if you only do it a few times... So yea, if any of you want to share how its done. What speeds your going? Brake usage? etc...

I noticed the Protege has wicked handling, I can take turns at 80kph on offramps with recomended speed of 40kph. It's simply amazing, there isn't even any tire squeal. In fact, I can't ever recall an occasion where the tires sqealled on my car. Do any of you use your e-brake to drift? Mine don't seem to work at all. Once I had the break all the way up, and I forgot to drop it before I took off, and even with a little gas, the car overpowered the brake and dragged that back end. Is the brake supposed to be that loose? If I'm going around, say 30kph, and I pull the e brake all the way up, will the rear wheels lock up?

Anyways...

 

30 kph and you want your wheels to lock up? How exactly?

MAYBE... just maybe if you pull it up quickly enough ALLLLLLL THE WAY UP and I mean ebrake-cable-tearing all-the-way-up.

I can lock up the rear wheels on my ES going around 30 MPH with the ebrake. If you have rear drums then good luck in locking them up. Drums = shitty stopping power x 10.


Drifting is much funner when your car can actually DO IT. Even though I've drifted in my car a few times, only once or twice has it been intentional.

All wheels locked up = no control.

 

put a FAT rear sway bar or there are different things you can do depending on your preference/skill/environment...

let say it's a left hairpin. go in around 40-45. there are few things you could do..

- the flick!
* go in deep
* turn right instead of left (about 90° on the steering wheel)
* turn left (180°+) depending on skill and speed

- ebrake
* go in deep
* turn left about 90°
* apply ebrake

- left foot brake
* go in deep
* turn left about 90°
* while right foot on gas (little) use left foot on brake (hard and fast)

All these are REALLY fast moves. You'll need to practice a little here and there. Start with wet ground. That would be easy to do. Just be safe!!

 

Actually, here's my recipe for How to Go Drifting for Cheap:

1) Go to a junkyard and obtain a set of cheap 14" steel wheels that fit your car (you didn't mention the year, but they should be easy to find). The uglier, the better: $20
2) Go to your local Ghetto Tire Outlet- you know, the wooden shack staffed by ex-cons with the big sign out front that says "USED TIRES $10." Buy two of the nastiest, hardest 175/65SR14 no-name all season tires you can find, as long as they're not corded: $20
3) Inflate said tires to 45 psi.
4) Install on rear wheels. Leave your regular tires on the front.
5) Disconnect front swaybar.
6) For best results, combine with R-compounds or drag radials up front.

This recipe will erase all hints of understeer from all but the most stubborn FWD vehicle, and turn it into a wild, tail-wagging, oversteering ****. Drift to your heart's content.

 

Not to spoil the fun you all are having, but drifting in a FWD? It's like pulling the e-brake in a FWD to try to do a burnout........

If you really must drift, save up and buy a cheap, reliable RWD sportscar with good aftermarket support (because you KNOW you will brake something sooner or later). A good starting point is a 240sx, RX7, or Supra.

Then as carguycw said, buy some really shitty tires for the back, and a FAT swaybar.

A true drift doesn't encorporate much e-brake, it's mostly left-foot braking.

KpaBap..."All wheels locked up = no control."...where did you come to this conclusion? A 'drift' is basically a controlled 4-wheel slide.

Check out this site for some awesome drift action: http://members.tripod.com/~slideways__1/video.html

 

Haha, true, true.
I'm not looking to be drifting all the time, just thought I might try it sometime. If I had my way, I'd be driving around in a BMW M3. But you can't always have what you want. I should maybe have said fishtailing. How do I fishtail the Protege without losing too much control. I did it in the snow going at about 20 or 30 KPH, I nearly slid right into a parked van while doing it. That was actually a drift by the way... It was really hard to do that too, usually when I try to induce drift in the snow, the front tires lose traction and I can't get the car to swing around. Sometimes I can break and shift the weight to the front tires for grip, so I can turn the car. But most times the wheels just lose traction and the car won't even turn. I think it's called understeer.

 

drifting is a skill, controlled manuver of the car. do with a FWD, you'll be totally out of control and might crash. yes people say they can drift FWD in ice or sand but man thats just out of control and killing the e-brake. eh it seems hella fun to do it, never experienced it .

 

doesnt mazda have a design were if you pull the ebrake it wont lock up? it will just apply the brakes until you stop?
i thought ive heard that....thats waht my car will do....unless i pull it on snow or ice, then they will lock right up and slide

 

Ya but in a drift, the 4 wheels aren't locked up. They are still spinning.

 

Um, I've drifted many cars without much trouble and unitentionally, but I drifted. Just take a sharp turn on a farly wet ground going between 30-40mph and it shouldn't be to hard to loose grip on the back end, especially if your braking.

My friend has a Golf with really cheap Nitto tires on it (well, at least compared to their entire line). He got them only because they were nitto and didn't cost way too much. They have no wet traction what so ever. During a rain it's imposible to do curves that have a safe speed of 30 at above 25mph. Some unmoded eclips wanted to race, once he saw the rice can on the back. There was a nice curve in the road and the Golf was staing slightly behind so it wouldn't spin out, it was drifting that bad to the side. The ncame the straight away and the eclips was left chocking on my friends rice and the slight oil intake that his car has, we had 3 people in the golf, he had 2.

Just get crap tires, wait for it to snow and then take sharp turns at higher speeds, you'll drift nicely. Then again it's not a very controlled drift, depending on how long you let the wheels slip, but it's still a drift.

 

Ithought it was the rear sway bar that needs to be removed to increase oversteer. I have never heard of removing the front. I thought all the driftersw pulled the rear...

 

I have a small video of my husband drifting (or fishtailing, if you will) in the Phantom. One of the times he got it all the way turned around backwards...I don't have the vid on my computer at work, so you will just have to wait until I get home to upload it to my server.

It's a funny video, really!