Sunday, December 19, 2010

Practicing in the snow



One of the members of low profile use the afternoon to slide around in the snow. Practicing like this has several advantages, especially for the budget drifter with a slower car.

 All of these advantages are because the road is slipperier. This is nice for the slower cars, like an ae85 for example. These usually have hardly any power so even if you try to clutch kick it you will have troubles getting it sideways. because the road is slippier it is easier for these cars to break out and let the drivers get used to the sideways motion and the pedal and steeringwork that needs to be done with it. Just pay attention that when driving in wet condition the car will also have a higher tendency to understeer and will follow a different line than it would do when it is dry.
Another great advantage of these conditions is that because the rear wheels easier break out, the drivetrain will have less stress. Because of this you can drift for longer without having to be afraid that parts will break. Also, because of the decrease in friction, the tyres will last longer. This is all in advantage to the practicing drifter. 
The final advantage of the snow is that most people are afraid to use their car in this weather. Also people will not go out for a stroll or cycle around town. Therefore it is a lot less busy on the roads and you have a lot more place to slide around where you want without any worries. Just pay attention to parked cars and nasty kerbs.

Snow does not only have advantages though. The faster cars that are equipped with LSD will have troubles getting away from their spot. As their wheels will spin out all the time it becomes almost impossible to drive these vehicles under these conditions. Some of the Low Profile driftcars already cant get out of their parking spots because of this.

Just keep in mind that all wheels like to go straight in this weather. If you want to initiate a drift then press the clutch. This is because the front wheels will have more grip than the rear wheels when driving on snow and therefore you can countersteer the car much better. If you do this the car will also break out easier, so you can make your throttle reactions shorter.