Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Basic drift geometry setup

Today we will discuss a basic drift setup. Dont think this is the holy grail, as everything is different depending on the driver. However this is a nice basic layout from where you can start to adjust it to your own style. If you want to read more about geometry, it might be a smart idea to read this article as well.
Ride height
If ride hight would not affect the rest of the cars geometry it would make your car more stable when lowering the car. This means that the lower the car is, the harder it will be to initiate the drift, but the easier to control it. A lot of starting drifters lower the car by 40 mm and call it a day. On the other hand some street drifter completely slam the car and seem to have no problems with it when they are drifting.

Stiffness
If your car is a daily drive thhen it is a smart idea to keep the front end not that stiff. If you dont care then its better to have a stiffer front end. At the back its the other way around. If you hardly have any power then keep the back a bit soft to keep the power more on the road. If you have a lot of traction, then have a bit more stiffness at the back.
Camber
The frront camber can be put relatively negative, around -3 degrees. At the back it is the question how much power you make. If you have 0-300 horsepower, then keep the camber as stock, If you have 3-450 horspower then change the camber to around -1.5 degrees. If you have more than 450 horspower then change it to -3 degrees. Some street drifters have an extreme form of camber. They do this to have a limited amount of tyre contact at all time (and because they think it looks cool.)
Caster
The caster can best be put as positive as possivle, as this will improve how well the car changes direction and is able to make transitions.
Toe
Have some to out at the front to increase stability. At the back, set the it more for toe out, as this will create more oversteer.