How to - Drifters

[matharvey]

Hey folks,

I'd like to learn to drift.

I have not much idea on where to start except get a TC and put hard plastic tires on it. I've had a crack at this, ended up doing a few donuts and not really mastering anything.

This time I'd like to learn more.

First of all the car:

I've picked up a basically new Hotbodies Cyclone TC, looks very bling :), and came with two 4.5 turn lrp brushless motors, needless to stay it goes like a stabbed rat with foamies on.

What i don't know is how to set up the car for drifting.

I have the hard plastic wheels, are these good or do i need more hard rubber type wheels? what else should be done to change it from a grip car to a drifter?

Is is possible to race it as a TC during the week and then swap the body over (to a blinged up one) and the wheels over and be able to successfully drift?

What is the best type of motor for drifting (or does it even matter)?

Should i run a spool on the front or diff?

Jas, you are a terrible influence on my wallet, but damn its fun :)

Thanks for any hints or tips lads.

Mat

[BIG PETE]

www.westernrcdrifters.net (http://www.westernrcdrifters.net)

[eichkay]

Tires, hpi t-drifts in the slicks version arevthe best , cheap no name brands generally fair poor in handling and speed and grip that you need

Diff at front spool in rear .. Some spool both front and rear but this tends to effect off power handling and I don't like it..

No you can't just swap to tc and back to drift easily , drift setups hamper and real tc setup.. Spool diff in the rear won't help either.

Motor generally isn't a issue but a 4.5 will eat run times , most guys in wa run 8.5 or 9.5 or 10.5 motors, some use mamba setups 4500kva area

Light weight oils and softer spring setups are ideal.

[matharvey]

Cheers Kerri

yep pete, i know the info is all here on the web, its just easier to wrack the brains of folk like kerri.

:)

[eichkay]

I also avoid sway bars swell.. Also have ride highest set higher , 7-8mm and will vary front to rear hight .. I run 1mm or more higher in the rear, helps weight shift in switch backs under breaking

[obzELiTe]

well you're seen my car on Wednesday night, and apart from the obvious flaw of me driving it, it handles really badly. basic setup i was working on before deciding to do the vintage run was counter steer drift, so my rear is locked and its overdrivin. not a lot, but enough to make it want to change direction when i wanted it to go straight. and by change direction i mean it wanted to go in the other direction, as most ppl found when they got to the end of the straight.
its also got excessive steering, something else you really need when drifting.
so basically, no a drift car wont be a grip car with a body change.
i'm running an 8.5 in the new drift car and its more than enough, my driving still sucks as luke showed me when he drove around stanbridges track on sunday with it, nailing every corner every lap.

[Carle]

i really want to learn about drifting.....
its amazing...

[Mijy]

I'm in the same boat as you, I just went and got my first drifter and I'm unsure of what ive done.

First off - I bought the GT edition of the E10.
Secondly - Without even trying it out with stock motor and battery I used my brushless system (Hobbywing EZRUN series) which I had put in my mad bull xb a month in advance.
Thirdly - I realized running on rubber tires that were stock, was a bad idea and went and switched to some hard plastic (not sure what sort but its one solid piece of plastic).

And finally - i swapped the insides of the car from the touring setup to drift.

Any suggestions other than see what its like on the track? Because so far, I've only had a chance to race in the rain/ wet ground.

[obzELiTe]

my e10 was pretty good out of the box, better than my tt-01 that was setup for drift at the time. i think all i needed was some weight at the front to allow it to change direction a little better.

pop over to westernrcdrifters.net to get some info on drift sessions. basically its out the back of stanbridges on a sunday. plenty of guys down there will give you advise.

[Mijy]

That's awesome thanks for that.

I was really thrown off just then by the fact your forum is in reverse to most the forums I've been on (most recent post at the top).

Btw, is there any reason why all the drifters are awd? wouldnt it be better if the front wheels were free to just turn like full size?

oh yeah btw, some pics of my car:

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa155/mijy/DSC007951.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa155/mijy/DSC00799.jpg

and of the mad bull (with mad fighter case since i broke my case)
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa155/mijy/DSC00786.jpg

[obzELiTe]

its almost impossible to drift in a 2wd car for any reasonable amount of distance without spinning around. closest you will get is whats called countersteer, so the rear wheels are driven more than the front, but the front wheels still get driven to control the drift.

[Mijy]

Well that makes a lot of sense.

My mate got me into this, he started with a electric traxxis stampede, causing me to get my mad bull out from the shed and decided to run a brushless through it. He then bought a Skyline drifter (tokyo drift brand or something). We then had to go back to get him some spare parts for it, so i decided to drown the rest of my money and get the HPI. I am amazed, apart from the body of my Mad bull, no matter how bad ive crashed, smashed and flipped it, this old beast just keeps going. I swear it is a hilux or something. Lets hope the Drifter does me the same :D.