Here is a tutorial on drift that I found would be very helpful to budding DK's (Drift Kings) out there!

It's actually as easy as it looks!



Enjoy!!

 A basic question....Are all Drift cars 4 Wheel Drive?

Shreekant

no sir dirft cars are mostly 2 wheel drive...

if talking about real cars than its 2WD , but in rc cars its 4WD as it's easy to drift a 4WD rc car..

If you are talking about 1:1 drifters, yes, they are 2WD. RC drifters are 4WD. The physics involved with RC drifting are different than 1:1 drifting.

In 1:1 drifting, the rear wheels drive the car to maintain the drift, and provide forward momentum. The front wheels are used solely for steering.

In RC drifting, there is a basic difference, in that the weight differential is MUCH different in RC cars, than 1:1 cars. In 1:1 cars, the weight is favored in the front, meaning the balance of weight is somewhere around 60/40. In an RC car, this much weight differential would not make the RC car very driveable. RC cars have weight differentials closer to 50/50.

What this does is reduce the front end's effectiveness to steer with just the rear wheels driving the car forward. Thus, 4WD is required to drift, to maintain a balance between front and rear ends of the car.

Take front wheel drive RC cars like the Tamiya MO5. When going around turns, the little MO5 prefers to go straight, inducing what is called "push". While this may sound funny, because the only wheels driving the car are front, but the drive wheels, being in the front, are actually fighting to keep the car going straight, The same thing happens in 2WD RC cars. You cannot drift 2WD RC cars for the same reasons- the car wants to go straight. As soon as the rear wheels break traction, the front wheels are useless, and the car spins out of control. Front wheel drive RC cars are very much like 1:1 cars, in the way they act.

Countersteer in an RC drifter comes the closest to this principle, without making the car so uncontrollable, that it cannot maintain a drift angle. It induces what is called "overdrive", meaning the rear wheels are spinning faster than the front wheels. Now the front wheels must actually turn to steer, in a drift, which is why you will see CS drifters with their wheels turned into the slide, or drift. Regular RC drifters only do this to initiate a turn, or drift, after the drift is initiated, the rear wheels are actually steering the car. Confusing, isn't it?

The physics of drift are why I drift RC cars in the first place. It defies basic explanation, but is fun to do!!  

On a closer look at the video posted... All the wheels looks driven hence the question.

Shreekant

Hey, I thought that even for 1:1 Drift, the car needs to be 4WD. By 2WD drive you mean rear 2 wheel drive, is it ? coz most of the conventional 1:1 2WD (our usual cars) are all front wheel drives...., recently I broke a front wheel axel of my modded Esteem trying a high speed drift on expressway, the car is still in the service center 

With Front wheel driven cars i.e. 1:1, you can only do some skids on turns and mind you, you'll damage your axles and its very risky if you dont have a control of your hand brake (rear wheel brake)....

RC Cars needs to be 4WD I guess for drifting  else you can drift every toy RC Car, coz all are rear wheel 2WDs....

rc drift cars are ALWAYS 4wd ! (drift specials)
My HPI NITRO RUSH 2WD Stadium Truck with onroad wheels(98's Truggy) cant drift(not ment to either)... instead spins around like a ''dog trying to catch its own tail !'' Which is fun to watch though.
But anyways...

1:1 front wd cars CANNOT drift..   They suckkk.. as far as drifting or any kind of "skidding" is concerned.
Dont even make an attempt!! Or be prepered for a BIG hole in ur pocket !

Well, I wouldn't have put it quite like vector did, but he's right.

The physics of drifting 1:1 cars do not apply to RC drifters.

I can argue on FWD and drifting... it is NOT impossible as I have tried it myself and it DOES drift.

few very important things to consider when drifting 1:1 FWD
- You need a BIG engine to "pull" the jammed back wheel
- A wide body car to avoid the turning of car
- A heavy weight car to generate enough energy when in motion that it continue to slide even after your rear brakes are on.

Here is how to do it, its Japanese Civic FWD

Here is more detailed HOW TO guide from eHow... quiet effective.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2223600_front-wheel-drive-fwd-car.html


oh yeah and make sure your ABS is turned off else you will never be able to drift FWD.

PS.: Its VERY risky, and VERY is understatement here as FWD need to be in high speed which means you dont have much time to react if anything goes wrong. I practiced it on empty wet mud ground where I could practice even on low speeds.

Sorry to bombard but here is a variant of the car I tried my hands on... it was roughly 2 years back and I do not have any videos...



I will be going back to Delhi in Feb. and try to capture it this time

Only video I have of the car is this, where I was checking my new tires and their grip on the roads (no stunts were intentional or practiced in this video). Also in test were the new Philips halonix.



I am trying to relocate back to Delhi and then I have a complete modding planned for this car, already in talk with AutoPsyche

sounds good ..... but dont knw where this thread is going..

My thoughts exactly, but I thought to let you guys talk, because it seems there isn't enough of that, at this forum!! 

Hey, its really nice to know ppl are interested in rc cars here...

I tried to drift my slash 4x4 on a slick surface,it almost spun ou but a lot of fun to try.

actually you can drift a RWD rc car,it all depends on weight distribution

No rc rwd drift car with 'n' numbers of weight in front will drift the way it is suppose to drift . it will only slide wildly and some Scandinavian flicks maybe . 1:1 cars are different

^That.

have u seen any rwd drift vids?watch it,if u change the weight distribution,u have it like real car,u can drift properly with it if u have skill,and also the right motor placement,right tires for the surface and suspension settings correct,search on youtube for these vids,i have seen a cyclone RWD drift better than 4WD,just slower,the point is,RWD can drift,and i m going RWD when i find some people who drift in delhi,i know them through this site,but i haven't met the,(still waiting for their reply,)btw do me a favor,if u know any of your friends having rc drift cars residing in delhi,do tell them about me please,i m really willing to make a group of rc drifters in delhi,and then i m planning to make them all run RWD cars ,and btw SGdrifters(singaporian drifters) have already gone all rear wheel drive