My first drift day experience

[jamjia]

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd share my video from a recent trip to Snetterton where I learnt to drift with the help of the experts at MSV.

It's pretty much me going around the same corner 45 times and progressively getting better at it! A few spin outs and scary moments but in the end I think I mastered the corner as well as balancing the car's weight and power.

[youtube]gfHxOO1CQS8[/youtube]

Feel free to comment, suggest improvements or anything else that tickles your fancy. Banter and criticism are also welcomed.

Best,
J

 

[srhutch]

That Armco looked worryingly close

 

[jamjia]

Ha! Took me by surprise. Needed to keep my foot on the accelerator. The front end suddenly got bite and decided to swing the other direction.

 

[-Tom-]

Good video! Were you driving the rest of the lap pretty hard or was it mainly that section you were focussing on? I haven't done anything like it in my car, it looks a bit of a handful! No' 1 alone would have scared me!!

Could you think about putting some budget tyres on so you lose traction a bit easier whilst practising ?

 

[jamjia]

Tom, the other corners were pretty fast and furious. I don't think I have the right setup for those just yet. So mainly just coasted along the other parts and focused on getting this one right. Also because of the way the corner is designed, you could only spin out and go infields. Unless you did what I did in the first corner and lift off. Then the front end bites and where you end up will be a surprise to everyone.

A set of cheap tires will definitely help reduce the grip required but the car is a road car and the drift cars are setup in such a different way it's hard to compare the two.

 

[Taz]

looks fun, I did a drift day in a 1 series with little tyres on it

I like the camera position, what and how was this done?

 

[jamjia]

GoPro with suction mount. I tried a few different positions, need to improve the stability of the mount a little more. Was colour graded and edited in Final Cut Pro. Sound was added by YouTube

 

[buzyg]

Nice Video, looks like fun.

Have you thought about taking up gardning. :wink:

 

[Sim_Simma]

I'd like to try something like this, done little bits at slower speeds but never spun off. The video makes the z4m seem very hard to judge and control. Would like to know the difference between our cars and a drift car as they make it look far too easy.

 

[srhutch]

I think drift cars tend to have a 100% locked diff.

 

[-Tom-]

I think drift cars tend to have a 100% locked diff.

Yes .. A lot of people weld the diffs :-s

 

[jamjia]

Adding pressure to the rear tires to 50psi really helped. Otherwise yes, locked diff and also a handbrake system to get it breaking traction on corner entry. Also a lot of camber and toe on the front suspension. Road cars are not meant to break traction so easily.

 

[Sim_Simma]

Thought so with the diff, what makes it possible for drift cars to easily recover from 90 degrees yet the z4m spun out at a lower angle?

 

[paulgs1000]

Thanks for posting - really interesting watch.

What speed were you entering the corner?

Were you just using your road tyres - what state were they in at the end of your day - ok?

 

[beanie]

Seems like you improved so it's time we'll spent IMO and its always better to find the cars and you own limits in a controlled environment.

A tip I got from a chap that did competitive drifting was to always look where you want to go. Don't think about the barriers and definitely don't look at them-target fixation is a killer!

I enjoyed messing about on a wet go kart track in mine and I felt it benefitted me hugely in my understanding of the car but I'm loathed to do it in the dry as the loads, wear and risks seem to go up a fair bit. I've also got a bit anal about taking it out in the rain so I'm a bit torn on it now

Also, knowing how a little knowledge can be so dangerous, I have to remind myself how less than perfect I was every time I think about having a little play on wide empty roads. I love the idea of drifting out of hairpins for 100m, crossed up and tyres smoking but the sad reality is I'm simply not Chris Harris/Sebastian Loeb/whoever and would be just as likely to bin it as I would nail it. Hmmm, when's the next storm comin...!

 

[CornishRob]

Were you coming into those corners second gear and using the power?

 

[jamjia]

Were you coming into those corners second gear and using the power?

Yep, was doing about 40mph and then snapped left on the wheel with lots of power in 2nd gear.

 

[jamjia]

Thanks for posting - really interesting watch.

What speed were you entering the corner?

Were you just using your road tyres - what state were they in at the end of your day - ok?

Was about 40ish entering into the corner or might have been even slower. I realised in the end that slower equalled more controlled and longer drifts.

The weight of the car and the amount of grip meant that if I entered the corner faster, the shift in weight occurred too quickly to catch and often meant a spinout.

The tires were fine as I only concentrated on this one corner and gave them a lot of rest during the day to cool down.

 

[jamjia]

Thought so with the diff, what makes it possible for drift cars to easily recover from 90 degrees yet the z4m spun out at a lower angle?

More steering angle, lighter car, power, locked diff, the Z4 is a sports car meant to be driven hard and rough, I got some pretty good slip angles but not 90 degrees!

 

[jamjia]

Seems like you improved so it's time we'll spent IMO and its always better to find the cars and you own limits in a controlled environment.

A tip I got from a chap that did competitive drifting was to always look where you want to go. Don't think about the barriers and definitely don't look at them-target fixation is a killer!

I enjoyed messing about on a wet go kart track in mine and I felt it benefitted me hugely in my understanding of the car but I'm loathed to do it in the dry as the loads, wear and risks seem to go up a fair bit. I've also got a bit anal about taking it out in the rain so I'm a bit torn on it now

Also, knowing how a little knowledge can be so dangerous, I have to remind myself how less than perfect I was every time I think about having a little play on wide empty roads. I love the idea of drifting out of hairpins for 100m, crossed up and tyres smoking but the sad reality is I'm simply not Chris Harris/Sebastian Loeb/whoever and would be just as likely to bin it as I would nail it. Hmmm, when's the next storm comin...!

I told the MSV track day team about how I wished for a wet track. They said even though it's tougher to drift when dry, it's worth learning the limits of the car in dry conditions.

I did get better and you can see the result in my final few drifts in that video where it continued for around 5-6 seconds. At that moment I was looking at where I wanted to go rather the road so yeh it definitely all came together.

Massive respect for Chris Harris with what he does but remember it's all very controlled as well... We're getting the best edits as always and slow-mo REALLY helps to enhance the idea of the drift.