I just did my 1st drift event...WOW! It's wayyyyy toooo much fun! (It's also a lot harder than I had thought - and I came into the day knowing that it'd be hard)

I understand the reason for using the e-brake to induce a drift, but I'm wondering what is actually happening to the driveline of the car - I had assumed that the clutch would be IN when using the e-brake, but when I asked the experienced dirfters, they said that you just pull the e-brake quickly to momentarily lock the rear wheels w/ touching the clutch....so, where does this shock to the driveline get absorbed? does the vLSD or clutch just momentarily slip, does the engine actually see this shock?

I didn't use this method b/c I wasn't sure what it was doing and didn't want to stress the car...plus it's not too hard to use the Z's TQ to wag the tail.

I already had much respect for drifters (for the skill it takes), now I have even more!

 

I have always heard that you have to engage the clutch to make the e-brake lock up the tires. Think about it. Big torque, tiny E-brake drums, sticky tires. Besides, if you lock the wheels while the car is in gear, it will stall. Maybe you misunderstood something. You might use the E-brake with the car in gear to manage weight transfer and correct the car's attitude if the angle is too much and the tail is going to get too twitchy in a transition.
You simply can't stop the driveline without stalling the motor. Unless, of course, you are driving an automatic. Perhaps they were just slowing the car to transfer the weight. You can use the regular brakes for that, or just lift off the throttle.

 

lift-throttle drifting ftw.

 

that's what I thought...and is why I asked one of the better drifters out there - he said that you do a quick e-brake while in gear and not touching the clutch...he was kinda busy, so I didn't bother him with the mechanics of it. I think he might be right b/c I saw ppl in the middle of turns where their rear wheels lock up momentaily, then continue their drift...kinda seems too quick to push in the clutch, pull e-brake, then re-engage the clutch.

 

I'm not a drifter, but, the only thing I could think of is that you only lock up one wheel at a time.

 

i was just thinking how terrible the ebrake is to initiate a slide on our cars unless it's in the rain of snow. my car is worse since it's a heavier G35C. i tried doing a quick 180 (uturn) and it didn't even want to do it despite yanking on it with full force and using the footbrake really hard to shift weight to the front. i'd imagine you'd use more of a clutch kick when moving slow and feint or powerover technique at speed. this is all without the VDC on of course. most people i observe drifting in Z33s use momentum and a lot of throttle.

 

im too lazy to explain, so heres a video. whatch the last half for the e brake technique:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oid=1339894327

 

thanks for the link! (he does say that when he's pulling the e-brake that his clutch is in!)

 

yup, welcome. glad you enjoyed your first event

 

Hey that's chris! I went to H.S. with him, haha... He was just at the D1GP this weekend at Englishtown..

 

anyone that tells you to use the ebrake while still in gear with the clutch out is retarded...

 

If you want to learn how to drift go on LimeWire and download the Drift Bible. Keiichi Tsuchiya breaks it down step by step explaining 6 methods with cameras on the pedals outside ect. Its really good. He's the true DK before The Fast and the Furious used the name.

 

imho waste of time

 

agreed.

no. if you want to learn how to drift, get as much seat time as you can.

 

The video does help with learning methods down and explains the original part of the post. And the guy is the best so its just fun to watch if you have some free time.

 

watch the video all you want, nothing beats seat time.

although hes known as the "drift king" i doubt hes the best out there.

 

If you stall the motor, when you drop the brake it will refire because the car is moving, so the motor will see shock but its not "terrible."

I grew up with a dirt bike and when you go into a corner you lock and drag the rear wheel almost always. That stalls the motor and when you let go of the brake the motor refires (or you uhh have to stop). Same concept.

 

no, youre wrong.

why would you prefer to stall the motor (which btw requires more braking force than with the clutch in), effectively slowing down how quickly the brakes lock and then deal with waiting for the engine to refire to produce the instantaneous power you need, but will never get nearly as fast with the motor already reving..?

 

There is a good video of Tiff Needle (i think that is how you spell his name) on google video or youtube showing you how to do all sorts of fun stuff in a z3.

Just do a search on google or youtube with his name.

 

I wasn't saying that is what the drifters do, but explaining it works. So how am I wrong. Get your e-brake set "prefect" (means adjusting at the rear) and go 60 MPH, pull it in 3rd gear with the clutch pedal up, then release it. The tires will lock, engine stall, the tires will unlock and engine refire. I'm not arguing one way is faster or better, but saying - you CAN stall the motor and refire it that way.