S-Chassis.com - Begginer's guide to drifting

I just came across this...

A Beginner's Guide to Drifting
by Edward Loh

The ideal drifter is a lightweight, front-engine, rear wheel-drive sports car with (of course) a manual transmission - and to be authentic, it has to be Japanese. Fathers of the sport prefer the Nissan 240SX and Toyota Corolla GT-S. In factory form, both are relatively low on horsepower but possess the two most important characteristics of a drift machine: exceptional balance and handling. You should be able to find one on a used car lot for around $3,000. But hurry - as drifting's popularity increases, so do the prices.

1. Since you'll be learning to drift at legally sanctioned events (and not on city streets, right?), track officials won't even let you ride along, let alone drive, without a helmet and a racing harness. Once you have the proper setup, you are ready to go. The core concepts in drifting are weight transfer and breaking traction. When a car's weight shifts forward while entering a turn, traction is lost at the rear wheels. With firm steering and throttle inputs, the traction loss can be total, resulting in a drift.

2. One way to get those rear wheels sliding is to punch the brakes (without locking them up) while entering a turn. This causes the car to dive, shifting weight off the driving wheels and (hopefully) inducing a four-wheel slide when the throttle is quickly reapplied. Another method is to pop the clutch under throttle while turning. This sends a shock through the drivetrain, forcing the rear tires to spin. Perhaps the simplest method: Yank the emergency brake at speed while sharply turning the wheel - a rather inelegant technique that doesn't rely as much on weight transfer as it does momentarily locking up the rear wheels to lose traction.

3. Once you've initiated the drift, do your best to keep it going. When the tail begins to slide, ignore your first impulse to get off the gas. Maintain throttle pressure to keep the wheels spinning, but don't overdo it or you'll end up spinning out. Also, steer into the direction you are sliding, and not the direction your car is pointed. If you're able to balance this mix of steering and throttle input, you should be able to keep your car drifting through a turn. To get out, simply lay off the gas pedal and bring the steering wheel around. Done correctly, your car should snap back in line.

EDIT:
_---DRIFT TECHNIQUES ---_

Kansei Drift- is performed at race speeds when, upon entering a high speed corner, a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild over steer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. Note that the car used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car so that the over steer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn the technique will not work.

Braking drift- is performed by tail braking into a corner, resulting in loss of grip and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. Note that this is mainly for medium to low speed corners.

Faint Drift- is performed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of grip to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is a rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering, mainly on tight mountain corners.

Clutch Kick- is performed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during a mild drift, then popping the clutch to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction.

Shift Lock- is performed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires, inducing an over steer. This is similar to pulling the E-brake through a turn and should be performed on wet surfaces to minimize damage to the driveline.

E-Brake Drift- is a very basic technique in which the driver pulls the E-Brake (emergency-brake) to induce rear traction loss and balances the drift through steering and throttle play. Note that this can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles.

Dirt Drop Drift- is performed by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Note that this technique is very useful for low horsepower cars.

Jump Drift- is a technique in which the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer.

Long Slide Drift AKA Inertia Drift- is performed by pulling the E-brake through a straight to start a high angle drift and to holding this to set up for the turn ahead. Note that this can only be done at high speed.

Swaying Drift- is a slow side-to-side, faint-like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a straight.

FF Drift- or front wheel drive drift is a technique in which the E-brake as well as steering and braking techniques are used to balance the car through a corner. Note that the E-brake is the main technique used to balance the drift.

Power Over- is performed when entering a corner and using full throttle to produce heavy over.

^pulled that off someones cardomain, thanks!

thought it was a good write up, pretty basic, but gives a good idea of what's going on. Add anything that this article missed...