The last of my 4 part series is practice technique. I have found diagrams from Tamiya and HPI; And 2 videos, 1 from Yokomo, and the other from HPI on the basic techniques for practicing.
"The figure eight is perfect for mastering the mixture of straights and turns that drift driving entails. Practice as often as you can, perfecting the timing of when to cut steering and the best throttle position for maintaining drift. When you're ready, practice high speed oval course driving and wild parking lot drift!" - Tamiya
Tamiya Drift Racing Techniques
Photo credit: Tamiya
HPI Drifting Techniques
Here is a "how to" r/c drift guide from HPI Europe.
Level 1: Practice initiating a drift. The more you accelerate, the more stable the car will be. Acceleration -> tail sliding -> counter steer. Start counter steering back to neutral upon acceleration. Keep practicing to perform this smoothly.
- Straight Driving: Maintain consistent throttle control. Sudden changes can throw the machine out of balance.
- Entering Turns: Release throttle for an instant, transferring force to the front of car while cutting the steering wheel.
- Beginning Drift: As rear starts to slide, counter-steer to prevent spinning out. Use throttle to maintain drift posture.
- Turning: Use throttle and steering to control turning radius. Start returning controls to neutral position as you near exit of turn.
- Exiting Turn: Return controls to neutral position, after car's position has stabilized, accelerate gradually.
HPI Drifting Techniques
Here is a "how to" r/c drift guide from HPI Europe.
Level 1: Practice initiating a drift. The more you accelerate, the more stable the car will be. Acceleration -> tail sliding -> counter steer. Start counter steering back to neutral upon acceleration. Keep practicing to perform this smoothly.
Car setting is standard diff front and rear with suspension setting same as grip driving.
Level 2: Drifting around a corner. Start drifting by accelerating right after braking. Keep drifting by controlling the acceleration. Use drift swings to smoothly drive through a sequence of curves. Practice to learn smooth acceleration and steering techniques.
Level 3: High performance drifting. To create a big drift angle, brake before entering the corner and control the throttle to pass the clipping point with a big angle. For an electric powered car, use a front one-way for rear braking to quickly change the direction and accelerate. Try to keep the car from spinning. Be careful with the throttle when using a front differential or exiting the corner.
For smooth weight shift: 20% softer suspension setting than grip driving.
Level 4: Driving with other cars: Twing Drift. Try to maintain your own driving style without being affected by other cars. Use acceleration and braking to maintain the drift angle.
Focus on drift angle, use a front one-way and rear diff with hard grease.
Let's have fun driving sideways!
Let's have fun driving sideways!
These diagrams can be found at RCdriftcars.com.
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