Is drifting really faster?

[Darkstar]

EDIT: Well guys, this is my first post over here, so I'm just saying HELLO! I'm searching for my very own Hachi right now...

Apolan Wrote:even keiichi said in drifting bible that he usually drifts the last corrner on one track in the championship. (dont eggzactly know which track). he was refering to hi speed lift-off or dynamic drifting as he called it.

I beleive he was reffering to the Fuji Speedway. I just can't imagine how he did it - from what I remember, the last corner is going uphil. It might have been another one (100R?). Anyway, sometimes drifting IS advantageous for the car's speed. From my own experience in driving during the winter, oversteer can help you in some situations... Let's take a snowy square for example.

Imagine a mid-sized square - it's been snowing for a week already. The first layer of snow was pressed to the ground by another one, which has fallen yesterday. The surface is flat. In one corner of the square, you put two pylons - that's the place you're going to start from. Somewhere in the middle of it, there are two pylons, about 30 or 40 meters from each other. You start, go around one pylon trying to grip, and around the other one you slide, even using the handbrake (doesn't matter what kind of technique you will use to initiate the slide). All you have to do is to make 5 ovals like that.

You instantly notice one very important thing - even though the Hachi isn't a very front-biased car, it's going to have trouble with understeer when trying to grip-drive. There's simply no way the car would behave neutrally, if you try to push it hard of course. It's possible to slide at the exit, when already heading to the other pylon, but that only wastes time, because as soon as you go through the midpont of the corner (let's say, "the pylon hairpin") you've got to accelerate as fast as you can, and head to the other corner immidiately.

Now let's look at the second pylon - let's say you start sliding in the right point, AFTER you turn in (you can use the handbrake to initiate that). You go tightly around the pylon, and stop sliding when you pass the midpoint. That way, you're not going to lose time trying to power oversteer the car when it understeers.

I suppose this scenario would also be applicable to other loose surfaces, such as gravel...