Best advice.. Drifting

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Willwad82
I can race most cars on the game but when it comes to drift I am at a loss. Is there anything obvious I should look to be doing. Failing to get golds on some seasonal events. Any help would be great..
 
Big buffer
I can race most cars on the game but when it comes to drift I am at a loss. Is there anything obvious I should look to be doing. Failing to get golds on some seasonal events. Any help would be great..
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I am also useless at drifting! My understanding is that it is much easier to drift with a controller than a wheel as you go from lock to lock more quickly. I use a wheel and struggle to catch then balance the car - it tends either not to come round enough or snaps round too quickly for me to catch. From time to time I have tried to learn and have used drift tunes for the Buick GNX and MX5 - I think those are supposed to be suitable for beginners.

The main thing is that it takes a lot of practise - I have a friend who is a master at drifting and I asked him how long it took to get good and his reply - 4 to 5 hours a day for three years!
 
Tuning is indeed a lovely way, the amazing tuners in GTP's tuning forum have many many different cars for different skill levels :)

I too struggle with drifting and tuning, but I find the key with drifting is watching another's replay to see where they steer and such, as well as practice!
If you'd like a small hint, with the current trials you needn't be too speedy to get a gold; I say go at a pace you find lovely and build from there! You may get a bronze or silver a few times, but that's beyond okay. Small steps, friend!

The thread's for any drift trials can also be an amazing resource, with hints and tips and tunes and everything.
Good luck in your drifting adventure! I know you'll do well :)
 
I had a difficult time until I learned to set my wheel to about 200 degrees instead of the stock rotation. Then it was instantly easy. Usually Gold on first attempt, and then I double or triple the gold score.

Schmo has great drift tunes. But you can get the job done with any car by maxing power, comfort hards, and maxing the top two LSD settings. That's not as elegant as Schmo's finely tuned cars, but it's still easy gold.
 
The only advice I can give since I'm a pretty average "drifter" is to keep practising and trying. I used to struggle to gold them and now I can do it no problems although I am using a controller. One thing that is important is the tune though, I learnt how to create drift tunes that suit me and are stable for me which help out a lot.

A good way to practice is open lobbies at Tsukuba, I've had a lot of fun sliding with randoms and normally they'll help you out with tuning if need be.
 
It took me forever to learn it as well, now I can gold them no problem. I can't do it like those top 10 people.

Considering I just learned a few months back, here's what I found.

1. Use the controller, it's a lot easier unless you have a wheel that can go lock to lock quickly. I have a nice force feedback wheel, but heck with trying to do Drifts w it. Controller is so much easier. I actually use the D-pad and buttons, not the analog sticks. Matter of choice I'm sure.

2. Practice a little with the Jay Leno tank car. You don't need tuning on it (you can't anyway) and it's one of the easiest cars out there to learn to drift on. Throw Comfort Hard Tires on it and go. I tried and tried for ages until I noticed people using that car. It's soooo easy to learn on.

3. The idea is to keep the racing line like you would if you were driving normally. That's where you get the most points.

4. If you try to steer like you would normally, it messes you up. You literally control how far you slide with the gas pedal. Get good at feathering it. Took me forever to learn that.

5. Initiate the drift with the E-Brake or by going one direction slightly, then turn the wheel back hard to start the slide.

6. Be careful of counter-steering out of the turn if you're whipping around, control the gas pedal instead.

7. watch the replays of people in the top 10 and notice the speed they go into the turn at. It's really, really important you get the speed right. It pretty much determines if you can slide the right distance at full bore gas pedal.

8. Remember again, the gas pedal determines a lot, not the steering wheel. Biggest piece of advice I can give.

So in the end, you pretty much determine the speed to go into the corner at, start sliding by hitting e-brake or cutting the wheel hard into the turn, then whip the wheel the other direction facing which way you want to go. Hammer the gas at first and let up a little right before you start to whip the tail around too much. Then you just need to get a feel for how much gas you need as you go around the corner. Don't get tempted to turn the wheel back to counter-steer, you just catch traction and go the wrong way.

I'm kind of a noobie so take all that with a grain of salt, but I wish someone had told me that stuff when I started trying it. Hopefully the vets will add to it. Man, the replays are so worth it once you get it down though.
 
Tips to improve your technique:

Driving line:- This can be a little tricky to adapt to, you need to stop thinking about the fastest way through a bend and start thinking about the longest and smoothest way through a bend. You are aiming for the same basic Out-In-Out but instead of following it with the front of the car, you are following it with the rear, the front wheels are just there to stop you going past 90 degrees.
The idea is to keep as much momentum as possible, you want to be going sideways but still progressing forwards. If you are going sideways then you are going to start slowing down, drifting was originally used as a braking technique so that momentum/grip could be maintained on loose surfaces better than the traditional straight line braking technique . The more angle you have, the more you slow down, the less you have, the more momentum you keep.
You want to be turning in about a car length before where you would normally and much more aggressively in order to bring the rear around. Turn in hard, feel the rear step out, get on the throttle to encourage it and start counter steering to catch the slide. Use the throttle to balance the rear, smooth inputs to make sure you don't unbalance the car, if you lift off too suddenly the load will transfer onto the front wheels and you will pirouette around them.
Once sideways the major steering is done by the rear wheels, more throttle to get more rotation, less to straighten up. The job of the front wheels is just to follow the inside of the curve via counter steering.

Techniques:- There are 3 basic techniques to master that suit different situations but these are frequently mixed together simultaneously.

Handbrake- About as simple as it gets really, turn in to the corner hard, lift off the throttle and grab a fistful of handbrake to speed up rotation. The rear wheels will lock up and lose grip making them rotate around the front axle. Suited best to tight hairpins where you need to be facing the opposite direction quickly. In order to maintain the slide and momentum you will need to get on the throttle as soon as you let go of the handbrake.

Power Over: Again very simple, more akin to poor racing technique than drifting. Enter the corner as you would normally, slowing to the apex before picking your line and powering out. The idea is to wait until weight is transferred onto the rear wheels and then give it a big boot full of throttle and breaking traction.

Feint/Scandinavian Flick: A personal favourite of mine, I'd say I use it for 90% of drifting, a very effective way of changing forward momentum into sideways motion. Enter the corner about a car width from the outside edge, lift off the throttle and turn sharply away from the corner before turning back in and getting back on the gas. This basically shifts weight aggressively from side to side meaning that the break in traction happens quickly without losing too much forward momentum. This means that you can enter a corner already quite sideways without having to sacrifice speed which maximises efficiency and score.



Practice Car - https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/drift-haus-tuning-garage.302396/page-6#post-10181100
Don't be scared of the horsepower, this things a big pussy cat and won't take your head off at the first mistake. I highly recommend Tsukuba for learning, its a nice short track with a good variety of corner types that you will encounter elsewhere 👍
 
Not sure if anyone has said this, but. The best advise I can ever give to a beginner drifter, is change the controller sensitivity to 7. If you are using a controller. I was never told about this back when a friend was trying to get me into drifting in gt5. (Never played gt5 as much I did with past GT games, an GT6.
 
irabbiT
Not sure if anyone has said this, but. The best advise I can ever give to a beginner drifter, is change the controller sensitivity to 7. If you are using a controller. I was never told about this back when a friend was trying to get me into drifting in gt5. (Never played gt5 as much I did with past GT games, an GT6.
Click to expand...
Why would twitchier steering response help a beginner? :confused: I'd say a lower sensitivity would prevent them from putting too much input in and help the car remain balanced
 
DolHaus
Why would twitchier steering response help a beginner? :confused: I'd say a lower sensitivity would prevent them from putting too much input in and help the car remain balanced
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This is what just helped me by allot. And I still do it till this day, I'm not a drifter, it's something I used to do when I'm bored. But, having a lower sensitivity would mean *Try catch the wheels before spinning out* I remember when I first tried in gt5 with my mate, I quit within 5mins of getting mad, really mad, then I tried another day, for ages, on normal sensitivity, still got no where so I gave up, till in gt6, some random in a drag lobby just said try changing controller sensitivity to 7, so I did. An, I was able to handle the car, and not get mad an wanting to throw my console out, an it kind of kept me interested in drifting.

(Sorry for long post :P-
 
irabbiT
This is what just helped me by allot. And I still do it till this day, I'm not a drifter, it's something I used to do when I'm bored. But, having a lower sensitivity would mean *Try catch the wheels before spinning out* I remember when I first tried in gt5 with my mate, I quit within 5mins of getting mad, really mad, then I tried another day, for ages, on normal sensitivity, still got no where so I gave up, till in gt6, some random in a drag lobby just said try changing controller sensitivity to 7, so I did. An, I was able to handle the car, and not get mad an wanting to throw my console out, an it kind of kept me interested in drifting.

(Sorry for long post :p-
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If it works for you then keep at it 👍
Personally I find that upping the sensitivity just increases the need for precision in your inputs and this sharpens the knife edge so to speak. It just takes confidence really and a bit of backwards logic in places (ie. gone in too fast = stamp on the throttle to increase angle = slowing down faster), the important bit is being smooth and predictive in your inputs. You only need to keep the front wheels pointed roughly at where you want to go, the important work is done with the throttle once you've initiated the slide
 
Big buffer
I can race most cars on the game but when it comes to drift I am at a loss. Is there anything obvious I should look to be doing. Failing to get golds on some seasonal events. Any help would be great..
Click to expand...
turn off your traction control, and put on the lowest tires. (comfort hard) that will help out so much. From there, use the gas and brakes sparingly.
 
Hmm, I did'nt look at all the posts, but in my experience, drifttuning is only a minor improvement.

So, my tips is this, in order of importance:

1. Use the correct tyres (Comforts)
Front tyres should always be CH, and rear tyres depends on car and track, but CM will work fine with pretty much all cars as long as the power is enough.

2. Use a controller.
It gets alot easier, and for best effect, use a sensitivity of about 4-5. too low sensitivity means the "lock-to-lock" time gets too high, making it more difficult to make the car go where you want it to. Too high, and it gets twitchy, wich can work, but will usually not generate as much points.

3. take GT6's line.
The line where you score the most points in gran turismo is completely messed up, try looking at what the top guys do, and try to do the same.

4. Tuning the correct way.
A high LSD setting will help you keep the car under control, and a shorter gearbox will mean the torque gap is'nt so big that the rear wheels stops spinning under acceleration. If its 4WD you want the torque split towards the rear (10:90). Weight distribution depends on car and track, but 60:40 will work just fine on all cars. Dont be afraid to add weight, a 1800kg car can score just as much points as a 900kg car. And dont be afraid to max out your power either, more power just makes it easier to drift. :)
 
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TRL_Andromeda
Hmm, I did'nt look at all the posts, but in my experience, drifttuning is only a minor improvement.

So, my tips is this, in order of importance:

1. Use the correct tyres (Comforts)
Front tyres should always be CH, and rear tyres depends on car and track, but CM will work fine with pretty much all cars as long as the power is enough.

2. Use a controller.
It gets alot easier, and for best effect, use a sensitivity of about 4-5. too low sensitivity means the "lock-to-lock" time gets too high, making it more difficult to make the car go where you want it to. Too high, and it gets twitchy, wich can work, but will generally not generate as much points.

3. take GT6's line.
The line where you score the most points in gran turismo is completely messed up, try looking at what the top guys do, and try to do the same.

4. Tuning the correct way.
A high LSD setting will help you keep the car under control, and a shorter gearbox will mean the torque gap is'nt so big that the rear wheels stops spinning under acceleration. If its 4WD you want the torque split towards the rear (10:90). Weight distribution depends on car and track, but 60:40 will work just fine on all cars. Dont be afraid to add weight, a 1800kg car can score just as much points as a 900kg car. And dont be afraid to max out your power either, more power just makes it easier to drift. :)
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1. Never mix tyre compounds, front and rear should always be the same otherwise you end up with a really unbalanced and hard top predict car

2. Sensitivity has nothing to do with lock-lock time and speed of input does not affect your ability to drift. A lot of people seem to think you need to start counter steering immediately but its just not true, you only need to start countering when your car is at the desired angle.

4. A short transmission gives you little range to work with, you end up having to change gears between corners which unbalances the car, long gears are much easier to work with. Go as long as you can without bogging the engine.
More power is only helpful in a few specific circumstances, once traction is broken it doesn't take much power to keep the wheels lit, more power just means reduced control. If you are drifting really fast corners in 5th or 6th gear in a grippy car then its all about horserpower, most of the time however you are in 2nd or 3rd and all that extra power just makes it difficult to control at low speed.
Weight distribution is car specific, there is no ideal setting and 60:40 will not work fine on all cars. Adding weight will affect spring rates and make the car softer, this increases grip, reduces stability and makes the car slow to react to inputs. Heavy cars tend to be ruled by momentum, once they start going in a direction they don't want to stop, this makes them hard to hold speed with while maintaining control therefore reducing potential score. Weight doesn't have the exact same negative connotations as it does in racing but its still the same set of physics defining what's possible and weight has a huge affect on a cars ability to change direction and speed.
 
DolHaus
1. Never mix tyre compounds, front and rear should always be the same otherwise you end up with a really unbalanced and hard top predict car

2. Sensitivity has nothing to do with lock-lock time and speed of input does not affect your ability to drift. A lot of people seem to think you need to start counter steering immediately but its just not true, you only need to start countering when your car is at the desired angle.

4. A short transmission gives you little range to work with, you end up having to change gears between corners which unbalances the car, long gears are much easier to work with. Go as long as you can without bogging the engine.
More power is only helpful in a few specific circumstances, once traction is broken it doesn't take much power to keep the wheels lit, more power just means reduced control. If you are drifting really fast corners in 5th or 6th gear in a grippy car then its all about horserpower, most of the time however you are in 2nd or 3rd and all that extra power just makes it difficult to control at low speed.
Weight distribution is car specific, there is no ideal setting and 60:40 will not work fine on all cars. Adding weight will affect spring rates and make the car softer, this increases grip, reduces stability and makes the car slow to react to inputs. Heavy cars tend to be ruled by momentum, once they start going in a direction they don't want to stop, this makes them hard to hold speed with while maintaining control therefore reducing potential score. Weight doesn't have the exact same negative connotations as it does in racing but its still the same set of physics defining what's possible and weight has a huge affect on a cars ability to change direction and speed.
Click to expand...
So why is it then that me along with most others on top of the leaderboards use CH front and CS rear tyres for most cars? How come all top players use short gearboxes? How come all top players max out the power?
I know you are a tuner guy, DolHaus, but you have no idea how GT6 physics work, what you are stating here is maybe true in real life, not in GT6. I'm getting a bit fed up by people that think they know everything, but fail to accomplish anything. If you start doing some drifting and can put in a couple of, lets say, top 50 results, then your advice will be justified. Untill then, try opening your mind and listen to what the experienced drivers say, there is a reason we are good at this game.
 
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TRL_Andromeda
So why is it then that me along with most others on top of the leaderboards use CH front and CS rear tyres for most cars? How come all top players use short gearboxes?
I know you are a tuner guy, DolHaus, but you have no idea how GT6 physics work, what you are stating here is maybe true in real life, not in GT6. I'm getting a bit fed up by people that think they know everything, but fail to accomplish anything. Speaking as someone that can easily get in the top 20, try opening your mind and listen to what the experienced drivers say, there is a reason we are good at this game.
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This has got nothing to do with real life and I'm quite familiar with how the physics in game work. Please explain to me why anything of what you said before makes sense?

Why would grippier tyres on the rear help?
Why would 60:40 weight distribution work on everything?
Why would more weight help?
Why would maxing power help?

I'm not doubting you as a driver but your previous advice is full of contradictions. Also please don't bring rankings into this like its the be all and end all, not everyone has the time to spend hunting down every last little point, some of us only have enough game time to get gold and get out
 
DolHaus
Why would grippier tyres on the rear help?
Click to expand...
It is used to increase traction of the spinning tyres, making it easier to control, as in, when you hit the throttle, they will break traction, but if you start to get overrotation, you can release the throttle and it will get back to you. On CH/CH, you might not be able to get the car back in line if the rear end steps out too much. Its the same reson you use a hi setting of the LSD.
DolHaus
Why would 60:40 weight distribution work on everything?
Click to expand...
It does'nt. but its a start to work from. more rear weight will help keep the rear out in fast drifts, and keep the momentum up, wheres more front weight will improve controlabillity.
DolHaus
Why would more weight help?
Click to expand...
Depending on track and car, you might need that extra momentum.
DolHaus
Why would maxing power help?
Click to expand...
If the front end starts to loose grip, you can power over to get it back in line, if you got no power, you have to use the handbrake, costing speed and momentum, meaning you'll either have to let go of the drift before the end of the corner, or you end up on the inside of the corner due to lack of momentum.
DolHaus
I'm not doubting you as a driver but your previous advice is full of contradictions. Also please don't bring rankings into this like its the be all and end all, not everyone has the time to spend hunting down every last little point, some of us only have enough game time to get gold and get out
Click to expand...
This is true, and I'm sorry if I sounded harch and condescending before. The thing is you are questioning something that I know for a fact most top players do. the key is to have as many tools in your arsenal as possible, to be prepared for any adjustments you'll need to do mid-drift. For example, being able to power out ouf the corner, shifting up to 6'th and hit full throttle, NOS and everything. this will be usefull if the exit of the corner is very straight and you want to maintain the drift angle. Or if you go through a undualting corner you may get snap oversteer, then its good to have more rear grip, so that the rear end of the car gets back in line faster.
 
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TRL_Andromeda
It is used to increase traction of the spinning tyres, making it easier to control, as in, when you hit the throttle, they will break traction, but if you start to get overrotation, you can release the throttle and it will get back to you. On CH/CH, you might not be able to get the car back in line if the rear end steps out too much. Its the same reson you use a hi setting of the LSD.

It does'nt. but its a start to work from. more rear weight will help keep the rear out in fast drifts, and keep the momentum up, wheres more front weight will improve controlabillity.

Depending on track and car, you might need that extra momentum.

If the front end starts to loose grip, you can power over to get it back in line, if you got no power, you have to use the handbrake, costing speed and momentum, meaning you'll either have to let go of the drift before the end of the corner, or you end up on the inside of the corner due to lack of momentum.

This is true, and I'm sorry if I sounded harch and condescending before. The thing is you are questioning something that I know for a fact most top players do. the key is to have as many tools in your arsenal as possible, to be prepared for any adjustments you'll need to do mid-drift. For example, being able to power out ouf the corner, shifting up to 6'th and hit full throttle, NOS and everything. this will be usefull if the exit of the corner is very straight and you want to maintain the drifing angle. Or if you go through a undualting corner you may get snap oversteer, then its good to have more rear grip, so that the rear end of the car gets back in line faster.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your incite and I agree with you on most things said here, I will certainly take these things into consideration when I next get the chance to build a seasonal tune 👍

While these things might improve an experienced drivers upper limit they might not be so good for a less experienced one. Most of my published drift tunes are aimed at novice drivers, I build cars that anyone can hop in, mash the throttle, go sideways and have a whale of a time with their friends. In my experience that means the car has to be consistent and have a large margin for error, giving them a fire breathing monster that needs to be treated with the utmost finesse and a telepathic connection between man and machine isn't going to do them any good. I mean it will improve them ultimately as a driver when they get the hang of it but for a long time they'll be going backwards into every gravel trap in the land because the car is just so much more then they can handle
 
DolHaus
Thank you for your incite and I agree with you on most things said here, I will certainly take these things into consideration when I next get the chance to build a seasonal tune 👍

While these things might improve an experienced drivers upper limit they might not be so good for a less experienced one. Most of my published drift tunes are aimed at novice drivers, I build cars that anyone can hop in, mash the throttle, go sideways and have a whale of a time with their friends. In my experience that means the car has to be consistent and have a large margin for error, giving them a fire breathing monster that needs to be treated with the utmost finesse and a telepathic connection between man and machine isn't going to do them any good. I mean it will improve them ultimately as a driver when they get the hang of it but for a long time they'll be going backwards into every gravel trap in the land because the car is just so much more then they can handle
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Maybe. But I dont think they get more difficult to control at all, as you can throw them whereever you want.
There are 2 things that I think might be the difference:
1: because of the softer rear tyres, it becomes harder to initiate the drift, but when you've started drifting, it gets easier to control where you are going.
2: I forgot to say this, but as I use manual transmission, I can use the gears as a limit of how much I want the tyres to spin. That may be the difference when it comes to the power, the car can have a milion horsepower, the whjeeels wont spin any faster unless you shift up a gear. so you get the benefit of the high power, with none of the drawbacks. That is another example of things that can be done in GT6 that just is not possible in real life.

If you use the techniques as you should, GT6 drifting is the easiest thing in the world, and as I said, the setup of the car is usually the least of your problems.
 
My advice: find an FR car you like (take a common drift car as a base), add comfort hards, search out some tunes through these forums or on Team Shmo, then get out and practice your ass off.

I was useless at drifting when I started, but after a few simple steps I'm now golding the seasonals and able to pull off decent linked-corner drifts. A bit more practice and I might even get a decent finish in the rankings one day!

My suggestions for starter drift cars:

Nissan 200SX or Silvia
Mazda RX-7
BMW 330 or M3
 
TRL_Andromeda
Hmm, I did'nt look at all the posts, but in my experience, drifttuning is only a minor improvement.

So, my tips is this, in order of importance:

1. Use the correct tyres (Comforts)
Front tyres should always be CH, and rear tyres depends on car and track, but CM will work fine with pretty much all cars as long as the power is enough.

2. Use a controller.
It gets alot easier, and for best effect, use a sensitivity of about 4-5. too low sensitivity means the "lock-to-lock" time gets too high, making it more difficult to make the car go where you want it to. Too high, and it gets twitchy, wich can work, but will usually not generate as much points.

3. take GT6's line.
The line where you score the most points in gran turismo is completely messed up, try looking at what the top guys do, and try to do the same.

4. Tuning the correct way.
A high LSD setting will help you keep the car under control, and a shorter gearbox will mean the torque gap is'nt so big that the rear wheels stops spinning under acceleration. If its 4WD you want the torque split towards the rear (10:90). Weight distribution depends on car and track, but 60:40 will work just fine on all cars. Dont be afraid to add weight, a 1800kg car can score just as much points as a 900kg car. And dont be afraid to max out your power either, more power just makes it easier to drift. :)
Click to expand...
For the most part I agree with you, for the weight I usually try to keep it around 50/50. I do the same for tires, comfort hard in the front and comfort soft on the rear or mediums depending on the car and track. Back in gt5 I used to be horrible at drifting and could barely get bronze, I started watching the top 10 players replays. I noticed they had a lot of camber and were running CH and CS, after a lot of trail and error I now gold the drift trails and usually finish in the top 1000.
This is how I usually set a car for drifting, front: comfort hard rear: comfort soft or medium, the suspension I only change camber to F:10/R:10 sometimes I run a lower front camber. Transmission I reset it and lower max speed and only adjust final gear to fit me, I only mess with the individual gears if there is to much bogging in between gear changes. For the LSD, I turn acceleration up to 60, and for AWD cars turn the torque split to 10-35/75-90. Depending on the car I will use all power upgrades, and I usually do all weight reduction upgrades. Depending on how the car feels, I try to make the weight balance around 50/50 and if the car has downforce, lowering the rear down force helps.
 

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