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- StephenR9000
Gran Dori Dori
A Guide To Drifting in GT3
By Bryan C.
In this guide, I will be discussing drifting basics, the physics behind drifting, getting the car sideways, keeping it sideways, and getting it back straight again. I cant really make a video right now, so I am writing this instead. When I get the chance to make a tutorial video, I will. Ok, so lets get started.
Drifting Physics:
Ok, before you go out and start trying to get sideways, lets go over whats occuring when your car is sideways. In an ideal drift, traction to the rear wheels is upset while maintaining as much grip to the front wheels as possible. As the rear end loses traction, action is taken to spin the back end outward pointing the car toward the center of the curve. At this point, opposite lock is applied (the drive steers out of the slide, or in the direction of movement), and at the same time, the throttle is applied. When done properly, this sets up a balance of sorts. As the wheels in the front pull the front end around the corner, the rear end is sliding along due to loss of traction. A more advanced technique to add to this is, as you are entering a corner, lightly apply the brakes to shift the weight of the car forward over the front wheels. This allows the rear wheels to travel more lightly over the pavement, and gives your front tires better grip, allowing you to get better angles, and travel faster around the corner than you normally could.
Opposite Lock/Tracing:
As the rear end comes around, the amount of opposite lock applied is critical. The amount which you opposite lock should be just barely more than the amount that rear end has slid out. Any less and the car will not stay sideways, and any more and the car will begin to gain too much angle, eventually resulting in a spin. If at any point during a drift you need more angle (i.e. the curve becomes sharper, the car is going to straighten out, or you just wanna see how much angle you can get), a slight push of the steering further than the proper opposite lock will give you more angle, just make sure that you go back to your balance point quickly afterwards to avoid spin. Be careful, because once more angle is applied, your balance point will require more opposite lock. If you cause the car to come to such an angle that the opposite lock can no longer compensate, then you will spin.
Throttle Control::
Once the car is sideways, the throttle takes a major role in pushing the car around the corner. Without throttle, the car will simply slide sideways in a mostly straight line, resulting in you smashing into the outside wall. In most drifts, the throttle is applied to encourage the back end to swing outward, after which the throttle is released to allow the tires to begin gripping just slightly. As the tires begin to grip again, the throttle is feathered. Pushing the gas will cause the car to go more toward the inside of the corner, and letting off will cause the car to drift outward toward the outside of the corner. However, if you carry too much speed into your drift, the exact opposite is true. If you come into a corner too fast, the best way to compensate is to brake at the same time as applying more opposite lock than normal to keep the car balanced, and then let off the gas so that the natural resistance of the tire against the road slows the car until the car returns to a normal drift line. We'll talk more about techniques later.
Preparing For a Drift:
As you approach the corner from a straight, begin to very slightly disrupt the balance of the car by shaking the steering a bit (steer one way, then the other, as if you were going to fishtail), this should be a very feint and hardly noticeable motion, just so that the car will break loose easier when you reach your turn in point. In exhibition drifting, this can be done in a very exaggerated manner if you wish to be showy.
Entering the Drift:
My method for entering a corner is usually a combination of lift-off oversteer and braking entry techniques. As I was going down the straight preparing for the corner, I already began upsetting the balance of the vehicle, and as I get to my turn in point, I will lift completely off the gas, causing the car to oversteer and the rear end to slide out, and as it does, I apply brakes to slow down to cornering speed and control the car entering the corner, and then quickly get on the gas to maintain the drift.
Corner Entry Methods:
Feint: This is where you steer in the opposite direction of the corner, and then hard in the direction of the corner. This must be time perfectly, as the second steering motion must be done right at the entry point of the corner. This is more of an advanced technique, and is usually used in exhibition drifts, or when speed needs to be maintained as long as possible. When done properly this will allows you to come into a corner faster and use the brakes less.
Braking: This is where the brakes are used to upset the balance of the car in combination with the steering. This is actually a very fast entry method for longer corners if you just need to kick the back end out quickly. Simply turn hard and stab the brakes and catch the slide with the throttle.
Over-Power: This technique uses the throttle to over-power the rear tires, disrupting grip and allowing the rear end to slip out, this is usually used in high-power drift cars for longer corners, but many use it on all corners. It comes in handy in a bad spot if your car has enough power to pull it off (you have to have enough hp to spin the rear tires at the speed you are travelling).
Lift-Off Oversteer: This is a very often over-looked method of drifting. As you accelerate, the weight of the car is pushed backwards, as you let off the accelerator, the weight is transfered to slightly more forward than its nuetral position, putting more downforce on the front tires, causing over-steer. This can be harnessed to throw the car sideways. This is the most used technique for intertia drifting and linking corners, but is usually over-looked in other circumstances.
Exiting Corners:
Ok, so now you've got the hang of getting it sideways, and you can keep it sideways, but if you're anything like me, your biggest frustration comes when you go to exit the corner. I dont know about anyone else, but I struggled with my exits more than ANYTHING. I ALWAYS spun when I went to exit a sharp corner. Exiting has the most basic theory behind it, but its so hard to get down. As you come to your exit point of your corner, start dialing out opposite lock. As we discussed before in opposite locking and tracing, this will cause the car to begin straightening out. If the car wont pull out, let off of the throttle a little until it does. If the car over-corrects on you, just opposite lock and try and get it back to straight. Dont give up, you'll get the hang of it!
-----EDIT----
While drifting today, I noticed that when I am exiting a corner, right when I want to initiate the exit, I push the opposite lock a bit more than it already is, and this begins to straigten out the car, and THEN I start dialing out opposite lock. I think this is a point alot of people miss when writing a tutorial because its muscle memory and not a conscious thing we do.
Linking Corners:
Ok, so now you can drift through a corner like a PRO...... well, until you get to those two stupid corners that are impossible close together and you go flying into the wall while trying to exit the first corner. Pain in the arse aint it? Well this is where linking comes in handy. To link a corner, as you near the entry point of the 2nd corner, let off the throttle and steer slightly more into the second corner (you should already be steering toward it if you are opposite locked), this will cause lift-off oversteer as discussed. Allow the car to over-correct and slide the other direction, and as the car passes center point and the back end slides out, simply do what you would do in any other drift. In most cases, I will use the brakes to re-center the weight of the car. To do this, just as the car reaches its center point (the position the car would be in if you were grip racing) lightly press the brakes to transfer the weight of the car forward over the front tires.
Gears, The Power Band, And Wheelspin:
Alright, so you have done drifting, but you dont quite have it down why your car responds differently sometimes at the same speeds, on the same corner, of the same track, when you use the same entry point, and do the same things with the gas and steering. Well, there is a reason, and that is you are at a different place in your power band.
When approacing a sharp corner, you will do things differently than when approaching a broader corner. The quickest way to stop is to use your gears. If you are doing 120mph in 5th gear and you need to make it around a right hairpin, lets say the one off the straight on Apricot Hill, then downshift to 4th, but stay in fourth until you reach your desired entry speed, then shift quickly from 4th to 2nd to throw your rev's back into the power band so you can get around the corner. This will allow you to stop faster and over a shorter distance, allowing you to brake later, and turn it at the proper time, and since you go straight from braking to acceleration, its easier to balance your car this way as well.
Now, remember, you need to know where you cars power band IS, in order to use it. This power band varies greatly from car to car, so you will have to find it with each different car you use. Some cars have a very narrow power band, and some have a very broad power band. The power band is the range of RPM's during which the car is acheiving its greatest power. When you are outside of that power band, you lose alot of power, and alot of times, you wont have the power to keep the rear wheels spinning, but more about that later.
To find your cars power band (average, its changes in different gears), accelerate through 2nd, and toward the end of the gear, pay attention to where your acceleration begins to slow before you shift to the next gear. Where you begin to lose acceleration is the top end of your power band. Then, upshift to 3rd, and pay attention to where the RPM's drop to, this is the rough beginning of your power band. The game will state the max HP of car at a certain rpm (320hp @ 6,500 rpm), and your power will slowly increase from the beginning of your power band to that point, and that point, most of the time, will be your ideal shift point, because after that point, you begin to lose power. That is a good guide to learn your cars ideal shift point, but remember, shifting at your ideal shift point allows you to accelerate faster, but sometimes it is necessary to run your gears in order to time your corners properly. Running your gears is using the full RPM range all the way to redline instead of shifting at your ideal shift point before shifting.
Now if you remember properly, accelerating causes more angle, and letting off of the throttle decreases angle. Well, you can also let off the gas too much, causing your revs to exit the power band. When this happens, they spinning slows to the point that the tires will grip, causing a spin if it happens too suddenly, and since you no longer have the power to initiate will spin, the car IS going to spin, so be careful not to push this point too far, if you feel the revs slipping too low, dont be afraid to downshift.
Which brings us to the last thing I am going to discuss, wheel spin, it helps, and it hinders. A little wheelspin will hold you nicely through a corner, even more wheelspin will give you a nice angle, and even MORE wheelspin will give you great distance sideways. By accelerating wayyyy to much and perhaps even going up a gear, you can cause MASSIVE wheelspin (with TCS off of course) thus allowing you to travel greater distances over straights to link corners without having to sway. But be warned, this is very tricky, as you have to reduce wheelspin SLOWLY, or face the hells of the spinning we discussed earlier. Ideally, begin letting off the gas slowly, and enter the corner as you brake lightly to bring the car gracefully into the next corner.
In Closing:
I CANT DRIFT I CANT DRIFT!!! No matter what I do cant drift! how the hell did you get so fekking good? This shi* is impossible! Yah... I hear that all the time, well, not the good part, cuz I suck, but you get the point. I'll tell you what I tell everybody.... TRY! Seat time is the best teacher in the world. The more time you spend behind the wheel, the more comfortable you will become with being sideways. At this point, I am actually more comfortable sideways in GT3 than I am grip racing, lol. Just sit down, play, drift, and keep at it. I do about 40/50 laps average a day (because I have the most boring life in the world), and I still suck, so just keep at it, cuz this takes alot of practice, period. This is not something you are going to pick up over night, and while some people will be naturally better than others at this, we ALL have to practice practice PRACTICE!!
) that are out there right now, if people still can't figure out how to drift...there isn't much hope for them. The only thing left to say is 'practice.' 
