- 10,544
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
I need to tell you guys something. I am a bit of a newb.
I'm not afraid to admit this. I am a newb. More specifically, i am a drifting newb...at least so far as GT4 is concerned. But recently, i have made the step from newb to intermediate. 👍
In earlier games, (GT1, GT2, and gT3) i got rather good at controllable drifting. No, i can't say i'm one of those guys who can power-slide into a corner at insane speeds, but i was certainly capable at getting (at least) predictable drifts that look good in replays. What happened in gT4??? I SUCKED!
My early attempts at GT4 drifting were 90% complete disasters with the occasional half-baked power-slide (but not a true drift). I didn't get why. I would brake into turns just like i did in earlier games. I would hammer the throttle and (when appropriate) start to countersteer. That's where it all would fail.
Most of the time, i would wind up spinning out. The dreaded SNAPBACK SYNDROME. Ugh.
And if i couldn't get a workable slide going, instead my car would unceremoniously understeer. 
👎 Since i would often try & perform drifts during sim races, i sometimes would lose a position or 2 as i fuddled around. 
Well, no more.
Recently (as in tonite) things have changed. I can now predictably drift just about any passenger car that is driftable...including the 456-bhp black Chevelle pictured above.
I used to try and drift this Chevelle...either i would get snapback, understeer, or the dreaded power-spin. But tonite i figured out the secret: lift-off oversteer.
1). Drive toward a turn...for me, right now the tighter turns are best...i'm not a pro yet.
Brake heavily at first if you need to.2). Now start steering while keeping the brakes on (unless you've already slowed enough). In earlier GT's, you can just keep on those brakes while letting the rear-end "step out". In gT4, i would instead experience understeer if i held on to the brakes. So the secret is to let off the brakes isntead of holding them. 💡
3). When appropriate, (as i said) let go of the brakes, while keeping the steering cranked inwards. If you've got enough momentum, the rear of many cars will now "lift-off" or slide lightly as weight gets transferred from front (during braking) back to the rear. You may now notice slightly more oversteer instead of understeer. This is good! This is what we want!
4). In some cases, a quick stab on the brakes (and then no brakes) may be necessary to get the rear to step-out if it hasn't done so already.
5). As the rear kicks out slightly, now is the time to give some throttle. If your car is a torque-monster like the Chevelle above, you don't want to HAMMER the throttle, tho...instead give a quick stab (or several stabs, or a low-dosage of constant fuel) till the rear starts to walk.
6). Now we could be in danger of spinning. As i said, dont' stay on the gas more than you need to. This is an intuitive process. After awhile, you'll learn just how much to give (and it varies from moment to moment).
7). As the rear slides out, start countersteering SLIGHTYLY while giving moderate amounts of gas. In some cases, and with some cars, you will safely find you can countersteer heavily...but in most GT4 cars the front will "snapback" if you aren't careful. So (again) you have to be quick and intuitive if you want your drift to last. From moment to moment, you'll either be steering, countersteering, giving gas, or letting off the gas...
I just did the Muscle Car{/b] races. At Seattle, some of the Ai was getting fed up with my antics, as i showed-off and drifted just about every corner at the track!
. I swear that Super Bee Dodge slammed me on purpose as i drifted in front of him...he was so mad!
...but i didn't spin once. No snapback. Hooray!
) I'm now still trying to perfect my drifting with my G25, and got to say its even harder than using a controller. But not to say I could drift perfectly though (had spun off, understeer a few times) but I'm getting there with the pros. 👍
