Originally posted by See-Fu
I can't seem to figure this out.
When I get the tail end to really step out, how do I tuck it back in more? I've tried playing w/ the throttle, but i just usually end up spinning.
As layzeeboi pointed out, in addition to not being afraid to nail the throttle and peg it while sideways, you also have to have the wisdom to know when to let off the throttle completely. You have to feel where the weight is balanced on the rear wheels. When you apply throttle that causes the tires to slide or if they are already sliding when you apply it, two things happen: First you will induce understeer or oversteer by applying forward power at a loss of traction, meaning you don't have enough traction once sliding to accelerate the car forward, so instead the rear just comes out to the side. Which direction the rear-end will go depends on which side has more traction, NOT on which direction the car is already sliding, which brings me to the second thing that happens. In doing this sliding, you also transfer even more weight to whichever side of the rear-end has more traction (meaning whichever already has more weight on it to begin with). This is because of inertia preventing the car's upper weight from the afforementioned change in direction.
So what I'm getting at is that, if you apply throttle when the weight in the rear is shifted to the outside, your car will turn into the corner more (oversteer). If you apply throttle when it's shifted to the inside, you can actually induce understeer. This is often done with an accel-off technique for linking two corners together. You can actually get on the throttle while still sliding through the first corner, but after you have transferred weight to the opposite side for the second corner. This allows for some very impressive linking of corners. That's the extreme, though. Knowing how to control that weight balance applys to every move you make in drifting. For preventing extreme angles, you need to keep your weight closer to center in the rear so that all your power isn't going to the outside wheel. So if you give it too much throttle and it pops out too far and you can feel it wanting to go further, let it glide for a sec with no throttle. When you feel the rear-end start dragging again because the weight is more evenly distributed, then you can apply throttle again.
The timing of this all depends greatly on the tuning of the car, of course. Stiffer suspension means that you can be more proactive in balancing that weight because there isn't as much travel in the suspension. The springs, dampers, and LSD must be tuned so that the driver is able to precisely control the weight distribution within the limits of the car's abilities. In my opinion, they are the 3 most important settings for tuning a drift car. If you use stock everything else, at least upgrade these parts.
Wow this got long. Hope it makes sense, I'm very tired.
