What are the best drift tires?

[Hayden]

Damn, another one of these threads? That was quick! I'll just use the same TwinTurboCH quote as I did in the last one...

TwinTurboCH
I work for Europes highest level drift series. I drive in Europes highest level drift series. I also Judge professionally accross Europe, so I think I'm reasonably well qualified to answer this.

In real life, there are several championships that allow 'Slicks' and similar and yet NO-ONE uses them. Why? Because they don't provide progressive traction and make most cars almost impossible to drive. I know a few people who have tried to use them, one had a large accident in the processs, one had a catastrophic tyre failure which caused over a £1000 worth of bodywork damage, and the other failed to qualify for the top 16 for the first time in his career. All went back to road tyres immediately.

In our main series, most drivers use normal road tyres, the equivelant of Comfort Hards, for battles and pretty much ALL of them use them for qualifying.

When things change, is in the battles. Some drivers will use super soft track tyres, Driftworks use the Federal RSR for instance, a couple of teams use the Maxxis MZ-1 Drift, I and a couple of others choose to use Kumho V70A's. This is because in the battles, any speed advantage is a good thing, but it usually has some effect on the performance in drift, reducing overall angle and smoke.

The fact is this, drifting in QUALIFYING is mostly about ANGLE and SMOKE. Therefore you use the tyre which allows the most of each (comfort tyre). Speed during solo runs is irrelevant to a point, as the two or three extra miles an hour a 'sport' tyre gives is not noticable to the judges (and in real life it IS only 2-3mph). The extra grip provided by the 'sports' means that with any given power in a drift car, you will be able to hold more angle and produce more smoke with a 'comfort' tyre because you can spin the wheels more. Using a 'Sport' tyre in qualifying will only hurt your score in 90% of championships.

So why do we use them in battles? Well, in battles, it is an accepted fact that both drivers are trying to go more quickly than in qualifying as you are trying to beat the other driver. As a result, while trying to find grip and traction, your angles and smoke levels are inevitably lower than in qualifying, this is because, as most people know, grip drops with the amount of wheelspin (more spin = less grip). Because of this, what you find is that, drifting on a 'comfort' tyre while trying to find speed produces similar results to drifting flat out on 'sports', the only difference being that you can queeze a tiny bit more speed out of the sports.

In real life, the differences in speed are in fact, quite negligable. A top level drifter on 'comforts' will be easily able to keep up with a mid level drifter on sports. The problem arises from the fact that the same IS NOT true in GT5. Sports in GT provide SIGNIFICANTLY more grip than comforts, meaning that the closing speeds on track are just massively unrealistic. In real life even slicks don't provide as much extra speed over 'comforts' as sports do in GT5. The difference is the way the tyre relinquishes it's grip and the way it recovers it. As a result, many of us who are 'pro-level' (i don't say pro as, like someone said above, none of us get paid to play GT5) will pick a tyre that MOST can drift on (comforts) and limit a room to that so that people can join in knowing that everyone is going to be the same speed and enjoy a bit of twinning.

I actually often find that most people who want to use sports are actually terrible drivers and can't link a circuit up in any way, just drifting individual corners, which frankly is pooh LOL They seem to thrive on the argument that they are 'fast' but they clearly don't get that drifting is not about outright speed. The main point being, I have NEVER found someone who can drift a course better on sports than they can on comforts.

Once you can link an ENTIRE track on comfort hard, then you progress to comfort medium, then onto comfort soft. If you can STILL link the entire track on comfort soft, THEN go and try to drift on Sport Hard's. But until you've done that, I'd be willing to bet money that a lot of the guys on comfort hard will hand you your ass in every battle you have

Seasoned with the same video from SAi...


And topped off with Thecla246's troll pic....

 

[SKOT_FREE]

Damn, another one of these threads? That was quick! I'll just use the same TwinTurboCH quote as I did in the last one...

Seasoned with the same video from SAi...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-vcnU4L-_c">YouTube Link</a>

And topped off with Thecla246's troll pic....

I've been on hiatus from GT5 for around 3 months and this tire argument is still around? I have been to many D1 and Formula D drift events and walked pits and have Never seen someone with Comfort hHard tires. I do see sport tires however with the most common being Falken Azenis tires with Shaved Treads, which is classified Sport tires! Now I do see people uses comfort level tires at Drift Days because Comfort Tires last longer than sports and are cheaper. I don't know where you guys are getting this stuff from. I don't mind if you are a tandem team and that's your regulation, but to force everyone into using CH tires under the misconception that they are the best drift tire is way off.

 

[Lazy Liquid]

Does anybody want some popcorn?

 

[squirlybmx]

Does anybody want some popcorn?

I'm really in the mood for some skittles too. I'll go get them, hold my seat for me.

 

[fastfox400]

I've been on hiatus from GT5 for around 3 months and this tire argument is still around? I have been to many D1 and Formula D drift events and walked pits and have Never seen someone with Comfort hHard tires. I do see sport tires however with the most common being Falken Azenis tires with Shaved Treads, which is classified Sport tires! Now I do see people uses comfort level tires at Drift Days because Comfort Tires last longer than sports and are cheaper. I don't know where you guys are getting this stuff from. I don't mind if you are a tandem team and that's your regulation, but to force everyone into using CH tires under the misconception that they are the best drift tire is way off.

Real life and GT5 do not compare. The physics are different. FD and D1 use Falken Azenis, or Nitto Invo because of the amount of grip they provide. But the cars are specifically setup to get alot of angle while still be able to maintain speed. Where as in GT5 you have to lose grip to get alot of angle and trying to maintain spped. CS provide the grip but limit the amount of angle that can be acheived.

 

[MaliciousMD]

I have been to many D1 and Formula D drift events and walked pits and have Never seen someone with Comfort Hard tires. I do see sport tires however with the most common being Falken Azenis tires with Shaved Treads, which is classified Sport tires!!

"Survey Says..... Errrrr" Wrong! Please refrain from using your status as a spectator to determine what is competition legal.

Here's most of the tire rules for FD for 2012. It has pretty much been the same since FD's inception (mainly UTOG requirements, production requirements, and compound tampering/tread altering).

Please note 9.5.2. and 9.7.1. as well as Apendix C.2 which will show officially approved tires. Note the that if you check the UTOG of several tires, the compound softness is quite different from tire to tire.

My personal opinion is Sports tires simulate a tire with a UTOG of 100 or less. Such as Toyo R888, Toyo RA-1, Advan A048, etc. DOT road legal competition type radials. Really don't care what people use, however my personal preference is comfort hard. I stick to lobbies and gamers I've played with that are enjoyable to play with, I suggest people starting out do the same for a relaxed learning environment.

 

[grip~drift]

my opinion is that when using sports hards with a higher powered car (I'm really talking like over 200 because I use low power cars) feels like more of a controlled burnout rather than drifting. especially on tight corners like at tskuba. I like to use comfort soft or sports hard on anything with a reasonable amount of power. it feels alot faster, theres more grip and you can actually straighten out if you want to. because real cars can actually drive staright under power if they so decide. it feels alot better to me drifting on a softer tire at higher speeds than in my opinion doing a burnout around the courner.

 

[Lazy Liquid]

my opinion is that when using sports hards with a higher powered car (I'm really talking like over 200 because I use low power cars) feels like more of a controlled burnout rather than drifting. especially on tight corners like at tskuba. I like to use comfort soft or sports hard on anything with a reasonable amount of power. it feels alot faster, theres more grip and you can actually straighten out if you want to. because real cars can actually drive staright under power if they so decide. it feels alot better to me drifting on a softer tire at higher speeds than in my opinion doing a burnout around the courner.

Whoa... if all you can do with CH is burnout around a corner, you need serious help, bro. Normaly CH users tends to drift the whole track instead only the corners (specialy tsukuba, like you mentioned).

 

[Lock2Lock]

Well i am pretty sure mainly it is all in personal preference. Because i really think a lot of the drifting community is just a little overwhelmed with all the comfort hard tires are better than this and this.... Well i do drift comfort hard tires that is what most of the community and teams allow. But i do know that they are better for tandeming, and that is very true... The tires help the cars that have lower HP tandem with higher HP cars.. Because higher grade tires are hard to tandem with out hitting people if you are following with higher HP car. Ok but with all of that said i really don't like the fact that a lot of people say comfort hard tires are the D1 grade. Well i am pretty sure that in drifting in D1 and in formula D they use a semi racing tire or semi slick tires as in sport tires. Honestly in my opinion just to say in a drift comps as i am in a team, we should allow people to use a better grade of tire if they chose... But the comp rules still stand. So if you are following someone that is running comfort hard tires, and you're using any different grade of tire and you hit the person in front of you and you throw off the person's line.... It is a DQ... Same rules apply with comps with comfort hard vs. comfort hard... And you can't say "he is slower with comfort hard tires that's why i hit him"... no that excuse will not work, because you used that tire grade and that was your personal choice. I do think that would be a good way to stop the hatred between the people who drift different tires... Just apply the same rules.

 

[playnthru]

I use round tires for drifting.

 

[Lock2Lock]

+1 ^ I'm tired ready about it. People us any and every tire known to to the game to drift on, but if your going to compete in any form of a organized comp it will be on CH, So get over it.

yeah i know homie, everytime someone makes a thread for this subject it always ends up in a fight... but what you going to do you know... no one understands that comfort hard tires help in tandems.

 

[SKOT_FREE]

+1
Drifting isn't all about speed anyone who thinks angle isn't important has obviously never watch a comp., and people that use comfort tires can't drift? That was a joke right because you can't be serious. The only cars I use sport tires on are high powered cars, they have the power to the tires smoking but I rarely use those

Actually people on Comforts don't get more angle over those on sports at all because despite the tire you still must get through a turn using the Drift line. When you drift you are exceeding the Grip of the tire, so basically when you use comforts, you are picking a tire with less grip meaning first it takes less to break traction and second it's easier to do so. Im not saying if u use comforts u can't drift, because it takes the same skill to drift despite the tire used.

 

[TheProcrastin8r]

Here's most of the tire rules for FD for 2012. It has pretty much been the same since FD's inception (mainly UTOG requirements, production requirements, and compound tampering/tread altering).

I'd say those rules pertain mostly to safety and fair competition as opposed to what is optimal. If you were to apply this logic to GT, to avoid accidents and maintain a level playing field everyone in the room should use one type of tyre and since GT5 prevents you from selecting a lower limit for your tyres the only logical choice is CH.
That being said, I prefer to use a softer comfort tyre as I think the comfort hard break traction a little too easily.

 

[Darkrage1138]

Nope comfort hard is best for drifting. Sometimes a combo of any comfort tire. Anyone using sports tires I'm sure don't drift the straights and have a tough time drifting the whole track in one big drift. Not to say you can't drift on sports or even racing tires but it's not as good. Takes too long for the tires to heat up and they cool so fast making it a lot harder to have consistent drifts.

Yes it is harder but not impossible. It is simply based on if you drift for fun or for competition, for competition its Comfort hard but for fun... any tire you can drift.

 

[klevrah]

"CH all the way" but sliding on all tyres should be a thing you should "know how" if you consider yourself a 'good' drifter IMO. Its just a habit for me to do everything to do with drifting. from tandem to touge!

 

[FR Style]

Wow good thing I saw this thread, I've been using Sport Hards all the time and I'm a beginner. I havent even tried CH's yet because SH's dont bother me even with low power cars and I never thought about using CH's. Looks like I'l be switching now haha.

 

[Chad D.]

I know, right! They don't know how to go fast, they just talk about angle and all that crap!

Let me guess, you spin out all the time with anything less than sports? How do you even survive the drift trials?

 

[taz]

Actually people on Comforts don't get more angle over those on sports at all because despite the tire you still must get through a turn using the Drift line. When you drift you are exceeding the Grip of the tire, so basically when you use comforts, you are picking a tire with less grip meaning first it takes less to break traction and second it's easier to do so. Im not saying if u use comforts u can't drift, because it takes the same skill to drift despite the tire used.

I wasn't saying that you can't get the same amount of angle, because I use sport tires sometimes. But someone said that drifting isn't about angle, I guess he's a touge driver, because a drift without much angle would only look like you pushed it too hard going into the corner. But let's face a drift with a lot of angle just looks better

 

[fastfox400]

SH will not produce the same angle or the amount of control that CH can. Angle is a loss of speed which SH will not allow.

 

[MSTER232]

What are the best drift tires? I am using a 500hp callaway c12.

The best tyres for drifting comes down to opinion. Most people use comfort tyres while a few use sports tyres. Which ones you use on your car don't matter as long as you are comfortable and capable of drifting the car. However, I suggest using comfort tyres as it is easier to get the car sliding.

 

[SKOT_FREE]

SH will not produce the same angle or the amount of control that CH can. Angle is a loss of speed which SH will not allow.

Wrong Sir. If you set your car up right as well as Start your Entry into the Turn earlier you can achieve Angle And Speed. For Example on Tsukuba on the First turn, I get Sideways early, Slide then accelerate through the Exit. My line starts OUT, Then I drift to the Apex on the inside then back Out at exit......Most CH Drifters don't start their Drifts to the Middle of the Turn, Then Drift the outer edge of the Track and go very slow. To put it in perspective.....I see people drift 400 HP cars on CH, I'll Drift my Levin on CH and people wonder why I'm faster in a 247HP car....

 

[mikeonthebike]

Wrong Sir. If you set your car up right as well as Start your Entry into the Turn earlier you can achieve Angle And Speed. For Example on Tsukuba on the First turn, I get Sideways early, Slide then accelerate through the Exit. My line starts OUT, Then I drift to the Apex on the inside then back Out at exit......Most CH Drifters don't start their Drifts to the Middle of the Turn, Then Drift the outer edge of the Track and go very slow. To put it in perspective.....I see people drift 400 HP cars on CH, I'll Drift my Levin on CH and people wonder why I'm faster in a 247HP car....

I'm not sure what drift rooms you have been in that are running CH and not starting till the middle of the first turn drifting.
People on CH Reverse Entry into the first corner of Tsukuba and typically LINK UP the whole track other than the strait, and SOME link the whole track as well as many other tracks.

it's all in the tuning and many 600hp cars can drift fast and with high angle on CH tires setup right, and your levin is naturally fast on CH because Mass, momentum and inertia play major rolls. Levin has less mass, meaning less momentum and less inertia....more grip.

 

[Chocobos]

SH will not produce the same angle or the amount of control that CH can. Angle is a loss of speed which SH will not allow.

I find that the opposite is true, depending on car and power output. If I have 230hp, CH will be a better choice over SH. If I have 700hp, CH will just endlessly spin providing me with little feedback and a numb feeling of control. SH in this case will be better suited due to the higher grip coefficient dealing with the higher power output.

This is one argument I will never be able to understand. Why use the worst tires for drifting when you need grip?

 

[K1ngKlicK]

I find that the opposite is true, depending on car and power output. If I have 230hp, CH will be a better choice over SH. If I have 700hp, CH will just endlessly spin providing me with little feedback and a numb feeling of control. SH in this case will be better suited due to the higher grip coefficient dealing with the higher power output.

This is one argument I will never be able to understand. Why use the worst tires for drifting when you need grip?

You might need grip in gymkhana, but in drifting? No.

 

[Chocobos]

You might need grip in gymkhana, but in drifting? No.

Are.. are you for real right now? Seriously? Grip is one of the most important things in drifting, believe it or not. You don't want too much so the car doesn't slide out, but you don't want to little to where you don't have control.

 

[Benmastaw00t]

Best drift tires? Comfort Soft, because sisu.

 

[K1ngKlicK]

Are.. are you for real right now? Seriously? Grip is one of the most important things in drifting, believe it or not. You don't want too much so the car doesn't slide out, but you don't want to little to where you don't have control.

I just think you're making up excuses because you can't control your car on CH

Do you even know what a tandem is?

 

[Chocobos]

I just think you're making up excuses because you can't control your car on CH

Do you even know what a tandem is?

Pretty sure I do.

Both cars on comfort softs, me following.

(Another view, coming into the corner)

 

[K1ngKlicK]

Pretty sure I do.

Both cars on comfort softs, me following.

Ok cool, but a picture doesn't prove much, you ever been in a major competition like Gauz's D1GP or VDC?

 

[Chocobos]

I've thought about it, but the idea of sliding on a terrible tire doesn't interest me much. It's still something I honestly do not understand at all.

Also, you ask if I understand tandem. Fairly sure a couple of photos of me literally putting my mirror into someones door around a corner means I understand fully what it is. Please do not talk like I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm fairly sure my background and occupation are credentials enough for what I'm saying. Don't mean any hostility in that, just saying facts.