Drifting

On Saturday I met up with my friend Munz whom I had known since very young. He’s the proud owner of a Silvia S14, which he uses both as a daily driver as well as a serious drifting machine. It was my first time seeing it and he was happy to take me for a spin …

He drove me around his housing area until he found a secluded road wide enough in which to do a U-turn. Without warning, he veered slightly to the left, and then he floored the accelerator and turned the wheel clockwise. Tyres squealing, engine roaring, I was thrown against the passenger door!

Powerslide!

We were now facing the opposite direction, but due to momentum, the rear end was still sliding. Munz quickly turned the steering wheel the other way to get opposite lock.

Drift!

Munz’ hands were a blur as he manoeuvred the car into the left lane. It was over in a few seconds but it was exhilirating, even as a mere passenger. Two guys happened to be standing by the roadside and they were staring at us agape. Ha ha!

Before this I was under the impression that drifts could only be initiated above a certain speed. Now I know that a rear wheel drive car with high power-to-weight ratio that has limited slip differential (LSD) installed can do it even from a standing start. Otherwise drifts could only be simulated by pulling the handbrake while cornering.

There are two types of LSD, mechanical and viscous. Munz had opted for the mechanical kind for aggressiveness in locking ability. Driving normally, during turns, the rear tyres (or, to be exact, the rear tyre on the inner side of the turn) would go “krak, krak, krak”. If you didn’t know what was going on you would think there was something seriously wrong with the car, when it’s actually functioning as designed.

We later talked about the Malaysian history of the Silvia which I shall cover in my next post. In the meantime, some pictures of my friend’s S14 for your edification:

29 April 2008 | Cars | Comments