is drifting really hard on the car? i feel so mean when i do

[madwilly240]

dont you guys feel like ur giving your car more abuse than it deserves sometimes. i did my first donut the other day in a parking lot. i only did about 2, but ill never do it again. i just felt like i was breaking my car. same with burnouts, i hardly ever do them anyway. its so hard to go around a turn and not want to drift it though. ..... my question is... is drifting really that bad for anything besides the tires? like the differential or transmission or anything?

[ca18guy]

I would assume its hell on the suspension.

[madwilly240]

even if i had say.... tanabe springs, AGX's, front strut bar, and sway bars?

[Dousan_PG]

yes its hard on everything.

it can add up real fast:

alignment: 75 bucks
tires: fronts: 120 each, rear 64 each (i use nicer rear ones) or 35 each for crap rear (then plus mount/balance)
spacers: 200
track day: 140 (street just 20 bucks gas)
oil change before and after each event 40 bucks
maintenance 100 some per month

um...then not including wheels suspension work and seat time

it adds up FAST. but its fun as heck. cant get enough.
cars aren't a cheap hobby

btw, if you get towed: 40 bucks
and replacment parts....anywhere from $20-200


EDIT: this is a HIGH estimate, but something any one should be ready for!

[Nerfdude]

well, if you haven't noticed, our super street subscriber friends tend to define drifting as ANY loss of rear-wheel traction...

yes, it's hell on your car. if you don't know what you're doing or how it affects your car, then don't do it. it's not safe for you, your car, or anyone near you.

[ae86kaizoku]

Who wants to just sit and do burnouts and donuts anyway? That stuff is for Impizznort Nizzights yo...

Nerfdude, you are so right!

And of course drifting, real drifting, not donuts, is hard on the car, but replacing parts yourself is half the fun

[xhdriver]

Who wants to just sit and do burnouts and donuts anyway?

...ME!

[doritaka]

If you want to do a donut a mechanical LSD is required.

[Danio]

I've seen a 240SX with open differential do plenty of donuts just fine.

[Ryan of Velocity]

Drifting puts a good amount of abuse on your car overall. Especially if you don't keep up on it's maintenance. When I first got my Silvia I was all into it being perfect and pristine. Washed it like every damn day then I started drifting. Things changed real fast. It looked like ****, dirty, lip spoiler fell off and I ran it over twice. Bondoed it back together the first time, second time just taped it:p

But one thing I did take care of was the mechanical maintenace. Changed the diff fluid ALOT. Changed the oil ALOT. Of course I blew three turbos but the motor never really gave up on me with all the abuse I put it through and I credit that to not abusing it with bad maintenance. Of course the CA18DET can take some ****. When all SR guys were blowing their **** up the little 1.8 was going strong! lol.

If you are going to drift seriously though, you have to get GOOD coilovers, tie rods, bushings, LSD, etc...

[doritaka]

Originally posted by Danio
I've seen a 240SX with open differential do plenty of donuts just fine.

Can you put a cone then go around it w/o LSD? when I i drive the 240 and someone has a vid cam, I'll post a link to vid here.

[Dousan_PG]

you can learn a lot on the open diff! but at one point the skills will peak

[Foxcolt]

I would venture to say that it wears more on your motor than your suspension.

As long as I'm smooth in transition and keep body roll to a minimum I'm pretty easy on my suspension. It's when I F*ck up that things start going bad:D

But modulating the throttle at high rpm for a lengthy period of time does scare me sometimes. There have been points where I've opened up the hood only to see the stock manifold glowing red! That was cool, wished I coulda snapped a pic.

Tires get expensive. I would reccomend to anyone who practices a lot that they purchase an extra set of rear wheels. When I still have 4 lug wheels I had a set of steelies that I would throw on the back everytime I would go out to practice. Now that I have 5 lug and only one set of wheels I've had to replace my rears twice in the past couple monthes. Very expensive:p

[Dousan_PG]

Originally posted by doritaka
Can you put a cone then go around it w/o LSD? when I i drive the 240 and someone has a vid cam, I'll post a link to vid here.

yes you can but its more difficult to go around many many times i believe.

open can do alot. just not as easy and probably more dangerous on the street since the 'snap' can do some serious damage.