College Formula Drift Club Idea
 

Hi everyone, I'm a sophomore in college currently attending Purdue University studying mechanical engineering technology. I want to try and start a Formula Drift club, where people can learn to drift but also learn about the mechanics, physics, and culture behind drifting. I need some input on whether my idea is realistic or not. Purdue has countless clubs already available on campus, including Formula 1 style racing and off-road racing. I know Formula Drift is growing as a sport, being televised and everything, so I thought it would be a cool idea to introduce it. This is just an idea, and I wanted to see if any of you guys have any comments or things I should take into consideration while doing this.

Thanks

Formula Drift = Racing Sanction

Drift/Drifting = name of the action/sport

Be prepared to attract a lot of negative attention as well as deal with quite possibly some of the most shoddily built cars out there!

PS: I see this thread going down in flames within 4-5 posts...

Why is that?

Becouse zilvia does not allow "hopes, dreams, clubs and ideas"
All hail king zilvia

Cool idea but college + drifting doesn't really work, for long that is. Unless you have a good source of cash flow while in college which usually isn't the case.
Just go to your local drift day and make some friends.

Let the flamming begin

Zilvia consumes the weak like a ravenous pack of wolves consumes an unfit roman child

On a real note, I found no friends in college that enjoyed drifting. I found more people that made fun of me for it, or made fun of my car. It was dumb. My advice, go to your local days, meet people, talk to them about drifting. Only talk to them and others you previously hung out and talked with about drifting and then the friends you make in college that have no clue, yeah just don't mention it to them ever, haha. IF they want to learn, they'll come to you about it.

:picardfp::picardfp:


Dont listen to this guy.

I've actually also thought about this being implemented in college, with the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers already existing in many colleges. I always thought it would be so awesome and cool to have some shit like that at a college.

Of course, there are some problems and challenges you're going to face with this idea, with the first few being your fellow members of Zilvia.

Money is going to be an issue. You'll already be spending more money on tires than you would be on a Formula SAE car. You'll likely be pushing the drift spec SAE car more than you would the Formula one, occasionally redlining it here and there. Eventually the engine will be pretty worn and you probably won't be reusing it for the following season. You'll need a place to do test runs if you don't have one already. Drifting in your school's parking lot isn't going to be as lowkey as doing a couple of test runs in the FSAE car (which my school has definitely done due to lack of practice area).

Professors who you'll want a sponsorship from will ask you "Why?" as in why would they want to sponsor some car going sideways? It's all about the "style," not really about "getting there first" or "getting the best time." ...then again, I could argue with myself on that and say that in Formula Drift "winning" IS how stylish you can be. Any who, it's less likely that you'll find some older professors who could advise this drifting "sport."

I'll try to organize this better:

ISSUES:

Money
What is the purpose?
How much interest will there be?
What can you get out of it?
Can the things you do in this club be applied to the real world?

As far as the "purpose" and "how it can be applied to the real world" aspects, the cars that are done up in FSAE are designed based off efficiency while keeping costs down, similar to production cars. Drift cars may also be built with the intent of keeping costs down, but as far as efficiency, not so much lol. I feel that may also be another big issue seeing that they have already come out with FSAE Electric.

PROS:
Outside-of-class hands-on experience
Utilizing math, physics, statics, dynamics, etc. to test, design, and analyze aspects of an engineered vehicle
New and upcoming club that could possibly gain interest

I know this post was a bit messy but I thought of things that popped up in my mind and just listed spontaneously. I guess to sum it up it's definitely a cool idea. You definitely can apply engineering stuff to the build when it comes down to it. But will it generate as much interest as the American tradition of racing? How much more extra fundraising will you have to do compared to that of Formula SAE? How can you apply the things you will do in this club to the real world? Just a few questions to think about.

Good luck though man, don't stop chasin' them dreams!

In all blatant honesty, that was just my experience with. Considering I also go to a shit school in Virginia that I am now transferring out of because it is full of obnoxious cunts, and it also only has about 2,000 students. A bigger school is a definitely a different environment and you'll probably find more people interested. I would just make a club based around drifting, instead of just formula D, that way you can talk about sweet style like D1SL and all and still have a ton of fun with low power cars. As much as formula D is cool and it does have its place in drifting, sadly a 1200 hp car with maximal grip and an awesome motor and all of that isn't attainable for the average college kid. Probably why I've been KA for the past 5 years and I'm just now getting an SR because I slaved all summer. Haha. I will say, my experience with drifting has taught me so much more about car set up and suspension systems than I ever imagined, and it's nice because I can now set up my own alignments at home, and have really been able to figure out what alignment settings work best for my driving style. So it has its pros, it has its cons. My advice, just find a really cool professor that has an open mind about Motorsports, that way you can definitely get them involved. I remember I saw once of my professors at a local HPDE day because I wanted to drive one and I got flagged off track for "intentionally drifting" because I cooked it around a corner but saved the slide instead of just spinning off like most of the dudes there were doing that day. Needless to say, it was a funny experience the next Tuesday in class when the professor who has been doing HPDE stuff for the past 4 years posted up slower times because he was afraid of really driving at the edge of grip. Now I'm teaching him the basics of drifting. It's weird but cool.

You're in college. Find some girls to FNGRBLST and write your papers.

Weird. Maybe since we have a local popular drift track near school I've found people super open to it/think it's cool. Shoot even the two fine girls in my physics 2 class thought it was cool.

Damn I didn't know zilvia was this hardcore lol

Thanks for everyone replying, again this is just an idea so it's good that people are giving their honest opinions about it before I actually try and start it. I've mentioned it to a few of my professors and I think they are really open minded and would get on board with a bit of convincing. As far as issues, I think the hardest will be funding because currently I am broke af and would need to do some hardcore fundraising to get this going. Also, when it comes to the technical things, like if we were to build a project car later down the road where everyone can learn first hand. Like, yeah I have a 240 and have done maintanence work to it, but it's not like I know how to weld a full race cage or swap an entire motor w/ wiring. Finding people to help us out with that would also be difficult. As far as interest, I think it would do fine as I've made many friends trough the past year that would definitley be down for the cause, and the people here don't seem like total cunts. I do consider the idea of just making a simple drifting club instead of formula drift, because I definatley don't have the money or skill to build a car of that caliber - for now. These comments are definatley helping, so if any one of you still has any thoughts to give, I'm all ears.

Formula Drift sucks asses

this.......

They didn't think it was cool. They just thought Formula D stood for something else and wanted in


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That will definitely be the problem. Especially for a college kid.

LOOOOL :facepalm:

They probably want your Formula D and you're too lame to realize you can multitask. Read a drift mag while you plow them like a parking lot during a blizzard. If you're incapable of doing this, I suggest seeing how far down you can swim in the open ocean until you drown.

And here at my local college all we have is a bunch of snooty hardparked subbies/hondas/euro cars. Car culture at my schools consist of who has the most stickers, slammed, and loudest exhaust on a stock car.

Think your best bet is join the formula 1 club, probably really fun regardless and just hang with your local drifters. My local scene is either broke young kids killing na kas and rich fuck boys who send out there cars for all their work.

I was a part of the formula 1 SAE team my freshman year. It was pretty cool and organized, but the people there were a bunch of fucks. At least to me, they seemed like cunts.

Join a frat. Much cooler. They even give you a pretty sweet jacket.

^If you want to be a rapist and get bad grades this is for you

My room mate is in one. You don't even get a cool jacket. Just pins to put on your back pack.

Sounds like you didn't have a good time in college. Shitting pancakes must get tough after a while.

Me n supa be goin hard in the escuela

Sounds like you're a big success fam, you probably have a freaking art or business degree.


real key to success=drop outa college



http://i.imgur.com/Xtz2MJl.jpg

Supa struck a nerve eh?