Connecting drifts HELP?
 

Okay, so it's really easy for me to do donuts both directions, but when it comes to figure 8's it seems like an issue when I'm attempting to switch directions.
I know you're supposed to let off the throttle to change directions, but when I do that, I just catch grip and the car goes straight. Even if I'm flicking the wheel the direction I wanna go, I just grip.
What am I doing wrong? I notice that it's easy to do a full 8 when using my e brake to transition, but I can't do it without for some reason. It seems as if I just completely lose all momentum after the first drift.

Thoughts?

You are going too slow.

What kind of diff do you have?

Wow..... I say wow cause I'm sure you're right. I'll try it a bit faster. Thanks, bud.
Any other ideas?

Cusco type rs. 2 way at 100%

clutch kick on transition

pretty sure i just keep it to the wood when transitioning lol.

dude just watch youtube drifting vids. watch in car views and note their techniques. also watch their timing

stop letting up when you transition. Especially if you don't have much power and aren't going fast.

Call me out if I'm wrong but it all depends on how your car is set-up. Whats happening in my opinion, is your sending too much weight back to the rear when your letting off, gaining too much traction when transitioning. I believe there's a couple things you can do.

1st- Power through the transition. As you come around out of say, a left hander, increase throttle as to kick out the rear just a little more. Let off throttle, wait for the vehicle to kick back around and throttle through to keep sideways.

2nd- Do what you normally do but when you transition, clutch in, wait for car to shift directions and almost clutch kick back in to keep the drift going.

3rd- Try a quick left foot brake to transfer weight to the front.

It sounds like your not throwing the weight of the vehicle into the transition to follow through and keep the drift alive. I'm probably completely off but again, it's just an opinion.

feather the throttle to initiate the transition, you will notice it starting to go the other way, and when i say feather i mean a pretty hard feather if your motor is stock, and once you start to feel it transition, let the car counter steer, grab the wheel and feather slower, and eventually if you dont counter steer too much you will be sliding in the oposite direction, and the manji will be completed, you have to get a good feel for the car, and also make sure that your tires are always moving faster than the pavement underneath, casue if they stop spinning, your gonna get grip, and loose the drift :)

Increase rear tire pressure? Maybe front too ....

I found the best place to learn about drifting was the internet instead of actually getting more seat time. :cj:

push your pedal to the floor! But I'm with om1kron, the more you read how to do it online the faster you'll magically learn

Daily Driving, and staying up really late helps too! ;)

No your so wrong watching tokyo drift is the best way to learn how to drift. You will be the next DK if you watch it once everyday.

ive already tried that it just makes you want to buy graphics lol:aw:

I Agree ^. I heard all the good drifters do this.

Let me think this out.

when it came time to transition to the other way, I would let off the throttle a little bit, let go of the wheel a little bit and wait for the car to rotate itself into the other direction. You have to time it right and feel it out. Grab the wheel and mash the throttle again to drift again going the other way.

DO NOT OVERTHINK IT.
DO NOT TRY TO OVERWORK THE CAR.
The car will do most of the work for you. I promise you that!

it's all about catching the wheel at the right time.

Practice it a few times and you'll get it.

I remember trying to transition my first day at track (only one so far)

At first I would just straighten out, then clutch kick right after to connect. "Pseudo" connection. haha

My steering is sloppy as hell though, I need to work on that. It's like I KNOW I gotta let the car steer itself most of the time during transitions, but I rudely interrupt it, and fail follows. smh.

that's ok. When you are just starting out it feels just plain WRONG to let the car steer itself. I kept spinning out for the first part of my first drift day because I kept trying to make the car do what I thought it should do. However, once I was told to just let it do it's own thing, I was much better.

After you learn to let the car guide itself, you can spend more time learning how to extend the slides and when the perfect times are to catch the wheel, and etc.

Also, Make sure your diff is working functionally. If it isn't this makes it hard to transition if its not locking correctly.

Just toss it!! Bam

YouTube - in car steering wheel drifting

this is at willow. You can tell when I'm manjiing cause i stay on throttle and lift for just a split second to transfer the weight.

the track layout is....

left hand turn in third gear (clutch kick to initiate)
transition down to 2nd gear
transition back and manji down the straight.

completely bone stock ka. welded diff. coils. bucket seat.

I don't have power to use the e-brake and keep going. Hope this helps.

and listen to BH....car really does the work for you.

please explain what you mean by the car doing the work for you.

its pretty easy to understand, say your about to transition you let off the throttle and loosen your grip the wheel will turn and counter steer for you. just a normal drift or donut once the wheel is counter steering it doesn't need to much guidance from the driver. the freaking key is NOT TO MAN HANDLE the wheel...it's hard for a lot of people to get that concept of letting go of the wheel

oh i see what you're saying. that makes sense. i had to stop sit in my car and think about what i usually do and how.

lol yep, I was doing choku down this straight road with someone in my car and he said "just let go of the wheel when you transition" so I let go and it was like magic haha the car transitioned automatically and smooth.

OP this applies in small donuts too and lots of gas!

here is what i would do,
Stay on the throttle till the car transitions into drift the other way,
and use the steering wheel to give it a slight flick to get it moving in that direction.
(which means steering away from the turn, like you want to straighten, this gets the cars momentum going for the transfer, then steer back into the drift to swing the car harder at the transition.)
This little steering thing is a quick quarter turn and turn back. I have been using it for years to help extend drifts or transition.
Higher HP cars dont do this which is good, because its frowned upon by the FD judges :)
what engine and rim size?