drifting vs Racing?

[maytag]

As promised in another thread, I'm starting a conversation here.
Now that we have a new member who is a self-proclaimed drifter, there's going to be some differing points of view.
Though I joked about it, my intent is not to offend but rather to let us learn a little more about these differing points of view. So please keep the posts civil. (unless it's funny, in which case: lay it out there! )

I'll go first!

I'm a gear-head first. And so I can appreciate the time, money and skill involved in the really nice drifting cars. Some of these guys are really talented craftsmen. And some are clearly very talented drivers.

But that's where it turns into head-shaking for me. a talented driver doesn't need to be doing what seems to be "poser" stuff: he should be doing the real thing; racing.

I'm going to draw some parallels to superbikes, as I spent a LOT of years racing them.
Have y'all seen the "stunters"? the guys who do stand-up wheelies, stoppies, high-chairs, etc etc on bullet bikes? Well, some of us have spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of track time trying to find ways to keep BOTH wheels on the ground... because that's the fast way to get around the racetrack. And then these punks come in and do their little tricks and the uneducated / biker-boys crowd thinks they're so talented and awesome!

Drifting is the same thing to me.
On the racetrack I do everything I can to keep the wheels driving me forward, rather than pouring smoke and sliding around. yes, we use the throttle a little to square it off..... but that's not the same thing. We spend fortunes and lifetimes building machines and skills that will allow us to keep traction.
And then in come the drifters, pouring smoke and sliding all over hell... and the uneducated / Fast-n-Furious crowd thinks they're awesome.

I don't get it, and in my mind it dilutes the sport I love.
That's not to say you shouldn't be allowed to do it: You absolutely SHOULD be able to do it. And I hope you enjoy it! But I'm afraid it will always make me a little sick to my stomach.

oooops... I think I just threw-up a little in my mouth......

[spiderrey]

My 2 cents. You are very narrow minded. Drifting is just a DIFFERENT style of doing something. No one is expecting everyone to embace everything. But at the same time people shouldnt put a negative thing on something they just cant understand. Thats like joe blow say Fiats are just junk because they are into dragracing or stock cars. Variety is the spice of life. Personally, Ive read articles on cars that were built just for this sport. They put alot of effort and craftmenship into these rides. Just like any other racers. I used to have a suzuki quad, a 250 racer and a 500 Quadzilla. The most fun I ever had on these were on fire roads going flat out and taking every corner sideways throwing rooster tails for days. These cars arent just slapped together. I have respect for any ride that is intelligently built. Personally, I find drag racing boring, but its still a sport and most of the cars are extremely high tech machines.

[Curly]

Another 2 cents worth .....
When drifting became all the rage Down Under, lots of kids piled onto the bandwagon and started hotting up Nissans, Mazdas and rear-drive Toyotas. Soon enough they found that entertaining themselves and their mates at the local industrial estates at night and on weekends was frought with trouble and unsustainable. They needed somewhere to go. Our local car club which owns and maintains its own 1-mile tarmac hillclimb circuit made the track available at discounted rates to this new group of motoring enthusiasts, hoping that they would 'see the light' and become involved in more mainstream events such as circuit racing and hillclimbing.
Unfortunately after a couple of years trying to accommodate their passion whilst at the same time keeping the venue maintained, we eventually had to ban drifting events at the track. The track was getting broken up on the edges due to drivers leaving the track and coming back on again at full throttle with wheels spinning, and the pit area with the ajacent car parks were being ripped up by those who treated those facilities as a practice area.
Sure, there were some beautifully built cars and skillful drivers; but what spoilt it for all concerned was the irresponsible hoon element that seemed to be attracted to this form of motorsport. We gained a few new members who 'saw the light' and crossed over, and some of the better drift cars have been purchased by 'racers' and turned into decent track cars.
It seems that the drifting phenomena (as an organised motorsport category) is now becoming less popular over here. As an illegal, anti-social pastime for disaffected youth - it's still as popular as ever.

[racydave]

.....

[DriftFiat]

i think drifting is a very respectable sport it the punks that think its the fastest way around a corner and that doing donuts in the parking lot gives them skills. I want to point out that im doing this as a drift?rally car not just a drift car just at points drifting is involved in rally and its good to know how to control the car when its sliding id advise anyone to learn how to controll a car in that situation it can save alot of time and money in insurance bills especialy during winter if you drive rwd in the winter like i do

[maytag]

racydave:
i'm offended by your post.

[So Cal Mark]

maytag, you're now an official member of the offended-members group

[maytag]

maytag, you're now an official member of the offended-members group

SWEET!

does that come with a laminated card I can put in my wallet?

[So Cal Mark]

most of those cards have been shredded by the aforementioned members

[Zmatt]

Keiichi Tsuchiya has said that drifting isn't the fastest way around a corner, it's just the most fun. And I think he is right. Drifiting is another form of automotive competition. Comparing track racing and drag racing to drifting is like comparing the 100m freestyle to diving, or speed skating to figure skating. True it isn't a "sport" in the classic sense, but making a car go sideways and having the skills and nohow to keep it doing that on the edge of loosing control is quite a rush. Also most competitive drift racers also compete in other forms of racing and do well, Ken Block is a good example. The drift king himself on a show he hosts raced his old AE86 against a modern Civic Type R, which has a much more advanced suspension, a more powerful engine and electronic drive aides. Tsuchiya was beating the civic so bad that he started drifting the corners and the other driver still couldn't beat him.

Do I think the 124 would make a good drift car? No, not without a ton of work. But do I think drifting is fun and worthwhile? Yes.

[DriftFiat]

Thank you^ drifting is a sport like freestyle bmx it came from racing and then evolved to something new. Drifting originated in japan from street racers sliding around like their favorite rally drivers. I think that it isnt respected because people dont know how hard it really is

[maytag]

Well, there ya go, driftFiat: I helped get all those closet Drift-Lovers out in the open!

Like I said: i respect that machines and the talent, and obviously: your choice in cars.

[manoa matt]

"SWEET! does that come with a laminated card I can put in my wallet?"

No, it means you swear off fiatspider.com, and never create or answer another post again.

"I helped get all those closet Drift-Lovers out in the open!"

You helped push 1-2 of the more knowledgeable people off the forum.

[spiderrey]

Seriously Matt, you must be joking. I hope

[manoa matt]

No joke, serious.