Thread: How safe is drifting?

I've heard that drifting isn't that dangerous since it is at relatively low speeds, but it seems dangerous to me. Can anyone answer this question for me? Thanks!

Drifting is allowing the rear end of the car to slide out from the line of driving. They have drifting competitions but they say that you should only do this with professional supervision and safety personnel because the car could get out of control.

Originally Posted by VroomVroom

Drifting is allowing the rear end of the car to slide out from the line of driving. They have drifting competitions but they say that you should only do this with professional supervision and safety personnel because the car could get out of control.

-_- I know what drifting is....I just don't know how safe it really is. I've heard it both ways. Some people say it's safe because it's a slow speed, but some people say it's really dangerous, so is it safe or dangerous?

Drifting is an exaggerated version of power sliding, where you control how far the rear end hangs out in the turn with the accelerator, a common race driving technique mainly in the past (its pretty hard on tires). It is commonly used in rallies, a special had brake is used to get the tail out in tight turns by briefly locking the rear wheels.
Personally I prefer to put my vehicle into an oversteer (rear end sliding out), easier and safer to control than understeer (front sliding) since you can turn the steering wheel only so far and applying the brakes makes it even worse. At least with the rear hanging out to far, you can always let it spin, not necessarily the safest but given the alternative (straight into an obstacle) its the one I prefer. My first cars (and the first one I raced) were rear engine, rear wheel drive, so I had to learn how to handle the tail hanging out

Originally Posted by oldcanuck

Drifting is an exaggerated version of power sliding, where you control how far the rear end hangs out in the turn with the accelerator, a common race driving technique mainly in the past (its pretty hard on tires). It is commonly used in rallies, a special had brake is used to get the tail out in tight turns by briefly locking the rear wheels.
Personally I prefer to put my vehicle into an oversteer (rear end sliding out), easier and safer to control than understeer (front sliding) since you can turn the steering wheel only so far and applying the brakes makes it even worse. At least with the rear hanging out to far, you can always let it spin, not necessarily the safest but given the alternative (straight into an obstacle) its the one I prefer. My first cars (and the first one I raced) were rear engine, rear wheel drive, so I had to learn how to handle the tail hanging out

That kind of answers my question, but once again, I know what drifting is, I don't need an explanation of it...=þ I need to know how safe it actually is. Like do the cars flip a lot? Or do they almost never flip? Or is it mostly based on the driver's skill.

Originally Posted by nhrafan911

That kind of answers my question, but once again, I know what drifting is, I don't need an explanation of it...=þ I need to know how safe it actually is. Like do the cars flip a lot? Or do they almost never flip? Or is it mostly based on the driver's skill.

Sorry, I did not fully read the previous posts.
I've only watched a bit here and there, but it appears relatively safe, since from what I've seen only one or two car are on the track at a time (I watched a bit of Long Beach last evening), the speeds appears to be substantially slower than regular racing, spin outs are not uncommon and as long as you don't hit anything there is no harm done, the only way I could see a car flipping over is if it hits something like a pavement edge while sideways, or another car. The whole concept is really based on drivers skills.

Thank you! That is what I was looking for So it basically all comes down to driver skill. It's not about the sport, it's about the driver.

I would definitely say that drifting is more about the driver's skill to control his car and make it do exactly what he wants it to do in the situation. Drifting can be dangerous because there is the potential for losing control but not as dangerous as most high speed races.