ohmygahitscoby
Hardcore RCTalk User
Hello everyone.
Do you just run your car back and forth down your driveway, and sigh all the time? Well not anymore! I'm going to help you learn how to get started into drifting!
Now these questions are probably on your mind: How do I drift? What should I use? What's the best drifting chassis? What motor to use?
Drifting was brought up as a Japanese idea for racing. Basically, when you turn, you want to try to swing out your rear all the way out before going out of control. It takes lots of practice, but once you nail it, it's very fun.
Chassis
So first of all, what's the best chassis to use? Technically, any 4WD on-road chassis will work. Just slap on some drift tires and go! But you can use special chassis. Many people like to use a Tamiya chassis like a TT01 or a TA05, which work fine. Tamiya is best for beginners who want to get into drifting. They have the TT01D package which is the drift-spec version of the TT01. Then there is a Yokomo chassis. Yokomo specializes in RC drifting, and they are very good drifters. Yokomo is my highly suggested chassis because it is very adjustable, and very well built. There are also many other brands like HPI, Associated, and many others.
Should I use a shaft driven or a belt driven car? I would recommend a shaft driven car if you are drifting out on the streets. If you are more a track-drifting person, go for a belt driven car. Belt-driven cars have more direct throttle than shafts, but I never noticed. It all comes down to where you are drifting and your preference. Of course, there are some chassis with closed belt drives. Some are the Cyclone and the Drift-R. These would also do fine.
So now you have your drifting chassis, what I need now? You will need your electronics.
Electronics
For a radio, it depends on where and what you want. AM radios are great for starters, but have less channels if you are drifting as a group. FM radios are similar to AM, but have more channels. If you have a synthesized radio, you can change your channel using the dials on your radio. If you use something like a Spektrum, which is DSM or DSM2, your receiver and transmitter will make their own special connection that no other radio can interfere. If you're the kind that just drifts in a parking lot or in your driveway or garage, stick with FM or AM. If you run at a local track, use a synthesized or DSM/DSM2.
Servos are also important. For drifting, you won't need lots of torque, so need for a 645MG. For Drifting, you basically want something with high-speed. I also prefer getting a metal geared servo, which usually presented by MG on a servo (Hitec 645MG). You also want to make sure that the connector on your servo is compatible with your receiver, because I know that Airtronics has switched their servo ends and slots.
Next thing you need are your motor and ESC. These are also very important aspects for drifting. For your motor, you want something between the 15T-23T range. You won't be going fast, so your 9T motor won't be needed. For your ESC, you want an ESC that can handle the turn limit of your engine. So you can't run a 12T motor on an ESC with only 15T limit. You can run a 17T on a 15T limit ESC, though.
Brushless or Brushed? This is also a question to many drifters. Brushless motors require less maintenance and have a longer life-span. Brushless motors also are torque-ier. If you are a starter, I'd recommend starting with brushed motors, then once you feel like an upgrade, go for brushless. Also, if you are running brushless, I'd recommend a low kv rating. A 7700kv motor is way too much for drifting, but something like 5700 or 4600kv is fine.
Batteries. For drifting, you have two options. Sub-C or LiPo. Sub-C battery packs are heavier than LiPo. If you run Sub-C, you have NiCD or NiMH. NiMH cells can carry more MaH than NiCD can. LiPo can hold way more than both, going up to more than 8000 MaH! The bad-side to LiPo is the center weight of gravity, which can throw off your drifting a lot.
Tuning
So now you have all your electronics, now what do you need?
Differentials play a big role in drifting also. First off, there are two kinds of differentials, gear and ball differentials. Gear differentials are easier to lock, while ball differentials are harder, but are better than gear differentials. For drifting, you want to lock your rear differential by stuffing it with tissues, or clay dough or silly putty, making the gears impossible to move, or you can move a gear inbetween two other gears to lock them. For ball differentials, you want to remove one ball and use a 4mm screw on one side and a nut on the other side to lock it. You can also use a spool. This provides making the rear swing out easier. For the front differential, you want it tightened, but not too tight. For gear differentials, you can slide on 2mm pieces of fuel tubing into the gear to tighten it, or use very thick oil. For gear differentials, you want to tighten down the screw that connects both side of the differentials to make it tighter. Remember, the tighter the differential, the more underturn you will have, the looser more overturn.
Springs. This also plays a great role for drifting. You basically want something medium in the front and something soft in the back. This helps steering and control. For shock oil, you want something like 20-30WT silicone shock oil.
Gearing. Gearing also plays an important role. Adding pinion teeth provides more top end speed but slower low-end reaction, and the removing pinion teeth is the opposite.
Camber and toe. What is it? Camber is how slanted you want your wheels. You want even camber all around your car. If you use Yokomo drift rings, it also helps adjust how much rubber touches the floor along with the drift tire. What is toe-in? Toe-in makes your car more stable. having your wheels make a straight line make it more stable. Less toe in makes your car more unstable. You want your toe in to be +0 or +1 at the most for the front. For the rear, about +2 or +3 is fine.
Now with all these, you are basically RTD (Ready to Drift)!
I'd recommend changing some things though. You technically want to replace any bushings with ball bearings, any plastic drive shafts or dog-bones with metal or aluminum, and replacing gear differentials with ball differentials.
Hopefully this helped you as a jump-start to drifting. If you ever run into problems, just ask me or go to many other drifting forums like Groovy Drift. They are drift-professionals and helped me with my drifting problems.
You now need your rims and tires. Basically, any 9mm (stock) hex'd rims will work. What you need are drift tires. There are three types: ABS, PVC, and the branded kind. The branded kinds are like Yokomo, HPI, and many others. HPI makes T-Drifts, which are great to use. Yokomo uses drift rings. I'd steer away from branded tires and stick with piping. First off, there is ABS. ABS piping provides more grip and control than PVC, but still slides. There are companies on eBay like Sushi, ChokuWingStar, and many others that provide ABS rims. You can also make them yourself with 2" inner diameter ABS piping, cutting them to 27mm each. Then there is PVC. PVC is basically all sliding, no grip or control. I do not recommend this though if you are more of a racing guy. PVC is basic slide and slide and slide. You can also use Polyethylene tubing. These give more grip, control, and life. For Nitro, you can use Pit Shimuzu tires because they are really grippy and that's perfect for the torque a nitro engine gives out.
NITRO DRIFTING!!!
So, you have a nitro TC huh? The above guide won't help you then. So basically, after you have adjusted all your camber, toe, droop, etc., you will need some drift tires, but not the same as above. As we know, nitro engine will reach high RPM since there is no load while drifting. There are certain types of drift tires that are grippy for this application, so fun nitro drifting
.
Countersteer Drifting
What's that? You want to setup your drifter for countersteering? Well, I'll tell you how! First of all, what is countersteering? Countersteering is a setup for your RC drifter that will make your rear wheels spin faster than the front. What this will do is give you more control. How is this accomplished? On belt driven RC's, you can change your pulleys to different teeth. On a shaft driven RC, you will need to change your diff gears. This can be achieved by finding a similar type that will fit (Yokomo on Associated?) or by making custom gears. Some people have also achieved this by using grippier tires in the rear. You want to achieve a lower final gear ratio than the front. This will give you an increase in rotation on the rear than the front.
Tutorials:
Mounting Yokomo Ring Tires:
Pretty straight-forward. You stretch the rubber part of the tire so you can slide it easily over the rim before it comes back to its original shape.
Mounting T-Drifts:
Hair-dryer/Heat gun
Boiling/Hot water
For this method, you can microwave water for about 25oz. of water for 3 minutes, or you can boil some water. The way I do it is a boil water in a pan then leave the tires in the boiling water with the lid on the pan for about 2-3 minutes. Any way will work fine. The main objective is to get the plastic material to expand.
PVC/ABS:
You want 2" INNER DIAMETER PVC/ABS, NOT OUTER!
---
Learning how to drift:
This video teaches you how to get out and into a drift. Very helpful to know the feel of your car.
Maintenance:
So after your fun ride, you want to make sure everything is nice and tidy.
http://www.hpiracing.com/maintenance/
This is a great guide. It shows you how to take care of your ride.
Links:
http://www.groovydrift.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12
Bye!
-Coby
Do you just run your car back and forth down your driveway, and sigh all the time? Well not anymore! I'm going to help you learn how to get started into drifting!
Now these questions are probably on your mind: How do I drift? What should I use? What's the best drifting chassis? What motor to use?
Drifting was brought up as a Japanese idea for racing. Basically, when you turn, you want to try to swing out your rear all the way out before going out of control. It takes lots of practice, but once you nail it, it's very fun.
Chassis
So first of all, what's the best chassis to use? Technically, any 4WD on-road chassis will work. Just slap on some drift tires and go! But you can use special chassis. Many people like to use a Tamiya chassis like a TT01 or a TA05, which work fine. Tamiya is best for beginners who want to get into drifting. They have the TT01D package which is the drift-spec version of the TT01. Then there is a Yokomo chassis. Yokomo specializes in RC drifting, and they are very good drifters. Yokomo is my highly suggested chassis because it is very adjustable, and very well built. There are also many other brands like HPI, Associated, and many others.
Should I use a shaft driven or a belt driven car? I would recommend a shaft driven car if you are drifting out on the streets. If you are more a track-drifting person, go for a belt driven car. Belt-driven cars have more direct throttle than shafts, but I never noticed. It all comes down to where you are drifting and your preference. Of course, there are some chassis with closed belt drives. Some are the Cyclone and the Drift-R. These would also do fine.
So now you have your drifting chassis, what I need now? You will need your electronics.
Electronics
For a radio, it depends on where and what you want. AM radios are great for starters, but have less channels if you are drifting as a group. FM radios are similar to AM, but have more channels. If you have a synthesized radio, you can change your channel using the dials on your radio. If you use something like a Spektrum, which is DSM or DSM2, your receiver and transmitter will make their own special connection that no other radio can interfere. If you're the kind that just drifts in a parking lot or in your driveway or garage, stick with FM or AM. If you run at a local track, use a synthesized or DSM/DSM2.
Servos are also important. For drifting, you won't need lots of torque, so need for a 645MG. For Drifting, you basically want something with high-speed. I also prefer getting a metal geared servo, which usually presented by MG on a servo (Hitec 645MG). You also want to make sure that the connector on your servo is compatible with your receiver, because I know that Airtronics has switched their servo ends and slots.
Next thing you need are your motor and ESC. These are also very important aspects for drifting. For your motor, you want something between the 15T-23T range. You won't be going fast, so your 9T motor won't be needed. For your ESC, you want an ESC that can handle the turn limit of your engine. So you can't run a 12T motor on an ESC with only 15T limit. You can run a 17T on a 15T limit ESC, though.
Brushless or Brushed? This is also a question to many drifters. Brushless motors require less maintenance and have a longer life-span. Brushless motors also are torque-ier. If you are a starter, I'd recommend starting with brushed motors, then once you feel like an upgrade, go for brushless. Also, if you are running brushless, I'd recommend a low kv rating. A 7700kv motor is way too much for drifting, but something like 5700 or 4600kv is fine.
Batteries. For drifting, you have two options. Sub-C or LiPo. Sub-C battery packs are heavier than LiPo. If you run Sub-C, you have NiCD or NiMH. NiMH cells can carry more MaH than NiCD can. LiPo can hold way more than both, going up to more than 8000 MaH! The bad-side to LiPo is the center weight of gravity, which can throw off your drifting a lot.
Tuning
So now you have all your electronics, now what do you need?
Differentials play a big role in drifting also. First off, there are two kinds of differentials, gear and ball differentials. Gear differentials are easier to lock, while ball differentials are harder, but are better than gear differentials. For drifting, you want to lock your rear differential by stuffing it with tissues, or clay dough or silly putty, making the gears impossible to move, or you can move a gear inbetween two other gears to lock them. For ball differentials, you want to remove one ball and use a 4mm screw on one side and a nut on the other side to lock it. You can also use a spool. This provides making the rear swing out easier. For the front differential, you want it tightened, but not too tight. For gear differentials, you can slide on 2mm pieces of fuel tubing into the gear to tighten it, or use very thick oil. For gear differentials, you want to tighten down the screw that connects both side of the differentials to make it tighter. Remember, the tighter the differential, the more underturn you will have, the looser more overturn.
Springs. This also plays a great role for drifting. You basically want something medium in the front and something soft in the back. This helps steering and control. For shock oil, you want something like 20-30WT silicone shock oil.
Gearing. Gearing also plays an important role. Adding pinion teeth provides more top end speed but slower low-end reaction, and the removing pinion teeth is the opposite.
Camber and toe. What is it? Camber is how slanted you want your wheels. You want even camber all around your car. If you use Yokomo drift rings, it also helps adjust how much rubber touches the floor along with the drift tire. What is toe-in? Toe-in makes your car more stable. having your wheels make a straight line make it more stable. Less toe in makes your car more unstable. You want your toe in to be +0 or +1 at the most for the front. For the rear, about +2 or +3 is fine.
Now with all these, you are basically RTD (Ready to Drift)!
I'd recommend changing some things though. You technically want to replace any bushings with ball bearings, any plastic drive shafts or dog-bones with metal or aluminum, and replacing gear differentials with ball differentials.
Hopefully this helped you as a jump-start to drifting. If you ever run into problems, just ask me or go to many other drifting forums like Groovy Drift. They are drift-professionals and helped me with my drifting problems.
You now need your rims and tires. Basically, any 9mm (stock) hex'd rims will work. What you need are drift tires. There are three types: ABS, PVC, and the branded kind. The branded kinds are like Yokomo, HPI, and many others. HPI makes T-Drifts, which are great to use. Yokomo uses drift rings. I'd steer away from branded tires and stick with piping. First off, there is ABS. ABS piping provides more grip and control than PVC, but still slides. There are companies on eBay like Sushi, ChokuWingStar, and many others that provide ABS rims. You can also make them yourself with 2" inner diameter ABS piping, cutting them to 27mm each. Then there is PVC. PVC is basically all sliding, no grip or control. I do not recommend this though if you are more of a racing guy. PVC is basic slide and slide and slide. You can also use Polyethylene tubing. These give more grip, control, and life. For Nitro, you can use Pit Shimuzu tires because they are really grippy and that's perfect for the torque a nitro engine gives out.
NITRO DRIFTING!!!
So, you have a nitro TC huh? The above guide won't help you then. So basically, after you have adjusted all your camber, toe, droop, etc., you will need some drift tires, but not the same as above. As we know, nitro engine will reach high RPM since there is no load while drifting. There are certain types of drift tires that are grippy for this application, so fun nitro drifting
. Countersteer Drifting
What's that? You want to setup your drifter for countersteering? Well, I'll tell you how! First of all, what is countersteering? Countersteering is a setup for your RC drifter that will make your rear wheels spin faster than the front. What this will do is give you more control. How is this accomplished? On belt driven RC's, you can change your pulleys to different teeth. On a shaft driven RC, you will need to change your diff gears. This can be achieved by finding a similar type that will fit (Yokomo on Associated?) or by making custom gears. Some people have also achieved this by using grippier tires in the rear. You want to achieve a lower final gear ratio than the front. This will give you an increase in rotation on the rear than the front.
Tutorials:
Mounting Yokomo Ring Tires:
Mounting T-Drifts:
Hair-dryer/Heat gun
Boiling/Hot water
PVC/ABS:
---
Learning how to drift:
Maintenance:
So after your fun ride, you want to make sure everything is nice and tidy.
http://www.hpiracing.com/maintenance/
This is a great guide. It shows you how to take care of your ride.
Links:
http://www.groovydrift.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12
Bye!
-Coby
Last edited by a moderator:
If it makes you feel better, you can call me by my actual first name Colin 
