Power sliding a car has been made popular by the Japanese through its anime series hits, Initial D. The anime series feature racers tackling the steep and ever winding mountainous slope by inducing lose of traction to their rear wheel of their vehicle when entering and exiting corners at high speed. This technique commonly known as drifting maintains high speed of the vehicle even round sharp corners.
Usually drift cars are light weight rear wheel drive saloon with high powered engines. Some popular cars are Nissan Silvia, Toyota Trueno and the Mazda RX-7.
The tips on how to power slide your car can be practice by beginners who are interested in taking up career in motor sports.
The most basic Techniques to induce power slide would be to use your handbrakes. When approaching corner at race speed, release your right foot of the accelerator, hold the clutch with your left foot and pull the handbrakes to upset the rear end causing over steer. At the same time, steers the car around the corner with the steering wheel. Once the back end slide wide, step on the throttle and let go off the clutch at the same time until the car regains rear traction.
Another technique practice by most beginners is the power over steer. A high powered car is required to execute this stunt. Drive along the straight at race speed leading to the turn. Turn the steering wheel to enter the corner and then floor the accelerator at RPM which provides maximum engine torque. Wait for the car to go sideways, and then counter steer to exit the corner.
A harder to execute power slide technique is the “clutch kick”. This technique requires a lot of depressing and releasing of clutch to send a shock to the power train thus upsetting the entire car’s balance. When turning into the corner, push the accelerator and a split moment later, depress the clutch pedal. Keep tapping the clutch while keeping the other foot on the gas. Control the direction with the steering wheel, handbrakes or the gas until the car slides smoothly out from the corner.
A lot of practice is required to master drift techniques. Practice sessions are best performed on land with wide empty space preferably on deserted air field. Expect a lot of burning rubber, tones of spin outs and endless adrenaline rush.
By following the abovementioned tips on how to power slide a car plus endless practice sessions, you could be a professional drifter one day.
