r/Drifting

From an outsider’s perspective, it seems slightly odd that mid-engined cars aren’t really a part of the drift scene. Sure, people do occasionally drift caymans and supercars and the like, but it seems to not be the norm.

I have a theory on what part of this might be. Drifting requires very precise control over the yaw acceleration (change in rotational speed) of the car, and the primary “damper” of a car’s yaw acceleration is its yaw moment of inertia, dictated by how far away from the center of gravity the biggest contributors to the mass are (engine, trans, etc). Meaning, you can have two cars with 50/50 weight distribution, but if one is front engined and the other mid engined, the latter will experience changes in yaw acceleration more rapidly. This would make the car more difficult to hold a constant angle in, or to control in transitions.
TLDR: mid engined cars are just inherently more prone to fast rotation, regardless of the weight or the weight distribution.

Is this why mid engined isn’t the norm? I know that style is a huge part of the drifting scene, and that cars like the MR2 or Porsche Cayman don’t seem to fit that style too well, but is it also that mid engined just isn’t ideal? I’m curious what people in the community think.

I have been practicing Assetto Corsa on a direct drive wheel for a while now, and before I try a real drift car, I want to know what I'm in for in terms of car handling. Does the steering wheel actually turn on its own in real life with an angle kit, or is the way it happens in the sim just an interpretation of weight transition and G-forces?

I feel like I've got it down at this point, but I want to be prepared just in case I try the real thing and it's completely different! Any pointers are more than appreciated. Also, does anyone know of any good car packs for Assetto Corsa? I currently use the Swarm pack because I heard they feel realistic. Thanks!

Also if this breaks the rule about gaming posts feel free to remove and point me in the right direction :)

Edit: I do have a car that I'm currently turning into a drift car, a E46 330ci, just haven't lowered or added extra angle and welded diff etc yet

Lazy take but when I watch modern FD, DM, even D1GP, I hate the way the cars look when drifting. I hate how unsmooth the transitions are and how fast they are. They don't feel like cars anymore. Just robots that are perfectly sideways at the most perfect angle in the most robotic way. The tire smoke is too much and the cars honestly, might be *too* powerful if there is such a thing. It's like they perfected the engineering, and somehow that took all the fun out of it for me.

Grassroots drifting is still wonderful, and older D1GP, like pre 2014, was genuinely a joy to watch. They were high power drift machines but they still felt like real cars.

I know this take is very hand-wavy but Ive felt this for years now and was curious about other's thoughts.​

I'm thinking about checking out this drift car. It's street legal and registered. He's selling it for $9,000. It has a good amount of mods, apparently about $20,000 worth. I asked the seller if he would be okay with me getting a pre-purchase inspection or something like that to have some shop look it over. Basically so I can make sure that the engine is not terrible and the frame is not damaged. But he refused and says he doesn't see the need to take it to an inspection because I can take a look at everything myself. I asked him if I can do a compression test. He said no unless I'm willing to pay for a tune-up while I'm there. And he doesn't want a shop to do a compression test on it either. I'm getting mixed flags about this car because it looks like some quality parts were installed on it, but I don't know why he would be against having a shop look at it.