Affordable Ways to Drift?
 

I recently discovered a great, huge parking lot. Last night I spent a good 30 minutes practicing drifting for the first time, and to keep it short and simple: I want to continue practicing.

Thing is, tires aren't cheap and I feel like I abused my new Hankook V12's. Does anyone here know of a good, CHEAP tire that would be ideal for nothing more than drifting? A friend was telling me to go to local tire shops and negotiate with them to buy all of their pre-junkyard tires for a dirt cheap price, but I'm not sure if that will work.

Also, would it be wise to invest in a different seat of rear rims to constantly swap new tires on? I could probably get some crappy ones for $100 each, and then I wouldn't have to worry about constantly always changing tires on my regular rims.

I dunno, just looking for some input on this. Drifting seems like a fun thing to practice, but a very expensive practice as well. :(

after autocross events near you, go buy their used tires, buy local tire shop tires, practice when its raining (thats what i do)

Check tire places and junkyards for used tires and get a second set of wheels to put them on is about the only way to do it relatively cheap.

Go to a drift day and learn.

Go back to that parking lot when snow falls, boom. No change of tires needed and those V12's won't do great for traction in them either. You'll drift a lot easier not to mention have minimal tire wear....just watching out for the light posts :ugh2:

Rent a Pontiac G6.
Go to Wendy's for lunch.
Steal the trays.
Go to your practice lot, roll two trays under the rear wheels and lock the emergency brake.
Drift!

Practice in the rain or snow. Slick roads are more tire friendly.

I really want to do this but I don't know how. I've looked into SCCA but I still don't really know how it works. How would I go about finding "Drift days" in my area?

As far as the "do it in the rain/snow" comments go, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I've never tried it, but I would assume that it feels much different than drifting on dry pavement. It also seems a lot more dangerous as you have a lot less control over the car in these conditions.

look at clubloose, they host events near your area.

Honestly I learned drifting on the street in the rain with the rx8. I would not recommend learning on the street, it's retarded (1 drift day = a hundred days of street). As far as shit you need. Don't get junkyard dryrodded piece of shit tires. They will suck. Get cheap tires like Diamondback, Kenda's, Federals. You can get a set of 4 under 200 bucks. Shit's cheap. They will last a lot longer, will be way more consistent. Run grip tires in the front. Like on my miata I run 195/50/15 RE01R in the front, and 195/55/15 shit on the back. For an NA rx8 use 225. Get an alinment, around -3 in front, around -1ish in back. But most importantly go out and DRIVE. Take the car stock with tires, out to an event, and LEARN. Buying shit is useless. Driving >> building. hope that helps. Remember to have fun and keep it safe!

scrap tires will save you in the long run the only problem with this is it is sometimes hard to find the size you need.

Not really, junk tires, will go to shit a lot faster, than a good tire. Good tires last longer. For example one of my first drift days this year, I went with shitty junkyard tires, I used up 7 tires on the track. A couple weeks later, I got decent tires, and didn't even use up a pair. And it was 1000x better.

like input said find a local drift organization. use cheap tires like diamondback, sunny, or nankangs get the job done if your rolling on wider wheels stretch the tires and up the psi and youll get an easier way breaking traction


you dont want to get caught in a parkinglot or a warehouse loading place n get an exhibition of speed or reckless driving ticket and end with a misdemeanor and 2 points on your record, ask me how i know

junkyard rims. 53$ each for aluminum (same price with or without tires) I picked up a pair of Enkei RPO2's with tires for 50$ on a 1/2 price day. Also no need to even buy used tires. I always just go through their trash pile and most shops thank me since they have to pay a fee to dispose of them.

As for drift days.

Usually you can get skid pad for really cheap.

:lol: I almost pissed myself !!!

Bob Bonderant School has a drifting course.

the way i used to do it was i would go to the tire places, ask them if you can go through their junk tires. 50% of the places will say yes, and often times people will get a nail in a tire, or get a little

camber wear on 2 of them, and they will replace all 4. in the past ive, over the course of a months time, collected almost 100 good tires. and as long as they are the right rim size and not really wide

compared to what you have on now, any tire is bound to work. but i do recommend you get a set of drift wheels as you dont want to be replacing the tires on your main set of wheels all the time.

the only problem with drifting with all different brands and sizes of tires is the fact that there is no consistency and it will be hard to get used to the way your car feels. next, where are you

located?? you can google drift events in your area, ask around, call local tracks, or practice on the street if you really want to. just dont get caught, ^ is right, tickets like that are expensive...... and

dont wreck your car

Want to drift affordably... sell your rx8 and get you a 240, weld the diff, and get wider wheels up front.

If you are stupid and feel the need to drift your drive by wire rx8 like me then you prob should invest in another set of wheels and keep cash on the side for tickets and curb inccidents. You will hit curbs it's a given, that money helps.

Or you could be smart and save it for the track. Also the better you get the more cars you will kill. The faster and more intense my drifts got, I ended up in the curb just as much as i did my first few times out. As fun as it is, it is costly and it will become highly stressful especially when you end up totaling your fully built drift car.

If you feel you must be a asshole and drift on public ground make sure it's done in isolated areas or hit me up, I know of some good spots. :us4allswi

Hope I don't sound assholish :squint:

if you find some events in our area hit me up and let me know, i some drifting the other day when we got the snow,

Wonderful!

If you still haven't tred rifting in he an do it. Once you get used to the feel of the back end flying out in the rain it becomes so much easier than dry. Coming out of the drfts is smoother and you can drift for longer. And much more fun(:

1. Find scca drift events $30-$45 or nearest track event $75-$200
2. make your 8 reliable at least a radiator or else you'll be gushing out coolant(suspension mods after you get some experience)
3. get brake pads atleast hawk hp+ or better for the rear for e-brake
4. become friends with local tire shops and get free used throw away tires or go tire hunting LOL! after hours, some shops throw good stuff out :SHOCKED:

(shops get charged each tire when the solid waste guy comes pick them up so the more you take the better for the shop but most corporate shops kind of won't let you when it comes to this stuff though)

5. find a way to mount/dismount tires for free either local auto school/college or friend at a shop or work at one

if you can get the tire hook up then get some wheels atleast 4 17's or 18's stretch tires depending on rim width with 60 psi :)

This is pretty much what i do

to the OP, you werent drifting. You were burning out in a parking lot and that's something young people who don't know any better have been doing since cars had enough power to pull it off.

if you like doing donuts then keep doing it, but if you want to learn how to actually drift then you're going to have to spend the money.

Sorry but I know the difference between burning out, doing donuts, and drifting. Forcing a loss of traction and maintaining control of my 8 when making a turn isn't "burning out".

It's not even a difficult thing to do. What's difficult is practicing it and getting better at it due to the expense of tires, the risks of practicing in parking lots and the risk of losing control and crashing into a pole or something.

the hell it isnt a difficult thing to do! if it wasnt then everybody and their cousin would be a pro drifter and everyone would have a 5 million hit youtube video.
just curious, have you ever been toa pro drifting event? formula d, d1 gp?

not trying to be an ass just think that you are VERY misinformed