How to Drift a Front Wheel Drive (FWD) Car

Drifting is quickly becoming a mainstream form of motorsports across the globe. The popular rear-wheel-drive vehicles you've seen in professional drift competition might not always be available to you; here's what you can do with your everyday, front-wheel-drive commuter vehicle.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Front-wheel-drive car
• an open area to practice

1. When practicing FWD drifting, start off in a large, open area like an abandoned parking lot. This will give you lots of space to "bail" out of your approach / drift if necessary. The basic drift you will be starting off with is a 180 degree u-turn.
2. Begin your basic oversteer drift with the approach. Choose a point on the ground (or use a cone) as your target to drift around. Drive in a straight line, headed to about 10 feet to the left of your target. Build up speed so that you are traveling at about 20 - 25 mph by the time you are parallel with your target.
3. Just as you start to drive past your target, let off the accelerator, turn the steering wheel sharply to the right (into the turn), and simultaneously pull up your vehicle's emergency hand-brake sharply for approximately 1 second. The simultaneous action of turning in while pulling up your hand-brake (to lock up the rear wheels only) will result in the rear end of your vehicle sliding outward. You want to balance the steering input, speed, and braking so that your vehicle rotates precisely 180 degrees; no more and no less. If you spin too far, use less steering. If you don't spin far enough use more steering or more momentum.
4. As the rear end of your vehicle slides around your target mark, turn your steering wheel left until your wheels are facing back in the direction which you came.
5. Once your vehicle has spun around 180 degrees, press the foot brake to prevent your vehicle from rolling backward with the momentum generated by the drift.
6. Head back in the opposite direction and practice the maneuver again. Repeat until you are proficient at 180 degree u-turns. Improve your skills by increasing or decreasing the radius of your turns. Then move onto negotiating corners involving a turn less than 180 degrees.

Tips & Warnings

• When pulling the hand-brake, hold down the hand-brake release button so that the brake does not lock in place.
• Depending on the dynamics of your vehicle try initiating the hand-brake a split second after turning into a corner.
• Do not practice drifting on public roads or highways.
• Do not practice drifting on private property unless you have the permission of the landowner.
• Don't crash your car or kill yourself.