- There is nothing cooler than drifting, period.
But here's the thing,
some of the most iconic drift cars,
240s, RX7s, M3s, Hachirokus,
just aren't that easy to come by anymore.
They're expensive and it's at the point
where you don't wanna smash 'em up
even if you can find one.
But us common folks still wanna slide so what do we do?
Well, good news for all you sideways freaks out there,
today, I've got a list of nine super capable drift cars
that you would never expect to see
on a list of nine super capable drift cars
that you don't have to pay the drift tax on.
So strap on your three point harness
and grasp firmly upon thine hydro breaks,
this is- - "The D-List."
Ford MN12.
- It's no secret that the fourth Gen
or SN95 Mustang is pretty good at sliding around.
My good friend, Christopher, Fixtopher for built one
called the driftStang, that's his real name,
I know his real name and I've seen his face
but there's a problem.
Ford built the SN95 brostang
on the absolutely geriatric Fox platform
which used an archaic live rear axle.
And a live rear axle is not the most ideal rear end
for going into controlled slides.
Hold on guys, I'm gonna pause for a second.
I wanted to do a bit where my hat matched the microphone,
but it just got too hot in here.
Anyway, a live rear axle is not the most ideal rear end
for going into controlled slides.
If only Ford had designed a similar platform
during that time period with independent rear suspension,
a front mounted V8 and a crisp manual gearbox.
Except they did and it's called the MN12.
This chassis was used on the Thunderbird
and the Cougar between 1988 and 1997,
which also happens to be the exact amount of time
that the Belgian avant-garde jazz band,
X-Legged Sally was active, coincidence.?
Think again. I'm not even a real person.
And just like the Mustang, you can get the T-bird
or the Coug with a 289 or 302 V8.
There was even a supercharged V6 Thunderbird
called the super coupe,
that I talked about quite a bit in an episode
of my other show "Up to Speed."
I'll put the link in the description below.
I shoot a lot of content every week.
They won't let me stop.
And just like Nolan,
each of these cars came equipped
with a strong independent rear end.
And it really wouldn't be too hard
to turn one of these boys into a slippery Slide Master.
Weld the diff, drop it a couple inches,
the same engine as a stang
there's plenty of after-market support.
Just think about how cool you would be
rolling up to your local drift meet
in one of these bad boys.
And with all that cushiony interior,
you'd easily be the comfiest drifter on the track.
Maxime found a couple videos of people drift these things
and I'm not gonna lie guys, they look sick as heck.
- [Announcer] BMW E39.
- The very next boy on this list
hails from a little town called Dingolfing
in the beautiful free State of Bavaria,
also home to one of my favorite creams of all time.
I'm talking about BMW E39,
otherwise known as the five series
from the late 90s and early 2000s.
In my opinion, this is one of the last true BMWs
of the modern era.
It was engineered to stimulate the pleasures
of driving a refined motor vehicle.
There's no fake engine noise,
it is pumped into the speakers,
the styling is subtle, understated,
dare I say timeless?
It also happens to slide wheel good around them corners.
I'm honestly pretty shocked that the E39
isn't a more common drift car.
You could get it with the super reliable M54 straight six
or even absolutely nasty M62 V8.
The M62 sounds so good that Max took his engine cover off
so that he could hear it better.
- [Max] It's called vinos, baby.
- Bunch of them came with manual transmissions,
which is super cool for a big luxury boat like that.
It doesn't happen a lot
and most importantly,
these things are cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap,
cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap Max owns two of them,
and I'm pretty sure max only makes what,
like five, $600,000 per video?
The only thing you need to do to one of these boys
is weld the diff since they didn't ever come
with an LST from the factory,
but it doesn't take much effort to get them sideways.
They basically have a 50/50 weight distribution
and a long wheelbase makes it perfect
for those comfy controlled slides that we all lust after.
But if long executive sedans aren't really your thing,
the next vehicle on this list
is essentially the exact opposite.
- [Announcer] Chevy S-10.
- Gather around my, truck brethren,
for Chevrolet's legendary compact pickup truck
also happens to be a killer drifty boy.
And I'm not talking about Robert Ramirez.
Remember a couple weeks ago
when I talked about the Nissan Hardbody
being a super good drift truck?
Well, the S-10 is basically the American equivalent.
It's small, it's lightweight, rear-wheel drive,
and it puts down some pretty dis power
straight up out of the little box.
This truck is petite, to say the least.
So even with a modest V6,
it's definitely enough to give you a good time.
And if you happen to want a little bit more power, baby,
it's nothing to sweat your pants over.
These things have plenty of room for engine swaps.
Here's an S-10 that I found on eBay Motors
with the frickin' V8 in it.
And this thing don't even cost $10,000.
Our buddy Tony built a backyard fake LS S-10,
he parked in our office for like six months.
Did it block the walkway to the front door? Debatably.
Was it sick? Definitely.
Were Jessie and I stoked to drive it to The Streamy's? Yes.
Did it break down? Yes.
Were we late? Yes.
Are we Streamy Award winners? Yes.
I'd love to see more drift trucks in general,
especially S-10s, these things are so rad I really want one.
I got a window open looking for 'em.
And you might be saying it needs a rack and pinion
or the rear leaf springs aren't good for the track
but these honest, honest little trucks
are surprisingly good platform
to get you started with your new expensive drift hobby.
And the best part is you can throw all your spare tires,
all your friends' spare tires,
all your friends' extra wheels, all your friends' crap
and your crap in the bed drive onto the check
so you always get invited.
It hurts my feelings when I don't get invited.
Jesse and Zach Job, sometimes it hurts my feelings
when you go on drives with Bucky Lasek
and you don't invite me.
- [Announcer] Subaru Outback.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, wait just one second here, a Subaru Outback?
On a list of rear-wheel drive drift cars?
Mexcuse me, Mochacho, are you all good in the nagging, bruh?
That is a dramatic reenactment of what went through my mind
when we were researching this episode
and Max brought up this car.
But it turns out, these thing's got the greasy guts
to deliver some big time oversteer
with just a few tweaks to the drive train
You see, all right, time for a little science lesson.
Most all-wheel drive cars
are actually front-wheel drive cars most of the time.
But Subaru uses a symmetrical all-wheel drive system
that splits power
through a fancy little center differential.
What does this mean
For all you degenerate drift- dreads out there?
It means you can just weld up the center diff,
delete your front axles,
and you've got a rear-wheel drive suby.
Jesse thinks that you'd be better off doing this to a WRX
but if you ask me the Outback is way more unexpected,
which is what this list is all about.
Also, at the end of the day, I'm the one that says the words
so I give final approval.
And these things look 100% sick when they're going sideways.
I love the first few generations of the Outback
before it turned into a full on crossover SUV.
You got those two-tone bumpers, big, burly beefy wagon body
and you would surprise everyone
the second that you dumped that clench.
You'd also probably blow your diff too.
- [Announcer] Porsche 944.
- Now you might have never thought to see a Porsche
on a list of drift cars
but the 944 isn't your average pee car.
Think about it. It's got an engine in the front,
it's got a crap ton of power potentially,
perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
Now, a lot of you might be worried
about dropping a ton of cash on maintenance and repairs
but these little puppies
are actually surprisingly affordable to buy
and maintain for now.
Buy one soon 'cause porches don't stay cheap for long.
And if you're still on the fence,
cram this little factoid into your brain,
be FC RX7, an indisputably legendary drift car,
was basically just a JDM copy of the Posche 944.
Look at them.
These boys look more similar than the straight pipes.
Yeah, Jacob has a beard and Yuri sometimes has a goatee
and that does throw me off a little bit
but I say, I think those guys share 100% DNA.
But this ain't a video about Canadians,
this a video about drift cars.
And did I mention that the Porsche has pop up,
up and down frickin' headlights?
Porsche made a few other front end in cubes,
like the 924 and the 928 and they're all way cheaper
than you think a classic Porsche would be.
For years, years people hated on these cars.
They said, "If the engine wasn't in the back,
it's not to a real Porsche."
And thanks to that hate,
you can find them for way cheaper than you would expect.
But you know what, I say the 944 is a real pee car,
a damn good one too.
- [Announcer] Chrysler Crossfire.
- Now listen up, I'm gonna say it because somebody needs to,
the Chrysler Crossfire
is one of the most underrated cars ever.
And it's an American two seater with Mercedes' Innards,
and a six-speed manual transmission.
And it's called the Crossfire,
which is one of the most aggressively marketed
board games ever.
When the Crossfire came out,
Chrysler was owned by Mercedes.
So this car shared a ton of parts with the SLK,
which is also a pretty neat car.
It's powered by V6,
that puts out a fairly respectable 250 horsepowers,
which isn't bad for a car that only weighs 3000 pounds.
But apparently, this just wasn't good enough
for American buyers.
So the Crossfire was pretty much a sales flop.
The styling is as pretty weird for the time,
I mean, it looks like one of those wooden speed boats
that rich guys pilot on their private lakes in Switzerland,
But because of that,
you can find these forgotten fast backs on Gregslist,
Facebook Martin's Place or eBay Motors for dirt cheap.
Here's one with a six-speed for 3700 bucks.
Now, I know it's gonna be a little squirrely
with such a short wheelbase,
but you guys all love me autos
but once you weld the diff
and get rid of that traction control
this thing would be a certifiable missile.
Did I mentioned, it's called a cross-fighter.
Now, the Cross-fighter might only be 80% Mercedes
but this next car is 100% Mercedes.
- [Announcer] Mercedes C-Class W203.
- The second generation C-Class is known as the W203.
It's called a chassis code, look it up.
And it's basically Mercedes Benz's version of the BMW E46
and the E46 is a super popular drift car
so why not the W203?
There were a ton of engine options in this chassis,
Four bangers? Check.
Six gangers? You bet check.
8 slangers? Absogotdanglutely.
Some of them were even supercharged
and unlike basically every other Mercedes
in the history of Mercedes,
the W203 was available with a six-speed manual transmission.
Here's the C230, for sale right now, for under five grand.
According to the ad it runs great and makes no funny noises
but I bet you'll be making some funny noises
when you pitch this long boy into a hectic ski.
- [Announcer] Infiniti J30.
- I know there hasn't been a ton of JDM representation
on this list.
I mean, this is a list of cars you wouldn't expect
to be good at drifting
and most JDM cars
are definitely expected to be good at drifting.
There's tons of videos
of basically every single rear-wheel drive Japanese car ever
doing really cool screechy stuff
but one Japanese boy you wouldn't expect is this one,
the Infiniti J30.
Let's be honest, it's a bloated Oldsmobile looking car,
so it doesn't carry the same reputation
as some of the more chiseled Japanese sports cars.
But underneath its blob like appearance
is a 210 horsepower V6,
pretty much the same engine from the 300ZX
In other words,
you've got the same tuning potential as the Z32.
The J30 might not have come with a manual
but you can swap on in pretty easily.
Maybe you wanna run standalone ECU,
maybe you wanna frickin' twin turbos swap one,
raise that rev limiter
and squeeze few more horses out of that old VG.
Just think about one of these plump downright
goofy looking sedans tandem drifting with a mark two Super.
It's so awesome and so hilarious
and I definitely think somebody watching this should buy one
and turn it into a drift car.
If you do this, put a post on r/DonutMedia
and we'll send you a sticker pack
so you can get even more power.
I swear, if you spend thousands of dollars
to make this dream a reality,
I will send you a $15 sticker pack, no questions asked.
Rounding off this list of unusual
but surprisingly good drift cars
is something not at all like anything else on this list.
No, it's not front engine.
No, it doesn't have a manual transmission.
And no, you're probably not gonna be able to find one
on Gregory's list or on Facebook Martin's place
or on Oscar or on eBay Motors for $3,000.
But hear me out
because I think it just might have the potential
to be one of the best grassroots drift cars ever.
We're talking about the Tesla Model three.
I bet you're pretty surprised, huh?
Well, let's start by looking at the facts, Jack, all right?
Is that okay with you, Jack?
Can we look at the facts? Jack?
The lower spec version of this car puts out 283 horsepower
and because they're electric motors,
you get 330 pound feet of torques instantly.
The highest spec model three
gives you a bump to 450 horsepowers.
And again, that power is on demand,
just like Paul Bart three, "Special Victims Unit"
you don't have to worry about which gear you're in
or what differential you got,
you just press that lightning pedal
and you're good to go, man.
Now I know it's gonna be a different experience
than drifting and clapped out S-14
but electric cars can be just as exciting.
I've driven a bunch of them including this one
and super trippy to see a car slide around
with no engine noise just tire squeal, check this out.
This is Travis Reeder driving his Electric FD Camaro.
It's fun and trippy
and drifting is about having fun at the end of the day.
And I'm calling it, in a few years,
you're gonna see model threes get more and more affordable
and one of you Greasy knucklers is going to strip one down,
hack out all the electric nannies, the driver's assist
and all that stuff, absolutely skirt on all these haters.
I've been saying this for years at this point,
and that's because I predict the future.
Time is a concept, it doesn't exist and neither do I.
Thank you guys so much
for watching this episode of "The D-List."
Remember, anything can be a drift car.
Sometimes it just takes a little bit of brain juice
and a whole lot of knuckle grease.
I bought a drifty car that's not on this list,
if you wanna check it out,
check out this episode of Money Pit
when Zach Job tells me everything on my car that is broken,
which is essentially everything.
Follow Donut Media across all social media, @DONUTMEDIA.
Hit that subscribe button, hit that like button,
it really honestly helps us out.
Alright, cool. I love you.
- [Max] It's called vinos, baby.