- When it comes down to things we wished we could do
in our first car,
drifting is likely among the top of the list.
I mean let's face it,
you remember your front-wheel drive Corolla.
With e-brake and the automatic.
And you go on lunch break in January and drift your car
around some high school neighborhood streets.
Drifting your car is just a thing
I think everyone wants to do with their car.
It's for a good reason.
It's fun.
It's loud.
It's ridiculous.
What else could you want to do in a car
when you 16 years old or 36 years old.
It doesn't even matter.
I mean what other reason could you possibly have,
when it comes down to owning a car.
Lighting up a set of tires puts a smile on your face,
form ear to ear.
That is just hard to match.
And pretty much anything else
when it comes to the automotive sport.
I'm Alex, Alex.Fi on the Insta page
and today we're going to be talking about you wanting,
to drift your car.
(loud upbeat music)
(car motor running loudly)
While you're here don't forget to subscribe
so we can take the YouTube algorithm into our own,
(loud hand clapping) hands.
And, you can watch our videos when they drop.
Because we need you.
(loud beeping)
Anyway if that's not enough don't forget to check out
fitmentindustries.com.
If you're looking for aftermarket wheels, aftermarket tires,
or aftermarket suspension,
for the drift missile you're looking to build,
or the Corolla you plan on tossing
around through the high school parking lot.
We don't judge.
Just don't do it next people,
cause then if you run into somebody,
there's this thing called insurance
and then that hurts people.
Then occasionally sometimes people don't like
when you run over their children.
Taking it back a few decades,
drifting wasn't known like it was today.
As drifting was often associated with lack of control
and failure to enter-and-exit turns appropriately,
in the world of racing.
Boo.
Then a man by the name of Kunimitsu Takahashi came in,
in a Skyline KPGC10 and decided to just, just (bleep),
all over the competition.
Originally in the motorcycle racing scene,
Takahashi ended up jumping into the automotive scene,
due to an accident in his motorcycle career.
As he entered into everything from GT2 to Formula One.
There's one technique he used continuously,
to beat out the competition.
Drifting. (loud tire scraping)
To combat some grip issues
with Bias Ply Racing tires at the time
and inclement weather,
Takahashi approached turns at an insane speed.
Sending him into a slide
with a little bit of throttle control.
A little-little tidly bit with a little toe,
a little sponge bobby a little. (whistling)
And then power out onto the straights.
For the racing category he was in,
it would launch him to the first place.
Because he be, "Oh hey what's up guys. How's it going."
And people could not figure out,
what the hell was even going on.
Because it was just not,
something people really did that much of.
Now fast-forward in the Japanese racing scene
in the mountains began to become inspired,
by that whole racing style.
Finding out they to,
could accomplish quicker times
by maximizing a control oversteer,
through the two gauge setting.
Twoge.
Togue.
Illegal but hey, (bleep).
One of the individuals to take most notice of this new style
was a young, nimble, lack of facial hair,
Keiichi Tsuchiya.
I'm gonna get that right.
Keiichi Tsuchiya, Oh my God.
Nani.
Keiichi Tsuchiya also known as the (clears throat)
Drift King.
- You know what DK stands for?
- Donkey Kong.
- Drift king.
(loud electro music)
Started to popularize the sport way back in the mid 1980s.
The nighttime street racing.
Now, Tsuchiya wasn't the first drifter
nor was he always the most popular.
But he did hit the market at the time
that people wanted to know just what drifting was.
And he was dangerously good at it.
With nothing more than his 1986 Toyota Sprinter.
Over time Tsuchiya began to climb,
out of the illegal night-racing and began to even step foot
into official events like the Fuji Freshmen race,
and the Japan Touring Car Championship.
And oh boy their bud, was he just (mouth popping)
(beeping)
good.
All right, by the way, I'm trying my best with the name
but I'm a little backed up.
I haven't had coffee yet.
I'm trying my best.
So, he was so good, that the Initial D anime,
was based of his persona.
And the climb to the top of the racing scene as a whole,
drifting would eventually creep into its own event,
in the mid 1980s.
Powered by Tsuchiya and the local tuning magazines
of the time.
And like a proper plant
that needs to get that adequate amount of water and sunlight
it began to grow.
It began to get nurtured and taken cared of.
Put a little bit of fertilizer in there,
and you're ready to rock and roll.
The sport in Japan skyrocketed in popularity,
leading up to professional grand championship events,
occurring in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Instead of it being a rambunctious group
of random people just sending it,
through these back road hillsides.
These events began to churn up professional drifting teams.
Styles and media coverages.
All of a sudden people were actually,
making it into an art and a craft.
Building cars specifically for drifting and nothing more.
Just like everything cool, USA began to take notice.
As the Japanese grassroots drifting was starting
to get all up to speed.
And eventually, the drifting idea had hit the shores
of the good ole United States of America.
Transition.
So there's your history about actually drifting your car.
But what about,
(hands clasping)
actually wanting to drift your car?
That's a fantastic question there guy.
Drifting your car is more than just throwing lunch trays
under your rear wheels and sending it in the snow.
It's a craft, okay.
(blowing a kiss)
It's like making the prefect risotto.
You just you gotta know what you're doing.
Or like making a perfect funfetti cupcake.
So let's start with the essentials.
If you're looking to drift your car it's important to know,
what you'll want to expect.
When you start tossing your car around,
like a dirty shirt in a hamper.
It's gonna take a lot of abuse.
At least initially because you have no idea
what you're doing.
Most individuals that jump into drifting,
end up buying a secondary.
(melodic music)
This is important.
Not their only car.
But a secondary car.
Because if you use your only vehicle,
you're a dangerous soul.
(wind blowing) (car tires screeching)
(laughing)
Drifting your car out of the gate actually doesn't require,
too much.
Simply funds to support your car when it inevitably breaks
or when you begin to truly shear off tires.
Individuals who jump into cheap 240SX's as if,
that's actually even a thing.
I don't even know why I said it.
350Z's, 370Z's, 3-Series Miata's and more,
just to get a start with some sort of real world drive car
with an e-break.
Now you're gonna wanna keep an eye out if you're looking
to buy a secondary car that has an LSD.
If you can.
Cause it's gonna make your life just a little bit easier.
If you wanna weld your open diff, you definitely can.
It can just be more of a pain over time; especially,
as it begins to break over, and over, and over again.
And then when you go to turn into a parking lot,
you're that guy with the little (car squeaking).
You know what I'm talking about.
If you know, what a welded diff sounds like.
Once you pick the car you want
and you got the cash saved up for the repairs,
going out there is the next most important thing.
We've talked about this before,
but simply just going for ride-alongs,
getting involved in the local farms and practicing,
are gonna be your best
and fastest way to get good at drifting.
A lot of times if you wanna be good at something,
you should probably go hang out with the people
that actually do it and are pretty good at it.
It's gonna give you the best chances at success.
All right.
But you should expect a few, (clears throat)
hiccups, along the way.
So you want to drift your car.
Well grab your Nankang's and XXR's
because it's about to get loud.
Drifting your car will involve you being okay,
with doing everything to your car
that is not inherently really gonna feel,
like it's supposed to do.
Unless you actually build a drift car.
You will break things.
You will spend.
Lots of money.
Your car will get damaged.
You will, spend a ton of time on your car
for only to break, when you take it back out,
on the first hard turn.
And you're gonna have to be okay with that because,
drifting is neat.
You're gonna spend quite a chunk of change
on weekend events.
But that's okay.
Because, drifting is neat.
The biggest misconception people have about drifting is
that they don't need to have
a fully built drift car machine,
a million dollars, or all the time in the world
to actually go and do it.
It's a lot like autocross actually,
if you just know that the event is going on
and you have a car you think you can swing around.
You can probably go out there and just go send a bud.
You will want some spare change for sure.
And the car you'll want to own is something
that can get people to drive happy
with minimal modifications.
But you don't need to completely dedicate your life to it,
you'll just want to,
after you start jumping out on that track.
And going every other way except straight.
When you'll go built up your potential drift machine,
you'll more than likely see people running
affordable style wheels,
versus the super expensive multi-piece or forged monoblocks
and things like that.
Because they usually just end up kissing walls,
every once in a while.
XXR's, Aodhan's, and JNC's will be more common
than you think.
However more and more people are going more towards,
the sport compact wheels styles.
Like Cosmis Racing, Konig, and NK,
due to their cost coming down quite a bit in comparison
of what they used to be.
Plus you get flow formed wheels at a pretty decent price.
Konig is on top of this right now.
Tires (spitting) whatever fits and whatever is cheapest,
will reign king for the most part.
But if you're looking to dial in a proper tire,
you'll see auts using Nankang's everywhere.
Federals have gotten more popular in time,
due to the longevity of their tire.
But tires are more of a personal opinion
in the good ole drift scene.
It just kind of depends on what you like to run
and what others will run for you.
A lot of times people just buy a million of the same thing
because they can buy more in bulk
and get a little bit of a better deal.
Coilovers with a higher spring rate than normal
to minimize body roll maximize inertia through turns,
is gonna be important.
Fortune Auto coilovers in DC reign king, in this department.
Fortune Auto coilovers being rebuildable
and adjustable over time.
Which means as you practice and get better,
the coilover can evolve.
(loud whooshing and beeping)
just like you, you little Pikachu.
So what do you think?
Are you up for drifting?
Let us know your drifting story.
Whether it was legitimate or
whether it involved you running into a mailbox.
And let us know in the comment section below.
So that we can either laugh with you, talk with you,
or maybe just giggle over here.
So whether that's the car that was meant to go sideways
or not, we're completely impartial.
Don't forget to subscribe as well.
And if you're looking for wheels, tires, or suspensions,
be sure to check out fitmentindustries.com.
Where we got it all boys and girls.
Fortunato, Nk's, Cosmis, Work's, Nankang's, Asus
it's a song.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries
and we will see you guys later.
Peace.(hard foot stepping)