Drifting Equipment
Brakes
If you want to drift seriously, you better get your brakes upgraded. Minimum requirements need you to have pads all around. Change your brake fluid or better still replace it for complete synthetic brake fluid. Adding braided brake hoses will further ensure that braking disasters are minimized. If you are spending money on the brakes also consider upgrading to bigger brake disks which are vented, drilled and grooved.
Suspension.
Control is the key, so a soft suspension setup will cause a lot of problems and create a rugged ride. The suspension varies from car to car and driver to driver. It is worth getting suspension you can modify yourself so look for ones that permit custom ride height, stiffness and electronic adjustment to the dampers.Get one that you are comfortable with.
Suspension can be supplemented with strut braces for rigidity and also by switching rubber bushes for polyurethane to aid stiffness. Set the front for negative Camber to give the front more grip and help with over steer. The rears should be set with very little negative camber (virtually vertical) to reduce grip in corners.
Steering.
Ensure that your steering rack is in very good condition and has no turn when the wheels are straight when the steering wheel is in its default rotation. A quick lock to lock steering rack is an excellent thing to have. Small steering wheels are actually horrible so get the big ones.
Clutch.
The clutch is one of the most used parts of the car for drifting. For drifting, get the heavy duty clutch. Double and Triple plate clutches are good as are ceramic, brass button clutches but these are not always available for all the cars. Various compounds are available. If you get a heavy clutch and your car has a cable clutch pedal make sure that the cable is heavy duty enough.
Body work.
You will crash and spin off. Impact with other vehicles and barriers is also typical especially as you are starting out. In pro drift championships the bumpers are secured with cable ties so when the inevitable happens the bumper rips off breaking the cable tie and suffers little damage itself.
Tyres.
Have you noticed that the main sponsors of drift championships are tyre companies (call me synical). You will get through more tyres than anything else. You’ll often overhear drifters talking about how many Tyres Per Mile they get through.
If you are starting out stick with cheap part worn tyres. Some drivers stretch small tyres on a large rim to aid stability. Some drives have different sizes (height and width) on the front to the rear. Look for low profile tyres as these are less inclined to roll off the rims under heavy sliding. Tyre pattern is a matter of individual choice I suggest that you chat with other drivers and see what they are using. Typically hard compound on the back and the rear tyres are what you will use more of. Tyre pressures also can make a big difference - experiment with different pressures to see how handling is affected as this varies greatly from car to car.






