For most of the ordinary people, the current season’s highlights are long romantic walks, skiing, attacking each other with snow balls, etc. All those things are great and make us happy… but…
The petrol heads among us feel pins and needles, as soon as the streets get covered by large amounts of snow. Not nearly ‚cause they want to head towards a ski resort or take their girlfriends for a promenade in the woods. But they love to look at public clearance staff outside, struggling to keep the streets clear from snow or ice. By this time, we all know: „It’s time to rip shit on them streets!“
It’s known, basically you can drift with any car… any! 4WDs are amazing, the amount of grip they can generate, while drifting, is awesome. FWDs are a bit dull, but you can get used to it and also have great fun. But come on, we don’t need to be under no illusions; the most fun way to drift is with an RWD car. PERIOD. 🙂
But let’s not fight upon drive train concepts, the Swiss winter can be a great opportunity for car maniacs to improve their drifting skills. We normally don’t experience a lot of snowy weeks, but if we do, damn we better make use of it!
Best is to look for lonely, low traffic country or forest roads. What you can practise on these snowed/iced roads literally for hours or even days, is worth a fortune! Pay attention to potential traffic on the roads, ideally drift on observable streets.
Drifting on a snowy surface follows exactly the same physical rules as on dry tarmac. But with some major differences; slower motions (more time to react), less lateral acceleration, less stress on drivetrain and virtually no tire wear. One can encounter the effects of differents setups directly on the road, e.g. tire grip front and rear. You can instantly tell, whether the front tires have sufficient grip or not. Understeer is your meanest enemy… ok, actually this applies to any driving condition. But on snow/ice, understeer is very very nasty! It will lead to slipping out of the corner, into trees, fences etc… too much oversteer on the other hand is easy, ‚cause you’ll normally just spin out.
While impatiently waiting for the 2011 season to start, this is the best, cheapest and most intensive way to really get to know your car better and improve on the base of constant repetition. Good to know, the first trackday is only 3 months ahead: https://www.speed-industries.ch/wordpress/?p=666
cheers – Chris
Important Note: The above story is in good fun. The described kind of driving is illegal in our country, if you do it, it’s on your own risk. You can be held fully responsible of any accident caused, and the resulting damages!
For most of the ordinary people, the current season’s highlights are long romantic walks, skiing, attacking each other with snow balls, etc. All those things are great and make us happy… but…
The petrol heads among us feel pins and needles, as soon as the streets get covered by large amounts of snow. Not nearly ‚cause they want to head towards a ski resort or take their girlfriends for a promenade in the woods. But they love to look at public clearance staff outside, struggling to keep the streets clear from snow or ice. By this time, we all know: „It’s time to rip shit on them streets!“
It’s known, basically you can drift with any car… any! 4WDs are amazing, the amount of grip they can generate, while drifting, is awesome. FWDs are a bit dull, but you can get used to it and also have great fun. But come on, we don’t need to be under no illusions; the most fun way to drift is with an RWD car. PERIOD. 🙂
But let’s not fight upon drive train concepts, the Swiss winter can be a great opportunity for car maniacs to improve their drifting skills. We normally don’t experience a lot of snowy weeks, but if we do, damn we better make use of it!
Best is to look for lonely, low traffic country or forest roads. What you can practise on these snowed/iced roads literally for hours or even days, is worth a fortune! Pay attention to potential traffic on the roads, ideally drift on observable streets.
Drifting on a snowy surface follows exactly the same physical rules as on dry tarmac. But with some major differences; slower motions (more time to react), less lateral acceleration, less stress on drivetrain and virtually no tire wear. One can encounter the effects of differents setups directly on the road, e.g. tire grip front and rear. You can instantly tell, whether the front tires have sufficient grip or not. Understeer is your meanest enemy… ok, actually this applies to any driving condition. But on snow/ice, understeer is very very nasty! It will lead to slipping out of the corner, into trees, fences etc… too much oversteer on the other hand is easy, ‚cause you’ll normally just spin out.
While impatiently waiting for the 2011 season to start, this is the best, cheapest and most intensive way to really get to know your car better and improve on the base of constant repetition. Good to know, the first trackday is only 3 months ahead: https://www.speed-industries.ch/wordpress/?p=666
cheers – Chris
Important Note: The above story is in good fun. The described kind of driving is illegal in our country, if you do it, it’s on your own risk. You can be held fully responsible of any accident caused, and the resulting damages!