Ok guys, we have too many drifitng threads floating around, we need to consolidate our knowledge. Putting it all into one thread helps everyone. It helps newbies because they know where to look for how-to info, it helps the more advanced guys because we can share info more effectively, and it helps people who don't care about drifting because they don't have to see the same "how do I make drift tires?" and "can I drift my nitro car?" threads another 100 times.

If you aren't into drifting, think its a waste of time, and don't see why anyone else is into it, thats fine, find another thread to post on, but please don't waste everyone's time here bashing it. If you don't like it, go talk about something you do like. Its just that simple.

I'll start with a basic FAQ based on my experience with nitro drifting:

Can you drift a nitro car?
Yes you can.

Isn't it too heavy?
Not at all, and last I checked, my electric TC3 wasn't really much lighter once it was loaded with batteries and such.

Don't electrics have better torque, and are therefore better for drifting?
Not better torque, per se, but more constant. Electric motors have max torque at all RPMs, so when you mash the throttle, you get instant full torque. While this may be nice, I've certainly had no trouble getting the tires spinning with the torque my 12rSS puts out.

Is it going to damage anything?
Not any more so than regular bashing, if you set your car up properly.

Do I need to buy the Yokomo drifting tires?
I've heard they allow you to drift faster, and make it somewhat easier, but you certainly don't NEED them to drift. I have never used them.

Can I make my own tires?
Yes you can. Its cheap and easy, just go to Home Depot (or some such similar place) and buy a length of 2" black ABS pipe. If you do not have a simple hacksaw, pick one of those up too. If you buy both your total should be in the $10-$15 range, and you'll be set on drift tires for longer than you can imagine. You'll also need a set of four 26mm wheels without tires, old or new, doesn't matter. Then all you need to do is cut the tires out of the ABS and slide them over the wheels. It should be a snug fit, but it shouldn't require too much force to get them on. I've never had to glue anything for my drift tires.

Don't you mean PVC?
No, I mean ABS. PVC is white, ABS is black. Aside from the fact that the black looks FAR better (looks like real tires), its also somewhat softer, from my understanding. There isn't really any significant cost difference, so I would go with the better-looking ABS.

Can I just wrap tape around my existing rubber tires?
Sure, and you'll have more grip, but you'll wear through tape and from my limited experience with it, it just leaves a gooey mess on otherwise perfectly good tires. I like the ABS method myself.

Am I going to destroy my clutch?
While I have seen and heard a lot of speculation about this, I have not had any problems, nor have I actually seen people complaing about ruining clutches.

Am I going to break parts?
Thats up to you, but drifting is slower than full-speed grip running, so if you do hit something, you won't be hitting it nearly as hard. I have not broken anything while drifting.

Won't my enigne overheat?
Only if you are careless with it. My engine runs at about 280 when I'm out bashing around making high-speed runs. My engine runs about 280 when I'm out drifting. However, when I'm drifting, I make several changes to the tuning:
- I richen the high until the temps are where I want them
- I lean the low so it starts and idles reasonably well
- I adjust my idle screw until the idle is low enough
- I am VERY careful about throttle useage. Drifting does NOT require much throttle, so don't mash on it all the time. Drifitng is about finesse, and thats true not only for the style and grace of your slides, but also your steering and throttle inputs.

Should I drift with a body on the car?
Bodies not only look cool, but they also help protect the car. Its fairly unlikely that you will flip the car drifting, but even so, a body is good protection. However, if you run with a body, make a drifting-specific body. If you only cut ROAR-legal holes in the windshield and such, you will overheat your engine. I cut out nearly all of the windows in mine, particularly the side-windows, since you spend a lot of time sideways.

Wouldn't rear wheel drive work better for drifting?
While the 1:1 scale drift cars are almost invariably rear wheel drive, your R/C car is not a 1:1 car, and does not quite behave in the same fashion. Specifically, your R/C car is probably fairly tail-heavy, and does not have the same power/weight ratio that a real car has, among countless other differences, so the same rules don't always correlate. From what I have heard, RWD r/c cars are difficult to drift, and I can say that 4WD r/c cars drift very nicely. If you want to go out and champion the RWD R/C drift cause, go ahead, I'd be very interested to know how it works, but for the time being I don't need any LESS control than I have with 4WD.

Thats about all I can think of for now, and that should help people get started with drifting. Lets try to keep the drift-related posts on this thread for the reasons mentioned above.