i got a roller from my brother dirt cheap, i want to set it up to drift. i got drift tires(plastic rings in the center of the tire). do i need to lock the diffs?
anything else i need to do to it? it will be a drifter only, i got a nitro rs4 for speed,so if its permanent it wont matter.

oh yeah, iv never drifted before

and how is a front one way different from a locked diff?

Yes, you'll be better off if you lock the rear diff, or get a spool. The one for the Sprint 2 will fit.

The front one-way drives in one direction, freewheels in the other. When mounted, it will drive the front wheels under power. When you let off the throttle or apply brakes, they freewheel independently, You will have no brakes at the front wheels, and no reverse. The rear wheels, being driven both at the same time (if you lock the rear diff, or use a spool), will still have brakes and reverse, but when drifting, you won't need either much, anyway.

It makes turn-in much easier, making it a good hop-up for any drifter.

A locked diff will respond to drift, but not as well as the one-way. Turn-ins will take more effort. You will need to use excessive toe-out, and Ackermanto compensate.

Being an RS4, it would benefit from some weight being placed on the front bumper, as well. Start with 3- 3 1/2 Oz .

Drift isa discipline very different from "speed" driving. Speed is not as important as control. Throttle and steering control are key to drifting well. It takes time and a lot of practice. You will not be a drifter in one day.

using nitro for drifting [X(] - start out on large track layout! Nitros are usually set up for mid-range power and top end speed and add a 2 speed transmission to that and it's blazing speed. As gokimedoro stated, drift is about control, precise throttle control, which on a speed demon nitro is hard to dial into, that is why you never see nitros being used for drifting in organized events and clubs. You need a car that has a super smooth throttle transition, if not it's hard keeping it in control, lot's of raw power in take off leads to donuts, especially in switchbacks (sliding out of one direction and instantly sliding into the opposite direction)

So don't get discouraged if you cant slide the nitro like the videos you see out there, if you want to bash around with a nitro and that's a lot of fun, do it in a large area. A small layout will frustrate you.

Let us know how you make out! best to you.

E rs4. E is for electric, i have a nitro aswell but the electric one is the one i want to try to drift

They make two versions of this car and an RS4 for drifting is great and having a front one-way does not mean you will not have reverse I have one in my Sprint 2 Sport along with a ball differential which by the way acts like a locked differential its essentially the same thing but my front one way causes me to go slower in reverse like a real car it doesnt take it away all together just makes reverse a little slower

from what iv found, the front one way has been discontinued, probably find one on the bay.
im not really a on road guy, so i probably wont put a lot into it, but i still want to tinker with it

The front one-way for the Sprint 2 will fit. It's direct bolt-on with no mods.

Go to the parts house(s) you normally go to and look for it in the Sprint 2 option parts section.

Right now, HPI is asking $38 for it, so you should be able to get it cheaper elsewhere.

cool

what about motor/esc/battery?
i know brushless is the way to go, but i dont want to spend a lot on the car until i know i really want to drift. if i dont like it the car will probably go away.
right now i have a losi strike esc, a 27t spec motor and a 13x2 motor, both run good. of these 2 which would be better?
battery is 2s lipo

If they're both close in power characteristics, the choice is up to you. If they're not, choose the one that delivers smooth power output. That will be better for drift.
Brand types are not as important as power delivery. Also, excessiveamounts of powerare not necessary for drift, either.

Tire choice will be another. Bad tires will turn you off to drift, because if they don't work, you won't get good drifts. Good tires will help you learn, and make you a better drifter. Try these:

raikoudrifttires.com

I recommend the DXPE's. They are a good tire choice for smooth asphalt and concrete. And they last a loooooooooong time! You get three full sets for $18, so they are very affordable, too.

use the 27t. it will run better. a 13t is for speed, but the 27 will have more torque which is good for drifting. plus, youll get better runtimes and cooler temps.
also, you cant run lower than a 15t on the losi strike ESC.

i dont know what tires came with the car, the say HPI on the rim, but they have rubber edges and a plastic ring in the center

This rubber/ring type tire works best on very smooth or polished concrete, that's the only place I've had success with them. Don't use them on blacktop especially rough blacktop, the ring wears super quick and the rubber starts to bite. This is definitely not a street tire.

Raikou carries ABS which has been an old time favorite of many, draw back is they wear fast. But if you like ABS they have a new D68 tire which I used all summer long on semi rough blacktop. It last craaaaazy long, I can't kill this tire. It has the slip of ABS but it bites better when switching back. It is slicker than their DXPE. I like it because it has to sidewall profiles, one profile protects my shiny chrome when I practice.

This tire works really good with lower power like, 3800Kv to 4600KV motors, they slide really nice. Here is their link: http://www.raikoudrifttires.com/tires.html

there cheap enough to buy both combo packs. guess i need to go get my car from my brother in laws

that's why we recommend them!!

Your Esc and Motor combo is good a 27 turn motor is great for drifting because of the amount of torque it provides

picked my car up today, got it put together. it was set up for dirt track. i took all the spacers out of the shocks and it does better, but it still over steers one way and under steers the other.
servo horn is centered, and my epa is set up to give equal steering in both directions. how can i cure this?
i don't know a thing about suspension settings, i bash monster trucks, so as long as theres oil in the shocks and spring on em, im good to go

Did you lock the rear diff? If it isn't, lock it! You'll get more consistent performance that way. You said it was set up for dirt track. That means thechassis would have to be set for left-hand turns. Might want to ask who you got it from, what they did to it. Steering is pretty straightforward. If you centered it, it should be good.

I would check ALL the settings on the front end, too. Camber, caster, toe, If you find anything out of the ordinary, or things aren't the same left and right, make them the same.

On-road chassis do require more attention than the average monster truck, and closer attention to settings, too. The smallest change can alter an on-road car's handling much more than any other type of RC car.

What are you running for tires? that could also have something to do with handling.

Maybe someone has something else to add?

yeah, rear diff is locked.
tires are the rubber with plastic rings in the center
i sent the guy it came from a text, havent heard back yet. im thinking ill change the shock oil to, maybe its thicker on one side?
i put in some + camber and it helped alot,i can control it much better. still got a lot to learn though. im on vacation this week, so i got some time to play with it

There are some good websites on drift chassis set up. I forgot the links, but if you type in "rc drift chassis set up", it should bring up some sites you can peruse to get more info.
I did that when I first started in drift, and they really helped. You may see a lot of recurring info. That's the info that's reliable.

Shocks don't play a major part in your problem, but they probably need attention, anyway.

You really don't want positive camber, unless you used it to bring your front wheels back to "0" camber. Most drifters like to use negative camber. Makes the front wheels look like this: / \
you might want to look the chassis over, for lead weights in strange places, and if all the electronics are on only one side of the chassis, you may want to remount them, to get better left / right balance.

Pics of your chassis would help greatly in identifying if there is anything amiss. If you could post one or two, it would make the process faster.

negative camber is what i did. opps
heres what i got

O.K., Well, outwardly I can see nothing wrong with the chassis. It still favors one side to the other, huh? Have you checked out the front diff? Therecould be something gumming up the works in there, causing it to favor one side to the other, though that is a long shot. I'd still check it.

Other than that, go through the front end, and make sure all adjustments are the exact same, left and right. Put some weight on the front bumper, too. That will help immensely by balancing the front / rear weight bias. 3 Oz. to 3 1/2 Oz. to start will be good.

Does the steering have slop in it? The Sprint 2 is notorious for steering slop, and since the RS4 is where the Sprint 2 came from, that could be contributing to the steering problem, too.

Let us know, after those checks, if it still favors one side to the other.

steering is tight, ill go through it tomorrow and see what i come up with,
front diff feels good to
ill post up my results

Be waiting for a reply!

Be sure to look up those drift chassis set ups, too. They'll help you to identify anything you or I may have missed.