How to get into drifting

Drifting is perhaps the coolest looking sport ever. Not motorsport in particular, but just sport in general. It's an adrenaline filled tire-shredding show for both the drivers and the fans watching. There's absolutely nothing like the smell of burning rubber when it's coming off of a drift car generating insane amounts of smoke. Chances are, you've heard of drifting and most of you have seen it in real life. You may be following events like Formula Drift or similar and there's one thing big drift events have in common. Every car on the grid has a 2JZ or an LS engine with more than 600 horsepower, fancy suspension and nearly 90 degrees of steering angle. Not all drifting is that expensive however.

See, drifting itself began as a grassroots thing even in the U.S. when it first came over from Japan. It didn't have a lot of popularity and people started doing it because it's just cheap fun. And contrary to popular belief, there are only 2 things you need in order to be able to start drifting right away.

A RWD car

This really is imperative. Drifting by definition can be done only when you're sliding the car under power, meaning the rear wheels have to be spinning. A FWD car can "drift" using the handbrake, but it's not continuous. Finding a cheap RWD car is a priority and the basis for everything. Ideally, it should be manual since automatics can't be clutch kicked or initiated into a slide with the handbrake. If you can get a lighter car to start with, even better. In the older days you could find a dirt cheap 240SX or older Supra with ease, but the so-called "drift tax" means not only is there no clean example, even the beater drifted ones are worth a lot now. Your best bet at the moment is a 3-series BMW (ideally 325i) or a foxbody Mustang.

Welded differential

A car with a stock differential (usually open diff) will NOT be able to properly drift. You may have wheel spin but it won't rotate like it should. If it does it will stop as soon as one tire loses more traction. Welding a diff is cheap, usually costs less than $100 but be warned, this does make it really twitchy in normal daily driving, especially in the wet, and lower speed corners wear out the tires really fast. If you can find a car with a limited-slip differential even better. It's all you'll need, no welding required.

All the smaller things

That's basically everything you'll need to go drifting. If you want, you can then continue with newer tires for more grip, upgraded shocks for less body roll, a hydraulic handbrake for easy initiation and even more power, but a stock car with even as little as 150 hp should be able to drift. One quick tip: Try to practice in the wet, it will wear your tires less and make 150 horsepower feel like 300. 

As always make sure to check out Furious Customs for lots of great products 

Disclaimer: Visit local tracks to drift and don't do it on the streets. At the very least find empty parking lots.