What is drifting?

Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers which causes a lot of loss of traction at the rear tires of your car (rwd) or all tires (awd) while maintaining a full control of the car from the point of entry til to point of exiting the corner.
A car that is drifting is when the rear slip angle is better than the front slip angle.
Which often you can notice when the front wheels are pointing at the opposite direction when you are going to a certain corner.
(e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa, also known as opposite lock or counter-steering.)

Drifting works with speed, angle, throttle control and hand braking.



Understood?
Good! Moving on!

This is definitely NOT a racing event.
Crossing the finish line first will not mean you won.

The objective in drifting events is to score the most drift points.
Drifting points are calculated by many ways:


1. SPEED

"But you said its not about who crossed the finish line first"
I know, but you do need speed in order to hold a drift.
you need to go fast to hold a certain angle for as long as you can.
Obviously some corners require you to slow down so you won't crash or go off track.
Faster speed does not give you more points.
But don't go crazy on the drifting speed, 50-80 mp/h should be enough to ace most corners on any track.
Drop to 30-40 if you're in a really small track.

2. ANGLE



Have you notice the green bar?
The green bar shows you the angle you are currently drifting on.

The larger the angle, the more points you score. its simple.
Just be careful not to oversteer too much or you will lose points with a "Spin" penalty
So don't go above 90° drifting unless you are outside the drift zone
And don't forget to hold the angle. the longer you hold a big angle the more points you score.

3. RANGE

Have you noticed the cones at drifting events?



That's right, the orange one.
Basically you get a bonus each time you pass by the orange cone.
The closer you drift to it, the more bonus points you gain.
The speed or angle don't matter here, its all about how close you are to the cone while drifting.
Just be careful not to hit it, because you will get an instant penalty and lose points.

The top right HUD:



Score: Your total drift points os far
Laps: How many laps
Marker: How much bonus points you gained from the orange cone.
Zone: How many drift points you scored so far in the drift zone you are currently in.
Flow: A bit complicated by its like "Motivation"
If you drift for longer without stopping, and don't get penalties the Flow will increase.
If you drift with many stops and you notice the points counter sound stops it means your current drift combo has stopped and you need to start another one.
So holding a long combo can increase Flow.
Bigger Angle might increase flow as well.
Each penalty hit decreases your amount of flow by 10%
More flow multiplies your drift score to grant you with more points.

Got it? Moving on!

The drifting physics in GRID Autosport are similar to the drifting physics in Race Driver GRID but definitely not any close to GRID 2.

For starters, I'd suggest try all drifting cars from C1 and C2.
Try all drifting tracks as well and practice a lot.
Don't purchase a brand new car straight ahead and go rambo on the tracks!

Start out on custom tracks at singleplayer or closed/open party with a lend drift car.
Don't tune the car either, just start out with stock until you find the car you are mostly attached into.



Hand braking is not a toy, if you rip the handbrake too much you lose a lot of speed.
Don't push the hand brake too much, try and give it a tap or two before entering a corner but absolutely on any circumstances DO NOT hold down the hand brake.

If you are driving at 100 mp/h and give a few taps to the hand brake you will go into a 60-80 mp/h speed which is enough to start a corner sideways.

If you start a corner at less than 40 mp/h on a wide drift map (okutama, hatch.. etc) you better save the time and not attempt to hold a long and wide angle.

If you are drifting with manual shifting which is highly recommended i would suggest dropping it to 2nd gear and not less.
If you feel like you need more speed and can't hold the angle too much, go to 3rd gear and you will get a slight boost from the switch and try increase your speed.

Second gear is generally used because it allows the widest variance of speed and is best for harnessing the engine's torque.


I personally drift for many years with a keyboard so i am stuck with a 100% throttle on my car.
Which is obviously not the best thing, but i learned a lot for the past years on how to control the throttle.

For people with a controller or a wheel i would suggest going for 50-70% throttle during drifts so you don't push it too much for an oversteer.
More Throttle will make the car turn more, and also move the car away from the turn center.
Less throttle will reduce angle, and allow the car to move towards the inside of the turn more freely.

Make sure to leave a note to yourself once you oversteer and memorize where is the limit if your throttle and where is the minimum and how you should hold it all the time.

If you are about to oversteer give the car more throttle and release the handbrake a bit.
Which will allow you to stabilize your car and keep going sideways.


Counter-steering is what you need to do when you start to experience oversteer. If you get into a situation where the back end of the car loses grip and starts to swing out, steering opposite to the direction of the corner can often 'catch' the oversteer by directing the nose of the car out of the corner. In drifting, it's how the drivers are able to smoke the rear tires and power-slide around a corner. They will use a combination of throttle, weight transfer and handbrake to induce oversteer into a corner, then flick the steering the opposite direction, honk on the accelerator and try to hold a slide all the way around the corner.


Over Steering is when you have too much angle which causes you to spin and lose control of your drift.
Over steer can be caused by a few things:

1. Entering a corner too fast.
Enter a corner too fast and you're asking for trouble. Unless of course you have a lovely long run off to play with or if you're driving Silverstone in a go-kart. It's not the quickest way to take a corner and leads to increased risk of oversteer. If you have entered a corner too fast, ensure that every input you make is incredibly smooth, and take the easiest route. Next time make sure your entry speed is slow enough to maintain grip, you can build up speed as you gain experience.

2. Accelerating into the corner, too early or too aggressively
If you manage to break traction at the back when applying throttle, you're probably in a powerful car and need to be less aggressive. If you're spinning wheels, the power is not transferring to the road and you're not benefiting from the many horses you have sitting under the bonnet. Gently ease off the gas and you should regain adhesion at the rear wheels.

3. Lifting off the throttle at mid corner
If you are on the power mid-corner and close to the limit, do not lift off the throttle. The resulting forward weight transfer can upset the balance of the car and allow the rear wheels to break loose. In a front wheel drive car, re-applying the throttle can often help in this situation but we are only driving rear wheel drive cars so be aware of that.

4. Braking into the corner or mid corner
You should avoid braking in corners in most situations, however there are circumstances which require the use of the anchors. Ensure braking inputs are especially smooth, gentle and progressive, and if a squirrel has just run out in front of you, try steering around rather then doing an emergency stop. To correct brake-induced oversteer, smoothly (but rapidly) release the brake and adhesion should be reintroduced.


Sounds difficult, but not hard.
Moving on!

After you tested all the cars, i'm pretty sure more than 80% of the people that viewing this guide will go with the Mazda RX-7 (FD3S), Nissan 350z nismo, Nissan 2011 (Z34) 370Z or the Nissan 1993 (S13) 240SX.
Before you read the next part, just make sure you ignore the car stats before judging anything i am about to write because stats always lie in every game.


Why i chose all these cars?

Each one of these cars has a lot of speed, acceleration and can hold very long drift angles from my experience with each.
Each car can also be tuned differently to have nearly the same performance to match up with each other.


Why i haven't chose the rest of the cars?

I've tried the s15 and the Evo x and the main problem they both had is holding an angle.
I'm not saying this because i drift at big angles, but i'm saying this because I've tried going on 80° angles or less and the car was just too weak for me. the cars just did not handle the drifts and started losing it halfway after the entry of the corner.


The drifting cars aren't expensive, and neither are the repairs of them.
Repairing is almost useless if you master drifting because you don't crash into anything that often.

I intend to smash my front or rear bumper off when i start a race just for personal preferences and i don't feel sorry for the car because it doesn't cost much.

If you want the best drifting experience, go to the difficulty settings.
and choose your options.

Here are my options:



Traction Control: Off
Because it will make your car loss and you could throttle control or make burnouts a lot more.
When you turn it on you will notice you drive fast right off the bat, but if you turn it off you will notice wheel spin and some smoke from the rear tires and from here i'm pretty sure you understand.

ABS: Off
Pretty useless, i don't use my front brakes that often and when i do its only to slow down while driving on a straight lane.

Transmission: Automatic/Manual
I changed my Transmission at different maps all the time.
If i'm on a small map i like to maintain my drifting on second gear. nothing below and nothing above.
And Auto on bigger maps in case i have a lot of switching to do.
But if you don't know how to drift with manual go with automatic.
Because you could possibly damage your gear box.
Thanks to Greninja for letting me know damaging your gear box by bad shifting is not possible.
I wrote that its possible from another guide i was reading on grid autosport.

HUD: On/off
I like to keep my Hud off because i am already very experienced with drifting and i know how much throttle or speed i got at any time and i can shift up or down by the notice of sounds and memorizing which gear i am at.
For beginners i would suggest keeping it on so you know how much throttle you got going on and how fast or slow you are going.
I personally want my exp bonus so i keep it off.

Racing line: Off
Do i really need to explain why?
Just keep the speed at 50-70 mp/h at large maps and 30-50 mp/h at small maps.

AI Difficulty: Very Hard
Once you master drifting its easier to get an exp bonus from the AI Bots.
For beginners i would suggest starting from medium.
Its perfectly fine.

Flashbacks: 0
If you get a penalty and rewind its not useful because once you get a penalty you cannot redo the whole drift section again, but you can use it in case you crash and want a fully working proper drift car.

Damage Level: Full
Not much damage can be done if you drift safely and properly.

Camera Position: Any
Cockpit is not amazing in Autosport so i rather drift in 3rd person.
In Race Driver GRID i used Cockpit for experience bonuses.


Difficulty settings are all about personal preferences expect for the driving assistance.

Don't forget to make your own livery for the car after you have purchased it.
Attach all available sponsors for drifting such as Yokomo, Dirt, and a lot more.
Just don't forget to attach new sponsors that offer more cash after you level up.
And make sure to choose the easiest objectives that pay the most because there are a lot of sponsors for drifting.

I said it once, i said it twice and i will say it again.

This is ALL about personal preferences.

Took me a few days but i found the easiest car tune for beginners
Which means you don't have that much unlocks.
But here it is:

Brake Bias: -100/-50/0 Front
You get more stability and your chance to under-steer is increased.
Which means you can counter steer and lock your front wheels for a longer time while drifting.
i personally go with 0.

Differential: +100/0 Open
This means you are less likely to drive a straight like and your car will do better when going sideways.
And increased cornering capability.
I personally go with 0.

Downforce: -50/0 Low
Having a high top speed is not very important but it is needed in case you are going for long distanced entries and need a little boost before going in, especially when you drive slow cars like the S13 and the S15.
I personally go with -100.

Gear Ratio: -100/-50/0
You can also choose -50 in case you want more acceleration, but i intend to drive cars with a high acceleration like the S13 so improving acceleration isn't any of my worries.
You also have enough speed from the other modifications, so unless you have speed problems you should increase it. but -50 or 0 is recommended.
You can also take it all the way to -100 if you REALLY need acceleration and need to level up some more.
I personally go with -100.

Suspension Front/Rear: Soft/Optional
I like to keep both on soft because you get nearly no stability control and the fact that most drifting have wide roads and no jumps you shouldn't worry about the car stability but the corner grip a lot more.
Of course this is option and i would recommend around -40 or -50 to front and -20 to 0 on rear but this is for beginners which can't afford much modifications for low level.
But once again, if you prefer corner entry go for it.
This tune is optional.
I usually go with 100+ on both depending on the track.


Vehicle upgrades are hard to get but try get the same setup as you level up and buy each upgrade.



Brakes: Optional
I chose to not buy any brakes because i love soft brakes and i don't enjoy pushing on a 100% brakes since i use keyboard but its your car if you want them or not.
Its possible the first upgrade you unlock and could help if you have a slow reaction time to corners.

Clutch: Yes
Gives better acceleration and short shift times.
So if you had a low acceleration from the tuning, this can help.

Engine: Yes
Gives more torque, acceleration, speed and power.
Very useful if you try to hold a long drift.

Flywheel: Optional
If you need your throttle to work a lot faster and more sensitive then get this.
And again, if you need more acceleration because of tuning get this as well.

Weight: Yes
Pretty obvious, we want a car with as less weight as possible so we can drive and fly smoothly and fast on the roads.

Like i said before you score points for performance on track, angle and range but sometimes you have to battle against someone on the track.

If you are lap leader, you are lucky and you got the chance to run away as fast as you can so he won't catch up with you and possibly interrupt your drifting.
Just remember that you don't have to overtake someone at drifting because there its not about who crossed the finish line first. but sometimes people get in the way and they are slow.

If you start from behind its pretty difficult but still playable.
Sometimes you go too fast and get stuck in a situation like this:



You want to pass him but don't know how.

What to do? Pretty basic.
Only two ways to overtake him:

1. Being Patient

You can be patient and stick to his tail but get some range in case he slows down.
Try not to hit him because overtaking the lead car under drift conditions is okay if you don't interrupt the lead car's drift.
Wait til he makes a mistake like going too wide or crashing.
That is your chance when the road is clear to take the lead and hold it on front.

The second way:

2. Takumi
Have you ever watched Initial D?
Yes? No? Doesn't matter!
This method is not exactly like Takumi because he is a patient driver, but here you have to give up on a few angles to go faster than the other car and sticking to the red lines as much as you can to get the corner faster and somehow pass him.
Basically touge.
Obviously not the best example, but here is a guy that went too wide on a corner and i could easily pass him on this corner because i didn't go too wide:



These are the two methods to overtake someone at drift battles.


"But what if i don't want to overtake anyone and still score a lot of points from the back?"

Its okay, i came prepared for this situation.
What you can do is warm up your tires at the start lines by holding brake and gas.
For me its S+W



Let the guy at front get some range and you should also be good to go.
Just be careful not to get disqualified if you stand at start line for too long!

And one more tip:
Ramming in drifting events won't help you or the driver at front at any cost.
So don't bother and don't try.
Its just a waste of money for both players to repair and recover from penalties.

Which brings me to the last point of this section:

PENALTIES

There are many ways to get penalty on drifting events.

Spin: Losing control of the car during a drift.
Off track: Passing over the white lines and going off the track or road.
Collusion: Hitting an object like a cone or any other object placed on track.

Once you enter a drift zone, you score points.
Once you get a penalty your drifting points stop there and you cannot get any more drifting points until you leave the drift zone and start a different one.
If i missed a penalty let me know, i don't get many sadly so i can't know them all.

If i missed something let me know, and i will fix or add it.

Just remember that this is a guide only for beginners.
Drifters with a higher skill level obviously know which car suits them the most for drifting and how to customize it to their own taste.

Final result should be around this if you practice for a week or so.




GASR drift events should be coming soon, so be prepared for those! ;)

I obviously cannot invite everyone into SRS13 but i made my own little drift community in case anybody wants to join.


http://gtm.you1.cn/groups/TeamAnimalStyle

Sorry for a few grammar misspells but i am too lazy to fix it, its pretty understandable.
Thanks to Party Magician and Greninja for pointing out a few mistakes which i fixed.
I'm sorry Yolo deleted your comment, i talked to him about it.

A bit of preview with mods:

Cheers!