Supra Forums banner

can you drift an mk3 without powersteering?

6K views 58 replies 24 participants last post by  lanky189 
#1 ·
ive always wondered if youd be able to drift a mk3 without powersteering? any inputs?
 
G
#53 ·
upnygimp said:
I believe that I have read that higher weight means you have to carry more speed into the drift.

And you're awfully brave drifting in a Malibu.....:eek:
Well, I'm not sure if that's necessarily true, it would seem that a heavier car would be more likely to keep sliding, whereas a lighter car with less mass would be more likely to stop, because mass and momentum are directly related, perhaps a physics savy member could supply the actualy equation, I know there is one!

And yes. the malibu brought out the best and worst in me. I'll post a picture if I can find one later tonight....it's a beast! I used to smack it sideways against snow banks in empty parking lots during the winter just for shits in giggles, but what do you expect, I only paid 150 bucks for it
 
G
#57 ·
upnygimp said:
The heavier car is harder to get sliding, thus the need for more momentum.
eh..... :) , see the the heavier car has more mass, and therefore when travelling at the same rate of speed as, lets say, our MK3, and an 87 RX7, the MkIII is heavier and has more mass, and therefore more momentum to help carry it through the turn, the RX7 is lighter, and has less mass. The same principle applies to braking...if our cars had the same size brakes as an Rx7,(and lets assume they are smaller and less efficient than our own, yeah right) then those brakes have to do more work to stop our cars, than the rx7, because what brakes do is create heat, in order to dissipate energy which is contained in momentum,...in the case of braking hard, it's forward momentum, in the case of drifting, it's sideways and forward momentum.

another "Mr. Wizard" example, is to take a ping pong ball and fill it with paint and seal it up...then take a regular hollow ping pong ball, using a straight egde held in the exact center, and having the balls equally spaced from that center spot on either side, push the balls across a flat surface. the heavier ball will roll further because of its greater mass and more momentum..

so, while a lighter car will corner better ultimately because it can change it's vector quicker without having to dissipate so much mass...the heavier car can drift easier because it has more momentum to keep it headed in one direction which is how the back end of a car ends up sliding around during a drift.

all in all, it still comes down to technique, I site this months issue of Super Street magazine, featuring a Sprinter Trueno that stomped some high weight high horsepower cars because the driver was highly skilled.

;)
 
G
#58 ·
Well yes, while most of that is true, look at it this way. Take 2 objects with the same size, but different mass. Apply equal force to both. Which one slides farther? In a frictionless world, the heavier one. But because we have friction, it takes more of a push to make the heavier one go as far as the light one.
 
G
#59 ·
Good point, however when it comes to adding power in order to keep something sliding, that is counted for by the different power plants and drivetrains in the vehicles, a stock mk3 has more power than an rx7.....thus evening out the weight issue, but the momentum factor still remains. one last example, then I raise a white flag and perhaps a mutual agreement to misunderstand one another? or not, we can continue on peacefully!
take a plastic toy car and a matchbox dicast the same length, spin both of them on a table, or slide them sideways pretty hard. The plastic car won't go as far once you over come the coeffecient of friction which obviously surpassed when driving.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top