RC Car Drifting

Nitro RC drift cars require constant maintenance if they are to run at their best. Compared to electric models, they are a bit harder to maintain, because their engine is more delicate and so needs frequent cleaning. In addition, with some Nitro RC drift cars that have an oil reservoir you will also have to change the lubricating oil quite often. And then there’s the regular changing of tires, but this is something that’s done just as often with electric RC drift cars. Though extra work, all this maintenance will seem really like play if you’re passionate about RC drift cars.

Basic Maintenance
New cars tend to be sturdy and equipped with good engines, meaning that they can normally run without requiring hours of weekly maintenance. However, to get the most of them you have to carry out a series of basic maintenance tasks, as often as you can.

The first of these tasks is cleaning the engine and then tuning it. The engine of Nitro cars is more delicate than of electric cars, and so needs more careful handling. Setting it right from the beginning and keeping the dirt away from it will be necessary.

Then you must consider the fuel. Nitro RC cars usually run on a mix of Nitro methane, methanol, and oil. Just like with real-size cars, using high-quality fuel is crucial if the engine is to run smoothly. You should be especially careful to use clean fuel, otherwise the engine may be damaged.

Next you must see that all moving parts are in perfect condition. Lubricate them regularly so that they will work smoothly. After a few drifting sessions check them to ensure that they’re in a good condition. If you don’t lubricate the moving parts or if they are not fixed properly, you may see the endurance of your cars decrease, or at worst the engine failure altogether. Also, note that each model may require specific maintenance tasks, so check your user manual.

Tires
RC drift cars require adequate tires to drift properly. Whenever you can afford it, buy manufactured drift tires because these make the car more controllable. Otherwise, make drift tires by yourself from ABS piping or PVC. ABS or PVC tires last for a short time, so changed them as often as possible, otherwise your car won’t drift smoothly.

Chassis and Body
Good RC drift cars have a resistant chassis and body that requires little maintenance except cleaning with a cloth, brush, and warm water. Don’t expose your cars to rain, snow, or direct sunlight. Also, don’t deliberately crash your cars into other cars while drifting because even the sturdiest cars can be easily damaged. When it comes to aesthetic modifications, you should stick to paint and decals in the beginning. When you want to add LED light kits or wide body kits follow closely the instructions that come with the parts and wait for the glue to dry before starting a drifting session.

I assume that you have got your RC car setup to drift, if not check out the website at the end for modifying your RC car to drift.

RC Drifting and drifting in general follows the same line as if you were racing, at least one set of tires follows this line. This is the ideal drifting line, although its okay to go wide. So on an entry into a corner you would have your front wheels as close the the apex as possible, while having your rear wheels follow a much wider line (the wider the better). This means that your car is facing apex of the corner, depending on what kind of corner this is it could be as much as 90 degrees to the apex, any more and technically your going backwards, this is called a washout. On the exit you would let your rear sliding towards the opposite side, possibly setting up your next drift.

So from a drivers point of view, albeit via remote control, what you need to do it.

1. Approach the corner as if you were following a racing live, leave enough room for the rear of the car to come out.

2. Turn into the corner very early and maybe dab the break to help break the rear traction.

3. as the rear starts to slide, squeeze the throttle and turn into the slide (this part takes a lot of practise)

4. Once the drift has started you should be able to keep the steering centered and use the throttle to invoke over or under steer, you will still need to use the steering to keep your angle perfect and also you need throttle to control your speed, in which case steering is necessary to control the rotation of your car.

5. If you can drift a course by just invoking a drift then steering with your throttle this makes for an incredibly smooth drift, if you can couple this with a few passes with your nose and tail a hairs breadth from the curb, then you got it.

6. It’s considered by most that you should be counter-steering through the corners, i.e. your front wheels should be steering into the drift at all times, while this is true for D1 drifting, with RC it is a little different, for one we are 99% four wheel drive, and secondly the weight distribution is almost always in the middle or back of the chassis, which means when the car slides the inertial pulls the heavy rear around automatically.

The transition is the most difficult part, it depends a lot on your car, but a good place to start is by understanding weight transfer.

When you brake the weight transfers forward, when you floor it, it goes backwards and when you turn it goes to the opposite side, turn left, weight goes right. To transition smoothly from one drift to another you have to shift the weight of the car to get it to do what your want, your can’t steer it, that’s called racing

Okay so we are in mid drift and clip the apex while holding a huge angle, we exit the right turn, turn slightly to the right and floor it to keep the drift going, over rotating slightly to induce a good angle on the exit. You now need to turn into the drift (turn left) very slightly and hold the angle, the car should move straight down the track, with a big drift angle, while slowly making for the right side of the track (we have a left turn coming up). About 2-3 car lengths before the next corner back off the throttle ( now the weight transfers to the front, pushing the front tires into the asphalt and lifting the rear slightly, this give good grip on the front and makes the rear slide like mad ) Turn to the left, the rear will respond by swinging around, as it’s doing this turn into the drift and give throttle. The four wheel drive will stop the rotation as the weight transfers to the back tires and they get more grip. Hold the drift, adjusting it with throttle and steering until the next corner. Rinse,Repeat.

Drifting isn’t easy, it helps to know the track, some surfaces will have a different effect on you when you slide sideways over them, it pays to learn where these are. If you find there is a section you 180 on, go see if there isn’t a slight change of gradient or a small defect in the road. Often during competitions there will be a section of the track that a lot of people struggle with.