Beginning Drifting

Do and Learn
Words alone can no more teach you how to drift—or even control a sliding tail—than watching videos will make you skilled at hitting a curveball. You must do it to learn it. Here's where you can learn the basics of drifting without spending loads of money or time in traffic court: slick-track karts. Think of slick-track karts as the Little League baseball of drifting. They're a low-cost way to find out if you have talent or, at least, the ability to learn. Almost every major-league baseball player was the all-star of all-stars when he was in Little League: If you can't quickly become the best slick-track driver you've ever met, other sports beckon.


The first thing you'll learn at a slick track is how to correct when the rear tires lose grip. (Engineers call this "oversteer" and stock-car drivers term it "loose.") Slick-track karts naturally slide the tail in most corners. When the rears begin break traction, turn the wheel the direction the tail is going. It's called countersteering or opposite lock. Some instructors say to imagine keeping the nose in front of the tail. Others say look where you want to go and your eyes will naturally make you turn the correct direction. If you have hope of being a big-time drifter, this will be completely natural.

Anticipate and Listen
To become a master at catching a sliding tail you must learn to feel what the rear tires are going to do before they do it. While you can successfully react to a front-tire slide, you must anticipate the loss of rear grip. Whether in a kart or an F1 car, the tires are talking to you. Learn to understand what they're saying.


At least as critical as sensing departing rear grip is anticipating its return. As the rear tires regain traction, you must dial out just the right amount of the countersteering before rear grip fully returns. If you wait too long to remove the opposite lock, the vehicle will happily spin in the opposite direction.


On tight corners on some slick tracks, you may HAVE to drift to get the kart to turn. If you attempt to change direction the way you would in a normal automobile—by moving the steering wheel to the right for a right-hand turn—the kart will just plow straight ahead. (Engineers call this understeer; stock car drivers call it push.) If you face this situation, you must do something to get the tail sliding. If you're trying to turn right, initiate a slight left turn and then snap the wheel back to the right. (Rally racers do the same thing.) This breaks the traction of the rear tires and gets the kart rotating clockwise. But—and this is critical—you must then immediately dial in enough countersteer to prevent any spin, but not so much that the kart goes back to pushing. When you're doing it right, the kart is oscillating back and forth and is almost never going straight.