Quote:
Originally Posted by RKDinOKC
(Post 7300636)
So, if drifting like Ken Block is slower, why do people keep trying to do it. I mean, I understand the difference in World Rally driving where the road surface is dirt or gravel, but when they are on pavement like asphalt or concrete isn't it actually slower?
I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for getting back into driving the 928 in anger. The last autocross I participated in had a 180 turn around a single cone with barely enough room to turn the car. It was faster to do a ebrake turn in that situation to rotate the car quicker in the smaller area, but on pavement where the turns are bigger isn't a 7 to 15 degree drift the fastest?
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Well, most people try to do it because they think it looks cool, or is fun.
It really depends on the car, tires, and surface. A hair slip angle on modern low profile tires generates the best grip, and they fall off much more rapidly after that. Racing cars for paved tracks have their down force elements designed to work in one direction, slip it side ways, and you get a massive loss of aero traction.
The more your tire can "bite" into the surface, the more you can spin the tires and keep grip. Slicks on smooth wet concrete, fastest way will NOT be to drift it. Knobby tires on dirt, spiked tires on ice, can generate more grip from pulling into the surface, so a controlled tire spin/drift can get more grip.
Generally, friction also increases, and the thrust from the car may not be going in the direction you want to go. Drifting in mildly into a tight corner, taking the drift out mid corner, and having little or no drift to accelerate out, can be affective in very tight quarters even on pavement.(So yes, in that tight Auto-X section, getting it sideways is the quickest way around.)
Does your 928 have a locking rear diff? Under power, if your inside tire is spinning, you are overall losing a lot of grip from making that tire give up its grip. Drifting isn't a good way to pick up speed in an open diff car. However, it does let you save up rotational momentum ahead of time, for going into a tight space.
Old F1 tires back in the 50's, generated the most grip with the tail hanging out nicely. It was a matter of lap time vs conserving tires.
A fun read, would be to pick up a copy of the first edition of Porsche Performance Drivng by Vic Elford. Its a good read of racing stories mixed in with the engineering and driving of a cars. I say get the first edition with the red 993 on the cover, as they later came out with a second edition with inserts on electronic aids that some what spoil the flow of the book. If your car, like mine, doesn't have these, get the older book.
