need for speed underground is a POS game...tryin to turn drifting into something its not.
I went to a lot of drift events and used to watch it on the Option videos back in like 99-00, before any of this ever came up (yeah and I also dropped an SR20DET into a 240sx years before it came the 'swap to have'). The trick is to have a really sticky tire, a good mid range turbo that isnt too crazy (450hp is usually more than adequate) and a LOT of work into the suspension. Also important is to keep the tire temperature even across the entire tire, because using only parts of it vulcanizes the tires and blisters them. They usually start out with 40 psi, and work with it from there, decreasing or increasing as needed. The Signal Auto guys were getting tires so hot they were turning them back into molten rubber (vulcanizing) because tire temps were reaching in excess of 400 degrees(temp at which tires are made) and blistering the hell out of them.
The way its judged is usually by cleanliness, how smooth your transitions are between drifts (left to right), your angle of drift, speed of drift, and the best part, how big your balls are to get your car sideways and bring it within a foot of a concrete barrier and not wreck. Too much smoke is a bad thing usually, because it could obstruct the judges view of your car, and its also bad for you because if it lingers, when you come around for your next lap, you now cant see anything and that wall that you thought wasnt there, now suddenly appears and its all over
. A lot of really nice drifting usually has little or no tire smoke, because if you are smoking them you are losing traction, which is something you dont want.
Some people may mock the sport, but I give props out to people who can hang their car sideways at 40mph and keep it in full control.