E30 Zone

Oh what a night. Met the missus, had a argument, stormed off, it started raining, hammered the e30 into a roundabout........and had the best time ever!!!!!!!!

I'm not one to do this cause i sh*t myself everytime i try and drift, but what a laugh i had. Even had to stay out for another 30 mins trying to perfect it!

I didn't know how i did though, have you fellas got any little tips? How did i do it?

Cheers, i might go back out and try again.

Oh and me and the missus made up.

So fun when your angry, its a great release lol

that's a trademark of mine! have a row, hare off into the night sideways and turn my phone off! keeps the naughty women worried all night!

Do you have to have an excuse to drift then Drift why your missus is in the car , Soon shuts them up

gareth wrote:that's a trademark of mine! have a row, hare off into the night sideways and turn my phone off! keeps the naughty women worried all night!

lol. that`ll teach the naughty witch.

My girlfriend loves it when I get a car sideways!
And when I don't get the back out alot she says "that was rubbish that one!" and looks genuinely disgusted!

Hehe, not sure about drifting but my girlfriend has taken to liking me going fast. I dont drift much. Ain't got the balls. Quite fun when i go sideways occasionally.

Apparantely your best driving is when your grumpy, no fear!

Personally, I think I drive worse (and probably faster) when I'm grumpy.
I'm rarely an aggressive driver so prefer driving when I'm calm and relaxed and go at the pace I'm comfortable with (don't usually hang around though!).

I'm no drifting expert by a long way - wish I was - but my tip would be to find a quiet roundabout or car park (preferably wet) where you are unlikely to bother anyone, hit anything or get caught and just practice and slowly build up the angle, speed and length of the slide gradually. Once you start getting the hang of it, it isn't so intimidating and unpredictable.
Oh, and get a limited slip diff! A quicker steering rack than a standard E30 might help too.

I do like a bit of roundabout drifting once in a blue moon but really gotta be in the mood for it.
Really late at nite when there's nothing about and its wet or icey.
Only good thing about winter really

love it carnt beat a bit of sideways action (only reason i drive a rear wheel drive car)

Steve-E30 wrote:Do you have to have an excuse to drift then Drift why your missus is in the car , Soon shuts them up

hahaha that scares the crap out of my missus. Esp as she's only recently passed her test!!

Funny thing is she's inadvertantly learned to read when the car is about to flick, she picks up on the feedback from the road now and says "Don't you bl00dy dare go sideways!!"

My GF has had the car more sideways than me! It was raining hard, off camber RH corner on the isle of Arran. She didn't mean to go sideways but at least she got it back again. I was crapping myself looking down a 50 foot cliff as the back swung towards the drop! Now she does it all the time but its a bit more predictable since I had the rear shocks and top mounts replaced

I just like kicking the back out coming off roundabouts, and flicking it round country roads. I'll leave the full on drift hero antics to zoners and spend the NCB on an LSD

My bird would say as we approached a roundabout 'Don't go sideways' cos she knew I'd be intending to drift it.

Light on the throttle is the key in the wet, and a clutch kick is the smoothest way to do it.

drifty325i wrote:So fun when your angry, its a great release lol

hahah what drifting or another activity one can partake in on ones own!!!!

My bird would say as we approached a roundabout 'Don't go sideways' cos she knew I'd be intending to drift it.

LOL, my g/f's the same, there are a few junctions round our way where i love to get it sideways, now she grabs the jesus rail and says DONT.


Guess i know my place

Davenotouring wrote:My bird would say as we approached a roundabout 'Don't go sideways' cos she knew I'd be intending to drift it.

Light on the throttle is the key in the wet, and a clutch kick is the smoothest way to do it.

I tend to hit the roundabout with a little pace, fully off throttle, turn, feel slight scrubing from fronts, give it some juice and steer into the back end as it tries to overtake!!!

What's the clutch kick method then??

It's great!
Go into a bend or roundabout, leave a little (or alot) of throttle on and jab the clutch pedal quite quickly.
It reacts a bit like dropping the clutch from a standing start but while you are turning.
I find it a little less predictable and more violent than using a boot full of throttle to get the back round but many proper drifters use this method and it definately gets the back out!
Different techniques work for different drivers.

What's the clutch kick method then??

You need the Drift Bible my friend

You can get a legal copy here

Yep, a friend lent me his copy - that bloke is a flippin' hero!
Made my best efforts look like my gran was driving!

Yeh iv tryd most of these methods and all work quite well

Is it just me or does any1else find it easier to control a drift in the dry?

In the wet half the time i endup geting half way round a roundabout then spin right round Bloddy anoying

Does it make it easier to control with lowered suspention?Bigger wheels?etc , as my motor is stock standard

TouringMatt wrote:

What's the clutch kick method then??

You need the Drift Bible my friend

You can get a legal copy here

have it at home thanks!!! DOn't remember seeing the clutchy bit though???

Very cool piece of film. Very cool. Some sserious hero drifting!!!

I tend to try and do it slowly as poss so I can get away wih any mistakes. Wet weather suits it best!! Trick is to try and drift through the corner, not power out of it with a flick. effing hard to do!!!! That Jap guy makes it look sooo easy!!!!

Drift bible is indeed a good start if you want to learn all the different techniques.
Don't get overwhelmed by all the left foot braking, and heel toe malarky.
Just concentrate on the basics power over, handbrake, clutch kick, and shift lock to get sideways.

Playing in the wet is the easiest for starters as the speed req'd to kick it out is less. Then just build up the confidence and do it in the dry

Btt my friend Laura now insists I promise her before we leave the house not to go sideways as it scares her. Crazy thing is she is fine doing 3 figure speeds next to me but a 30mph roundabout exit has her screaming lol.

steerfromtherear wrote:Drift bible is indeed a good start if you want to learn all the different techniques.
Don't get overwhelmed by all the left foot braking, and heel toe malarky.
Just concentrate on the basics power over, handbrake, clutch kick, and shift lock to get sideways.

Playing in the wet is the easiest for starters as the speed req'd to kick it out is less. Then just build up the confidence and do it in the dry

Btt my friend Laura now insists I promise her before we leave the house not to go sideways as it scares her. Crazy thing is she is fine doing 3 figure speeds next to me but a 30mph roundabout exit has her screaming lol.

Exactly. TBH in my 320i cab, wet weather is about the only time I get to have some sideways action.

Oh and howdy from Yeovil!!!!

i have a video somewhere on the net of me in a transit tipper drifting on a roundabout in the wet.. looks mad. must find clip

oh how much fun did I have last night. my ex hated it but lady in waiting shall we say loves it, although I dont compare to her ex - matt steel

blatantarrogance wrote:
Exactly. TBH in my 320i cab, wet weather is about the only time I get to have some sideways action.

Oh and howdy from Yeovil!!!!

You will find the 320 is capable of dry weather drifting my 316 could just about do it and my friends 318is does it all the time lol.


And hi back if you see a black 318is attempting some sideways in Yeovil it's my mate. Shout some abuse at him and wave your fist lol.

steerfromtherear wrote:

blatantarrogance wrote:
Exactly. TBH in my 320i cab, wet weather is about the only time I get to have some sideways action.

Oh and howdy from Yeovil!!!!

You will find the 320 is capable of dry weather drifting my 316 could just about do it and my friends 318is does it all the time lol.


And hi back if you see a black 318is attempting some sideways in Yeovil it's my mate. Shout some abuse at him and wave your fist lol.

OK mate, will do!! Will have to do a Somerset meet I reckon!! Know peeps in Taunton, you in Bridgey and me i Yeovil etc etc, may be a laugh!!!

My car eats tyres, I'll post pics of the last set I took off the back a couple weeks ago. I cut my fingers on the steel radials that had been exposed on the inside from the -ive cambre!!


The boots on the front need doing now. It understeers a little at the mo. May just swap the fronts and the backs around to finish the job off!!!!

Bob_S wrote:oh how much fun did I have last night. my ex hated it but lady in waiting shall we say loves it, although I dont compare to her ex - matt steel

Who's Matt Steele, apart from a guy with a cool name??

check out redline, he's a D1 drift man apparently. My mate raves about him but when you have a 200sx with lots of power I cant see it being all that difficult tbh

Bob_S wrote:but when you have a 200sx with lots of power I cant see it being all that difficult tbh

That's not true at all Bob really.
It is just as difficult to drift properly with loads of power as it is with very little power.
The only benefit from more power is being able to do higher speeds and 100mph drifts aren't what I'd call easy.

Ask any proper drifter if power makes a good drift car and see what they say

The e30 325 is easily as good a drift car as a standard s13 200sx and probably more torquey too boot (definately has it lower down the rev range which is good).
It is only the obvious tuning potential of f/i and the drift specific parts cheaply available that creat their dominance of the drift scene.

To drift you do not need alot of power, it's the suspension setup that make's life easier

A friend of mine that got me into drifting drive's a mkII escort, 2.0L pinto with 98bhp

jonbuoy wrote: mkII escort, 2.0L pinto with 98bhp

I've had a Capri 2.8i, Sierra XR4i, a 2.0 pinto powered Mk2 Escort and an S13 200sx - all with lightly tuned engine and suspension. All (except maybe the Sierra) great cars to drive but the best -by a long way- car I've had for sideways action was an old shed of an E28 528i, totally standard and worn out! That car was so easy to drift it was funny!

I'd love to do an E28 550i V12!
Maybe when I get bored of the E30 335i.

*raises hand* Im a drifter. That myth about needing gobs of hp is funny to me. One of the most common cars when I go to the track is an old AE86 Corolla GT-S. It has 116 hp at the engine and ive seen them run with the best. E30s definately have more power and more torque making them really good drift cars.

Where I live, everyone under estimates the driftability of an E30 as a drift car. If you can get over your fears of losing control, youll do fine. Start off in the rain and doing donuts, move to more complex things like figure 8s (very hard).

There are three things to a good drift: speed (duh), angle (as close to full lock as you can get before spinning out), and how how long you can hold the drift. holding the drift is what power is good for, but if you know what your doing, a low hp car can do it too, its just harder.

Anyone who says you need power to drift and calls themselves a drifter should be shot.