wheels and tires for drifting

sronis

Hi forum,

wasn't sure if to open this on wheels and tires forum or here, but i guess more people with experience with this can be found in the sport forum... ;-)

I'm using good tires with 19 inch wheels on my 370Z, but would like to use it for drifting as well. so questions:

1. should i buy a set of 18 inch wheels for drifting? I'm actually thinking about buying 18 inchers for winter anyways...
2. which tires should i use for drifting? In my prev car (miata) i used to get used michelin energy tires (16 inch) that did great work, but here it's a whole different scale...
3. any other advice? Do you guys carry 2 wheels with you for drifting in the trunk? does it fit?

Thanks,

Roni

cossie1600

snow tires work well

Apollo8642

Advice, don't drift you'll wreck your car.

Try the 18" 350Z rims you can pick those up for pretty cheep, if you can run 17's then mustang rims are 9" wide and cheap as well.

Tires, most anything that doesn't chunk continentals and nankangs are notorious for it in drifting. If you're serious try achilles ATR last time I looked they were a cheaper tire then Maxxis MA-Z1, Hankook R-s3 Z222, Nitto NT05, and Falken Azenis RT615 but it seems like a good drift tire, I've never used them but have had friends that have and they liked them a lot.

I don't drift my Z but depending how wide and big your rims are will depend how many you can get in if they were 18'x8's you might be able to squeeze four in maybe I don't know, you'll have to do something testing.

Good luck with all that.

sronis

Wreck my car? why?
I know it's a lighter, less powerful car but I've used my 2006 MX-5 for quite a lot of drifting with not one problem. With the proper *used* tires in the back and being careful with the clutch and engine, the load isn't so big.
Thanks for the other advices, i'll check those tires out.

Apollo8642

Drifting = wrecking (at some point yes) If you are really drifting you will put it into a wall, curb, barrier, or another car or another car into you at some point it's a given. No one is that good where they don't, or your just another wannabe and your not doing it right. (I don't know you or anything but I'm just saying, so don't take offence please)

It's not if you wreck it's when you wreck in drifting on the track or on the street more likely on the street, and doesn't matter the car you drive or the tires you run on it or how well it's setup. It maybe a body panel or a totalled out car but it will happen.

I was hardcore into drifting for about 13 years, and helped put on one of the first event here in Oregon, I speak from lots of experience, both as driver and a supporter.

Here are some fun videos of people doing it right and failing, enjoy.

sronis

I gotta say, it's kinda surprising that a guy who've been drifting for 13 years says "don't drift your car, you'll wreck it". It's like "don't have sex, you might get AIDS", "don't drink vodka, you might embarrass yourself in public", etc.

Just give me some credit (even if you don't know what i can or can't do) and instead of telling me "don't do it", help me do it right.

I've actually participated in drifting events (amateur level) for quite some time now, and i only do it in safe places, not in the street.

I'll try your suggestions from before.

Z370Z011

I think what he means is that the Z is to nice of a car to drift. He's not telling you not to drift, but simply to remember that these cars are new and parts are still pretty pricey so it may not be the most practical car to drift and possibly wreck. Of course it is your car and you do with it as you wish. There's a couple guys on the forum that drift the Z, one of them has a thread on his build going on. Maybe you can check it out and get some ideas. Ps. the stock lsd sucks, swap it out.

Apollo8642

Glad to see someone else gets it. Don't take things so serious Sronis it's just a forum.

Sronis hook us all up with some videos of you drifting.

Here's my last drift engine build www.ka-t.org • View topic - My build

sronis

Yeah already figured this one out, been to a trackday in the weekend and i can feel the LSD fighting against me.

looks nice! well i'm not much of a builder myself, my miata was pretty stock - just full exhaust and few more things, and also suspension mods obv.
It could only drift on 16 inchers and second gear, and the angles were stock as well so it was entertaining only to a level. But being an amateur, i enjoyed it quite much.





And here's one with a real drift car (V8 E30):

Apollo8642

Nice, that's a cool track, is that down by L.A. and Is that you drifting with the green helmet in the last video?

sronis

both upper videos are in Israel, last video is in Hungary, and i chose the green helmet because it fit the color of the car

Apollo8642

Wild, I can see why you think I'm strange saying you'll wreck your car. Your drift spots that you have shown are clear of things to crash into, and you aren't really tandeming close to each other yet.
Sadly most places in the states there are barriers or something else to run off or run into, plus we did a lot of street drifting and touge, so it was either dramatic or at least exciting most of the time.

Check out the movie Slide America if you haven't already and that will give you a good idea what I'm talking.