Initiating A Drift
There are a few ways to start a drift. One method is the clutching technique. When approaching a turn the driver will push in the clutch and shift his car into second gear. Then rev the engine up to around 4000-5000 rpm (it all depends all the model of the car being used) and then slightly turn away from the turn and then cut back towards it hard while at the same time popping the clutch and causing the rear wheels to spin. At this point the drifter has a loss of traction and is beginning to slide around the curve. Now comes the hard part. You have to hold the drift until the next turn. To do this you must keep your foot on the accelerator while at the same time adjusting your car with the steering wheel so you don't spin out. It's not as easy as it sounds. Then as the drifter reaches the end of the turn and approaches the next turn which is in the opposite direction he must cut the wheel in that direction and in some cases, if the previous drift was too slow and they start to regain traction, they must pop the clutch again to get the wheels spinning. And that is how you drift a rear wheel drive car.

Another technique is used by a few drifters in rear wheel drives, but is the only way you can really drift a front wheel drive. You have to use the E-Brake. A front wheel drive can not whip it's tail out because the tires are being driven in the front as opposed to the rear. So when approaching a turn you pull the E-Brake to cause traction loss. And the rest is pretty much the same except that it's much harder to take more than one turn with a front wheel driver.

Additional Drift Techniques
  • Kansei Drift is performed at race speeds when, upon entering a high speed corner, a driver lifts his foot off the throttle to induce a mild over steer and then balances the drift through steering and throttle motions. Note that the car used for this style of drift should be a neutral balanced car so that the over steer will induce itself. If the car plows through any turn the technique will not work.
  • Braking drift is performed by tail braking into a corner, resulting in loss of grip and then balanced through steering and throttle motions. Note that this is mainly for medium to low speed corners.
  • Faint Drift is performed by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the rebound of grip to throw the car into the normal cornering direction. This is a rally racing technique used to change vehicle attitudes during cornering, mainly on tight mountain corners.
  • Clutch Kick is performed by depressing the clutch pedal on approach or during a mild drift, then popping the clutch to give a sudden jolt through the driveline to upset rear traction.
  • Shift Lock is performed by letting the revs drop on downshift into a corner and then releasing the clutch to put stress on the driveline to slow the rear tires, inducing an over steer. This is similar to pulling the E-brake through a turn and should be performed on wet surfaces to minimize damage to the driveline.
  • E-Brake Drift is a very basic technique in which the driver pulls the E-Brake (emergency-brake) to induce rear traction loss and balances the drift through steering and throttle play. Note that this can also be used to correct errors or fine tune drift angles.
  • Dirt Drop Drift is performed by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Note that this technique is very useful for low horsepower cars.
  • Jump Drift is a technique in which the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex is bounced over a curb to lose traction resulting in over steer.
  • Long Slide Drift is performed by pulling the E-brake through a straight to start a high angle drift and to holding this to set up for the turn ahead. Note that this can only be done at high speed.
  • Swaying Drift is a slow side-to-side, faint-like drift where the rear end sways back and forth down a straight.
  • FF Drift or front wheel drive drift is a technique in which the E-brake as well as steering and braking techniques are used to balance the car through a corner. Note that the E-brake is the main technique used to balance the drift.
  • Power Over is performed when entering a corner and using full throttle to produce heavy over.