It isn’t every day you get an offer to learn drifting from one of Formula Drift’s top pro drifters—so when Toyota Racing asked if I wanted to meet them and Ken Gushi out at Irwindale Raceway for a day of getting sideways in a Toyota 86, I raised both my hands. With visions of drifting through “S” curves with ease, I jumped in the driver’s seat with instructor, the Gush, sitting shotgun. Sure, tandem battles like the ones you see out at Formula Drift take an extreme amount of control—but surely, skidding around an empty lot couldn’t be that hard. What I found out is, drifting isn’t as easy as it looks.
The afternoon started simple enough, getting a feel for the Toyota 86s handling through a slalom course. First off the line that day, I was a little nervous. After putting down what I thought was a pretty solid run, I got a little more comfortable with the edge and turned it up a notch, sliding in-between the final course cones. When Gushi reported I was showing some of the best driving of the pack, I was stoked. This afternoon was going to be a piece of cake.
Out on the skid pad, Gushi took the driver’s seat and showed me the basics of initiating and getting out of a skid—skills that hit me as basics every new driver should learn. Next, he demonstrated the difference between a true donut and a fake one—namely, drifting through the turn while countersteering versus just understeering and screeching tires. Then it was my turn…
Time and again, I either didn’t countersteer quick enough or, if I did, I got my foot too heavy into the pedal resulting in a burnout. What I did accomplish was the best smoky burnout of the day! I’m sure with a little more practice I could get the hang of it—but the exercise left me with even more respect for the pro drifters as well as the Toyota 86 platform. Having an accessibly affordable car that’s a good daily driver and can perform this well when you put it through the paces… the Toyota 86 gets two thumbs up any day of the week!
See more learning to drift in the video above.
The last weekend of drifting competition at Irwindale Speedway, the “House of Drift,” is going on this weekend, watch it livestream at http://www.formulad.com/live.