Builds Vs. Experience - Opinions!

As you already know prob dave, I started out with a fairly standard setup car with a few mods, did a few drift days & then spoke to Wez and he threw a few ideas at me like what i could do with the car to help me progress & build up a bit more skill & devlop the car to drive better...

After a few days of driving a standard car, then we changed the suspension setup of the car to a completely different setup which the car drives totally different & gave me more experience & we knew what we changed as we went along,

So i think practise is king!! But also is building the car as you go along with it, insted of just stripping a car down, building it from the ground up with a load of fresh aftermarket parts

Like my theroy on this is, do a few things at a time & not everything at once.. Because if you decide to change all the suspension parts at once, well imo its a can of worms and that will need serious amounts of seat time & practise.

i can see some drivers with cars that they have gotten built with high horsepower light weight etc etc. but i can't see them noticing how well everything works and getting the full potential out of the car. if you changed a few things at a time you can change your driving style to suit and then once you think things can be made better do so and work around that.

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Originally Posted by decobyrne106

i can see some drivers with cars that they have gotten built with high horsepower light weight etc etc. but i can't see them noticing how well everything works and getting the full potential out of the car. if you changed a few things at a time you can change your driving style to suit and then once you think things can be made better do so and work around that.

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thanks declan very helpful:p

from my own perspective i spend alot of time fixing the car and servicing it to make sure the engine doesn't shit itself on track, everytime you drive a car you kinda have a fair idea what its missing so you buy the part and swap it out, i think very few people have the money to buy up lots of parts at once, plus some people i know enjoy modding cars more than driving/drifting them...in the end modding and drifting is a way of life

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Originally Posted by Driftma

f you'd ask me, i recon some people get as much,if not more enjoyment out of building the car over driving it

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Hit the nail on the head there.

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Originally Posted by Driftma

f you'd ask me, i recon some people get as much,if not more enjoyment out of building the car over driving it

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Like when the postman comes with a parcel with shiney new parts :)

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Originally Posted by Driftma

f you'd ask me, i recon some people get as much,if not more enjoyment out of building the car over driving it

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Guilty but will definitely try my best to use this one:o

I reckon you're better off just driving the nuts off your car as it is, then when you get used to how it goes, stops, what lock it has, what gear it does what in, and what it feels like when you hop it off something, start to spec it up. I see new lads to drifting spinning at Mondello and complaining about the lack of lock, and I think, why don't you just learn to drive the car with the lock you have and then when you can do that go about getting extra lock?

The only thing I've changed with my car in three years or so I've had it is the diff, brand of coilovers, ride height, seat, handbrake, locking collars, front ARB, cage, and the toe arms in the rear(that were just bunged in). Those mods were all done(bar the diff) in the last 18 months, the cage was done two months ago. I replaced the rear subframe and I haven't had it tracked or aligned once, but now that I'm used to it I am going to try spec it up as funds allow.

Anyways..... seat time is king.

From speaking to people in general around drifting, I get the impression that people put way to much emphasis on building an amazing car from the get go. There is plenty evidence that fairly standard cars are more than capable in the right hands.

I know I almost fell into the trap of trying to go down all sorts of routes with my car, when the truth is I have no interest in competing in the car, I just want to enjoy it, and whatever limited abilities I have will need very little spec, thats for certain. Although I have to admit I do take pleasure from being out working on the car as well.

For me drifting will always be about fun, it will always be about a group of friends having skids, in whatever they can, wherever they can.

Driftworks was mentioned, if you want to see the opposite of their mentality and have a little chuckle at the same time, check out trampdrift. Drifting is becoming so competitive, even at amateur level that I hope it dosnt have a negative effect on the sport in general.

I think excluding top level international drivers, seat time is the key to getting better, not some magic suspension arms from DW or a turbo to blow your socks off (although important eventually)

personally i started drifting with a bog standard s14, bar coilovers front mount etc that came on the car, i did year one and learned the car

year two i fitted all adjustable arms and seen a huge difference in the car
also just fitted a neo and got it mapped ran 268bhp for last year

prodrift had said my cage wouldnt pass for this year and i had a shell so decided to build it, in the hope that it'd be ready for last feb to get some seat time

unfortunatly... its just finished now and my first day out in it will be this sunday.
so this year is just going to be practice for me,
as mentioned the best part is the build, skinned knuckles, searching threads for ideas, looking for parts etc,

so start off standard car learn the car then adjust and change parts to suit you