Budget Drifting?

[Larryk]

A few quick questions for you all

The first one is one that I've been having arguments in my head for a number of weeks over. I've been following some drift car builds on this site and other sites also, including some of the builds by the countries leading drifters. The one thing they all seem to be doing is injecting a lot of cash into their cars; big power, crazy suspension and steering set up, ultra light-weight, and crazy paint jobs. My question is this;

Is it possible to be competitive in irish drifting on a small budget? By small budget, I mean: car for €2-3K, cage, suspension and safety gear: another €3K, and then running costs for year depending on how many tyres and impacts you get during the year.

Is there any car in the top 16 in Ireland at the moment worth under €10K? And better still, the same question for the top 8?

Back in the beginning in 2003/2004 seasons, Sierra GT's could compete for the win, Johnny P in a standard 200sx with standard suspension and a welded diff regularly took overall victories.

And my final question would be this;

To an amateur drifter starting out on a tight budget, what are the essential mods to get the car as competitive as possible without breaking the bank?

Suspension seems to be big on everyones lips at the moment, but I've owned three cars now equipped with coilovers and never adjusted them in any way due to being afraid of making the car handle like a pig and not being able to put it back right afterwards How or where can you learn car set up techniques?

Sorry for all the questions - hopefully a few of you can throw some imput at me

Thanks

Larry

[Davie]

i reakon welded diff, hydro and bucket seat + harness and keep the rest of the car in good working order,
+ safety cage etc,competitive drifting has takin a jump in the past few years alright but ya can still compete without spending a complete fortune,
maintance id say is the biggest cost, clutches etc

[casper]

i think it would cost alot more than 10k when u budget in spares/trailor/tow vehicle the cost of breakdowns entry fees etc,youd pick up a good powered reliable car for around 5k which is fine in itself its all the unforseen costs that make it so expensive...unless you get good sponcers of course but to do that you need to prove your worthy enough...so no is the simple answer!

[Quealy]

i think it would cost alot more than 10k when u budget in spares/trailor/tow vehicle the cost of breakdowns entry fees etc,youd pick up a good powered reliable car for around 5k which is fine in itself its all the unforseen costs that make it so expensive...unless you get good sponcers of course but to do that you need to prove your worthy enough...so no is the simple answer!

Yea the hidden costs are amasing, Just from experience, things like tyres, petrol, octane booster, oil and filter, diesel for tow wagon, entry fee, hotel on far away events, and general wear and tear maintenance. You wouldn't notice a weekend pushing over a grand all in all.

Think a good stiff chassy, good suspension with as little rubber components as possible, plenty of steering lock and at least 250 bhp are required to make any sort of a blast.

[nigey00]

one major difference now between 2 or 3 years ago at the top level............... GRIP!!!!

Grip is expensive to get in drifting, either through trick suspension or top quality tyres, or both in some cases.. Also the more grip u have the more power u need, and we all know thats expensive too!!!

To be consistantly competitive a lot of money needs to be pumped into a car, id say minimum 10k, and thats the very minimum, and thats just the car! It's starting to turn into a big budget sport now as it develops unfortunatly!!

[sil80drifter]

the costs of practice days are even mad

take mondello....entry 150, petrol 100 odd euro, tyres, diesel for tow car. thats a small fortune as it is

[Driftma]

I'm sorry to say that a low budget and trying to be compitive in drifting don't really go well together,cos outside of the cost of the car, theres the entry fees,hotels,tyres,fuel costs and so on.Even if your try to be tight you'd spend e500 for a round of drifting without even seeing it go

[DamoDiff]

some good questions to be fair larry.....

pretty much all of them have gone thru my own head from time to time...

i think it all depends what ud consider competitive....top 32?? yes defo a shot at that.... top 16?? yea maybe if things went well on a certain day but after that i think the time and money put into the top cars does shine thru...

people forget that even the very top cars have all started somwhere and are only now approaching the finished articles...if any drift car can be called that..

if your thinkin of it then id say go do it....i know times are tough at the moment but parts are gone cheaper too...esp 2nd hand stuff....

ill do a few twins with ya chap

[thedaggsy]

cash is king....
drift for fun and not to be the best .. because the way tings are gone most of us won't ever be able to be in the top ten. in pro drift its the same few in the top 8 .. it's the crowd pleasers that win ... not the most talented

[DaveM-sport]

Hence why I told you to stick with M-power Larry!

I'll be genuinely upset if my car goes over
6-10K from the initial build and including a season or two or development....or reshell to be honest excluding all other costs other than the car itself and it'll be as near as makes no difference to 400bhp.
Either way, it's just to have abit of craic anyway at the end of the day so no point spending more than somebody feels comfortable with.
Be it 2-3 grand or 20-30 on a car.