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