Level of competitive drifting.

[PeterT]

The like of Juha's S14 im talking about.

Will it/is it getting to a stage where people will stop competing as the finance isnt there for the private competitor? We all know that to build a car that will keep up with the likes of that needs serious research, knowledge, time and money. If McKeever was pulling 4th with low pressure in 285s and he was left for dead!


Discuss please! I want to see competitors opinions! Will it push people out to other competitons/just practice days/other?

[Famous jh]

You have a point alright... Things are getting a bit out of hand alright as regards money and builds etc, some cars are like WRC cars now. Imo its great to see it though.

Do I have a chance against stuff like that?? Fuck no! But it won't stop me from trying.

[1-JAY-Z]

I go through different phases, I started out building the tez as a all out drift car now I'm swayed towards fast road car/trackday/weekend car, After crashing my own 86 in mondello that I'd spent over 20k on and see Diarmuid write off his pride n joy at the weekend just sums it up, if your not sponsored or minted who can afford to build these cars, spend endless amounts on tyres that you get 5 or 6 laps out of and then run the risk of slapping it into a wall or hit someone else/they hit you, I know thats what you sign up for when you do these events but like you have to put the sensible head on at some stage, doing this every couple of weekends must cost lads a bomb, I'm not as into the scene as some lads I know some live and breathe the sport for them I suppose its all worth it but my personal opinion is that if your not sponsored or a mechanic your nuts. PD is moving at an incredible rate, its not that long ago lads were in Sierras in the Rosebowl, both cars, driver skill and financial cost has all moved at the same pace.

[jeff nelson sileighty]

yeah its definitely something thats a bit frustrating like as in the small lads trying in pd ,myself for example ive small power and dont have the money to upgrade for more power so i just find myself heading to the more grass roots stuff like superdrift and theres plenty other lads in the same position as myself

theres two sides to it really the first one being what i said above but the second is its seriously entertaining to watch the big lads go at it

[Doofer]

Take rallying as an example. You have cars worth 10 grand and cars worth 500,000 sterling driving the same roads.. It's getting like that in drifting.. Every year someone pushes the bar higher with a new build.. We've seen sequential gear boxs start to creep in.. 600 horse power is normal these days... 12 and €1300 tyre bills after a single weekend is starting to become normal at the top end of the scale too.. I reckon a good driver could still win Prodrift with a 20 grand car today.. But I can't see it being the same in 3 years... You can't buy driving talent but you need to have similar machinery to compete properly.. Bravery and luck in an under powered car will only win you one round a year.. One positive that comes from this is the likes of the two new drift series introduced this year.. If Prodrift keeps goin like the D1gp I hope these other two series will stay manageable for they ordinary Joe soap.. Maybe Ireland hasnt got enough big spenders for that to happen doh

[B.Egan]

It is manageable to a point. Prodrift and the BDC have made the steps of stopping bulkhead modifying where you practically end up with a mid engined car. Formula D also had problems in this sort of scenario of cars getting too good (albeit on a much larger scale), and they now have the tyre width to weight rule. Is there not, or there was atleast talk of a treadwear rule in Prodrift before?

Also track design is key as said by pmc in the other thread. Japanese drifting generally has a sort of big entry with big speed, and then never really goes from a slow back to fast corner layout. This stops the sort of rolling burnout scenario where a car like Juha's can kill. But it is interesting and it is the same as any sport in the world. People want to win, and if they have money then they will always have an advantage.

[Greg]

Let the Pro's go wild with mental builds and mega budgets. It's when the lads in amateur start running cars with over 400bhp and with thousands upon thousands spent on them we should start worrying because as with any sport, the more popular it gets, the more money it requires and eventually money fucks up everything. Especially when you don't have any.

Surely a good scrutineer can spot a major build and put them into Pro spec car class regardless of driving ablility, and let us basic spec lads stand some sort of chance in our class.

[Doofer]

It happens in every form of motorsport.. I know a couple of lads with TypeR engines in Nova's with loads of compression and mapped.. FOR HOT RODDING!
Personally where i am at the minute I need to work on my driving to do well in the amateur class.. There's no 600bhp cars to try beat just really good drivers.. But obviously I'd like to be a competitive pro someday.. But by the time I get to that level il probably need a 40 grand car and backing with tyres.. At the minute I can't see me ever being able to do that.. That's the shit part.. You can't compete with money..

[shaneS14]

they need differnt classes for people with less power maybe

[Stevo]

If it keeps going the way it is id say ama's will be heading to superdrift and driftfest next season, things are getting mad in pro's tho when duane cant get anywhere near a yolk power wise, tho that v8 monster never ran anywhere near a barrier so big balls irish drivers ftw

Practice days next year and the grass roots series here i think will be mega next year, and of course PD

Think drift allstars ect will be beyond 99% of drivers here if it keeps going the way it is with mad money all or nothing builds