High-Speed Drifters: Squealing Tires and Smoking Pavement
Cars are cool, and tricks with cars are even cooler, and the signature car trick in the racing world is the drift, the ability to slide sideways to take corners extra hard and peel out without losing momentum. Drifting has been featured prominently in any show that includes racing or car chases, and in fact has been so popular that the move has headlined its own film (see Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift). As “useful” (note the quotes) as the technique may be, it is also a dangerous one, and cars have spun out or even flipped over while in the middle of a drift. Most of us just want to see it because of the burning rubber and screeching tires, and of course the possibility of a horrible crash. That’s why the Internet is full to bursting with videos of drifting cars.
This video shows that the concept of drifting works even on a small scale. Bet you didn’t know that there were remote control car racing leagues out there. Well, there are, and the competition is just as tough as in full-sized racing. This means that all car tricks are legal, and drifting is key to getting ahead. These small model cars drift just as much as their bigger counterparts (with fewer crashes, sadly), and on their small scale, they can even be said to be going faster than their larger counterparts … you know … in ratio.
This video is a showcase of drifting in the racing world. As you can see, drifts actually start well before the corner the racer plans to drift around. Some of these drifters drift several feet, sometimes half the straightaway, before peeling out of their drift. A couple of them show different applications, for example a full spin-out to turn around, or a 360 to avoid a crash or stop while at high speed. That smoke you see coming from the tires is sheer friction.
Now, that is a new way to make cucumber salad. This guy sets a world record by cutting a cucumber off a stand by drifting a car around it. The knife is duct-taped to his car, and he manages to drift so accurately that he doesn’t hit the stand, or the cameraman, while still getting within cutting distance. Earlier in the program they showed proof of concept by doing it on a small model RC car, but this guy does it all the same with a full-sized vehicle.
Finally we have this, and I don’t know what else to say. Yes, that is a bus, drifting. I kind of hoped the bus would flip over, but considering that the driver knew enough to keep it from crashing horribly, my next big idea is to start a high-speed extreme bus-racing league. I’m sure that would draw in racing fans who go just for the crash possibilities. It would be even better if they were schoolbuses with live children inside, and hey, maybe we can make a movie about it. The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo School Time Bus Ride.
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