Power sliding
Power sliding a.k.a. drifting (Japanese origin) refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally skids the rear tires through turns, preserving vehicle control and a high exit speed. A car is said to be drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. car is turning left, wheels are pointed right or vice versa), and the driver is controlling these factors.
Modern drifting started out as a racing technique popular in the All Japan Touring Car Championship races over 30 years ago. Motorcycling legend turned driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi, was the foremost creator of drifting techniques in the 1970s. He was famous for hitting the apex (the point where the car is closest to the inside of a turn) at high speed and then drifting through the corner, preserving a high exit speed.
Nowadays, power sliding or drifting is considered a complex sport where only the most experienced drivers can join.
Drifting competitions are judged on line, angle, speed and show factors, so it’s not about who goes past the finish line first. Line involves taking the correct line, which is usually announced beforehand by judges. The show factor is based on multiple things, such as the amount of smoke, how close the car is to the wall, and the crowd’s reaction. Angle is the angle of a car in a drift, Speed is the speed entering a turn, the speed through a turn, and the speed exiting the turn; faster is better.
Usually, power sliding cars are light to moderate weight rear-wheel-drive coupes and sedans. In Japan and worldwide, the most common drift machines are the Nissan Silvia/180SX/200SX, Toyota AE86, Mazda RX-7, Nissan A31 Cefiro, Nissan C33 Laurel, Nissan Skyline (RWD versions), Nissan 350Z, Toyota Altezza, Toyota Chaser, Toyota Mark II, Toyota MZ20 Soarer, Honda S2000, Toyota Supra (MKIV), Ford Mustang and Mazda Miata. US drift competitions use the same cars, plus Chrysler LLC’s Dodge Charger, General Motors’ F-Body cars from 1967 until 2002, Pontiac Solstice, Holden Commodore, and Holden Monaro . Power sliders in other countries often use local favorites, such as the early Ford Escort (UK and Ireland), BMW 3 Series (other parts of Europe), Porsche, early Opel cars, in Saudi Arabia Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the later Russian market Lada (Hungary) or Volvo 700 series (Scandinavia), modified Proton cars (Malaysia) and the Holden Commodore in Australia.