The online racing simulator
Quote from dawesdust_12 :Really, there's no point, becuase eventually we'll all die. Why does it matter what we do, when it'll get nullified eventually anyways.

then whats the point of not commiting suicide?
I believe I have given my opinion on this in another thread (and somebody is still running with a quote from me in his signature ), but basically... Why do you all care so much? I enjoy real racing (i.e. not drifting), but from time to time when I get bored, a nice drifting session is something I can enjoy (although I suck at it). Off course, one should not try to drive a real racing line on a drifting server and vice versa.
Quote from Shotglass :then whats the point of not commiting suicide?

In all honesty? There's none, other than it's regarded socially as being bad.
Quote from Hankstar :
Pull your head in. Did you miss this? He seemed genuinely curious to me

Believe it or not, it's actually possible that someone on t3h internets didn't know all about dorifto and asked a legitimate question in order to get an understanding of it. Didn't really deserve a smackdown imho.

There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers - especially those answers which don't even answer the question or contribute to the discussion.

Yes, thankyou!!!

One thing about this forum I have noticed so far is that a lot of people seem to use it as some kind of penis-measuring competition and will get aggressive and abusive quickly.

Not that I take it to heart or anything.

But yes, it was a serious question. To be totally honest, my initial reaction was, "what on earth are they doing? That looks really stupid, slow and dangerous, and there's not even any point to it!", so I suppose I did ask it with a slight initial negative bias, but I also genuinely wanted to know what is all the fuss about and I genuinely wanted someone to explain the purpose/goals/rules or whatever.
Quote from dawesdust_12 :In all honesty? There's none, other than it's regarded socially as being bad.

Well, there's that and the general health considerations, statistically more so for the suicide.
Quote from kamkorPL :And why the heck people created F1. Maybe because it's good to aim higher, and not be satisfied with racing let's say for example Fiat Pandas.

Because the Panda is not really fast nor does it handle very well at speeds?
Quote :But oh well.. I love it when I get a chance to laugh at someone criticizing something he has no idea about. :ices_rofl First research, then write.

You did notice the question mark in my first post? I am asking what a "drift car" is. And what major modifications are required.
Quote :Aren't you the one who has been asking this in drift car suggestion thread and you that have been answered countless times even with a link to awesome S15 DW project?

Yes I've asked it before but never has anybody given me a link to that project.
Did a search (something that seems to be overwhelmingly difficult to some people) on google and found this
Is that the one?
Haven't read it through yet but seems like a RWD race prepped vehicle which has been lowered, ridiculous amounts of camber added and dorifto style graphics all over... I just had a strange feeling of dejavu... Just like I'd have written that statement before. Strange.

Maybe I should have asked what are the differences between a race car and a drift car. And why you can't use the existing cars in LFS to drift? And why you need a special "drift car"?
March Hare,

Mate, I am with you. I feel your pain.

I've asked countless times what's the point of drifting, and so far the best I've got is "fun", and "to see how sideways you can go".

I approached this with an open mind, but I must admit, it does seem a little silly. You can't compare it to painting or race-driving or ice skating. The tools of those trades are made and designed for exactly what they do. Paint-brushes are used to paint, race cars are meant to race and go fast, ice-skates are used for skating.

To me, drifting is taking a car and making it do something it's not supposed to do for fun. Like painting a picture with the wooden end of the paint brush, or having a competition to see who can skid on their ice-skates sideways for the longest, or a form of motorcycle racing where everyone has to drive on the back wheel (for no apparent reason other than "it's fun"). A paint-brush is not supposed to be used back-to-front. Ice skates are not meant for skidding sideways as far as you can. Motorcycles are supposed to be driven on two wheels. A car is not supposed to be driven sideways like that. It's slow, dangerous and damages the car. Yes, it might be fun, I accept that. I even accept it takes some skill. But it's also a bit silly. It seems to me that Drifting is to motor-sports what WWE Wrestling is to full contact sports. Skilfull? sure. Fun? Probably. To be taken seriously? ...hmmmm.

My 2c.
Quote from Ikaponthus :I've asked countless times what's the point of drifting, and so far the best I've got is "fun", and "to see how sideways you can go".

As far as I see, even though I don't care for drifting, those are valid enough reasons. People often do worse for less reason than that.

Quote from Ikaponthus :To me, drifting is taking a car and making it do something it's not supposed to do for fun. Like painting a picture with the wooden end of the paint brush, or having a competition to see who can skid on their ice-skates sideways for the longest, or singing an opera standing on your head. A car is not supposed to be driven sideways like that. It's slow and damages the car. Yes, it might be fun, but it's also a bit silly.

Luckily for motorsports there was never a moment that a flaming bush talked to a manufacturer or engineer and handed him plaques with the exact way a vehicle should be used by it's owner.

Racing can also damage the car - cars and all machines (and even people) are damaged by usage, it's wear. The amount of wear induced ofcourse will vary, so people who make specific machines for specific tasks take that wear in consideration. Same applies to people who want to do specific activities, they condition themselves for them so they can adapt to the wear they induce.

By your train of thought and reasoning, people are not supposed to climb to the highest mountain peaks, they are not supposed to run for 40km straight, they're not supposed to cycle for 1200km straight, they're not supposed to rig outhouses onto wheeled platforms and have races with them they're not supposed to do a whole lot of things - yet they do them all and add some. People, like all living entities are only actually supposed to stay alive as long as they can and reproduce - those are the only things that're sort of preprogrammed and even they get skipped very often.

Such is the nature of people I guess. Suck it up.

EDIT:
As a slight follow up - the wikipedia article on drifting explains what changes are usually made to a car that is specifically used for drifting competitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D ... (motorsport)#Drift_tuning - I'm really surprised no one that genuinely wanted answers hasn't done a web search.
Quote from xaotik :Well, there's that and the general health considerations, statistically more so for the suicide.

but why would you care about health if youre dead? wouldnt that take a lot of weight from your shoulders as you dont have to worry anymore about food cars and bin laden?
in fact id be doing you a favour in making you life a lot less misserable if i shot you the policemen who want to arrest me the judge and the lawmakers who want to tell me that i shouldnt shoot you (sadly both jesus and emmanuelles **** are dead already so ill have to deal with the stupid ethical crowd they spawned instead of eliminating that problem at its root)

Quote from Ikaponthus :ice-skates are used for skating.

ture in the same way a car is meant for driving but neither are built just for using them in the fastest way possible
skates can be used for going fast in a big circle going fast in a small circle while punching your opponents in the face and going fast in no particular pattern while smacking your opponents in the face with a wodden stick
or (in case youre the kind of person who either has a vagina or enjoys being bummed by fat smelly guys in leather) to jump around aimlessly

yet you wouldnt ever question the legitimacy of either one of these sports

Quote :or having a competition to see who can skid on their ice-skates sideways for the longest

being from ireland you probably havent seen frozen lakes in your childhood a lot but back when i was a kid we did that a lot
in fact just 1 or 2 years ago a friend an i spent hours stomping patches of snow into icy surfaces and sliding across them
Quote from Shotglass :but why would you care about health if youre dead?

he statement that filled in for was "There's none [reason for not commiting suicide], other than it's regarded socially as being bad" - and I was merely being a smart-ass pointing out that another reason is that suicide is bad for the suicide's health.

Although being far-fetched and tongue-in-cheek it also appears to be a valid way of thinking of it because it's often fear of death itself or pain that stops people from suicide - which also are two prime incentives for the instinct of survival and maintaining good health.

There, I've just committed jokicide.
Quote from Ikaponthus :

I've asked countless times what's the point of drifting, and so far the best I've got is "fun", and "to see how sideways you can go".


Sorry, can't take you seriously. You are simply repeating yourself and show no real interest in discovering anything... I tend to agree that you are simply shit stirring - fortyish posts in one day and you haven't even managed to get a feel for the atmosphere this question generates on this forum? I find that hard to believe.

If it is indeed the case that you are genuinely confused, then may I suggest you use the search function in future. You will discover that there are countless threads on this subject, most of them ending up in stupid and abusive comments. Hence my comment "whatever", meaning I don't really care one way or the other what you consider to be the 'point' of drifting or racing.

I'm just happy that have a preference, and I'm happy that you can find the space to indulge it. I don't see why you cannot do the same, why you feel that someone has to justify their preference to you.

Btw, I'm not a drifter, in fact I'm really, really, really crap at drifting. I enjoy the sport as a spectator, and as much as there are many people on this board who seem to despise the fact that people use LFS to 'drift', my heart sinks at the thought of yet another tosser who is going to spend the time here pontificating on how driving in circles is inherently superior to driving sideways.

Racers, drifters! Get over yourselves. There is no 'point' to any of your activities. I have been into racing since I was a kid; I grew up being transported around the race tracks of Britain and I grew up loving the sport in all its manifestations. But I'm not going to kid anyone into believing that my love of velocity is anything other than a reptilian, animal instinct. It has no point. I love it.

If you feel the need to indulge some kind of sectarian bullshit, then understand that it has no currency with me. If you really want to discover the sport, just watch it, indulge it, experience it. Don't start out looking for a reason not to enjoy it.

/ end of
xaotik & shotglass,

You appear to have missed the fundamental crux of my argument. Doesn't matter.

Xaotik, I'm comparing the tools, not the goal. You're getting confused.

Shotglass,

Yes, skates are made for skating in big circles or little circles. And I'm sure all the other physical things a skater has to do is taken into consideration when those skates are designed. They would be the most practical tool for those skaters to use.

Drifting is not practical at all. It's forcing a car to do something it's not designed to do. Racing cars are designed to go fast around a track, they're not designed to slide sideways around a track.

Now, from what I can gather so far, both from responses on this forum, and what I have seen of the "sport", I think it's totally fair to say I dislike "drifters". That doesn't mean I don't like them as people. I'm sure many of them are really nice guys. However, I'm not impressed by drifting, it seems infantile and pointless. And I certainly don't like the "bling", "ricer" or "street racer" culture that seems to accompany it, which I find tasteless, try-hard and egotistical. That's fair enough. I'm allowed to dislike something. It's just my personal opinion.

When I started this thread I was reasonable and open minded and hoping for some genuine discussion on the subject as I am willing to concede I may have been mistaken; but nothing I have read so far is doing anything to persuade me that is the case...
Quote from Ikaponthus :

Drifting is not practical at all. It's forcing a car to do something it's not designed to do.

Rubbish.

Cars are designed to slide on their tyres, infact its an inherent property of the material tyres are made from. Not that this is likely to satisfy you.... I'm still wondering why you insist on viewing 'sport' from the point of view of 'practicality'?
Quote from Ikaponthus :Xaotik, I'm comparing the tools, not the goal. You're getting confused.

All your statements critisized the goal however. And the thread title is about the goal (what is the fascination with drifting) - no mention of tools anywhere (that would be: what is the difference of a drift car versus a racing car).

Quote from Ikaponthus :Drifting is not practical at all. It's forcing a car to do something it's not designed to do. Racing cars are designed to go fast around a track, they're not designed to slide sideways around a track.

Racing is not a practical matter. Nothing in motorsports is a practical matter and nothing in sports in general is a practical matter. It was all initially the passtime/hobby of people who had time (and/or some sort of wealth) at their disposal. Only in recent times have we seen the advent of such individuals as "professional sportsmen" who in all offer ZERO, NADA, ZILCH practical and of actual use yet are worshiped as gods.

Practical consideration = motorized vehicles for the transport of passengers were designed to get you from point A to point B faster than what you would do if you walked for a specific reason, usually relative to your survival, directly or indirectly. Not take you through point A over and over and over again in the case of circuit racing, or from point A to point B just for the sake of getting to point B faster than someone else and at a speed that is usually detrimental to your chances of survival.

Bottom line of my argument: citing "practicality" in such subjects is pointless.
Quote from March Hare :And why you can't use the existing cars in LFS to drift? And why you need a special "drift car"?

You just answered yourself in your own post:

Quote from March Hare :Because the Panda is not really fast nor does it handle very well at speeds?

LFS cars are underpowered for drifting, they need more HP and more NM. They also need to be stripped down. Some more setup options would be welcome too. It's not a matter of wether it is possible to drift them or not.

You really never seen a proper drift car in real life, have you? There's a lot into engine tuning to get as much power as possible out of it. This includes engine swaps too, a lot of work to get right balance etc. Also throttle reaction is very important as well as suspension tuning so the car does go fast trough corners while going sideways(And so it holds angle too). Speed in drift is important, but not for the cost of going with low angle. You actually need as much grip as you can get(example tires: Toyo R888) - ofcourse this depends on how much power you have too. This is a very deep and interesting subject and don't let your ignorancy think

Drifting is also a great motorsport, because it is easier to get into it than in real racing(this depends on a country too ofcourse).

See good example of why you need proper drift car:

http://nismo.1g.fi/kuvat/bigangle2.avi

Ofcourse this course for sure doesn't need as much power as this car has, but this power saved the guy and let him clear the corner with insane angle I believe.

Another good example:

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=cfWQkkKPKyw

The thing is, March Hare - if you think there is so little into making in real life a drift car that can handle going sideways at extreme angle with extreme speed, then how about trying building it yourself.

Some people take drifting in lfs seriously in a way, and I just love showing lfs to a real drifter who knows nothing about LFS. First reaction is how weird lfs is - drifting caterhams? Drifting porsches? Oooo that other car looks like good for drifting(XR GTT). But as soon as they try GTT first response is how underpowered it is and heavy.

This year we will be trying to promote LFS @ driftingo.eu / driftingo.pl / driftingo.de - Last year we organised one event with real prizes, and this year we have a whole season in plans. But it's hard to promote it when we have porsches and caterhams doing battles on screenshots. This just does look weird.
Quote from nihil :Rubbish.

Cars are designed to slide on their tyres, infact its an inherent property of the material tyres are made from. Not that this is likely to satisfy you.... I'm still wondering why you insist on viewing 'sport' from the point of view of 'practicality'?

Rubbish? Please explain. To my understanding, tyres are designed to GRIP the road. If they were designed to slide they'd be made of something slippery. Almost everything about a tyre is to do with getting as much grip on the road as possible.

Sure, they can slide - and this can even be advantageous sometimes. But they're not DESIGNED to slide.

As for "practicality" ... hmmm. Well, I don't know. Maybe that's the wrong word. Maybe I am having trouble putting into words what I'm saying. ... drifting just seems "pointless". Other people have said, well, what's the point to anything? And I guess that's a valid argument. Drifting just seems ... I don't know ... silly.
Quote from xaotik :
Racing is not a practical matter. Nothing in motorsports is a practical matter and nothing in sports in general is a practical matter. It was all initially the passtime/hobby of people who had time (and/or some sort of wealth) at their disposal. Only in recent times have we seen the advent of such individuals as "professional sportsmen" who in all offer ZERO, NADA, ZILCH practical and of actual use yet are worshiped as gods.

Practical consideration = motorized vehicles for the transport of passengers were designed to get you from point A to point B faster than what you would do if you walked for a specific reason, usually relative to your survival, directly or indirectly. Not take you through point A over and over and over again in the case of circuit racing, or from point A to point B just for the sake of getting to point B faster than someone else and at a speed that is usually detrimental to your chances of survival.

Bottom line of my argument: citing "practicality" in such subjects is pointless.

Absolute nonsense!

Racing is about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Simple as that. That is a perfectly practical objective. In fact, it's a fundamentally practical exercise!!

What is the point of drifting? Getting from point A to point B as sideways as possible? I don't know. Seriously, it was a genuine question at the beginning. What are they trying to achieve?
Quote from Ikaponthus :Drifting is not practical at all. It's forcing a car to do something it's not designed to do. Racing cars are designed to go fast around a track, they're not designed to slide sideways around a track.

Please..

Cars are made to travel from point A to B.

Race cars are made to race.

Drift cars are made to drift.

Rally cars are made to rally on difficult stages

etc.

And none of those motorsports is practical, and in each motorsport the car does what its designed for.

Also I will repeat something so people get it - you need grip in drift. Grip is your friend.
Quote from Ikaponthus :As for "practicality" ... hmmm. Well, I don't know. Maybe that's the wrong word. Maybe I am having trouble putting into words what I'm saying. ... drifting just seems "pointless". Other people have said, well, what's the point to anything? And I guess that's a valid argument. Drifting just seems ... I don't know ... silly.

Silly to you. To others it is not. I find collecting things silly and pointless for myself, yet I don't look down on people I know with a stamp collection.

Quote :What is the point of drifting? Getting from point A to point B as sideways as possible?

In a nutshell, yes.

Quote :I don't know. Seriously, it was a genuine question at the beginning. What are they trying to achieve?

Getting from point A to point B while being as sideways as possible and maintaining as much control of the vehicle in doing so as possible.
Taking things to the next level (and, in my mind, it's only a very slight difference), what do you think of burnout competitions?

Is a burnout competition a respectable and valid form of motorsport? Or is it making a mockery of serious motoring competition?
Quote from Hankstar :
Pull your head in. Did you miss this? He seemed genuinely curious to me

Believe it or not, it's actually possible that someone on t3h internets didn't know all about dorifto and asked a legitimate question in order to get an understanding of it. Didn't really deserve a smackdown imho.

There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers - especially those answers which don't even answer the question or contribute to the discussion.

Amen to that, I've never seen so much defensiveness and so many ridiculous assumptions made. Anyone would think that some people here have a deep down insecurity about their choice of fun.
Quote from Ikaponthus :Taking things to the next level (and, in my mind, it's only a very slight difference), what do you think of burnout competitions?

Is a burnout competition a respectable and valid form of motorsport? Or is it making a mockery of serious motoring competition?

I dislike them because I find them boring.

It very well might be for a given crowd. It involves a motorized vehicle and I assume possibly some form of scoring. I have no idea if they actually have some sort of formal burnout competition rules.

It doesn't make a mockery of anything - it just is. It doesn't make me think any worse of the rest of motorsports because some people, for whatever reason, want to ruin tyres while being stationary.
Now that was what I was after.
Thank you KamkorPL.

I only wish more drifters, and racers, were like you.
Quote from xaotik :I dislike them.

...

some people, for whatever reason, want to ruin tyres while being stationary.

What's the difference?

"Some people, for whatever reason, want to ruin tyres while driving sideways very slowly".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNPD9nEPfZo ---> Yay. "Drifting" is really only one very small step up from this IMO. Same ballpark anyway.
This thread is closed

What's the fascination with drifting!?
(354 posts, closed, started )
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