The smoke was so thick sometimes that you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. One of the side effects of todays wheel speed and grip, is the amount of smoke that’s produced.Īt one point during practice last week in Florida it was almost a complete whiteout in front of the judges tower.

At almost every event, someone debeads a tire due to running such low tire pressure. Now, it’s all about trying to get as much bite as possible. There were no thoughts of having forward grip in order to drift faster.

Of course, back then the cars didn’t have nearly as much power and it was hard to get high wheel speed if they were running low tire pressures. I remember hanging out in a tire changing area back in 2006, when I overheard the teams yelling at the workers saying that tires do not go on the cars unless they have 50psi of air in them. The cars have changed as well as the strategy. He made the right moves when it counted back then, and now he is gunning for his second Formula Drift Pro Championship title. used an open trailer with a borrowed truck to tow his S13 to these very events many years ago, is pretty amazing.

No more driving to the track and home again afterwards in your competition car. With horsepower levels pushing four figures and proper race car suspension setups, these are not street cars anymore. The biggest difference of course, are the machines. The Ken Gushi of today would run circles around the Ken Gushi from 2004. Today, when I watch those videos from way back when, it’s really evident how different it is now.ĭriver skill has improved tenfold. I remember watching the first years of Formula Drift and D1GP thinking it was the coolest thing ever. What amazes me is how much the sport has evolved in just a few short years. Watching tire smoke billow out from under the wheel wells of these drift machines provides a spectacle unlike any other motorsport. In essence, Formula Drift is about one weekend of driving high power race cars with one purpose – to destroy tires and to make little puffy clouds in the process. I don’t see how naysayers fail to see the appeal of professional drifting. Would you go for a fast lap? What about burning some rubber? Or how about a massive tire shredding burnout, or even better – circle burners! And some power slides while you are at it? Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Then, imagine being given free reign on an open race track. Picture for a moment that you have access to drive some of the most powerful race cars in the world.

Miami Super Drift Driving free