Drive train
What is a drive train and why is it important when it
comes to the physics of drifting? A drive train is a group
of components that connects the engine to the wheels and
determines if you have a RWD (Rear Wheel Drive), AWD (All
Wheel Drive), or an FWD (Front Wheel drive) car. The drive
train has an important role in drifting because it
determines the style of drifting you will be using. RWD cars
are the most preferred car to drift in because in a RWD car
the engine is only spinning the back two tires. Having the
power going into only the two back tires allows the tires to
break the coefficient of friction easier than a car that has
to distribute that power to four wheels. RWD cars style of
drifting is the action of accelerating while simultaneously
allowing your back tires to spin out thus breaking friction
between the tires and the ground beneath it. The tires spin
propels the cars back end sideways in a swing motion, and
use the front two tires that do not receive any power from
the engine to guide the momentum of the car to the left or
the right. This style of drifting is the same for the AWD
car but instead of having power from the engine going to
only two of the tires you have it in all four of the tires.
Distributing the power to four tires makes it harder to
break the coefficient of friction but once achieved you will
rotate your wheel like the RWD car to guide the momentum to
the left or right. Lastly, the FWD cars style is quite
unique compared to the first two. While using a FWD car the
back tires do not get power from the engine preventing the
fishtail motion you get with the AWD and RWD cars. In this
case you will need to use the E-brake and the velocity of
your car to produce the drift. While keeping your speed
before producing the drift the driver will need to point the
wheels of the car to the direction of the drift then pull
the E-brake to make the car's back side whip out, again
allowing the car to break friction between the tires.
http://www.automotive.com/acura/rlx/2014/photos/assorted/t3-7-5-62768746/
