Illustration by Marcin Kuligowski; Step Illustrations by Sonia Chang
No matter how nice you believe your wheel game to be, we're pretty sure it's not as nice as Ken Block's. A love of all things motor led the co-founder of DC Shoes to train as a rally driver so he could compete in the Rally America series. He was so nice behind the wheel of his Vermont SportsCar prepared Subaru WRX STi that he won Rally America's Rookie of the Year award. To further show off his skill, he put together two videos of him in his Subaru ripping and sliding through a Gymhana course, both of which became instant hits on the 'Net.
Yeah, dude knows a thing or two about car control. So who better to teach us how to do a drift? We got Ken to give us a basic run through on how to initiate a slide through a hairpin turn. Keep in mind: These four steps are basic instructions and won't make you an expert, so please be careful. So buckle up and read on to learn how to get (safely) sideways, and then peep Ken's second Gymkhana to see how it's really done...
Needed: A Manual-Drive vehicle, driver's license, and lots of space (parking lot favored, empty is ideal)
1. GET UP TO SPEED.
Firstly, you need to find some open space (a parking lot or course is ideal) and start on the straightaway slowly. In order to drift, you need to break your tires' grip on the road, so your car needs to get up to a certain speed. Eye the drift point and begin to accelerate down the straightaway. Keep the car in second gear and accelerate so that you hit the drift point going about 40 mph. For your first time, if you're going any faster than 60 mph, you may not make it, so don't go too nuts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. HIT THE BRAKES.
Weight transfer is the key to car control and the easiest way to control your car's mass is with the accelerator and the brake pedals. "I would come in at a pretty high speed," explains Block, "so I would brake fairly hard with the regular brakes to get the weight transfer and to get the weight under the front wheels." As you approach the turn, tap your brakes. This will transfer the weight of the car from rear to front, which lightens the load over the rear wheels. That allows them to break traction more easily, and allows you to get them sliding.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. INITIATE THE SLIDE.
Now that the weight is off of the rear wheels, you can begin the drift. Gymkhana has a lot of tight turns, so Ken Block recommends using the handbrake at the start: "I sometimes initiate with an opposite turn to get the rear wheels loose but using the handbrake is a little bit more consistent and a little bit quicker." At the top of the corner, turn your steering wheel slightly into the turn, give it a little more throttle, push the clutch in, and pull the handbrake. You will feel the rear wheels lose traction and the rear of your car will begin to slide out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. CONTROL THE SLIDE.
Once the rear of your car begins to drift, use the steering wheel to keep the car going around the apex of the corner. First, keep it pointed in the direction of the turn; then, as you reach the apex, quickly begin to counter-steer (turning wheel in the opposite direction) while pulling the handbrake intermittently. That will keep the wheels loose, but will also slow the car down. So, depending on the angle of your corner, you need to keep on the throttle and make sure enough power is being sent to your wheels. Once you're through the corner, point your car towards the next turn, hit the throttle, and repeat.
VIDEO: KEN BLOCK GYMKAHANA INFOMERCIAL (FEAT. ROB DYRDEK)
*DON'T WRECK YOUR CAR (OR YOURSELF) WITHOUT CHECKING OUT TEAM O'NEIL RALLY SCHOOL FIRST.
