drift set up?

[autumn_again]

never thought i'd ask that. but i've been watching some vids of some drifting and really getting into it. love the feeling of getting sideways.

what kind of suspension set up would you want for a drift set up with these cars? vaughn gitten jr makes it look easy as ****. and the few times i've tossed around my car, it just seems to work pretty well.

i'm going to be putting the front sway bar back on, and stock rims and tires. would like to get a nice set of 18s but thats gunna have to wait.

what else could i do to set it up to get all kinds of squirrelly??

 

[walter]

I had a 240sx and had some hand in drifting. Practice that's all I can tell you.
Learn your car first then mod it. Same goes with every other forms of motorsports.

That said you really gotta work on improving the car's precision (after improving yours that is). Live axle cars are notorious for sloppy drivelines and snap oversteer so correct that. Focus on the rear because the front is a decent design from the factory. Get yourself some lower control arms to keep the axle from hopping around and smoothing out sideways transitions a little (I'm using J&M with spherical bushings for that very reason). Next do something about that absurd bodyroll these cars suffer from so grab a sturdy well planted rear swaybar (front is thick enough as is). Finally make sure you focus on the axle placement so get yourself a nice panhard brace and rod if you're on a budget if you got some spare cash laying around go for a watts' link setup. That's what made the most difference in terms of precision on my car.

Also from a power standpoint you have to make sure your car is able to keep the revs up. HP is nice to have but there's power to be found elsewhere. Go for some underdrive pulleys or better yet a lightened driveline (shaft, flywheel) that'll keep your tires spinning in 2nd and 3rd gear especially if your car is N/A.

Lowering the car and some nice shocks help of course but that can get pricey.

The good thing about our cars is that the setup is very similar to the Toyota Corolla AE86 which for many years has been the gold standard for the drifting connoisseurs.

Now go out there grasshopper and make a name for yourself.

 

[The Fang]

How about a good set of linelocks and a lot of rubber. Thats what Gittin would say.

 

[autumn_again]

haha, exactly the person i was hoping to hear from knowing you had a watts link.

what do you think had a bigger impact, the watts link, or things like shocks,springs,and sway bars. i don't need anything real professional, just i'd enjoy a nice ride where if i feel i need to take the next turn i'm approaching sideways i have ability to.

i've gotten the car sideways quite a few times intentionally, and these cars seem pretty predictable.
with your set up, how is the daily driven ride? i'm looking to keep a decent ride quality. not saying much because right now i have no swaybar on front and 15x4s on the front with steamrollers in back.

 

[walter]

haha, exactly the person i was hoping to hear from knowing you had a watts link.

what do you think had a bigger impact, the watts link, or things like shocks,springs,and sway bars. i don't need anything real professional, just i'd enjoy a nice ride where if i feel i need to take the next turn i'm approaching sideways i have ability to.

i've gotten the car sideways quite a few times intentionally, and these cars seem pretty predictable.
with your set up, how is the daily driven ride? i'm looking to keep a decent ride quality. not saying much because right now i have no swaybar on front and 15x4s on the front with steamrollers in back.

Wow dude you got the absolutely wrong setup for drifting lol with skinnies and slicks and no swaybar!

But yeah Mustangs are pretty good at losing traction With a little practice and some tweaking you can get them to regain traction predictably and smoothly that's where the watts link comes in. The unit I have is more of a racing type so the NVH has increased since the watts arms are heim jointed. Nothing you can't tune out though exhaust drone is louder for example then that.

I have to say the ride has improved dramatically. The car feels more precise and stable going in and coming out of corners. The back end doesn't feel like it wants to go opposite way of where you're wanting to go. Brake, turn, and throttle out just how it is supposed to be, no wiggles, no loss of traction over gaps just tons of grip over the stock setup. I read other fays2 customers have messed with the roll center and gotten their car to ride like a racecar or a luxury car. I have mine set right in the center so I have a bit of both.

Overall great addon. That said I could get the car to take sideways turns on the stock suspension, the watts and the control arms and now the rest of the suspension made it that much better. That said to answer your question if I could do it again I wouldn't change a thing. Start with the watts and the rear control arms first, then work on the swaybars and finally add the rest of the suspension.

 

[autumn_again]

Wow dude you got the absolutely wrong setup for drifting lol with skinnies and slicks and no swaybar!

But yeah Mustangs are pretty good at losing traction With a little practice and some tweaking you can get them to regain traction predictably and smoothly that's where the watts link comes in. The unit I have is more of a racing type so the NVH has increased since the watts arms are heim jointed. Nothing you can't tune out though exhaust drone is louder for example then that.

I have to say the ride has improved dramatically. The car feels more precise and stable going in and coming out of corners. The back end doesn't feel like it wants to go opposite way of where you're wanting to go. Brake, turn, and throttle out just how it is supposed to be, no wiggles, no loss of traction over gaps just tons of grip over the stock setup. I read other fays2 customers have messed with the roll center and gotten their car to ride like a racecar or a luxury car. I have mine set right in the center so I have a bit of both.

Overall great addon. That said I could get the car to take sideways turns on the stock suspension, the watts and the control arms and now the rest of the suspension made it that much better. That said to answer your question if I could do it again I wouldn't change a thing. Start with the watts and the rear control arms first, then work on the swaybars and finally add the rest of the suspension.

put front sway bar back on and stock rims and tires. dunno why every turn i've taken since then has had tires screeching. hahah. i didn't realize how numb the steering was. gunna go on some twistier roads tonight and have at it but took a turn that i would feel scary going 40 on with the skinnies at 60 and wanted to go faster just don't need any tickets.

was a quick job, the car doesn't seem to haul ass in a straight line as well. i guess because of the added weight and with the sway bar back on the weight doesn't transfer as much.

i've got lower control arms along with the upper. would you say the stock 17s are good enough for corners? or should i go with a bigger rim like an 18 with a better tire then the stock pirellis?. i'm runnin around 35 psi on them now.

alright enough from me for now. going to go have fun driving the stang! haha.

 

[walter]

Personally I think the 17's are just plain too small of a wheel. You'll be running a very tall sidewall which bends and deflects excessively for cornering. 18 is a great size to keep the weight down and the compromise of tread durability vs sidewall deflection. Also that should give your tires a more progressive slip angle for drifting by having the sidewall more rounded and yield a little during sideload. That said I would love to experiment with 19in wheels but from my experience with my other ride which is a 350Z on 19in volk racing wheels I hate trying to find tires for it so I'll stick with the 18's.

 

[autumn_again]

yeah. hard to find nice 19s, and even harder to find nice tires. would you recommend same width all around or can i go wider in back? like 18x10 in back vs 18x9 in front.

 

[walter]

Well it all depends how the car handles with your suspension setup and how you want to approach your fine tuning. If you want a car that is more likely to oversteer then you should try and make sure to balance out all four corners with the same size wheel and tire. If your car is already tail happy as is then you can opt having some wider rolling stock in the back which will create a more understeer.

I'll approach this a little more sequentially so I can save me some money in the long run. I'll order a set of GT500 takeoffs. Wheels are identical but the tires are staggered 255/285 F/R. Once the fronts fail I'll step them up to 275's and depending if the handling is where I want it to be leave it at that if not get a matching set of 275's for the back to keep the stock size Roush runs on their cars to complement my suspension setup.

 

[autumn_again]

it can never be tail happy enough. haha. alright. thanks. i don't think i'll be buying wheels for a while, building up another car as a drag car, because this chassis in my opinion is already a pretty solid performer for cornering.

i've had so much fun the past 2 days taking turns. i've had the front sway bar off since the 2nd week i had the car, so i've got to make up for all the turns i didn't have fun in.

leaving highway today from work used to take this turn at around 20 and understeer horribly, today it entered the turn confident just wanting more throttle. the cars pretty easy to control good job ford

i saw you said you had black chrome wheels. what happened to your fr500s? i thought that set up looked awesome. actually considering going with the same one.

 

[walter]

The FR500's looked great alas they didn't offer any clearance for the big brake kit so I sold them. Now I'm waiting for money to buy a set of GT500 takeoffs (which i'll later paint) those should clear my new brakes.

Still you shouldn't rule them out completely because you could still upgrade the pads, rotors and lines. They also fit the 13in SSBC tri-force brakes but those will be pricey.

 

[krang00]

Don't want to bring up an old topic, but I had to input my .02 cents

I've been drifting with Clubloose out of NJ for about a year now and it's been a blast. I'd echo everything walter said. Our cars really don't need any more power out of the box, just some suspension modifications. I'm running steeda end links, roush springs, BMR LCAs, Pahnard bar, brace, DSpec adjustable shocks/struts, and 4.10s. It works quite well, although I REALLLY need a good racing seat, my knees are bruised after each event.

Finally, if you are interested in more hit up the clubloose forums: www.ClubLoose.com :: Index - the season is basically over now, but the wednesday nights are a great place to learn. Oh, and once you get on the road course buy stock in tires because it's addicting!

 

[walter]

+1 You can never have enough tires in this sport