,
 |
| Grassroots guys keep drifitng fun. |
A Grassroots drift car will have a set up that is somewhat different to the high powered, high grip cars that are prevalent in Pro Drifting events like Formula D or even the semi pro Formula D feeder Pro-Am series. The main difference is that grassroots drifters have much less power and don’t have an endless supply of high grip tires to burn through. For grassroots the emphasis will be on a low cost, easy to drive set up that is well balanced so it will be easy to learn different drifting techniques.
 |
| Surprisingly a good drift setup is balanced like a good grip setup. A well balanced car is easier to drift. There are more things in common with a time attack car than differences in a well set up drift car. |
Surprisingly, a good drift set up is very much like a good set up for grip driving, much like what is used in track days or even autocross. You want to have a balanced car that has little understeer, good turn in and not an excessive amount of oversteer. So let’s get started with the basics.
Suspension
For suspension, a good set of coilovers is a very wise investment. Your coilovers are the heart of what will make your drift car handle well. It can be a stretch for your budget but if you can’t afford a good basic set of coil overs then try to save your money to get some. Tein, A'PEXi and KW are good coilovers for a lot of popular drift cars. If you are an advanced drifter, some of the best basic coilovers for the money are KW Clubsports. Their double adjustable damping gives them enough flexibility to see you all the way up to Pro Competition.
 |
| Many of the top pro cars in Formula D use exotic suspension like these KW Motorsport 3-way adjustable shocks with custom valving done by specialists. Although this can be useful, you can still go far with making the most of what you got! |
Be wary of the cheap Chinese coilovers. Although some of these may be decent many others are really bad and there are so many fly by night brands that it is hard to keep track of which ones are especially bad. If you drift a car that no one makes stuff for, companies like Ground Control Suspension will often have kits to adapt high quality Koni universal racing shocks to your car and convert them to coilovers. Other companies like Pro Parts can custom build coilovers for just about any car using Koni internals.
 |
| Beware of cheap fake Chinese coilovers. There are some really low quality junk manufacturers out there. There are some coilovers made in Taiwan that have decent construction quality but it is sorta hard to determine one to recommend as none of them really have good valving. Feal Suspension has had some luck revalving the better cheap coilovers if you already are stuck with a set of those. We really recommend saving your money and getting the best set of coilovers that you can afford. You will be much happier. |
 |
| If no one makes coilovers or for a good low buck alternative, Ground Control makes parts to convert Koni and other shocks into coilovers using Eibach ERS springs. That way you can tune your suspension. Yeah we know that this is a Honda but it's the best picture we had available. |
