TYPE OF CAR
Usually, drift cars are light to moderate weight rear-wheel-drive coupes and sedans over a large range of power levels. In Japan and worldwide, the most common drift vehicles are the Nissan Silvia/180SX/200SX/240SX, Toyota AE86, Toyota KE70, Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-8, Infiniti G35 Coupe,Nissan A31 Cefiro, Nissan C33 Laurel, Nissan Skyline (AWD versions, such as the GT-R, are often converted to RWD), Nissan 350Z, Toyota Altezza/Lexus IS, Toyota Chaser, Toyota Mark II, Toyota Soarer, Honda S2000, Toyota Supra, Dodge Viper SRT 10, Ford Mustang and Mazda Miata/MX-5.
There have also been AWD rally cars that have been converted to RWD, such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
Despite the export of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) vehicles to continents outside Japan,[6] it is notable that drifters within other countries prefer to use local examples as drift cars.
A high volume of JDM imports were brought to countries such as Australia, however it is not unusual to see Australian domestic vehicles such as the Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon utilised in drifting competitions.[7]
Drifters in other countries often use local favorites, such as the Vauxhall Omega in the UK and Ireland, BMW 3 Series, BMW M3, Ford Sierra, Volvo 240, Volvo 340 (other parts of Europe), Mercedes-Benz cars, Porsche cars, and Alfa Romeo 75.
The American market enjoyed a relatively high volume of JDM cars being imported over the last decade, despite Japanese domestic vehicles being right-hand-drive only.[8] Locally-sold imports such as the Lexus SC and Nissan 240SX feature heavily in American drifting, however they are usually modified with JDM engine transplants to mirror their Japanese domestic equivalents (usually with a Toyota 1JZ-GTE/2JZ-GTE or Nissan CA18DET/SR20DET respectively).[9]
As an example, the top 15 cars in the 2003 D1GP,[10] top 10 in the 2004 D1GP,[11] and top 10 in the 2005 D1GP[12] were:
Nissan Silvia S15 driftingCarModel200320042005Nissan SilviaS156 cars5 cars3 carsToyota Levin/TruenoAE863 cars3 cars2 carsMazda RX-7FD3S2 cars1 car2 carsNissan SkylineR341 car1 car1 carNissan SilviaS132 carsToyota ChaserJZX1001 carSubaru ImprezaGD (RWD)1 carToyota AltezzaSXE101 carThe Top cars in the Red Bull Drifting Championship:
DriverMakeModelMaciej RajcaBMWBMW M3Vaughn Gittin JR.FordMustangTanner FoustSciontCJustin PawlakMazdaRX7Issac YakamotoInfinitiQ45Hiro SumidaLexusIS350Casper CanulNissan240SXKen GushiNissanSilvia 240sx S13Kevin HuynhMoparViper SRT10Dai YoshiharaLexusIS350Calvin WanInfinitiG35Rhys MillenHyundaiGenesis Coupe V6Vanessa OzawaDodgeMagnum SRT8James HuynhToyotaChaserRobbie NishidaNissan350ZSam HubinetteDodgeChargerChris ForsbergNissan350ZRoss PettyNissanNissan SilviaMichael EssaBMW350R M V10Nathan JonesBMWM3AWD vehicles, such as the Nissan Skyline GTR, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution can drift but usually need to be converted to RWD. In D1 Grand Prix, these cars are modified to RWD specification.
There have also been AWD rally cars that have been converted to RWD, such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
Despite the export of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) vehicles to continents outside Japan,[6] it is notable that drifters within other countries prefer to use local examples as drift cars.
A high volume of JDM imports were brought to countries such as Australia, however it is not unusual to see Australian domestic vehicles such as the Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon utilised in drifting competitions.[7]
Drifters in other countries often use local favorites, such as the Vauxhall Omega in the UK and Ireland, BMW 3 Series, BMW M3, Ford Sierra, Volvo 240, Volvo 340 (other parts of Europe), Mercedes-Benz cars, Porsche cars, and Alfa Romeo 75.
The American market enjoyed a relatively high volume of JDM cars being imported over the last decade, despite Japanese domestic vehicles being right-hand-drive only.[8] Locally-sold imports such as the Lexus SC and Nissan 240SX feature heavily in American drifting, however they are usually modified with JDM engine transplants to mirror their Japanese domestic equivalents (usually with a Toyota 1JZ-GTE/2JZ-GTE or Nissan CA18DET/SR20DET respectively).[9]
As an example, the top 15 cars in the 2003 D1GP,[10] top 10 in the 2004 D1GP,[11] and top 10 in the 2005 D1GP[12] were:
Nissan Silvia S15 driftingCarModel200320042005Nissan SilviaS156 cars5 cars3 carsToyota Levin/TruenoAE863 cars3 cars2 carsMazda RX-7FD3S2 cars1 car2 carsNissan SkylineR341 car1 car1 carNissan SilviaS132 carsToyota ChaserJZX1001 carSubaru ImprezaGD (RWD)1 carToyota AltezzaSXE101 carThe Top cars in the Red Bull Drifting Championship:
DriverMakeModelMaciej RajcaBMWBMW M3Vaughn Gittin JR.FordMustangTanner FoustSciontCJustin PawlakMazdaRX7Issac YakamotoInfinitiQ45Hiro SumidaLexusIS350Casper CanulNissan240SXKen GushiNissanSilvia 240sx S13Kevin HuynhMoparViper SRT10Dai YoshiharaLexusIS350Calvin WanInfinitiG35Rhys MillenHyundaiGenesis Coupe V6Vanessa OzawaDodgeMagnum SRT8James HuynhToyotaChaserRobbie NishidaNissan350ZSam HubinetteDodgeChargerChris ForsbergNissan350ZRoss PettyNissanNissan SilviaMichael EssaBMW350R M V10Nathan JonesBMWM3AWD vehicles, such as the Nissan Skyline GTR, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution can drift but usually need to be converted to RWD. In D1 Grand Prix, these cars are modified to RWD specification.