Okay so I have a bet going with my friend..... Regarding the behaviour of an object that's hanging from a rear view mirror. If you DRIFT a right turn....which way will a dangling object "sway" towards. The left (drivers side) or towards the right (passenger side) If you GRIP a right turn, the object sways left. My friend thinks the object will behave the same way in a DRIFT. I think a dangling object will behave in the exact opposite manner.....a right hand drift will make an object sway right. My reasoning is that the rear of the car is accelerating faster than the front in a drift......what do you think?


2 pitchers of beer are at stake!

 

I believe if you drift a right facing turn the object should point right...

The drift has to be smooth entering the turn. If not when you hit the apex of the turn the gravitational pull on the object will change causing the object to change direction as you finish the turn.

Of course it is assumed that when you straighten out the object will definitely change direction

So I'm in agreement with you Steve. Grip and drift are completely different animals. This could show the weight transfer as you go through the turn

 

A dangling object will always sway to the outside of a steady state turn, regardless of the method of going through the turn. eg. In a right hand corner the object will always swing left.

 

steve - i agree with you and jon. during a drift of a right hand turn, the object hanging from the mirror will go right.

 

on a right-hand drift your dangling object (let's just say fuzzy dice) should still swing out to the left. The fuzzy dice will always swing toward the outside of the turn you are making. So long as your are going forward around that turn, the fuzzy dice will swing to the left (more to the left or less to the left depending on drift angle, but *always* to the left). Although if you swing the back of the car out fast enough you might get the fuzzy dice to swing right for a bit, but they won't stay that way long. Sorry about the beer.

 

Awesome responses..........about 50/50, that's what makes a good debate. Here's my point: imagine an extreme version of a right hand turn......a clockwise doughnut. Now imagine a dangling object from the rear view mirror...which is in front of you/drivers POV, camera angle. Now, how does that object react in a doughnut? You are basically rotating around said object, right?

 

yes and I still say that object will lean towards the right or inside of the turn

 

dont really care mutch about the bet (although im sure jon will make fun of me for being a nerd and not answering) but i would be interested in helping the winner drink his beer

 

BTW this whole discussion stemmed from the new "Need for Speed" commercial in which they show an S15 and an EVO battling through a right turn drift.......

 

Bro, you better check yo' self cause nobody drinks my beer but ME! haha

 

check out this video, It looked like the closest point these cars could pivot around were the front wheel that was on the inside of the doughnut, but they couldn't get either car to rotate around a point inside their wheelbase. That still means that your dangly thing would swing left on a right-hander and vice-versa

 

 

1) front wheel is in front of rear view mirror

2) rear of car was rotating at a faster pace

so, my (twisted) logic says anything behind front wheel swings right in a right turn drift. As the rear tries to beat the front to the turn.

 

Can we get a reply from an actual drifter? Or even someone who has track experience..........Thanks Jon, Ed, etc.


I realize that Subie guys don't usually drift......I also realize only a handfull of peeps know who the f@#$ I am

 

it depends on the direction and angle of the car. just think the object will be pulled by inertia twords the outside of the turn. so if you are using say a mirror mounted dangley thing then use points to see were the object would end upor at least thats what i think. so i would say that the chances are far greater that the object in a normal right hand drift would go more to the left than the right. in a good drift it will go to the rear . so like peewee said...connect the dots, la la la la...