Drifting is one of the most fun things you can do with a car, so it’s no wonder car enthusiasts love to spend a weekend at a track burning rubber.
If you’re going to go drifting, you’ll need the right car for the job. You’ll need rear-wheel-drive, low weight and plenty of power to get sideways on a skid pan. This guide contains 10 cars which would make ideal candidates for drifting, just make sure you keep to a private track and not the public highway.
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Our pick of the best cars for drifting are:
Toyota GR86
Mazda MX-5
BMW M3 Competition
Nissan 350Z
Alpine A110
Vauxhall Monaro VXR
Ford Focus RS
Porsche Cayman
Tesla Model 3 Performance
Audi RS3
1. Toyota GR86
Engine: 2.4-litre flat-four
Power: 231hp
Price: from £29,995
When Toyota launched the GT86 back in 2012, it marked the return of the back-to-basics, rear-wheel-drive sports car. It was an instant hit with petrolheads around the world, and its successor simply followed the same recipe.
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The new GR86 gets a 231hp flat-four engine and a limited-slip differential as standard, making it easy to throw the tail out around corners. The low weight of 1,275kg and the slick six-speed manual gearbox make it feel that much more involved on the track.
2. Mazda MX-5
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 184hp
Price: from £30,360 (2.0-litre model)
If a bit of top-down drifting sounds like fun, you’ll want to look at the Mazda MX-5. It doesn’t matter which generation you go for, they all offer lightweight, rear-wheel-drive fun; and you can pick up a clean example of an early model for as little as £2,000.
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If you want creature comforts for the drive home then you’ll want the latest Mazda MX-5. Go for a 2.0-litre model and you get more power, but more importantly a limited-slip differential as standard.
3. BMW M3 Competition
Engine: 3.0-litre straight-six
Power: 510hp
Price: from £78,175
The BMW M3 Competition really is the car which does it all. During the week, you can use it as a comfortable family saloon for commuting and taking the kids to school. But at the weekend, the M3 is perfectly at home on a track.
The 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged straight-six kicks out 510hp and 650Nm of torque, plenty to get that tail sliding around. It doesn’t matter if you go for the grippy all-wheel-drive version either, because you can switch it into rear-drive only mode giving you the best of both worlds.
4. Nissan 350Z
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 280hp
Price: from £8,000 (used)
The 3.5-litre V6 engine is the star of the show in the Nissan 350Z. It has around 280hp and over 360Nm of torque. It’s properly rapid and it sounds great too, plus you can pick up a good used example for around £8,000.
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It may be quite expensive to run, with a yearly tax bill of over £600 and 20mpg if you’re careful, but very few cars offer such driving thrills for this money. There’s also a huge aftermarket scene for the 350Z, so modifying it to your tastes won’t be a problem.
5. Alpine A110
Engine: 1.8-litre four-cylinder
Power: 252hp
Price: from £49,990
If you think a sports car with a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine isn’t very exciting, you might want to think again. The Alpine A110 only weighs 1,098kg, meaning it can slingshot to 60mph in just 4.5 seconds.
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This low weight figure does wonders for the handling as well. It’s easy to slide this car arounds bends, and it’s comfortable enough for day-to-day use. The interior might not be as plush as you’d expect at this price point, however this car is more about driving pleasure than luxury.
6. Vauxhall Monaro VXR
Engine: 6.0-litre V8
Power: 400hp
Price: around £16,000 (used)
If a 1.8-litre engine seems a bit puny, how about a 6.0-litre V8? With the Vauxhall Monaro VXR, that’s exactly what you get. It’s a fantastic engine to listen to as you exploit its 400hp and convert the rear tyres to smoke.
Monaro’s are getting thin on the ground these days, especially in more powerful VXR guise, but you can find them for around £16,000. It won’t cost the earth to run either. It may be thirsty, but the annual tax bill is £360, and it’s even ULEZ compliant.
7. Ford Focus RS
Engine: 2.3-litre four-cylinder
Power: 350hp
Price: around £30,000 (used)
The Ford Focus RS is a pretty extreme example of a hot hatchback, with 350hp and four-wheel-drive. It sticks to the road very well when you push hard, however there is a specific drift mode for when you want to have fun on a track.
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The Focus RS can send up to 70% of its power to the rear wheels, making it much easier to get the car sideways. The firm ride can make it tricky to live with, and they’re pricey on the used market with prices starting at around £30,000, but very few hatchbacks drive this well.
8. Porsche 718 Cayman
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder (entry level)
Power: from 300hp
Price: from £48,475
Porsche knows how to make a car handle properly, and the Porsche 718 Cayman is a perfect example. The mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout and low weight make it great for hooning around a race track, and the flat-six engine makes a great noise, too.
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It wouldn’t make an ideal daily driver, thanks to a firm ride and lack of storage space; but for a weekend blast it’s hard to beat. You can even go for a six-speed manual gearbox if you’d prefer to be more involved in the experience.
9. Tesla Model 3 Performance
Engine: Dual electric motors
Power: 490hp
Price: £59,990
You might not expect to see an electric saloon car make this list, however the Tesla Model 3 Performance may surprise you. It has 490hp from its dual electric motors, and all that power can be sent to the rear wheels at the push of a button.
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Combine this with a stability control program which can also be switched off and you have a can that’s actually pretty easy to get sideways. It’s a great car to live with as well thanks to a raft of tech to make driving easier and more comfortable.
10. Audi RS3
Engine: 2.5-litre five-cylinder
Power : 400hp
Price: from £54,655
Fast Audis are well known for their Quattro all-wheel-drive systems providing excellent grip in all weather conditions, and the RS3 hot hatch is no exception. Unlike other Audi RS models though, this one comes with a drift mode.
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If you decide that your tyres have a bit too much tread left on them, you can send up to 50% of the engine’s torque to the rear wheels allowing you to have some fun. Once that’s out of your system, the RS3 turns back into a comfy, practical hatchback.
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Lexus IS300. The Lexus IS300 comes with the Toyota's indestructible 2JZ straight-six and could be optioned with a manual transmission and a limited-slip differential.
1. Bravado Banshee 900R. Finally, quite possibly the best drift car in GTA 5 Online is the Bravado Banshee 900R. Like many of the vehicles in this list, the Banshee 900R can only reach its full drifting potential when some important upgrades are made.
Many would cast out muscle cars as a possible choice for drifting entirely, but this isn't exactly fair. Drift cars of choice are commonly powerful rear wheel drive platforms. Mustangs are exactly that and this platform makes it easier to break traction of the rear tires while trying to achieve a drift.
Drifting is easiest when you have a car with rear-wheel drive. To start a drift, find a way to make the rear wheels lose traction. The most common way to do this is through the power over technique, where you turn the car's wheel to throw off its weight.
On March 3, 2016, driver and expert drifter Masato Kawabata of Japan piloted a Nissan GT-R Nismo down the runways of Fujairah International Airport, in Fujairah, UAE. Reaching a top speed of 304.96 km/h (189.49 MPH), Kawabata held the Nissan in a 33.56-degree drift down the long airstrip.
The main difference between the Fairlady Z and the 350Z is easy to understand. The Fairlady Z is the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) name for the 350Z. Basically, cars sold outside of Japan were sold as the 350Z, whereas those sold inside Japan on the domestic market were badged as Fairlady Z.
Out of these, several cars belong to the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) category. JDM cars are quite popular in tuner culture because of their relative ease of customization and lower costs. The theme of Los Santos Tuners, the most recent update for GTA Online, revolved around tuner cars.
The Futo GTX can be purchased in GTA Online from Southern S.A. Super Autos for a price of $1,590,000. The Futo GTX can be stored in any of your Properties/Garages as a Personal Vehicle. It can be customized at Los Santos Customs and LS Car Meet Mod Shop.
The 350Z may not be the greatest driver's car on earth, but it's pretty great for drifting. Prices are low, and it checks all the boxes needed for you to go have fun on a twisty course.
Drifting is a driving maneuver where the driver of a car intentionally steers too much, causing the car's rear tires, or sometimes all the tires, to lose their grip on the road.
In an AWD vehicle one tire in the front and the rear of the vehicle spin at all times. The use of the Emergency brake is needed in this form of drifting to "break the tires loose." When you break the tires loose, the coefficient of friction is greatly reduced which causes the vehicle to slide.
It looks sporty and rugged while it's doing it too! Imagine owning a vehicle that theoretically could perform a stunt like this. If it can drift, it can do plenty of everyday driving maneuvers with finesse and ease.
Yes, you can drift in an automatic car. However, it is more difficult to do so than in a manual car. You will need to use your brakes to lightly slow down for corners and then get back on the gas as you exit the turn. You can also use your handbrake to help initiate and maintain a drift.
The PDK transmission was originally developed for racing, but it also offers many more advantages as well. There's no clutch to engage, making it easier to use during day-to-day drives, and it even offers an automatic mode. Other advantages include: Quickest available acceleration.
The added complexity of the independent rear suspension will add pounds to the car's curb weight, but that's not all that's going on here. The 2015 Mustang was also engineered to meet harsher roof-crush standards, so that reinforced structure also adds pounds to the scales.
The BMW M3 E36 is one of the go-to drift cars all over the world. Used by many to this day, the M3 E36 is a solid choice for a drift car for beginners. The two-door performance coupe used a 3.0-liter straight-six engine that produced 243 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque when it rolled out of the production line.
Now that we know it is possible to drift a front-wheel-drive car, can any FWD car do it? Technically, yes, because it's all about speed, technique, and timing. However, the more power the car has to get up to higher speed, the better. Just remember to drive safely.
Drifting at close to 200 mph is a whole different story, requiring more chutzpah than whole neighborhoods possess. But Japanese drifter Masato Kawabata did just that and earned a Guinness World Record in the process. Kawabata used a very special 2016 Nissan GT-R to achieve this record.
A record for drifting on ice was attempted in the cold northeast region of China in January 2022. Racing driver Wang Dongjiang, aged 58, successfully broke the Guinness World Records title for the longest continuous vehicle drift on ice by driving his car on the ice for 6.231 km (3.87 miles) continuously.
Any car can be used to implement a drift, but professionals will either use cars that have a history of good drifting attributes (with rear-wheel or 4-wheel drive), or use a local model that they understand and are comfortable with.
The 350Z got a lot of attention through its pumped-up 3.5-liter V6 VQ35DE engine. But the 370Z has a larger engine, makes 32 more HP, 10 lb-ft more torque, takes 0.6 seconds less to sprint to 60 mph (5.1 seconds), has better braking, and takes 1 second less to complete a quarter-mile.
The Audi is clearly faster and more efficient than the Nissan 370Z, and it also offers more all-weather capability, thanks to the standard all-wheel drive.
“So happy the RX7 is finally in GTA Online! Made it look exactly like mine. Clean,” Nisaja said, with a pretty convincing side-by-side image of his Online character and IRL portrait. The GTA Online community were fairly impressed with the post getting over 18,000 upvotes and plenty of love from different players.
First seen in Grand Theft Auto III, the Viper-esque sports car morphed into reality a few years ago based on the model featured in the fifth installment of the hugely popular video game. ... Gallery: 2006 Dodge Viper Bravado Banshee.
The Futo is based on the 1984-1987 AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin GT-Apex AE86 Coupe, with the tail lights bearing striking resemblance to a first generation SEAT Toledo.
"In the way that some forty-year-old frat boys only respond to paddles and hardcore splooshing, the Futo GTX needs a firm hand to reach its optimal performance. ...
He recommends looking for a drift car around the $2,500 price point, which both of the cars he brought are in the range of. He mentions there are extremes around that price budget up to $4,000, but at the $2500 price point, you will get a quality car to have fun in.
The 350Z may not be the greatest driver's car on earth, but it's pretty great for drifting. Prices are low, and it checks all the boxes needed for you to go have fun on a twisty course.
In an AWD vehicle one tire in the front and the rear of the vehicle spin at all times. The use of the Emergency brake is needed in this form of drifting to "break the tires loose." When you break the tires loose, the coefficient of friction is greatly reduced which causes the vehicle to slide.
The salaries of Drifters in the US range from $19,770 to $44,310 , with a median salary of $27,880 . The middle 60% of Drifters makes $27,880, with the top 80% making $44,310.
The longer wheelbase of the G35 is both a strength and weakness when it comes to drifting. It allows for an extremely stable drift and steady control, but it also slows down rotation and prevents snappy transitions which you often get from shorter-wheelbase cars.
Yes, you can drift in an automatic car. However, it is more difficult to do so than in a manual car. You will need to use your brakes to lightly slow down for corners and then get back on the gas as you exit the turn. You can also use your handbrake to help initiate and maintain a drift.
The famous motorcyclist turned driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi, is widely regarded as the foremost creator of drifting techniques in the 1970s. Takahashi is a former professional motorcycle and car racing driver and was in fact the first Japanese racer to win a motorcycle Grand prix, back in Germany in 1961.
The 350Z got a lot of attention through its pumped-up 3.5-liter V6 VQ35DE engine. But the 370Z has a larger engine, makes 32 more HP, 10 lb-ft more torque, takes 0.6 seconds less to sprint to 60 mph (5.1 seconds), has better braking, and takes 1 second less to complete a quarter-mile.
Many would cast out muscle cars as a possible choice for drifting entirely, but this isn't exactly fair. Drift cars of choice are commonly powerful rear wheel drive platforms. Mustangs are exactly that and this platform makes it easier to break traction of the rear tires while trying to achieve a drift.
It looks sporty and rugged while it's doing it too! Imagine owning a vehicle that theoretically could perform a stunt like this. If it can drift, it can do plenty of everyday driving maneuvers with finesse and ease.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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