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Automobile Configuration (Car Set Up) The suspension in a drift car tends to be very tight and unforgiving. Chassis preparation is similar to a road racing car. Roll cages are employed for safety, and to improve the torsional rigidity of the car's frame. Suspension geometry is often altered to improve the car's controllability during a slide. Most cars use an integrated coilover/shock (MacPherson strut) combination called shakocho. This allows for the height of the car to be adjusted. Better shakocho will be what the Japanese call "full-tap." This type of suspension allows the ride height to be adjusted independently of the suspension travel. There is no perfect height setting or spring/shock combo for any car, but each driver will have their own personal preference. Many suspension manufacturers, such as Kei Office, APEX'i, Tein, JIC Magic, and HKS, offer suspension tuned specifically for drifting, allowing many people to enter the sport competitively. One suspension tuning method, once popular in Japan, is known as "Demon Camber" or Oni-cam (???). It involves setting the suspension with extreme negative camber. The car is then very easy to slide initially, but stability, grip, and overall ability to control the car are compromised. It has thus fallen out of favor as a serious performance-minded suspension setup. However, many cars built for show (such as those driven by bosozoku) still use this style of suspension setup for its aggressive look. Most cars used for drifting will employ a limited slip differential (LSD). A normal, or "open" differential will perform unpredictably when power is applied while the car is in a state of oversteer. The limited-slip unit maintains both drive wheels at or near the same speed, improving the ability of the driver to control the attitude of the car through throttle application. The most popular form of limited slip differential for drifting is the clutch type, in "2-way" form; this is preferred for its consistent and aggressive lockup behavior under all conditions (acceleration and deceleration). Some drift cars will employ a welded differential, where the spider gears are removed or fixed in place such that both driven wheels will always turn the same speed. This makes the car very easy to slide at high speed, but very difficult to operate in low-speed maneuvers; it can also adversely affect driveline longevity. The clutches on drift cars tend to be very tough ceramic brass button or multiple-plate varieties, for durability, as well as to allow rapid "clutch kick" techniques to upset the balance of the car. The cars quite often have different tires on the front and back, and the owner may have quite a few sets. This is because a single afternoon of drifting can destroy a new set of tires. As a rule, good tires go on the front for good steering. On the back, hard-compound tires are used—quite often second-hand ones—as they tend to end up in a cloud of smoke. As a driver gets better, they will most likely want to upgrade the tires used in the rear for a higher grip compound. Although cheap/hard tires are fun purely for their slipperiness and ease of drifting, they quickly become a hindrance for high-speed drifts. In addition, for the typical "drift car look", relatively narrow tires are often stretched over a wide rim. This is known as a "hipari" tire. For example, 205-50R16 tires may be fitted to an 8" rim, or 215-45R17 to a 9" rim. The driver is essentially still racing on a tire meant for a narrower wheel, but has the "wide look". The stretched sidewalls are also more resistant to flex under cornering loads, which can make an inexpensive high-profile tire respond more like an expensive high-performance tire. Engine power does not need to be high, and in fact if a car has too much power, it can be very hard to handle during a drift. Each driver has their own preference, and drift cars can be found with anything from 100bhp (74kW) to 600bhp (445kW). Typically, engine tuning is oriented towards achieving linear response rather than maximum power output. Engines also must be equipped with upgraded cooling systems. Not only are the engines pushed very hard, creating lots of heat, but being driven at an angle reduces the airflow through the radiator. For turbocharged engines, intercooler efficiency is similarly reduced. As drift cars are pushed faster, aerodynamic tuning becomes more important, as well. Rear spoilers and wings usually are useful only in small tight tracks. Bodywork is often widened or flared to allow the fitment of larger tires. Airflow to the engine is critical, so the body will be modified with added cooling vents and grilles. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Drifting (motorsport) Copyright (c) 2006 highspeeddrifter.com Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".