How to Drift in a Car Game, and What Drifting Is
Drifting is a driving technique where the driver makes the rear tyres lose grip on purpose, so the car slides sideways through a corner, and then keeps that slide under control with the steering and the throttle. The car points one way and travels another. Done well, it looks like the car is dancing through the bend, with smoke pouring off the back tyres.
In a car game, a drift usually starts with a tap of the handbrake in a corner, and you hold it with the gas and the steering. This guide explains what's happening, where drifting comes from, and how to drift in a game, step by step.
What happens in a drift
- Grip, then no grip. Normally all four tyres grip the road. To drift, the rear tyres have to slide while the front ones still steer.
- Oversteer. When the back of the car swings out wider than the front, that's called oversteer. A drift is oversteer that the driver keeps going on purpose.
- Countersteer. To stop the car from spinning, the driver steers into the slide, away from the corner. That's why drifting cars have their front wheels pointing the "wrong" way.
- Throttle control. More gas pushes the back out further and increases the angle; less gas lets the tyres grip again and ends the drift.
Rear-wheel-drive cars are the classic drift cars, because the engine drives the very wheels that are sliding.
Where drifting comes from
Drifting grew up on the twisty mountain roads of Japan in the 1970s, where drivers slid their cars through the bends. Keiichi Tsuchiya, known as the "Drift King", made it famous in the 1980s, and it became a sport of its own: the D1 Grand Prix started in Japan in 2001, and Formula Drift in the United States in 2004.
In a drift competition, the fastest car doesn't automatically win. Judges score each run on the line the car takes, its angle, its speed and its style.
The main drift techniques
| Technique | How it starts the slide |
|---|---|
| Handbrake drift | a quick pull of the handbrake locks the rear wheels for a moment |
| Power-over | in a powerful car, too much gas in a corner makes the rear tyres spin |
| Clutch kick | a quick dip and release of the clutch sends a jolt of power to the rear wheels |
| Feint (Scandinavian flick) | the driver swings the car away from the corner, then sharply into it, so the back swings out |
The handbrake drift is the easiest to learn, and it's the one most car games use.
A safety note: drifting on public roads is dangerous and illegal in many places. Real drivers learn it on closed tracks with instructors. A game is the place to slide sideways at full speed.
How to drift in a car game, step by step
These steps work in most arcade drift games:
- Get some speed. You can't drift slowly. Take a corner at a decent speed.
- Turn in, then tap the handbrake. Steer towards the corner and tap the handbrake. The back of the car will start to slide out.
- Stay on the gas. Lifting off completely ends the drift. Keep the throttle on to keep the rear sliding.
- Steer to control the angle. Steer more into the corner to slide wider, or against it to straighten up.
- Look where you want to go. Watch the exit of the corner, not the wall beside you.
- Straighten out at the exit. Ease the steering back and let the car grip again.
Most beginners make the same two mistakes: they brake instead of keeping the gas on, and they pull the handbrake too long, which spins the car. Short taps work better than long pulls.
Play a free drift game in your browser
Drift Avenue is a free 3D car drifting game on SalutGames. It runs in a browser tab on a Chromebook, a PC or a phone, with no download and no sign-up.
You slide through an open city of skyscrapers, suburbs, alleys and a drift park. Drifting works just like the steps above: at speed, hold Space (the handbrake) while you steer into a corner, keep the gas on to hold the slide, and steer to control the angle. Chain corners to raise your multiplier up to x5, then stop drifting for a moment to bank your points; a crash loses the chain. Shift fires the nitro, and drifting refills it.
There are 18 career events and AI rivals in day, sunset, night, rain and fog, plus Free Ride to explore the city. Win cash, earn stars to open the Street and Legend events, and buy and upgrade 10 cars in the garage. It plays with the keyboard (W A S D or the arrow keys) or a gamepad.
More free car games
- MadDrive: 2D physics driving through five wild worlds. Flip in the air to fill your nitro and beat each world's Mad Driver to win their car.
- Toy Rush: wind-up toy cars racing through a giant house, with loop-the-loops in the bedroom and the kitchen.
- Astro Rover: drive a rover across the Moon, Mars and other planets, each with its own gravity.
All of them are in our car games category.
Questions
What is drifting in simple words?
Sliding a car sideways through a corner on purpose and keeping it under control.
Is drifting fast?
Not always. On a race track, a car with full grip is usually quicker through a corner. Drifting is about control and style, which is why drift contests are judged on angle and line, not only time.
Can you drift in any car?
It's easiest in rear-wheel-drive cars. Front-wheel-drive cars can slide with the handbrake, but they're much harder to hold in a long drift.
How do you drift on a keyboard?
In most browser drift games: W or ↑ for gas, A and D or ← and → to steer, and Space for the handbrake. In Drift Avenue, hold Space as you steer into a corner at speed, and stay on the gas.
What is a drift multiplier?
In drift games, chaining drifts one after another raises a multiplier on your points. In Drift Avenue, it goes up to x5, and you bank the points by straightening up for a moment.
