Heel-Toe Shifting While Drifting Your Car

In the following article we will discuss how to heel-toe(also known as heel-toe shifting) and how it applies to learning how to drift.

First off lets explain what heel-toe shifting is:

Heel-and-toe is a driving technique used in performance driving. It involves operating the accelerator and brake pedals simultaneously with the right foot, while facilitating normal activation of the clutch with the left foot. It is used when braking and downshifting simultaneously (like when going around a turn), and allows the driver to "blip" the throttle to raise the engine speed and smoothly engage the lower gear.(From wikipedia.org)

Why is this drifting technique so important?
As you approach a corner, you are generally in a higher gear accelerating toward the corner. As you enter the corner you are breaking and reducing your speed.If you keep reducing your speed but stay in the higher gear, you wont be in the correct gear to give you the best acceleration out of the corner (or in the case of a drift, you wont have the power to keep your tires spinning through the corner)

Using heel-toe you can keep your car in its "power band" which basically means you have the maximum power throughout the whole corner. Ok so you are probably convinced that heel toe shifting is something you should know how to do. Heel toe shifting is a fundamental part of drifting your car. If you are a beginner, this is one of the drifting instructions that you will need to practice a lot before really learning to drift your car.

When you are practicing your first REAL drift, knowing how to heel-toe is going to be very helpful. And unlike drifting, heel toe is quite safe to practice. IF you are serious about drifting, then this is a good place to start. The site Car Drifting Explained at http://www.cardriftingexplained.com is an excellent resource on finding all of the drifting techniques. So get out there and try it using the following instructions:

You can practice this technique practically anywhere. You don’t have to be going fast to do it.

1) While you are approaching a corner begin braking
2) Continue braking while you turn
3) Push the clutch in
4) Use the side of your foot to press down the accelerator so that your engine revs up.
5) Shift into a lower gear (in your case you'll probably be going from 3rd to 2nd) and at the same time, you slide your foot off the brake and on to the accelerator.

TIP: Try to time the downshift so it matches the point where you would normally start accelerating through the corner.

VIDEO: Watch this video to get an explanation of what a heel-toe shift is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJAP6IHVh18

That’s all it takes! Keep practicing, and good luck!

**Disclaimer** We do not condone dangerous or unsafe driving. Always wear your seatbelt, always obey the speed laws and other local traffic laws. IF you smash up your car it is not our fault.

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Famous Sports Cars - The Legendary Toyota AE86

Perhaps the most popular 1980s sports car to come out of Japan was the Toyota AE86. Often known as the Hachi-Roku, which means eight-six in Japanese, the sports car became incredibly well liked especially after its appearances in the Japanese manga and anime series called Initial D. The Toyota AE86, which was first introduced in 1983, is also famous for being the last small, rear wheel drive coupe.

The car came in two different body styles, the Levin and the Trueno. They were essentially the same thing, with the only difference coming in the shape of its headlights. More variations between the two models later came in 1986, when Toyota changed the tail lights and hatchback styles as well. The cars produced before this change were commonly called "Zenki", which is Japanese for "early period". Toyota AE86 cars made with the new changes were called "Kouki", which unsurprisingly means "latter period" in Japanese.

The sports car was also very popular at car shows and was used in various racing sports, particularly circuit racing and rally driving. Even now, after it has been discontinued, the car remains popular in rally circles and club races. The car was particularly adept at cornering, especially when it was going downhill. As a result, this made it a very common car for mountain pass street races in Japan, known as hashiriyas. The sports car was light, quite powerful, easily modifiable and balanced very well. Keiichi Tsuchiya, the legendary racer in Japan known as Dori-Kin, or "drift king", had also used the car. In fact, with the Toyota AE86, Keiichi Tsuchiya popularized the sport of drifting. To this day it is still popular in drifting competitions because of its fantastic cornering and early association with the sport.

The Japanese manga and anime series, Initial D, also sparked a new interest in the car among automobile and drifting fans all over the world. The car remains so well received that it has been featured in the high-selling, realistic videogame racing series Gran Turismo. Because of its recent attention, the resale value of the car has increased.

The car was originally released in North America under the Corolla name, which stood for "crown of a flower" and came out in 3 different versions. It was also fairly popular in North America, as one version known as the GT-S stayed in production until 1991. The AE86 sports car was also released in Australia under the name Sprinter, but unfortunately, it did not sell so well because the stock engine was poor. However, many Australian car enthusiasts switched the engine and it has been stayed popular for rally and track racing due to its good handling.

Even though it has been over twenty years since its release, the legendary car is still highly regarded among car enthusiasts due to its wonderful handling and drifting abilities. It continues to gain fame years later since it has been featured in many different car shows, cartoons, games and television series. Since it was also the last of its kind and was used by the legendary drift king, Keiichi Tsuchiya, it looks like the Toyota AE86 is here to stay and drift for years to come.

Mercedes CLK V8 Brabus Drifting

BRABUS, the Dusseldorf, Germany-based high-performance tuning company for Mercedes-Benz and Maybach vehicle models has created a new exclusive sport tuning program for the newly launched Mercedes-Benz C-Class entry level luxury sedan. This will add up to the BRABUS product lineup of tuned up Mercedes models.

The BRABUS C-Class comes with a wide range of BRABUS exterior performance parts to enhance the sporty appearance and driving dynamics of the vehicle. These include sporty styled BRABUS front spoiler, three-piece aerodynamic rear spoiler, improved air inlets, and BRABUS style rocker panels that creates an aerodynamic change between the front and rear wheel arches. The BRABUS engineering and design team placed the C-Class in a wind tunnel test to develop these high-quality aerodynamic parts. Other exterior highlights of the BRABUS C-Class include auxiliary active safety headlights, LED entrance lights, Mercedes fog light, stainless-steel quad sport exhaust systems, custom-tailored carbon-fiber covers on the outside mirrors, and new BRABUS rear apron. A bunch of available custom-tailored BRABUS tire and wheel packages is included ranging from 17, 18, 19 and 20-inch light alloy wheels, along with performance tires 235/30 ZR 20 on the front and 265/25 ZR 20 at the rear.

Moving on the inside, BRABUS included some exclusive hand crafted interior trims including the soft BRABUS Mastik leather and Alcantara leather, stainless-steel door sills with illuminated BRABUS logo, and other precious-wood and carbon-fiber trim sets. The ergonomically shaped sport steering wheel and aluminum foot pedals offers an excellent driving atmosphere.

The key feature of BRABUS C-Class is the wide range of engine types offered by the German high-performance tuner. For the new Mercedes-Benz C 280 and C 350 sedans, BRABUS offers a 4.0-liter engine equipped with four-valve cylinder heads and special camshafts. The engine pumps out 332 hp (244 kW) and produces 310 lb.-ft. (420 Nm) amount of peak torque rotating at 4,200 rpm. This engine allows the BRABUS C-Class to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 5.9 seconds with a top speed of 170 mph.

The BRABUS PowerXtra performance kits also include the other engine types for the C-Class CDI models. These include D2 (III) kit that increases power output of the C 200 CDI by 39 hp / 28.7 hp and produces 284 lb.-ft. (385 Nm) of peak torque; D3 (III) kit with 195 hp (143 kW) and 332 lb-ft (450 Nm) of peak torque; and the D6 (III) power kit that provides additional output of 48 hp and produces 435 lb-ft (590 Nm) of peak torque.

For more about you Mercedes parts needs like Mercedes fog light, visit your trusted online source.

Dwyane Thomas is a part time cook and full-time auto-enthusiast. This 31-year old Civil and Environmental graduate is a consultant at one of the engineering firms in Pennsylvania.

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Drift - Beginnings of this Wild New Motorsport and Where It's Going

Drifting, a crazy, once underground Japanese motorsport born in the windy Japanese mountain roads or "touge", the Japanese word, as it's affectionately known these days. Drifting is a relatively new motorsport inspired by one 1970's Japanese circuit racer's unique driving technique. His racing technique was to use excessive over steer (rear of the car sliding out) in corners to maintain speed. Now, for any person clued up about circuit racing, you would know that over steer or under steer is not the fastest way around the race track. However, for this Japanese racer, his slippery, ice skater like corner exiting technique became his trademark and a spectacle to inspire the form of racing as we know today as "Drifting".

Drifting’s popularity quickly spread through the country of Japan typically amongst the young male “boy racers”, from the circuits to the streets. DORIFUTO as it’s commonly pronounced in Japanese, soon caught the attention of the boys in blue, the police, for reasons I’m sure you can imagine…..Reckless driving, excessive noise from screeching tires, loud revving engines. Drifters now needed somewhere to practice their drifting technique without disturbance.

The quiet hillside “touge” roads became perfect drift playgrounds for the young drifters to perform their hairy auto acrobatic stunts. Of course, this didn’t stay a secret from the police for a very long time and the danger of the blind, dark curvy mountain roads, persuaded drifters to move back to the circuits. Although a day at the circuit costs more than a trip to the mountains, it is still cheaper than lifting scrap that was once your nicely modified drift car from the bottom of a mountain.

The inclusion of hundreds of race circuits built in the last couple of decades in Japan, a fair share especially made just for drifting, has seen a huge increase in the drift community. As of late, it has exploded into the mainstream with movie titles such as “Initial D”, starring the infamous Toyota AE86 Trueno Sprinter and third inclusion to the Fast and Furious series with “Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift”. Both of which capture the excitement of today’s hottest motorsport, Drift.

Like Drift? Want to get more drifting info, tips and drifting pics about drift in Japan? I update my web site http://www.DriftInJapan.com fortnightly with the latest drifting action from Japan. Don’t forget to sign up for free email notificatons sent to you every time I update my site!

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