Drift

Drifting is a technique used to make sharp corners while preserving more speed and/or a better line. It is the core mechanic of the map style known as Tech.

To perform a drift, the player has to:

1. Steer in one direction for about half a second or more,
2. While still steering, press and hold brake for as long as necessary, causing the car to slide,
3. Release brake to let the car travel in the direction steering.

Once brake is released, the skid marks of the car will begin to merge until only two are visible.

The car must have a speed of at least ~180km/h to initiate a drift. As the speed increases, the time required to steer before pressing brake decreases. This is because the car has less grip and therefore slides more easily at higher speeds. Also, in general, when the car has full grip, there must be no visible skid marks to perform a drift. To get rid of those skid marks, the player should let go of steering momentarily. (If either of these conditions cannot be fulfilled, a neoslide can be performed instead.)

Oftentimes the player does not need to press brake to initiate the drift. Drifts can occur whenever the car loses grip, commonly:

• when transitioning from an offroad surface (dirt or grass) back onto road,
• upon landing with the car not parallel to its trajectory,
• when travelling over bumps, including ramms in TMNF.

In these scenarios, having visible skid marks (and to some extent, low speeds) is okay before initiating the drift.

Drifts can be extended and adjusted by pressing or tapping brake mid-slide. This allows players to adjust their racing line, such as to bail out of a bad angle. It is sometimes optimal to tap the brake multiple times to keep the drift going.