Physics of Drifting

[muller123]

Hello,
I am making a project on the physics of drifting right now. I have searched the internet for a while now and have not found much about drifting. I am wondering how friction, the frictional force, the centripetal force, and how inertia impacts drifting. 
I am also wondering if there is some way I could find the frictional force of a vehicle while drifting.

[mathematic]

Drifting where (on land, in water, floating, in air)?

[koti]

1 hour ago, muller123 said:

Hello,
I am making a project on the physics of drifting right now. I have searched the internet for a while now and have not found much about drifting. I am wondering how friction, the frictional force, the centripetal force, and how inertia impacts drifting. 
I am also wondering if there is some way I could find the frictional force of a vehicle while drifting.

Centrifugal force is the one pulling the car away from its straight trajectory when drifting with a car. Friction would be a nightmare to calculate because it would constantly change due to changing of tire temperature & wear, speed and position of the car. If you want data on a real car drifting google Nissan GTR R35 which has a stock onboard computer and sensors calculating and showing on an onboard display a lot of data in real time. I don’t think any drift car would give you any data on friction.

Edited March 27, 2018 by koti

[Area54]

And here was I hoping this was a discussion of plate tectonics!

[swansont]

10 hours ago, koti said:

Centrifugal force is the one pulling the car away from its straight trajectory when drifting with a car.  

That would be the centripetal force.

Centrifugal force is a pseudo force observed in a rotating frame of reference, that tries to keep you going in what would be a straight line in the rest frame.

[koti]

6 minutes ago, swansont said:

That would be the centripetal force.

Centrifugal force is a pseudo force observed in a rotating frame of reference, that tries to keep you going in what would be a straight line in the rest frame.

You're right, my mistake.

[Bender]

The key is to keep slipping, because while slipping, you have kinematic friction,  which is significantly lower than static friction. 

The interesting thing is that while the wheels are slipping in the drive direction, you also have kinematic friction in the lateral direction, allowing the wheels to slip sideways. That is nearly impossible with static friction. 

Lastly, to keep slipping , it is important to make circle, so the friction force is used for making a circular motion rather than accelerating.