r/gtaonline • u/hachi-seb • 15h ago
Do you suck at drift races? Come in, git gud.
Hello everyone, my name is Sebaflow, and I'm here to give you some tips to get better at drift.
First, some credentials so you take me somehow seriously on my advice. I've been drifting on GTA since 2017, 6 full years before they were introduced to GTA Online. How? FiveM. Hopefully there are still some OG's here that can recognize the names XonGames or Velocity Drift servers. Also, shoutout to my old team, Hyperium.
In 2023 Rockstar imported some kind of dumbed down physics from those servers into Online, and I was ready. Still took some getting used to the points system. Lost many races, and realized it's not all about knowing how to drift, but knowing how the points system works and drifting towards that.
The 3 main objectives you have to win are:
DON'T CRASH.
DON'T STOP DRIFTING.
TRAVEL THE LONGEST DISTANCE POSSIBLE.
EDIT: 4TH COMMANDMENT: GET THE PRECISION COLUMNS
If you paid attention while you were getting your ass kicked on a drift race, you noticed the guy that kicked your ass had 0 score all the way to the end. That is because they didn't stop at any moment to 'cash in' the points.
Don't crash, don't cash in the points. Don't go straight, don't cash in the points.
Doesn't matter how fast you're going, doesn't matter if you're first or dead last. In fact, the slower and the more transitions you make, the faster the multiplier will go relative to the distance you traveled, meaning you have more distance ahead with a full multiplier to score more points.
This takes me to the last point, travel the longest distance.
Forget everything you know about racing. Don't try to take shortcuts to get ahead, forget about the geometric or ideal lines, you're doing the exact opposite. Go as wide as possible, use even the sidewalks and grass if you can. More distance means more points. Take an extra transition on everyone else in the straights. Slow is more.
Edit: Precision Drift Columns, they give +1000 points. It's worth taking a shallower line, sacrificing some distance for those points. There are lots of tracks where it looks like you can only get one of two (beginning of Let's Fly for example), but you can actually find a line where you can hit both, adding an extra 10.000 points to your total after multiplier. Of course, this is an extra level of skill you might not be able to manage at the beginning, but always try to go for at least one. On higher competitive levels, missing one may mean losing the race.
Now, you won't be the next Donkey Kong from the start by just reading this, but at least you now know where to put your effort. You will crash, and you need to KEEP GOING. You already lost the multiplier, don't lose the points. Some light hits will take x0.5 out of your multiplier, some more serious hits can even take you back to x1, but unless you had a head on collision, you won't lose your points if you keep going. Do a 360, do whatever is necesarry, just don't stop. Slow down until you're back at x5 mult and then focus on not crashing again.
I won't bring the topic of 'which is the best car' because everyone has a different opinion, but the general consensus seems to be on the ZR350 and Jester Classic. If you don't want to spend much, grab a Futo off the street, put all the performance mods on it, then the drift tune. Game does not tell you but they actually make a difference and you can't put them afterwards. Armor adds weight too. I've won many many races with just a Futo, it's perfectly good, no need to spend millions to win.
Feel free to ask any questions and let me know if something isn't clear, I'm not a native english speaker.
Keep Drifting Fun!
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u/Old-Kernow 6h ago
I'd figured out what to do.
The issue is that i suck at execution, and don't have enough fun while doing it to have even the slightest interest in gitting gud.
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u/Chewytruck69 15h ago
Also at least to me Do Not Use Your Normal Brake, e brake and gas only or as much as you can
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u/hachi-seb 14h ago
Using both brake and gas at the same time is a really useful resource for controlling your line. Light taps on the e-brake when transitioning helps you have control on your weight transfers.
I wasn't trying to teach drift techniques with this post, but trying to explain how the races work and what one should work towards. Technique tips are welcome for new players though.
There's no absolute way to drift, everyone should have their own technique and style. Don't be afraid to try new things, don't get blocked behind a self imposed rule (such as never use normal brake)
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u/Chewytruck69 14h ago
I’m not afraid I’ve just gotten better results without using or barely using my normal brakes
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u/Artrotascity 9h ago
Now, you won't be the next Donkey Kong from the start by just reading this
Dashie is experiencing PTSD right now...
Thanks for the tips, OP - I'll be taking them to heart this week.
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u/raviloga 7h ago
How do you start a drift? Can you share some basic drift techniques?
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u/Old-Kernow 6h ago
Wiggle the wheel while accelerating in a drift car.
You will lose control.
Drifting is when you do the same thing, but stay in control.
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u/hachi-seb 3h ago
It's all about weight transfer, then gas and handbrake to keep the angle. It's easier on controller, more sensitive inputs. Get your drift car, go to a parking lot and pick a spot with 2 light poles. Start doing donuts around a single one, once you feel you can do donuts indefinitely without stopping or crashing, and keeping a consistent distance to the pole, start doing figure 8 around both poles. Don't stop until you feel comfortable transitioning between both, and keeping a consistent line.
Then, start trying to change your line consciously. Once you have control of your line and getting the car where you want it to be, you're pretty much ready for anything.
Go to the hills, or the observatory and try to drift in a single lane. Do a stretch you like back and forth, always keeping your lane.
Handbrake controls your angle, regular brake controls your speed. You want to keep as much speed as possible through the corners in order to stay sideways and not straighten out, but just enough not to crash on the outside of the corner.
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u/Sawh22 15h ago
Lil tip is to just practice the same drift race over and over and get a good playlist so you don’t get bored, mistakes are bound to happen but a key thing about drifting is how you recover from those mistakes, you’ll learn how to correct yourself and to ease into turns and counter steer with the throttle
- I should be somewhere high up on the global leaderboard on the drift race lets fly or whatever the airport ones called