Whats the cheapest car to get into drifting

billyo

Track Warrior
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Looking to get into drifting. What is the cheapest car to buy that will be suitable. I see an old BMW 740 for £1000 which looks good. Lots of power and RWD but would my money be better spent elsewhere.

How much would drifting parts cost? What would I need to get done to it?
 
BMW are a good bet but the cost of repairs and parts on the 740 is usually the reason they are so cheap. You'd be better off with a 3 series as these are more mainstream and easier to get parts for.
 
YOu have to way it up billyo, i dont think there is reallly any way to get into drifting cheaply,

equations = power x weight x torque - money,

I reckon to build a car that is competative and fun i would budget for around £5000 min otherwise the car and you will look a bit amateurish even if you do have the skills,

essentials are,

good medium range torque,

Limited slip diff,

Hard suspension

stiff chassis
 
It is still a relatively cheap sport to get into. You can always get your diff welded and just use part worn tyres to start with. NEVER ever do this on the road. Drifting on the road is reckless and irresponsible. Get yourself some track time and practice in the safe confines of the track.
 
I reckon to build a car that is competative and fun i would budget for around £5000 min otherwise the car and you will look a bit amateurish even if you do have the skills,

Sorry but I strongly disagree with that. There are BDC cars out there that cost less than half of that and school many big budget motors with the right "skills".

All you need to start drifting is a rwd car. Everything after that is a bonus.

Good basic set up would be a e30/e36 325i (around £500) stripped interior (free) 2nd hand bucket seat (FIA approved stuff can be found from £40 ish), Cut springs (free and despite the hype with cutting springs on road cars perfectly good option to help eradicate body roll for a budget drifter) or better still some good uprated 2nd hand suspension (£50-£200).

That would be enough to pull 3rd gear in the dry ok, not many practice venues in the uk get faster than that.
 
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my skyline is tuned perfectly and it drifts like a charm but its not cheap tho i brought it for 4,500 and spent 20,000 on tuning parts :amazed:
 
I think a Audi quarto 80 the old version is a ideal one for drifting and cheap...
 
dont bother with the 3 series volvo for drifting.. yeah they are small but not worth it. the 240 on the other hand is a rally car and can be modded to such specs. and a rally car just needs more power to be a good drifter. easy to mod. easy to get well over 300hp on them.

you can get 500hp out of them but will cost close to 10k.. you can get 1000hp out of them but why would you? too damn much for a drifter. and you need to start speaking swedish to talk to the people that do that kinda thing.
 
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jags are cheap powerful and with some of the sensible good advicecheap mods suggested by steerfromtherear should get you going for about a grand difficulty with the jag is they love the automatic gearbox so find a manual. many models come with LSD as standard. good luck. I am looking to take and XJS out this year to learn to drift. it always goes sideways when I am racing it so I thought lets go and drift it. no brainer really.
 
May I as the site admin wish mrsuggs a very warm welcome to TorqueCars. It is really nice to meet you and I hope you'll be spending some time with us over the months to come.
You'll find us one of the friendliest and most helpful car tuning forums around.

What plans do you have for your car? I'm sure we can give you lots of ideas and suggestions if you need any.

Do feel free to chip in on our other topics and discussions, we are all here to share our passion for cars. Being friendly and helpful is a forum rule here and I'm sure you'll fit in just fine.
 
jags are cheap powerful and with some of the sensible good advicecheap mods suggested by steerfromtherear should get you going for about a grand difficulty with the jag is they love the automatic gearbox so find a manual. many models come with LSD as standard. good luck. I am looking to take and XJS out this year to learn to drift. it always goes sideways when I am racing it so I thought lets go and drift it. no brainer really.

Hello and welcome to the site mate.
 
Hi all

I'm wondering if a peugot 106 or a citroen saxo would be good for when I'm learning drifting. i haven't brought a car yet because i want to know if these are suitable for learning drifting in? if not what would be the cheapest basic old car to learn drifting in?
 
Hi all

I'm wondering if a peugot 106 or a citroen saxo would be good for when I'm learning drifting. i haven't brought a car yet because i want to know if these are suitable for learning drifting in? if not what would be the cheapest basic old car to learn drifting in?



1st thing you need to drift, is a rear wheel car
 
Well not a 106 or a saxo. They are limp powered FWD cars. To learn you wont want to much power but youll want something with a bit of grunt to get it sliding. I dont know much about drifting bit i dont imagine its cheap. How old are you? How long have you been driving? Will the car be driven on the road?
With some more information about what youre after people may be able to give you better suggestions.
 
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sierra, or those little rwd volvo 340/360 turbo's or n/a
 
Get an older 5 series BMW; they are dirt cheap to buy and should have plenty of torque to get started. Once the right tyres and chassis/suspension mods are there you're away.

Had an old 518 and that would easily go sideways if you wanted it to; that was an underpowered model in street trim.
 
Been interested in drifitng and wanted to know what the best cheap drift cars are and here I find a thread on here after doing a web search! AMAZING! I should've just done a search on here!
 
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