VIDEO: Drifting 101 with world champion Rhys Millen
click above for a high-res gallery of the Hyundai Genesis coupe at the track
Hyundai has set up a new YouTube channel where it's going to be posting videos featuring its cars. The first couple of clips come from the Genesis coupe press intro that just took place in Nevada. You can read Mike Harley's report on that later this week. In the meantime, check out drifting champion Rhys Millen explaining how drifting competitions are judged and what sort of changes his team had to make to Genesis to turn it into a drift car. Warning: if screeching tires, shredded rubber and lots of smoke make you squeamish, you might want to avoid this. Otherwise, enjoy Rhys Millen's Drifting 101 after the jump.
[Source: Hyundai]
Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
elpepe 5:17PM (3/29/2009)
Drifting: If you don't have enough talent to go fast around a track, might as well pretend you at least know something and make a lot of smoke doing it. This was made up by retards and for retards.
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EskimoPie 5:25PM (3/29/2009)
Don't be shy, how do you really feel about the sport?
AZZO45b 5:36PM (3/29/2009)
BTW, What DOESN"T Red Bull sponsor????????
GenCoupe.com 5:47PM (3/29/2009)
Nice clips :D We also have tons of youtube videos, reviews, and photos from that same day in Las Vegas!
For those of you who want to learn more about the Hyundai Genesis Coupe please join us at our forums at
http://GenCoupe.com
FotoGenetix 5:53PM (3/29/2009)
Drifting is for entertainment, but it still demonstrates a skill of car control. Just like any other professional automotive competition it does require a good driver and properly modified vehicle to be able to maintain the angle and speed in a competition like D1, which btw contains drivers from Super GT in Japan.
Made up by retards? Do you watch rally? controlled slides is a staple skill in rally (scandinavian flick)
I hate how some seem to think that drifting is nothing but donuts and ebrake pulling.
It's not hard but is a technique that does require practice just like anything from time attack to rally.
i do agree that the modern day commercialized concept of drifting events has really gone far from the days of mountain racing and sliding around corners. but to call it a sport invented by retards is just plain ignorant.
SimbaDogg 7:00PM (3/29/2009)
you're an idiot...
but i've never noticed rhys was a kiwi. awesome
twitch1021 7:05PM (3/29/2009)
haha wow.....you are truly a special one. drifting is for those who know how to control a car and push it to its limits
revvo 10:46PM (3/29/2009)
Drifiting in a corner is rarely the fastest solution, but it still takes a heckload of skills to drift properly. There's one name you need to lookup if you want to be proven wrong: Keiichi Tsuchiya AKA The Drift King.
Mike 2:03AM (3/30/2009)
I'm not too big into the drifting in small courses on pavement but Rhys does have skills. His roots for drifting are in Rally and his dad is a legend in motorsports.
Rhys drifting on dirt... with zero room for failure, unlike the paved track most people see him on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doIU_SHUvys
paul 5:21PM (3/29/2009)
what a lovely kiwi accent
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elpepe 5:27PM (3/29/2009)
sport? this ain't a sport. It's bunch of fools doing donuts.
yah sorry, I'm in my overly honest mood today.
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AZZO45b 5:35PM (3/29/2009)
Any monkey-boy can do donuts... D1 is more than "donuts", but I also agree with you about aspects of the "sport" (Its judged competition for one.... UGH)
Tanner Faust (sp?) did pretty well in the Race of Champions held in London this year, so he has more talent than your average "donut" burner... (idea)
tankd0g 9:29PM (3/29/2009)
Actually, if you do a donut, you've lost :)
Zach 5:31PM (3/29/2009)
Looks better in track garb that street garb in my opinion. Love the sedan, by I prefer the tiburon to the Genesis Coupe in terms of looks.
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Josh 9:45PM (3/29/2009)
i prefer to actually drive.
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zoom_x2 5:37PM (3/29/2009)
Drifting is as much of a motorsport as ice skating is to speed skating. If you have judges deciding who wins, it's not a real sport.
That being said, both are incredible demonstrations of control, and more often than not, a drifter is able to drive at 10/10ths more quickly than a normal person because they're constantly driving beyond the limits of their vehicle, and are more comfortable there than most.
But I've digressed, it's still dumb.
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tankd0g 9:33PM (3/29/2009)
So boxing, wrestling, fencing, martial arts, not a real sport huh? I wouldn't go around saying that in public.
Baltimore 11:02PM (3/29/2009)
D1GP is moving away from subjectively judging the competitors (for the most part). Beginning this year they will be using their own D1GP Pro1 Telemetry system that will calculate vehicle angle, speed and lateral-g. 75% of the total score will be based off of that information and the judges will award the final 25% (http://www.d1gp.com/v2/latest/judging.html).
Now as for Formula D (which Rhys Millen competes in) the the judging is still 100% subjective.
I think that Formula D, Prodrift Series, EDC, BDC, and others will eventually go the same route as D1GP. Less judging bias means happier competitors & fans (in my opinion).
Tire Burner 6:44PM (3/29/2009)
Sounds like you guys are jealous that we, the "retards", get tons of sponsorship money, well-prepped cars and mountains of tires to just burn off while we drive like retards in front of all the other retards in the stands. By the sounds of things you guys haven't experienced drifting at the level of Formula D and D1. And please don't compare pulling the ebrake on your Honda Accord in a parking lot at 15mph to what these guys do.
I'm talking about flying into a banked oval at 90mph at full opposite lock a foot away from the wall with another car's front wheel almost rubbing on your door. The adrenaline rush is amazing! But of course you have to experience it to understand it, which I'm sure none of you have, yet you so quickly dismiss it.
Simply retarded.
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elpepe 8:31PM (3/29/2009)
yup, you just confirmed it. Not only retarded, but also full of himself.