One of the things that makes the Forza Motorsport franchise as special as it is is the fact that it gives players the ability to race to their own personal preferences. Drifting is one of the most popular ways to race outside of the norm, however to do this in Forza Motorsport requires a little bit of work and a lot of practice to nail down. Here’s how to drift in Forza Motorsport 8 and how to set up your car for it.
It’s very important to understand that much of what goes into drifting your car comes down to personal preference and practice. Give a car a few go’s around the track and feel it out, play with your settings and try again. The beauty of Forza’s racing simulator is that it’s incredibly accurate and you can tune based on feeling just like you might a real car.
What Car Should You Choose for Drifting?
One of the most important aspects to drifting in Forza Motorsport is the same as if you were driving in real life: your choice of car. I’m not referring to your style, that’s entirely up to you, but the specific functions of the car make a massive difference on the racetrack. The main things you want to focus on are where the engine is located and if the car is front- or rear-wheel drive.
You want to make sure that the engine is located in the front of the car, like most standard vehicles on the road. This might seem like a small detail, but the location of the engine plays significantly on where the weight of the car is dispersed, and many of the premium sports cars have their engines located in the back instead of the front. You want to be able to swing the tail of your car out during a drift, and having so much weight in the back will make that unpredictable.
You also want to make sure that your car has rear-wheel drive. While it’s possible to drift in front- or all-wheel drive, it’s easier to control the car as it comes out of the turn when the rear tires are receiving power and getting more control from the throttle. If you’re learning, it’ll make your life easier to stick to RWD.
To find where the engine is located and what wheels have the engine power going to them, as you’re choosing a car press More Details and it’ll give you a deep-dive readout of the car’s specs. Just under the car’s name and right above the performance graph you’ll find a small diagram of a car with FWD, RWD or AWD to the left of it. The engine is represented by the small white dot in-between the tires on the diagram, and you want to make sure it’s between the right two tires.
I would recommend using a smaller sports car for trying to drift, something like the Subaru BRZ, Toyota GR Supra or a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupe. These all have RWD and a front-engine design, but they’re also not racecars. Track cars have much stickier tires meant to grip the road, but the whole goal of drifting is to get ’em spinning.
What Are the Best Assist Settings for Drifting?
Before you try to get on the track, you’re going to want to be aware of a few things that will make your life a little harder. Most of those problems are going to be in your driving assists, which isn’t all that surprising because you’re trying to do something that cars are designed not to do.
You can leave ABS on or off depending on your preference, but it will make it a little bit easier to figure out the quirks of drifting. Make sure that your throttle is Unassisted, with Manual shifting and no Traction Control or Stability Control. If you’re really interested in a challenging experience, you can put the steering on Simulation, but it’ll be easier if you’re on a controller to stick to Normal.
How Should You Tune Your Drift Car?
In order to tune your car properly for drifting, you’ll need to make a few upgrades before you get out on the track. The main things to keep in mind are how much grip your tires have, how close your torque is to your horsepower, and having a customizable drivetrain.
Go with a Sport tire compound for the slickest spin on the roads, and make sure you’ve got a a Drift suspension to make your life much easier. These are all upgrades that will not only set your car up for success on the track, but they’ll allow you to customize your car a little bit further in ways specific to what drifting requires.
Tune your tires so that they’ve got the right amount of grip for what feels right. Giving them less tire pressure will make them a bit stickier, so keep it a bit higher to help you kick the tail out. You can change the pressure in both the front and back if you want more or less grip in either area. You can also decrease the Camber on your tires to affect how much grip you’ve got through turns and refine your cornering.
Adjust your Final Drive so that the drive ratio has your 3rd gear maxing out at around 115 MPH, depending on what feels right for your car. Lowering your drive ratio will increase your top speed while raising it will give you better acceleration. Also be sure to lock your differential by maxing out both the Acceleration and Deceleration bars to ensure your wheels all spin at the same rate.
How Do You Drift in Forza Motorsport 8?
To drift successfully in Forza Motorsport 8, you’ll have to master the balance of the gas, turning and using the handbrake on your car. These are going to differ depending on the car you’ve chosen and the way you’ve got it tuned, but generally speaking, those are the main things you need to focus on.
As you come up to a turn, make sure that you’re in around 3rd or 4th gear, start on the inside of the turn and swing your car to the outside. Manage your throttle so that you don’t oversteer and spin backwards, but don’t underdo it and not kick out at all. Aim your wheels into the apex of the corner and on harder turns, mix in your handbrake to lock your car into position before using the throttle to snap out of the turn.
This process can be difficult to get right, but once you do, you’ll start feeling much more comfortable with it. The main thing to keep in mind is just getting familiar with the way the car handles turns so that you don’t get surprised by your braking as you try to make a drift. Keep it consistent and practice the feeling of kicking the tail out and smoothly recovering.
Those are the main details for drifting in Forza Motorsport 8. It’s definitely a challenge, but one that can pay off significantly if you know how to manage it. Play with the tuning of your car as you go to find the right settings for you, and you’ll be sliding through turns like butter in no time. For more Forza Motorsport guides and news, stick around here.
