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Originally Posted by djmtsu
Actually, I think Max IS a fan of drifting. However, he seems to think it is all about the 'style' and not the actual sport. I am not a fan because of that reason.
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Hey, I love drifting! I was trying to be funny, but people didn't get it...and ted blew an apex seal.
The "Style" is about building a car that stands out in the crowd of average, and shows off your personality. Style is a big part of drifting. Your car is like a canvas, and you can express yourself through it just like a painting. While having the best alignment, proper this, proper that, and all that jazz is of the utmost importance for the track, everywhere else, a lot of guys want their car to look cool too. I guess amateur drifting is kinda like a revival of hot rodding. If you dig deep, you'll notice that back than, car life was all about the lifestyle a well. Somewhere along the line, we lost that, and drifters now are trying to bring it back.
My take on cars is that of a die-hard lifestyle. A Chicago group of drifters called "Risky Devil" explains it well: they don't call themselves a "drift team" but instead, a "social club". These guys love cars! they love driving cars, working on cars, talking about cars, making videos about cars, and most of all, hanging out with friends and having fun doing what they love... cause in the end, that' what it really is about.
My taste in things is also very diverse and complicated, and I can appreciate a lot of things other people dismiss or cant wrap their heads around. A good example of this methodology is a website called
SPEEDHUNTERS where they don't discriminate.
At it's core, drifting is about fun... pure and simple. It is as much about having fun, and being wild/ wacky/ crazy and genius, as it is about who comes first. Dirt track guys fight after a race, drift guys party! On and off the track, amateur drifting is a medium through which people gather to share a common passion of going sideways.
When money, and first/second/third come into the equation, it takes away a bit of that. Do I want to go pro, and travel the country doing what I love? Of course!
Yet, but at the same time I am aware that it becomes as much about being able to market a product, aka yourself, successfully in order to move up in the ranks. Doing sponsorship deals, promotions, advertisement, etc. It becomes much more about business than it is about the driving itself. Now, I don't know about you, but personally, I don't enjoy business to the extent that some others do. I find it a necessity that I'm willing to put up with in order to gain what I want, but when it comes down to it, I don't "enjoy" it, like I do driving a car.
I leave you with this, it took me almost 2 hours to edit this post to where I felt it got my point across. Here's a little something for you:
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During last month's Idlers meet, Nakai-san took second place in the Super Cup race finishing just behind another Porsche which was also loaded up with his parts. Nakai says that his car's best lap time on the Tsukuba 2000 course is somewhere in the 58 second range, which is an amazing time for an older non-tubro car like this one.
While the car is a great performer, it's also important to note how Nakai-san wanted the car to be fast, but not at the expense of having bad style. "What's the point of racing a car that doesn't look cool?", he says. All in all I'd say he managed to get the perfect balance of both.
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Higgi's one of the only drifters that gets respect from me BECAUSE he's not about dumping his car and making it look nasty like the poser drifter-wanna be's!! He's been to more events than a bunch of us put together!
I need to get on my game.
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