In earlier days, when RC drifting was not commercial, a couple of tricks were adopted to drift the car sideways. Let us now see how to drift tires in a shoestring.

As one-tenth of remote control was almost similar to real cars, they would no doubt drift. But the main problem associated with it is that it cannot be made into a reality without incredibly powerful motor and huge tires that costs much.

To drift well on rubber tires, people those days tried to change the surface. A best example would be drifting in underground parking lots. Recently, experiments were carried out by changing the tires to drift rather than changing the surface of the road. Taping the tires was a better option. Insulation tapes were mainly used to leave the tire without any friction. Taping the tires only on the outer edged rather than taping the whole tire can provide a better drift. A strip down the center of each tire leaving the edges open can also help in drifting.

We need to experiment and find out the best thing that can suit our car to perform drifting. Our driving style also has to be taken into consideration for doing a proper modification.

Tamiya later introduced a tire made of very hard rubber to perform drifting. It gave the tires a lot of friction. With nitro cars these tires can really be perfect. Yokomo released another variety of tires that included two hard plastic rings to favor drifting. They were replaceable yet costly. These rings were later replaced by a solid center ring which was also replaceable the disadvantages being, it wares out too quickly and too costly like the former.

The contemporary period tires used for drifting are very hard and made of polyethylene.  It gives the tires a very firm grip while performing the drifting. It also lasts longer than hard rubber tires and taped tires. It does not wares out quickly too.

The tires can be heated up and the rim can be cooled down to fit the polyethylene tires. Rims can be kept in fridge to cool them down and hair dryer can be used to heat up the tires. When they cool down or heat up the polyethylene tire will fit tightly and closely on the rims.

While competing with others, choosing the proper drift tire is very important. Using a different drift tire can make our car perform differently on the track. Also, if we have too much friction on the tires, we will have too much speed yet it can favor us only when we are racing. If our tires do not have enough traction, we may not be able to control big drifts.

Drifting race

To make a tire to drift, taping can be an option but it won’t last long. It will wear out easily in a couple of runs and it cannot be used in a competition and even if we use it, the chances of winning are not so bright.