Drifting isn't destroying our community you morons

[jon-ovlov]

i wouldn't be even near as "skilled" as i am today, without those first steps in drifting i made, with my license only a week in the pocket on a wet roundabout where i had a superuncontrolled slide-all-over-the-place drift wich after that made me hungry for more. the countless times i had to fix my first car (red '89 340CVT), getting more handy every time i diagnosed the actual fault and eventually helping other 300 drivers with car/engine trouble. i definatly owe drifting to all that and i still love seeing the smoke from the screaming rear tyres in the mirrors, countersteering your ass off on very bendy roads and the whole lot that makes drifting fun.

knowing that, i definatly don't mind it if a enthousiast buys his 300 and will use the car a bit harder on the road, whether it's rallying of drifting or track racing; as long as he's willying to take care of it, and not just wants to test how long it will take a pile of abuse and dump it when the car finally gives up.. that last bit is what really annoys me lately, just like the "cheap money" trend we had a half year ago (buy car for 60quid > strip interior > spray matt black > DIY lowering weld diff > sell for 750quid as "professional drift car")

That my friend is exactly where I'm at. Its an awsome feeling when you fix something well, and can pass on the knowledge. Also like the way you spent "willing". Hilarious.

[volvosneverdie]

Also like the way you spent "willing". Hilarious.

[Ian Mac]

then on a wet day i did a drift in the roundabout in front of the school.

Says it all really...

[mrsoundcraft]

Oh, come on!
Giving the guy the benifit of the doubt I dont think the "drift" was originaly planned.
I have been sideways with my GT4 and my 340 on the roads, sometimes it just happens, if I had been in a FWD in those situations I may have understeered a bit.

Im not a fast or careless driver on the road, and I dont expect you are either, but surely you can agree that sometimes while driving grip can become reduced in places, and its not always predictable.

So If Crazycat is anything like myself then at the time you'd be like "ahh!" but then afterwards thinking "That was cool but Im lucky I didnt slide off the road, cause then eveyone at school would take the piss"

[Ian Mac]

So If Crazycat is anything like myself then at the time you'd be like "ahh!" but then afterwards thinking "That was cool but Im lucky I didnt slide off the road, cause then eveyone at school would take the piss"

Erm no, actually I'd be thinking "bloody hell, good thing I didn't slide into a bunch of kids outside the school gates and kill someone..."

I have absolutely no issues with people who modify their cars providing the work is carried-out well, the car correctly registered and the modifications correctly advised to the insurance company. I don't even have a problem with drifting but not on the public highway.

There are sound engineering principles as to why vehicle manufacturers incorporate a differential into vehicle design, the main ones being to improve handling and to reduce tyre wear. The only legitimate reason for locking the diff on a road going vehicle is to temporarily improve traction in slippery conditions hence the provision of a diff lock on four wheel drive vehicles. As far as I'm concerned a welded diff on a road going vehicle is a no-go mod which is carried-out for one purpose only - to get the back end out. This should be restricted to off road areas and certainly not to islands in front of schools.

I'd be interested to hear the insurance perspective on welded diffs and how many such modifications actually get reported to insurers? I remember once being heavily penalised for fitting a set of alloy wheels so I can't see them being overly impressed with welded diffs.

Don't get me wrong, I work in the motor trade and have access to all manner of flying machines and given the right circumstances I have no problem in exploiting the power and handling available. I've also carried-out my fair share of car modification 'back in the day' but you still don't mess with basic engineering principles on a car which is going to be used on the road. Even if there is no intention to drift until the weekend and in a suitable location, if its on the road it needs a diff..

[volvosneverdie]

Do not feed the Trolls.

[jtbo]

Yout MOT is catching up stupid countries like ours, therefore you probably get same things declared illegal, one of them is welded differential.

Cutting springs is also illegal.

Having lowering blocks is illegal unless those have sertification.

Welding any suspension part is illegal.

Almost every change requires proof that part does fit and then there are percentage rules, you are not allowed to replace over 50% of car parts and technically changing brake calibers is something that should be marked down, however it is depending bit from luck if such is or is not marked down.

You can't have side exhaust unless car originally had one, however some cars have been modified by importer because otherwise they would be failed MOT.

Lorries have different rules, much more freedom.

Because of these strict rules here it is rare to see drift car on road.

edit: Also here you get fines if you slide even a bit on road or if you get wheelspin, that is if there happen to be police nearby. Here you get also fines if you don't put your feet down on stop sign when riding a motorcycle. Our fines are bit silly too, some have got over 100 000 euros fines because of not noticing 300 meters long slower speed limit area, no it is not a joke, if you have lot of income, you pay lot of fines.

[Chris_C]

Right, just as a warning I'll be watching this thread. Argue all you want, but remain civil. I can see this has the ability to turn from useful to silly if you lot let it

As an aside, the first time I "drifted" was when I was 17, driving too fast for the wet conditions and went flying towards a brand new 7 series beemer. Lesson learnt, but I decided that I wanted to understand what I had just done and to be able to control it for good rather than evil I've been very lucky to have access to tracks with my motorclub (and other things like the Southern BKV a few years ago and Retro Rides etc) so never have been silly on the public highway. Those that do will get caught out eventually.

I'm not a drift monkey, but it does come in really handy on gravel rallies and grass autotests. Plus, the diff is the only part of my car that hasn't needed welding at some point, it's quite proud of that

[Ian Mac]

I promise not to overstep the mark or to respond to any 'troll baiting' comments...

[Speedy88]

As for the kids doing stupid stuff to show off... I think we've all been there. Kids are stupid, then they never grow up. I sure haven't yet, neither has my dad

I've done some REALLY stupid things in a car that I think back to now and wonder why the hell I thought I was such a good driver.

[Ian Mac]

With some reluctance I decided it was time to grow-up in October 2006 after incurring three speed camera offences in a two week period and all in company vehicles which I was testing as part of my job. The first was on a 40mph road which dropped to 30 and I got flashed doing 38. The second was an identical situation on a 60mph road which dropped to 50 and the camera flashed me at 58. The third was even more stupid - I overtook an unmarked police car on the motorway at 1.30am doing 85... The end result was nought to nine points in three weekends - now that's fast...

So, as you can see I'm no paragon of virtue and its fair to say that as a teenager in my first Cortina I did my fair share of skidding around islands, at least until I lost it completely and turned the thing over with my boss's two daughters inside which did nothing for either my love life or employment prospects....

I suppose what I'm saying is that most of us have driven 'badly' but its nothing to be particularly proud of and should really be discouraged rather than applauded. And I still maintain that welded diffs are for the track not the road

Troll rant over...

[Speedy88]

Never thought I'd say this but... I agree

[Ian Mac]

Never thought I'd say this but... I agree

I'm hurt and honoured, both at the same time

[nvdw]

As much as I agree with Ian on the subject of being a cock on the road or not, I'd like to get back OT by saying that the tramp drifters can actually have a positive effect on the Volvo 300 series as a whole, even if lots of cars get smashed by their hands. Of course, if lives are lost in the process then I'm the first to call that a tragedy that shouldn't have happened, but that is a bit beside the point.

As long as cars like ours have little economic value, there is little incentive to keep it in good nick. MOT fail on some sills and it gets thrown away; crashed sideways into a lamppost, and it gets thrown away; dealer won't accept it as a p/x against a Hyundai and with eBay full of time wasters and other mouth breathers (HI M8 DO U SWAP W/ ESCROT KTXBAI), it gets thrown away; coffin dodger can't pass his car on to his granddaughter because it has no PAS but a manual choke she refuses to use, so instead dumps it at the breaker's. Even restorations on a smaller scale are absolutely mental on a 250 quid car.

The only way for the 300 series to go up, is to get scarce. Scarcity raises prices and while that may prevent some people to buy one, it's actually a very good thing. It becomes useless for those who seek a cheap-as-free runabout, a throw-away drift car, or suchlike. On the other hand, it makes it worth your while to keep a car in its original state, to preserve mint examples or to completely restore the car. Back home in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands Land I can already see that happen on some of the 360 versions. Even run of the mill 340's aren't that cheap anymore.

The Dutch Daf Club has long maintained the position that no members were allowed to mention prices in the ads in both the magazine or on its website, to keep prices low or at least affordable. It's been reversed recently and with all due respect, it's the best thing that could have happened. I think the best compliment that has been made about these cars is that a mint example of a 1971 55 Marathon saloon, with its € 6900 asking price, got sold. Even the 'lowly' Volvo 66 fetches higher prices, and only for the better.

For the record, I have bought my 340 in 2007 for € 700 which was a steep price for a car with an MOT pending and a bad need for a service. I've put considerably more than 700 euros in it in the 3,5 years up to now. I've never bought it as an investment, but I'm happy to say cars similar to mine are still being put on the market for 700 or even more. That's a good sign in my book.

So no, I don't think the drifters destroy our community or our cars per se. Quite the contrary, people like volvodspec and Frits are excellent PR for the Volvo 300. Everytime they go sideways, a little bit of their prestige trickles down to my modest 340. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself

[mat_91]

oh dear what a can of worms had been opened