User:Drew e30/Trampdrift

Trampdrift/ Trampdrifting.

Originally coined as a phrase by Mike "MJG" Gaynor, the term trampdrifting has become synonymous with participating in the motorsport drift discipline in cars that are cheap to buy, cheap to modify and cheap to maintain, with spending centred on things that help the car or driver to perform better such as bucket seats and seat time at practice days.

A community developed around trampdrifting when "MJG" and "Maxlee" got fed up with an elitist attitude found in the drift scene so created their own web based forum - http://www.trampd.co.uk - to promote drifting 'on the cheap'. The concept grew in popularity to the point where the original forum couldn't cope with the use so a new webmaster, "Jeek", was recruited to keep things working and the new web address http://www.trampdrift.com was used. The forum now has over 500 members (often referred to as 'Trampers').

The Mentality

R32 Nissan Skyline - TRAMP.

In the Trampdrift scene it is generally considered that spending money on expensive parts to make your car 'drift ready' is a waste of time until you have reached the limits of the standard car. It is said that it is no good having a championship winning car if you don't know how to drive it, so the majority of the budget is spent on seat time to improve the drivers ability rather than on shiny parts that will ultimately make no difference until the driver immproves to a level where he or she can benefit from it. The appearance of the cars is generally considered to be a secondary concern. The phrase 'function over form' has never been more appropriate.

It is often assumed that to be 'Tramp' you cannot start with a JDM (Japanese Domestic market) car. This is wrong - 'Tramp' is not a specific car, it's an attitude. Often the drivers of Japanese sports cars accesorise their cars with large spoilers and bodykits. Trampdrifters do not - preferring to spend their money and time improving the vehicles performance.

An exception to this is wheels and tyres - Wheels should be wide and have as low an offset as possible, to really stick the wheels out in the arches, and ideally the tyres should be slightly narrower than the wheel to provide an element of 'stretch'. 'Deep dish' wheels are very common and much desired.

So called 'Lifestylers' are actively discouraged, as the Trampdrift community is very much made up of people who drift their cars at as many organised events as possible.

The Cars

Drifting BMW E21

Typical 'Tramp' vehicles are old and cheap (and ALWAYS RWD) - often large engined BMWs, Vauxhall Omegas/ Senators, RWD Volvos and the occasional 'classic' such as the Chevette and are generally modified in as cheap and effective a way as possible with most cars being fitted with a solid differential (generally a welded version of the originally fitted diff). As a rule, if it is Rear Wheel Drive and has over about 100bhp per tonne it can be made into a reasonable drift car.

There is an argument raging about whether or not FWD (Front wheel drive) cars can be drifted. While it is true that a FWD car can be made to travel sideways, it is not drifting in the accepted meaning. What this is is 'lift-off oversteer', and can be confused with drifting if performed by a particularly skilled driver. This however is not drifting, it is oversteer.

The Modifications

There is a generally accepted basic level of drift preparation involved in turning a normal roadgoing family car into a drift specific vehicle.

A welded diff locking the rear wheels together is the generally accepted method of getting the car to slide predictably (other options include expensive Limited Slip Differentials or 2-way diffs, but these are generally prohibitively expensive - so welding the original has become commonplace). The legal status of a welded diff is often debated, however someone being charged for having one has not been heard of. The safety of welded diffs is also often debated, with the outcome being that if you are aware of it, it is perfectly safe and there are many cars on the road today as daily driven vehicles fitted with either 2 way diffs or welded diffs that have never had a problem.

Welded Diff

Lowering the car to also lower the centre of gravity and provide better roll control is also frequently seen as a 'must do' mod, with many people choosing to cut their standard springs down, lowering the ride height of the vehicle and also stiffening the springing by a small amount by virtue of the shorter spring. The legality of this mod seems to be a grey area, often being down to the discretion of the MOT tester involved. Generally if they are not so short that they dislocate, they are perfectly legal.

If a car weigh less, then it will respond to driver input quicker. It will change direction faster, accelerate and decelerate quicker and generally handle better. Some people will completely remove their interior and even cut holes in panelwork to remove weight. This is completely down to personal taste - however the lighter is generally considered to be the better.

Additional caster is often introduced to the front suspension geometry to add more 'self centering' effect, in theory making the seering respond more quickly to catch an initiated slide and when transitioning from corner to corner.

A bucket seat for the driver is seen as a very worthwile modification, as it allows the driver to use the steering wheel to control the car instead of hanging on to. A deep dish steering wheel is also viewed as worthwile, as it keeps the driver's fingers from interfering with the column controls.

BMWs twin drifting at Crail.

NOT tramp - Nissan Silvia S14A.

The authors very tramp BMW E30 Turbo.

BMW E36 finishing a set of tyres.

Tramp/ JDM

There is a friendly rivalry between the 'Tramps' and the 'JDM' communities. There is a fundamental difference in attitude betwen the two 'factions', in that many of the JDM crowd see the Tramp community as being poor, tight, bodge artist, stupid people who do nothing but drag the sport into disrepute and many of the Tramp community see the JDM crowd as being spoilt, rich, flashy showoffs with nothing better to spend their money on than shiny bits to impress their friends. This is a debate that will run and run - neither of the communities would like to see the end of the other. However, there are a few 'Tramp' cars competing in the British Drift Championship (BDC) proving that you do not need big money to compete with the best in the country - and "MJG" actually qualified for a wildcard entry to the European Drift Championship (EDC) in a thoroughly Tramp BMW E30 335i.