I can't think of another "motorsport" where you win by being "judged" instead of actually outperforming another similar vehicle. It's like running an F1 race and then giving 1st place to the guy with the prettiest moves. Motorsports typically involve racing.

 

back on topic here...

i agree the GTO will be out of place in the Import dominated motorsport but i have been to many drift events from around the world and each one had a very odd car participating...take for instance...if you watch Options video 116 there is a Bently yep thats right! a Bently drifting in mud with other drift cars! Nurburgring and Hockenheimring have both adopted drifting as a motorsport and have had plenty of drift events and their drift events are far more classy...seeing ferraris, bmw's, mercs, rovers and even giant big rig trucks[the ones they race at DTM tracks] drifting! again you can see the Euro cars and big rigs drifting in options video 78 i believe...im gonna have to double check that.

the big rig and bently were just people f*in around so dont think they were serious about it.

back to the GTO i'll give it a chance i look forward to see what it can do...i've seen newer bodied mustangs at drift events 2 GTs and 1 cobra they seemed to do ok...a few suspension mods and better drivers would have made it a very interesting demo to watch...but at stock form they seemed to be too heavy or may be it was just the drivers.

 

ok point taken motorsports "typically" give points by who gets to the line faster...ok, but as i stated before we can make drifting into a time trial or if you really want we can have all 30 teams go at it at once and see who can make it to the end of the course faster...still in that case the person with the "prettiest" moves will still win because that person knows how to control the car in a perfect apex compared to the others that person with the prettiest moves is going to be faster and will take more risks at the turns he's more in tune with his car its still driving skill just like in F1 or in touring the person with the better car and better driving skills will win...unless the guy in lead has an accident and the guy behind him will take the win.

 

OK OPINIONS AND WHAT NOT ON DRIFTING BEING A SKILLED MOTORSPORT IS OVER IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ARGUE ABOUT IT SOME MORE START ANOTHER THREAD...PLEASE.

Thank you.

 

whatever they do..ill just stick to why???

 

I don't think it's so far-fetched to see a GTO in a drift event. Maybe it's just cuz I'm relatively new to follwing drifting, but I don't think a car has to be Japanese to "belong" in a drifting competition.

Sure the GTO is heavy, but that's also because the GTO was built as a part-luxury car. Trim the luxo stuff off and while you won't exactly get a nimble featherweight you will get a lighter car with an engine capable of making a lot of power (similar to a Skyline GTS-t or Toyota Chaser I'd imagine). And I'm sure the linearity and simplicity of the V8 compared to the turbo engines of most drift cars give him some advantages too.

 

oh definately i agree any car is welcome to D1 and similar events i actually enjoy seeing other cars other than your normal run of the mill Silvia, Skyline and AE86 drifting.

and the V8 in the GTO will give a huge kick its advantage is V8s huge amount of torque...it will be easier for Rhys to spin the tires with a good suspension and sticky tires up front he definately will have a good contending drift car...and yes the GTO would stand next to the heavy chaser, skyline and supra when it comes to drifting.

 

i really think u're just a hater. I respect your opinion, but i think u're coming on too harsh and your points don't really make sense..you say that drifting is harsh on the tranny and tires but isn't every motorsport like that? Crappy drivers driving normally even are harsh on their trannies..

And you should really think before you say things like "...this [drifting] is the stupidest car trend I've seen bar none..." there is no reason to insult the sport or fans of the sport unless drifting killed your mother or something.

and once you start driving RWD cars, i think you'll understand more why this is becoming more popular. There is a nice sense of thrill to it. So just take it easy and take a deep breath.

 

again........I've owned RWD cars......and it also makes no difference what I drive....how does that compare to my view of drifting? It is doing rolling burnouts around a little course......trying to do everything that a car is designed NOT to do......THAT is the reason I stand by my statement that it is "the stupidest car trend I've seen bar none"........I mean they slide around and on purposely cook their tires off.......that's the exact opposite of you're supposed to be doing in a car. And racing sure is hard on a tranny and tires....but it's in the context of racing and trying to actually get those parts to last.....drifting on purposely cooks those parts into dust......it can't be helped when you're doing rolling burnouts for an extended period of time while banging off the rev limiter the whole time.

 

HAHAH I knew someone would ask someday, Since I'm fresh outa college with a wife,child and student loans I realized that the Evo 8 isnt coming anytime soon so by the time I'm ready to buy an evo 8 the evo 9 (If they make one) will be here, I'm really working towards it and when it comes I wont have to change my vehicle description! LOL

 

*offtopic* You thinking outstuns me.. thats some funny stuff

 

You're entitled to your opinion. I don't mean to jump on the bandwagon, but I disagree with your view of drifting. Just because they do things that "a car is designed NOT to do" doesn't make it invalid... I think it's more impressive for that fact. Who is to decide what "you're supposed to be doing in a car" in the first place? It's all about driver control and entertainment, which is what all motorsports should be about. Drifting happens to occur in many types of motorsports, like short-track kart racing, dirt-track motorcycle racing, and bob-sled racing. Just because Drifting takes the emphasis off of laptimes and puts it on drifting skill doesn't make it invalid, it's just different.
What do you think about the ESPN X-games? They judge BMX riders on a half-pipe that do tricks. Is that an improper use of a bicycle? They weren't designed to do that, originally. Of course, they aren't powered by motors, so as my final point, I thought of another "motorsport" that IS judged: Aerobatic Competition.

 

If we break down the word "motorsport" it has nothing to do with timing. "Motor" involves the use of an engine, and "sport" is a competitive activity that tests a person's athletic traits, whether it be reaction time, strength, accuracy, whatever. If you look at that, drifting is a motorsport because it's a competitive activity that tests precision, reaction time, and short-term endurance in a car.

As for what a car is designed not to do, I don't see many cars designed for Trans-Am racing. That's why there is such a large aftermarket, because many performance cars are not suitable for competitive track racing because they need to be street-capable. In quite a few racing categories, they take a normal car and build the **** out of it to be race-capable. By your logic about what cars are designed to do and not do, the SPEED World Challenge isn't a motorsport because they race Protege ESs and Sentra SE-Rs in there.