How to Drift in a Car

So we’re all already excited about the Ford Focus RS, it’s a rally ready car. What’s even better is that it has a drift mode. Yeah, now you don’t even have to know how to drift in a car. We’re kidding, you do need to know how to and we do recommend that you have extensive experience with advanced driving maneuvers before you attempt to race in a rally event, but you can now drift more easily.

It won’t instantly turn you into a pro, sliding through a rallycross course, but you will have a better chance at looking like you know what you’re doing. Ford describes the function as “a unique drift setting to help achieve controlled oversteer drifts in track conditions.” They followed that up with say that the setting allows for oversteer movements that are controlled.

So far that’s all Ford has said, so we can’t exactly say how this is accomplished. We imagine that it is either done through looser traction control or a by sending a bit more power to the rear tires, making the Focus want to whip around. Either way, Ken Block showed us that it does indeed work. We also doubt that you’ll have to be as proficient at driving as he is to drift.

And even though the vehicle is designed to slide all over the place, it is still going to offer impressive top speeds. The Mustang EcoBoost, which shares an engine with the RS can reach 60 mph from zero in about 5.2 seconds. Considering the hot hatch has managed to offer a slightly higher horsepower rating, we expect it to be a bit faster. It’s likely that it could even break the 5 second barrier thanks to the AWD, which will allow it to get off the line a bit faster.