The Master of Powerslides Learns to Drift in a Lexus
With the future of Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson still up in the air, why not take a moment to check up on the UK’s other star TV presenter with a penchant for power sliding supercars, Tiff Needell from Fifth Gear?
But while Tiff is a skilled racer (he drove in Formula One), and he taught Clarkson the ways of the powerslide, Tiff has never tried to compete in an actual drifting competition. In the video below, he gets his chance.
If you ever wondered how much harder actual drifting is compared to slinging a big RWD car a bit sideways around the track, this should explain things. Tiff gets thrown into a Lexus SC (called the Toyota Soarer in the UK) with nearly 600 horsepower under the hood and a rainy track to practice on.
The art of drifting is much more precise than the blunt force sliding Mr. Needell is used to, and he has quite a difficult time with it, but when he gets a run right, that Lexus looks like magic sliding around the track. In the end reliability problems kept Tiff off the track for most of the event, but it seems he caught the drifting bug. I suppose when you are given a decked out Lexus with more horsepower than anything on the grid, it is pretty easy to fall in love.
Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>
via [Fifth Gear]
