Drifting at the ice track! -first timers

[Maximus Gladius]

Last weekend, member Doonan and I had the pleasure of joining my son’s group of friends out at the ice track west of Calgary on the Ghost Dam reservoir for a day of drifting, (mostly losing control, lol).

I’ve got the 21 JTR and Doonan has the 20 Overland with a very cool matte blue wrap he did himself!

For tires, I’m running the KO2’s aired down to 18 PSI and I believe Doonan is running Coopers ?? aired down to 26 PSI??

WHAT A BLAST! The ice is about 24” thick and there were dozens of cars, trucks and motorbikes on spiked tires ripping it up. Some fender benders and lots of spin outs!

Non of us in our group ever drifted “on purpose” before so it was easy to see who out there taring it up were pros and who wasn’t but it didn’t matter, we all pretty much gave each other space, if possible. The pro drifters are an insane no fear bunch.

I know for sure that Doonan’s tire and PSI set up did very well and he pulled off some great drifting! He also had no weight in the box. A true master at heart.

I had about 80 lbs in the back with a cement sidewalk block and tools and the tires at 18 PSI just wanted to grip too much until the drift started, and then truck would often spin around.
Tried 4H lockers,..that’s impressive but not good for drifting so 2H it is! At day’s end we aired up and I put mine back up to 36 PSI and tore around the track….NOPE, truck lost all control on the ice and was impossible to drift.

It’s an art and getting it all right takes a ton of time, practice and the right tire set up.
Thanks Doonan for coming out and to my son’s friend for shooting the drone footage!

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[Maximus Gladius]

Some extra pics

 

[charliez]

My son does drifting, but not on ice. And not in a Jeep

 

[charliez]

**He has to buy his own tires.

 

[PlayfulBird]

**He has to buy his own tires.

Expensive hobby without sponsors ?

 

[wchevron]

How fast were you going? At a certain speed can you no longer drift and the truck just goes out of control when you turn? Looks like a blast.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

On the corners the speedometer might say 60+ km/h but the actual travel is about half of that. The driver of my truck with the strobes is my son. It was not only his first time drifting but also driving my truck. Super proud of him and we laughed a lot.
Next time i do this, I won’t have as much weight in the back and I’ll air down to around 26 PSI. It’s a learning curve. I will also hitch a ride with a pro out there and see how they work the throttle and the use of the emergency brake. Maybe I’ll see if one of them would drive the truck and give me some pointers.

 

[legacy_etu]

Looks like a blast. Great way to learn your vehicles driving dynamics which should make you a better driver on the road too.

My Uncle used to do ice racing in the 60's and 70's in VW bugs. He was a madman. I remember watching old B&W videos of him racing.

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