Sick drift at 2:25!

I'll give the guy all the credit for a suberb run (and balls of steel) but it's just not the same thing as driving it on gravel in a group B car.

Even if you ignore the sun in the eyes, stick gear changes and the way Vatanen had to use the clutch in the corners because the engine just had too much power, the sheer difficulty of traversing a low friction surface like gravel puts his time in a league of it's own.

Watch the two videos and you see the complete technical difference, Loeb goes in to low gear through the corners, doesn't drift at all (even drops in to first at points), and uses the cars acceleration combined with tarmac traction to get back up to speed. He even hits 6th gear quite a few times in the run. His control of the wheel is very smooth and measured.

Now watch Vatanen. Most of the corners, he's probably riding 2nd or 3rd and instead of breaking, is using the crazy horsepower of the engine to keep him going round the corner. He doesn't reach the same sort of top speeds of course because he's constantly fighting the loss of traction even in a straight line. His wheel control is excellent, but you can observe how he is constantly fighting to maintain his place on the road.

I suspect Loeb probably could better Vatanen's time with the same car and similar conditions, but we'll never know.

Drift Wars, anyone?

Drift landing fail?

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Great post. Don't know why you used "God" in your explanation, it's a totally irrelevant reference.
Let me describe Entropy wholly and completely to you:
"Probability"
As you mentioned evolution creates structure. Hell, atoms, molecules, galaxies, stars, gravity, magnetism, create structure.
In an atomic world, a noisy chaotic world, systems are far more likely (think brownian motion) to drift into noise than to maintain their structure. ie. There is a billion ways a system can be disrupted, and only one way where it is perfectly intact... Hence systems (or evolution or life or matter whatever) will always move towards disorder. This is Entropy.And yes, life, gravity, matter, are all working against this disorder.

Well maybe my skepticism is allayed somewhat. It seems they've got some guidance software to help with reversing. According to Volvo's site:

When reversing:
Perfect control without strain.
...

Furthermore, if you need to reverse long distances, here’s something new. The course stability is so great that you can reverse a truck and trailer more than a hundred metres without drifting off course.

A long time ago, when the Earth was green,
There was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen.
And they'd run around free when the Earth was being born,
And the loveliest of 'em all was the unicorn.

There was green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born,
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.

Well now God seen some sinnin' and it caused Him pain.
And He said, "Stand back, I'm going to make it rain!"
He said, "Hey, Brother Noah, I'll tell you what to do,
build me a floating zoo,"

"and take some of them".......

"Green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born.
Don't you forget My unicorns."

Well Old Noah he was there and he answered the callin',
And he finished makin' the ark just as the rain started to fallin'.
Then he marched in all them animals two by two,
And he sung out as they went through,

"Hey Lord,"

"I got Your green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I'm so forlorn,
I just can't see no unicorns!"

And Noah looked out through the driving rain,
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games.
They were kickin' and splashin' while the rain was pourin',
Oh, them silly unicorns!

There was green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Noah cried, "Close the door 'cause the rain is just pourin',
And we just cannot wait for no unicorn!"

The ark started moving, and it drifted with the tide,
And them unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried.
And the waters come down and sort of floated them away,
That's why you never seen a unicorn to this very day.

But you'll see green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born,
You're never gonna see no unicorn!

Read more: Irish Rovers - The Unicorn Lyrics | MetroLyrics

awesome drift, though

Just an educated guess but I suspect it's a tiny correction for wind drift which has been exaggerated by the camera angle.

The effects I think your referring to are called the "Coriolis" effect and "Gyro drift" and while they would have a similar effect this is seems like far too short of a range for them to come into play even at the relatively low velocity of that shell. That said its possible that with such a big round like that sabot "gyro drift" and maybe some sort of torque effect from leaving the barrel might be at work...

Gyro drift is due to the fact that the spinning bullet/shell starts to be pulled out of line by gravity causing the originally stable oscillation to slowly get knocked out of whack dragging the nose of the round out of line causing the round to pull slightly towards the direction it's spinning (though with a stable modern round this is very very subtle and only really comes into play at at least 1-2mile plus ranges).

The Coriolis effect is due to the fact that the earth itself is spinning. Over very long ranges the earth itself moves relative to the path of the round and so for 1-2mile plus shots one may need to compensate depending on the velocity and ballistic properties of the round. (this is why snipers tend to operate as a team because the maths and reference material necessary to account for all this plus standard bullet drop, variable wind conditions, atmospherics etc. etc. as well as maintaining situational awareness is a big ask for one person.)

Like I said though it seems unlikely they would have such a pronounced effect at such a relatively short range, the camera angle is definitely exaggerating what ever is going on there.


EDIT: I just watched it again, pretty sure it's just the camera angle (camera is slightly off to the left) I think the shell looks like it's actually travelling dead straight.

I want to listen to this as I'm flying into deep space, earth's destruction past; the last of humanity... drifting, listening, until the machine's failure and my own drift into endless slumber.

tiiiiinnnggggllllyyyy

Have I drifted into the endless black slumber of space?

To run at this level of syncronisation there must be a very effective monitoring and feedback system. It's not just mechanical syncing that will drift over time (like a watch will lose a second a day or so). If it can do this demonstration, correcting for the effect of the movements and turns on the speed of the gears, then it will just keep correcting for as long as you want.

The original: http://videosift.com/video/Wheelchair-Drifting

But it's not a dupe because some people just don't have 49 seconds to spare and may want to watch this 11 second highlight instead.

Wow @dag .... with all of the blatant flatulence throughout, that sure is some ... Song Sung Blue [if you CATch my drift]. IMPressive indeedy!

It appears that you have proven to be quite an inspiration @blankfist ... congratulations