Drifting

The Figure shows the forces acting on the race car. The forces acting on the front and rear wheel pairs are represented by one vector each. $F$ is the friction force at the front wheels. Since the front wheel is rolling freely, this force is perpendicular to the wheels. The magnitude of this force has to be less that the maximum allowed by friction, $F_{max}=\mu_s N_{front}$ , where $\mu_s$ is the static friction coefficient and $N_{front}$ is the weight of the car carried by the front wheels. As long as the front wheel is not slipping the driver has a good control of the car: By adjusting the steering wheel she can control the direction of this force.

$F'$ is the force at the rear wheels. The magnitude of this force is equal to the maximum allowed by friction, $F'=\mu_k N_{rear}$ , where $\mu_k$ is the kinetic friction coefficient and $N_{rear}$ is the weight of the car carried by the rear wheels. The direction of this force depends on the relative speed of the spinning wheels and the speed of the circular motion of the rear of the car on the track. The driver controls the direction of this force by changing the amount of gas. For example, if throttle is fully open and the wheels are spinning really fast this force is nearly parallel to the long axis of the car.

The forces $F$ and $F'$ create a torque around the center of mass. When the car is in a stationary state (turning with a steady rate) this torque must be zero. In this state the car has an angular velocity around the vertical axis that corresponds to the clockwise rotation of the car, if viewed from the top. In order to stop turning one has to stop this angular rotation. We can conclude from the drawing that the torque from the front wheels is clockwise, whereas the torque from the rear wheels is counter clockwise. If the front wheels are turned more to the left, the torque from the front wheels will be reduced and net torque will be such that is will reduce the rate of rotation of the car.

Answers:

1 Will probably make the car to spin around.

2 Correct move. Once the car stopped rotating, do #1, and step on the gas like crazy.

3 This is a sure way to get into a spin. If the driver steps on the gas more, the magnitude of the force at the rear wheels did not change much (since they are already slipping), but its direction will be more parallel to the axis of the car. Therefor the torque from the front wheels will spin the car around.

4 This may actually work, but only if the gas is a bit reduced.

Just play a car racing game and you're done.

An essential part of drifting is the voluntary loss of grip. Once established, all depends on whether the car is FWD, RWD or AWD. In this scenario it's RWD, so applying more throttle means reducing even further the already poor grip on the rear wheels, thus spinning out. Straightening the front wheels or steering them in the other direction would be even worse because they guide the car. The proper solution is to point them the way you want to go, i.e. in this case further to the left.

Turning the steering wheel left is exactly what you should do in the event of a skid. I've done it on ice, thank you very much..... LOL