Im manual all the way but one day someone is gonna prove it can be done. People will eat words and then there will be no choice but to close this thread.

Most people when they talk about drifting aren't talking about straight up Formula D where you go into a drift at 90+ mph and hold it for massive lengths. Most people mean the technique of drifting or just the action of it. Whether that just means being able to hold a slide around a turn, ripping the e-brake to get sideways and hold it there, or some simple power-over drifting is up to them. No this car is not Formula D ready in MT or AT, but what car is in its stock form? You've got to keep an open mind.

I'm not talking about Formula D. Most of my experience has been with DMCC / DriftWest and just plain grassroots drifting out on the West Coast here.

It's a far cry from Formula D.

Well then I have no clue what you're talking about as with the AT in manual with all nannies off I'm able to pull off some very nice drifts over here in the East Coast once the sun's down and the cops are sleeping :P

I really have no idea what you're trying to argue. Are you trying to say that those of us who bought an AT shouldn't even try to have fun with it? No one is talking about doing shows or trying to become the next Block with an AT FR-S, we just wanna play around with our buddies.

What I am saying .. and I'll say it very clearly is .. an A/T car, especially one low in power, is NOT good for drifting.

I have zero issue with people trying to do it, or wanting to experiment and have fun. All the power to them.

It's just a simple fact: it's not really drifting. It couldn't pass as it in either grassroots/fun or pro/pro-am competition. The video posted .. was not really drifting.

I don't see why people have to name drop Formula D .. Ken Block .. all this pop-culture nonsense. Drifting on a very low level is still much more involved than what a basic AT FR-S is capable of.

It's possible but you're not really going to be able to get out of the car what you could with a manual transmission. With only 200hp, you will definitely want the clutch. Using clutch control for initiating and adjusting mid-slide is a great tool to have but you won't be able to do that with an AT car.

Can you kick the rear out? Yes.
Can you hold it for a bit? Yes.
Can you negotiate an entire course? Depends, but even with a decent amount of skill, the car might prove to be a bit more of a handful and I doubt it'll be anything less than a pain in the ass to be consistent in any way.

AT might not be too bad for a really small skidpad to do small or larger circles or figure 8s, or even a small course, but if you're talking about a larger course layout where you have an initial entry, negotiate and transition through corners while varying speeds... that'll suck in an AT

MT is the way to go, especially if you're talking about drifting with the car. Having a clutch to use is key. You'll notice that the higher end competitive cars will still retain the use of clutch even though a lot of them are using sequential or dogbox transmissions.

Formula d was merely my example that an at was able to competitively drift. Nuf said. Not caring about what type or what class anyone is referring to. It is my point that at one point there was an american muscle car AT that won against an s15. Thats what im saying.

Typical street drifting? This 86? Probably not the best choice. But autos have competitively drifted.

I can see more and more that there are many salty emotional folk on here than i thought and will more carefully calculate at which level of "real" i deliver my posts. I may just become a lurker and read all the tech notes that eventually surface here cause there are far to many "waaahs"

Come on guys lets chill out. And stop acting like cast members of fast and the furious.

This at vs mt pissing match is far too juvenile for any of us. If u wanna slide then slide regardless of what gearbox you have and shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sad though, I was looking at this more as exploring the possibilities in the beginning. I had a feeling it would turn out like this.

Myself, I had no expectations for anything beyond what was illustrated in that video, and I had no delusions that the AT was capable of much more than that.
I think what is often ignored is the fact that new blood, be it naive or just lacking facts, experience, and the knowledge need to be educated.

It most certainly could have been handled in a more productive way.
Constructive rather than destructive criticism is more effective, and it keeps people coming back.....

Judging by the vid posted you CAN "drift" with an auto if that's what you want call what was happening, just like you CAN boil a pot of water with a magnifying glass. Although I wouldn't recommend either.

So an Auto FR-S putting down, say 400whp couldn't compete, simply because it's an Auto?

I'm not going to make that call. Just because I can't deny it - that doesn't make it feasible.

Maybe someone should try it.

What does the type of transmission have to do with anything related to drifting?