My son is 19. He loves to watch reels of drift cars, and it got me thinking, what would it take to get a Dynamic 88 to drift? Imagine an early 60's Olds 88 drifting through the turns!

Or a 98, or a Vista Cruiser! OMG! What a scene, to see some dude on the drift track in a big *** Oldsmobile- and not a Cutlass or F85 either. A gen-you-wine big car drifting...

What do you think it would take to drift a big *** Oldsmobile?

 

Lots of money. Would be cool to see.

 

Lots of powuh
And money as said

 

Do you think a 455 and a TH400 could swing out the back end of a 1972 Delta 88? I had a friend back in the day who pulled a 455 out of big car and stuffed it into his Cutlass, around 1970 vintage. He could spin that car in a circle on a 2 lane road.

 

Okay, so here's a video of a dude drifting a 90's Crown Vic, and apparently it makes 900 hp- so I'm gonna say "no", a 455 and a TH400 would not be enough to drift a big a$$ Olds 88...

https://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/...t-like-a-boss/

 

Drift cars are pretty insane. They have LOTS of steering angle - way more than you'd be able to get out of an Olds without major surgery. They have massive amounts of power (and frequently blow those engines, as they're beat on relentlessly). Then there's the suspension and drivetrain to match. Lots and lots of time, money, and work.

But its possible. Here's a big ole Satellite drift car:

 

460 lb ft gross is still going to make a 4500 lb tank dance with the right driver. Here is a textbook drift from an original 1971 88 sedan road test. 4:20 minutes - 4:25 minutes.


As you can see in that video, yes for sure. And not surprised with your friends Cutlass. This is the whole reason the Olds 455 is the go to engine for Cutlass RWD. You can never go wrong even if its a 1976 version, they are all powerful.

And if you want to go nuts with an all out build, check this out. I think your son will appreciate this as well. 0:30 to 0:40 seconds


Build details in video description.

 

It's basically demo derby lite. Drift cars get the snot beat out of them. Oh, and don't forget that the engine lives on the rev limiter and any engine builder will tell you how good that is.
Personally, I don't get it. It's like figure skating with a car. There's no clear winner.

 

Can it be done? Sure, but not going to be cheap and not going to do as well as the cars doing it today. We were doing it in big cars before drifting was cool but only a turn now and then and not like today. RPM is you friend in drifting but RPM is not a friend to Oldsmobile engines. Also weight is against you with an Olds engine. Or any old school engine for that matter. Chassis geometry is also going to work heavy against you without major modifications. Even the cars they do this with today have major modification but they are starting with a more suited car.

In my area we had lots of rock roads around river bottoms and would drift the old junker cars all the time.

 

That is freakin' awesome Phl!

 

How about a wagon winning the burnout contest at LS Fest in 2019, I think it was. I was told that using old tires on the rear created a lot of smoke. Looks like about 430hp at the rear wheels would do it and make sure you have a good cooling system and an oil cooler too.

 

Neither of those is drifting. One is just power oversteer that gets immediately caught. The other is a donut. If that's all OP wants to do, then yeah, that's really easy and anyone can do it in just about anything.

Actual drifting requires far longer slides with far more slip angle, done with precision control of the car. See the first 30 seconds of the video I posted.

I'm not even a drifting fan and I know the difference.

 

Have your son wait for some snow and ice on the roads. Good training for when he loses control on a snow covered road. Always took a new ride to an closed store parking lot. To see how the car reacted. Saves on tires and you don't need a lot of HP. Snow and ice will give you a much longer distance drift time. Miss drifting like that in upstate NY.

 

I don't mean to disrespect the whole thing. I do follow Taylor Ray. You have to sift through, but the RB5 Miata is pretty bada$$.

 

Are you serious with these comments...

Powering through an oversteer is drifting.

A drift doesn't have to be a mile long to be considered a drift. That's like saying I've never raced my car because it only runs 15s rather than 9s. And that test driver wasn't trying to drift he was pushing the car to see it's limits. The drift was the inadvertent result.

Exactly , trying to control an out of control maneuver is nothing new, its just been turned into an artform.

Hilarious. I want to see a stock Y code G body, look as impressive as either vid I posted. Not on icy roads, and under the same exact conditions. Same goes for any stock 1960s 2 sp Jetaway Olds.

P.S. Are you the same one that was arguing that a Rallye 350 is not a dolled up Supreme with a reskin. Even though the factory said that's exactly what it is.

Facts over feelings, especially on this site.

If you woke up on the wrong side of the bed and want to pull your comment I'll pull mine... WTH.

 

👍👍

Agreed, yes they are. 2 of my favorite Olds vids on YouTube. I smile whenever I come across them.

200 hp 300 lb ft and 3500 lbs test is where the real fun begins in general for cars like ours. And that power to weight is also great for drifting beginners. Stock late 80s 5.0 Stangs fit the bill to a T. And if you can control those kickout rear happy lightweights and master it. You can drive anything...

 

I think control would be a huge issue given the front to rear weight ratio. I believe most of those cars are setup to as close to 50/50 as possible.

Also with the rear suspension setup wrong enough it should be easier to spin the tires.

Either way, this sounds like a great time!

 

Nope, my comments were about actual drifting. Yours weren't. Facts over feelings.

 

Odd hill to die on, fellas...

 

While it may not be my thing, I actually know people in the drift industry. OP asked about drifting. What's odd about clearing up misconceptions on the topic?