‘DriftVette’ Hits High-Speed Road Course, Punishes Tires

Amateur drifter brings his C5 to a high-speed road course, and has a rough night.

The standard C5 Corvette is an amazing sports car for the money. In today’s market many C5s are selling for under $10,000, which is incredible value for the performance.

Taylor Ray was able to purchase a C5 Corvette at a reasonable price. He is an amateur drifter and calls his C5 the “DriftVette.” Taylor has been modifying the DriftVette slowly over time, as he learns to drive the car at the limit.

Drifting is an art more than a typical motorsport. In all other motorsports it is about being the fastest around the track. Drifting is more like a ballet, in which you control the car on the limit of grip. The skill is in mastering the level of grip and sliding to achieve the right balance. Add too much power and the car will loop. Add too little and it will straighten out.

In drifting competitions drivers are judged and given points based on the course setup for the event. The object is to place the car while sliding, generating smoke, having extreme angles, and staying right on the bumper of your fellow competitor. So, it takes lots of time behind the wheel to master it and Taylor practices in his DriftVette and other cars often.

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In this video, Ray learns that when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong as takes his DriftVette out to Palm Beach International Raceway for an open drift event. He is able to run on the road course and the skid pad. He is unprepared, however, as he only brought one set of rear tires for the hungry DriftVette. Yes, that is foreshadowing.

And in the first session he burns through this set on the high speed road course. The tread strips away from the tire and slaps the fender of his C5, scratching paint and ripping off his GoPro camera. It’s an entertaining watch in an otherwise solid drifting car.