Drifting

[Voleurz]

Will having some fun in empty parking lots or snow-covered suburban street corners cause any long term damage to my car? Please don't get into the whole "it's unsafe and illegal" thing because I'm aware of that. Will doing some drifts now and again in the winter wreck the car?

[Captainmorbid]

No. Unless you hit something.

And keep it off the streets... Closed course/lot only.

[BondiBlue]

If you're talking about using the parking brake for that, yes, it will prematurely wear it out. Also if you were to suddenly catch a dry spot with your tires sliding sideways, you could probably affect your alignment/camber.

[BRGT350]

you could put extra wear on the wheel bearings, and of course tire wear if you hit dry patches. If you are in a controlled area, there are no dry spots, and the surface is of uniform conditions, you won't be wearing out anything. My ZX3 spent every winter with the handbrake in full operation for turning (yes, I would use the handbrake for any turn where dry pavement wasn't present) and suffered no premature wear. The wheel bearings were both replaced before its first winter due to a design issue, the replacement set went on for over 100,000 miles and the drum shoes lasted over 120,000.

Handbrake turns in the Fiesta are pretty much pointless since the ESC shuts down any hooning. At very low speeds, it doesn't seem to be as intrusive. Flick turns are completely out of the question since the yaw change from one direction to the other makes the ESC very upset. Sadly, my winter driving skills are going down the drain from the electronic nannies taking over.

[Iceracer]

I ice raced my 2000 ZX2SR daily driver for 5 yrs. Never hurt a thing except for getting stuck in a snow bank a few times.

[sunstealth]

turn the ESC off and the car is a dancer on ice

[BRGT350]

Originally Posted by sunstealth

turn the ESC off and the car is a dancer on ice

Sure, let me find that button. I will get back to you when I find it.