It doesn’t matter if you’re an amateur or an elite driver- drifting involves speed and high stakes. Except when it doesn’t, like when you have a frozen lake in a national park to drive on. These drifters are practicing sliding at walking speed, in quiet cars, and it looks like an absolute riot.
Alexi, an Aussie in Japan who runs a website and YouTube channel about Japanese car culture called Noriyaro, posted this little adventure with the drift crew “Team Orange” last year. But it’s snowing in America again, it’s still relevant and it will always be entertaining.
As Alexi explains, none of the vehicles in this video are running studded tires. Apparently they’re not allowed wherever Yachiho Lake is, much like many states in the U.S. where you’re not supposed to use them either. Studded tires are great for chomping into extremely slippery surfaces, though they can also do some damage to dry paved roads.
Regardless, running regular rubber on sheer ice is a surefire way to have basically no traction ever. That makes it extremely easy to get sideways, even without getting anywhere near scary speeds as you can see here.
I wouldn’t recommend driving out onto a lake unless you have a way of being dead sure it’s frozen solidly, but as long as you’re not going to fall in to really cold water this looks like the safest and possibly most-satisfying way to learn or practice drifting. Not only is it slow, but there are snow-bumpers everywhere and you’ll barely take any tread off your tires! Parent-approved hijinks, right there.