Drifting
Drifting is a very important technique to learn, and a virtual necessity for
doing well in the upper classes and while playing online. Drifting is
performed by pressing and holding the R trigger while turning. Drifting
allows you to kind of slide-turn, where you sacrifice a bit of control for the
reward of maintaining your momentum around a corner. Drifting is one of those
things that requires quite a bit of practice in order to perfect. A good
amount of prep time before a turn is vital for a good drift. For example,
drifting might not be as effective on a bunch of repeated sharp turns in a row
as it would be on a long turn that you come at from a distance. That's not to
say that drifting is a technique you use sparingly, in this game it's almost
always the preferred choice in any turn of a reasonable angle. A good drift
is one which begins before you even reach the turn, and has you facing in the
direction that you will be turning by the time you actually reach the turn.
At that point you let go of the R trigger and stop turning. You should be
able to drive forward in the new direction with a very minimal loss of speed.
