RawDrift - The All Skill Style of R/C Drift

by Steve Fujita on Jul 01, 2026 Categories: REVIEW/TECH/HOW-TO

June 7, 2026

Introduction

I posted about Gyroless Drifting close to a year ago and there were quite a few of you who expressed interest. There were also some who wanted to come at me negatively for wanting to share my journey with everyone. Due to my personality, I made the decision to continue my journey alone (Not Online). I just found the negativity to be unnecessary and not part of why I enjoy this hobby.

I wasn't trying to prove anything, I was just doing this to challenge myself, and I felt sharing my journey would be cool for others to share in my wins and fails. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, so the last thing I needed was someone trying to kill my vibe before it even had a chance. Negativity is like a cancer and is something I really try to not surround myself with. I suspect anyone trying this has been met with some sort of pushback for whatever reason.

I have been doing RawDrift off and on for a little over 10 years now. Every time I started down that path, I didn't feel like the chassis were quite right. I would do this off and on occasionally. Recently though, it seems the advancements in chassis design have finally made it possible. So to start, I need to say, let’s forget everything I have said about this in the past. Everything up to this point has been part of the process to get here. There were many dead-ends and wrong conclusions, but for anyone who has tried to do something without any type of guide, you know how trial and error works. You have many breakthroughs and wins, and even more failures. We also know you learn the most from the failures. Everything up til now has been me trying to share the journey with everyone.

I will do my best to bring everything together here and share my experience with you guys. Basically hoping to save you from going down the wrong paths initially if you decide this is something you want to try.

RawDrift - What is this?

RawDrift is what we have called this style of R/C Drift. Just raw skill, no gyros, no assist. Joe, Tyler, and myself have been part of the OG Super-G Drift Team, The RawFew, so it only seemed fitting to have Raw in part of the name. You may find yourself asking why would we even want to do this. Ever since I started down this path (Even 10+ years ago), I have asked myself the same thing. The answer has changed through the different stages of RawDrift, but I would have to say the underlying answer is, I’m always seeking ways to challenge myself. Not everyone shares this thinking, but I know there are some out there who do. Tyler (ScaleMagic) said it best,

“I like to make things harder than they need to be” - Tyler (ScaleMagic)

I see his statement as, "There are easier ways to do things, but that's now what it's about for me."

I have opened the door to a few people to go at this alongside of me, but surprisingly they end up giving up as soon as they realized it’s not something they can pick up in a few hours. This is considerably more difficult than learning GyroDrift. It is very close to learning to drive a high CS (Counter-Steer) chassis, and I don't mean keeping it pegged to pull you through the corners like many did back then. I mean only using the front wheels to save you when you were going to spin. It's a challenge, it's skill-building, and it's extremely rewarding.

Right now there are 3 of us, Joe, Tyler, and myself who have completely switched. We all agree, there is really no reason to go back to GyroDrift. This is how we drive RC Drift now. I am only speaking for myself here, but I find it to be a lot more fun by a huge margin. Don't let my frustrated look fool you, that frustration is part of the fun somehow.

We incidentally all come from the days of 50/50, CS, and ultimately RWD (GyroDrift). I think this helped with understanding there is a process to learning something new. None of us thought it would be something we would be good at in a week or so. I believe we all feel some sort of reward from being able to do something that is difficult at first. Developing a skill and being able to apply it has some reward to it. Not knowing if it was even possible made it even more interesting for me.

Probably the most interesting part - How Does RawDrift Feel?

Once I was able to comfortably drive RawDrift, I went back to one of my GyroDrift chassis to see how it is. This made me realize everything I was thinking as I was going through it was not what it seemed. This made me realize why some people feel like telling me why I’m wrong, yet they cannot do it themselves. As I passed each stage of progression, I realized something new as I looked back. These things seemed so wrong until I was able to look back, then it was obvious why things are as they are. The changes felt minimal as I was going through it, but when I look back, it's huge.

RawDrift

Driving RawDrift feels like I am constantly pushing the rear-end out. I am constantly balancing the throttle to keep the wheels breaking traction, while counter-steering to keep it under control and moving in the direction I want. The entire time I am balancing the throttle and steering input to achieve the line and angle I want. The chassis feels like it wants to go straight ALL THE TIME, so it is a constant push to keep the rear-end out. Seems opposite of how it felt when I first started, but trust me, this is absolutely how it is. I went from trying to keep the rear-end from coming around on me, to trying to push the rear-end out and keep sliding. Trying to not spin isn't even a thought anymore. It is not much different from GyroDrift, just more control.

GyroDrift

Right away GyroDrift feels like the car is artificially DRAGGING the rear-end around. It feels really unnatural. I think this is why the first time people try an RC Drift car, the initial reaction is, “What the hell?” And the next line is, “Just let the gyro do it’s thing.” From that point, you steer where you want to go, and the gyro does it’s thing. When you give it throttle, you need to fight every urge to counter-steer and you learn to let the gyro catch it. In fact, trying to catch the slide by instinctively counter-steering is wrong. Going back to it now, it is just a really strange feeling.

It Moves Different

I have found myself very engaged watching the cars on the track that are driving RawDrift. There are small, natural movements that are cancelled out by the gyro. Any variation in the surface, change in traction, small changes in speed, these all cause small but noticeable changes in the angle and movement of the cars as they are driving. They are present in RawDrift since there is nothing correcting due to these small movements, but in GyroDrift they are completely eliminated. I also found it to be interesting to watch the corrections being made. Seeing someone blow their initiation, but still manage to pull it off is exciting. Normally the gyro will save the day and has become very non-eventful.

The Learning Curve (Part 2)

When you first take the gyro off your chassis and you start to drive, the chassis feels very loose, twitchy, and uncontrollable. It feels like any little movement messes you up. I would say at this point it feels impossible. Kind of like the way you felt the first time you tried to ride a bike. This should demonstrate just how much the gyro is doing for you. It’s not a simple simulation of returning your steering to center. The gyro is making it possible for you to even drive your car. That is a little bit more than just simple feedback on your steering.

All of a Sudden It’ll Just Click

Once you break your GyroDrift muscle memory, an interesting thing happens. Your chassis becomes stable as if there is a gyro on there. When this happened to me, I took a really good look at my chassis to see if someone had hidden a gyro on there just to mess with me. Not joking. This wasn’t a gradual shift, it was sudden. One day I came in and it felt simple to drive. The night before was still a struggle. This is really the definition of something suddenly clicking.

I wasn’t what I would consider “good” at this point, but driving RawDrift suddenly felt like it had before I removed the gyro. My steering didn't look as smooth as before, but now instead of the car feeling like it wanted to spin, it felt like it wanted to go straight. My focus wasn’t how to not spin, but how to keep the rear-end out and hold the angle I want, and I started working on being smoother on my inputs. Steering with throttle input became more important than ever. One of the keys to smoother steering.

From this point forward, it has been just practicing to get better. I attribute this to muscle memory just automatically counter-steering the correct amount. The challenge at this point had shifted from making it around the track to keeping the rear-end sliding and not gripping up. Steering stopped feeling twitchy and uncomfortable. It just feels normal, like there is still a gyro on the car. Anyone who has tried running RawDrift, but has not been to the point it feels there is a gyro in the car, has not broken the GyroDrift muscle memory. (The biggest challenge, and the most defining)

Driving RawDrift (Gyroless) - What is the difference?

The gyro is always trying to keep your car straight by increasing or decreasing the amount of counter-steer provided by your servo. Once you become used to it, it feels natural, but when you are not used to it, you feel very disconnected from your steering. There is a break between your steering input and what your servo actually does. When you are comfortable with GyroDrift, you end up not noticing the disconnect. When you are not used to the gyro breaking the input to the servo, it feels for a lack of a better term, crazy. It's as if it is being controlled by someone or something other than yourself, and really it is.

For any given speed, angle, desired path, and throttle position, there is a very narrow area your steering should be at. This is the key to the entire RawDrift driving. This is also where the gyro gets confusing and becomes backward, sometimes. Sometimes? Yes, sometimes.

Before we go any further, we should take a look at what a Gyro is actually doing.

The Stages of Gyro (Part 3)

I think a very important part of understanding where R/C Drift is going (For some of us), is knowing where R/C Drift has been.

Tuning Back Story (Short, Condensed Version)

Ever since I started R/C Drifting, tuning has always been a huge part of this hobby, and one of my favorite aspects. Especially once we went to CS (Counter-Steer). If your chassis wasn’t tuned "Just right", it was all about spin city. Ackerman, Toe, Camber, Caster, Track-Width, Damper Fluid, Damper Piston holes, Spring Rate, Damper Angle, FDR, KPI, Trail, etc. The list goes on and on. This wasn’t about getting around the track faster or getting more angle, this was about getting around the track without spinning or crashing. Many comps / battles back then were won or lost by simply not spinning out.

When RWD started to take hold, the standard gyro was the D-Like Guild n one. It was very basic and the only setting you had was the Gyro Gain (and Servo Reverse). Not even an endpoint setting. (This was adjusted by the length of the servo horn) Other companies started releasing their own versions of the same gyro. Some felt identical and some were slightly different. We were given 4 different gyros from a company and they wanted our feedback on which one felt the best. It was at that time we knew there was something more to gyros than just keeping the car from spinning. Funny enough, we said we liked the one that felt closest to the D-Like, because that’s what we were tuning around at that time, so we didn’t need to change the setup. I remember them affecting how quickly the rear-end came around and how snappy it could transition. This was really a view into the future. We just didn’t know it at the time.

The Pre-GYD and GYD Era

The hot topic of conversation in the pits was always about tuning. I had quite a few friends that we would always discuss what we had found and different tips and tricks. Not too different than what still goes on today, but it was for different reasons. We were just trying to figure out how to make the chassis more stable and keep the same speed and angle as everyone else. We weren't trying to be faster, the goal was to be able to tandem comfortably together. This was a long process and for the most part an ongoing challenge. When Futaba released the GYD550, it was a game changer. I feel this was a pivotal point in RC Drift.

Pre-GYD

If you wanted quicker transitions, you had to tune your chassis to achieve this. If your chassis had a tendency to want to over-steer, you had to tune your chassis to be more stable. If you wanted snappier transitions, you needed to play with your dampers and springs. Spinning out was still a real consideration and something we all fought with. Trying to find that setup where we wouldn't spin or crash was always the goal. There was still a lot of tuning of your chassis to get things “just the way you want it.” I’m not saying this is not the case today, but what I am saying is today it is to a lot lesser degree. Today there are other options to achieve very similar results.

The GYD Era

After Futaba introduced the GYD550, the RC Drift game went through a pretty significant change. I still remember when my friend Ryno had the GYD for a few days, he called me up. We used to talk tunes, but this time he started by saying, “Hey, with the GYD you don’t even need to tune the chassis! You just get it close, and the gyro does the rest! You can adjust EVERYTHING!!!” Since then, most of the modern day gyros have adopted some sort of setting to tailor the gyro to better suit your setup and preference. Coming from the Pre-GYD days, it really feels like Ryno said,

"Get the chassis close and the Gyro does the rest." - Ryno (Limited Traction)

I believe because of this, everyone’s driving has become closer to the same. I don't mean this in a bad way. What I’m saying is most everyone is after something similar, and it’s not as difficult as it once was to achieve it. There was a lot that went into a winning run. If your tune wasn’t just right, you weren’t just a couple clicks away from being dialed, you might be hours, days, weeks, or even months away. It wasn’t as simple as just dialing out something you didn’t like. On the gyro back then, you only had gyro gain. It wasn't fixing or masking anything. If your setup wasn't right, you were going to struggle to get around the track.

What Does A Gyro Do

What does the Gyro do? The Gyro is doing what it needs to do to keep the steering and throttle balanced to keep the car from spinning. There are other factors, but that is the basics of what is going on. There is a direct correlation between the throttle input and what the steering needs to do. The gyro maintains this balance by taking control of the steering only.

How does it do this?

The Gyro is placed between the receiver and the steering servo. It reacts to the yaw (Twist of the chassis around its vertical axis). As the chassis begins to over-steer, the gyro senses this, and applies the correct amount of counter-steer to attempt to keep the chassis tracking straight.

Since it’s based on electronically sensing this, it is immediate. Some will argue this is the very reason why it is impossible to drift without a gyro.
(Keep this fact in the back of your mind for the time being.)

Once the Gyro counter-steers and prevents the chassis from spinning, it begins to return to center as your input of counter-steering matches with where the steering needs to be to keep the chassis under control, or should I say, moving in the direction you want to go. During all your practice, you have learned to get your steering into the general area of where it needs to be to continue the direction you want to go, then fine tune to where it needs to be. The Gyro compensated for your lack of accuracy and timing, and continues to make adjustments to keep the chassis stable.

Essentially, the Gyro counter-steers for you and allows you to be sloppy with your steering. Don’t go getting defensive, that really is the truth and is why GyroDrift is so much easier than RawDrift when you are first starting RWD R/C Drift.

It would be as if you are shooting hoops, and you just need to throw the ball in the general direction, and the basket moves to make sure the ball goes in. Of course if you throw the ball in the complete opposite direction you will still miss, but get it in the general area and the moving basket takes care of the rest.

So if that is the case, shouldn’t it become easier to drive RawDrift after becoming proficient at GyroDrift? No, it doesn’t work like that, and there are a few good reasons for this.

One, driving with a gyro actually teaches you to do the opposite of what you need to do in many cases. The second is a big one, using a gyro breaks the mental link between throttle input and steering input. There is a definite link between throttle input and steering input which is the key to RawDrift.

Let’s Look At What Else The Gyro Does

Now that we know basically what the gyro is doing, let’s talk about what else the gyro does. It’s common for people to say the gyro “ONLY does this” or it “simulates that” and they try to discount how much assist it really provides. It took for me to break away from the gyro to really “know” what the gyro is actually doing, and I can tell you, it’s doing A LOT.

In the early stages I would have said it simply keeps you from spinning, and that is a lot, but that is not even close to being correct. It took for me to be able to drive without it to be able to comprehend that it really is doing a lot more. This is one of those instances where it's not obvious til you look back.

The Futaba GYD550 - the King of Gyros (IMHO) makes it a lot easier to illustrate this. Since the GYD550 allows the most fine tuning of all the gyros I’m familiar with, it opened the door to see what the gyro is actually controlling.

If you can tune a setting, then that means the gyro is affecting this action. I’m sure we can all agree on this.
(If you are using a gyro other than the GYD550, then some of these adjustments are preset. Regardless, the gyro is controlling these actions.)

Tail Slide Speed - This is the biggest one for me. This controls how fast or slow the backend of the car comes around. If the gyro controls this, it's safe to say it is affected by the steering as it reacts.

Steering Control Gain - This controls how much the steering input has priority over the gyro. At the same time, how much control the gyro has over your steering.

Steering Speed - This controls how quickly the servo is allowed to move to its desired position. This will affect how your front wheels track or slip. You are in control of steering slower, but using this setting artificially limits how quickly the steering can move.

Standard Mode wants to keep the car from spinning while going straight

Once you are in drift in Standard Mode, the gyro is keeping the car from spinning and you are guiding the path of the car by increasing or decreasing the amount of counter-steer. You are also controlling the angle by increasing or decreasing throttle. If you exceed the amount of steering that can be added by the gyro (Physical Limitations) then as you add more throttle the angle will increase, and the radius will tighten.

ACVS Mode wants to keep the car from spinning while continuing on the same trajectory (Curve)

Once you are in drift in ACVS Mode, the gyro is keeping the car from spinning AND keeping the car on the same curve if you hold the steering steady. You can deviate from this trajectory by increasing or decreasing counter-steer. You control your angle by increasing or decreasing throttle. Again, if you exceed the amount of steering that can be added by the gyro (Physical Limitations) then as you add more throttle, the angle will increase, and the radius will tighten.

The above listed gyro functions are aspects of driving that the gyro is handling for you. So it should also be safe to say, without a gyro interfering, you have full control over, and are responsible for these actions. What I am finding is these functions are what has made R/C Drift so uniform recently. It is electronically controlling what would and could be style added by the driver.

YOU CAN'T REACT AS FAST AS THE GYRO!!! (Part 4)

OK, so back to the fact that the gyro reacts by sensing the movement of the chassis. Some have made the argument that since the gyro is in the car and reacts by sensing the movement, there is no possible way a human can react as quickly. By the time you see it, it's too late. Therefore it is impossible to drift without a gyro. Sounds reasonable I suppose. I think believing this to be true is one of the main reasons why people have just accepted that Drifting without a gyro just cannot be done. Defeated by theory.

As I continued on my journey and my skills progressed, I realized there was a link between my throttle and my steering. Here is a simplified explanation:

More throttle = More angle.

More angle = More counter-steer to keep from spinning.

What this really means is - More throttle = More counter-steer.
(ALL ELSE BUILDS OFF THIS PREMISS).

Do We Even Need To React As Fast As The Gyro?

The gyro senses the movement of the chassis to adjust how much counter-steer to apply.

In RawDrift, it becomes second nature to know how much counter-steer to apply based on how much throttle is being applied and visually seeing what is happening with the chassis. More specifically, how much angle is being added (or how much will be) and how quickly it is getting there. This is mostly dictated by the throttle, but also with how fast or slow I am steering. The slower I steer into the slide, the faster the the rear-end comes out. (Tail Slide Speed)

Since I am not relying on the movement of the chassis to know how much counter-steer is needed, I can actually react quicker than the gyro can. Yes, I said that. This is a huge fact. Essentially, as I became more accustomed to driving RawDrift, I started to instinctively counter-steer as I would start to slide. In many cases, this happens sooner than a gyro would be able to respond since I am anticipating what will be next.

When I drive a GyroDrift chassis now, I am reacting before the gyro does, then the gyro starts to counter my input and it becomes a mess. So I need to force myself to just steer in the direction I want to go and let the gyro do the rest. It feels very disconnected and very “pre-set.” It gets to a certain angle and locks. I have become very in-tune with where my steering is and what my front wheels should be doing, and with GyroDrift, they are not doing what my input is dictating, they are doing what the gyro is dictating, and those 2 are very different.

Style - Now It’s All You

Now that we know that RawDrift is possible, what is the benefit you may ask. As with anything that uses some sort of aid, there is more control. Everything the chassis does now is all based on what I am doing and how I am doing it. I would call that style, mistakes and all. It might not be all that right now, but it's a skill I'm developing and that is a challenge that really intrigues me.

Gyro Gain - Instead of turning the Gyro Gain up, as my skill comes up, it as if I am turning my Gyro Gain up. I am now in full control of being able to remain smooth and in control. The better my skill, the smoother I will be, instead of just turning up the Gyro Gain.

Tail Slide Speed - Instead of dialing in how fast or slow I want my transitions to be, I am now in full control of this for every transition. Fast when I want, and slow when I want. When I start to counter-steer, the speed in which I counter-steer, and how I start my transition all contribute to my Tail Slide Speed.

Steering Speed (Turn and Return) - Both speed of Turn and Return are now based on how I want to drive at that particular moment. Sometimes I may want the front to have some slip, other times I may want to have more tracking and grip. Rather than allowing the gyro to dictate this (More correctly limit this. Steering speed sets the max speed your servo can turn and return), I have full control at any given moment by adjusting the speed in which I turn and return.

I am in no way knocking RC Drift as it is today. There is no denying it is the most advanced and most popular it's ever been. At the same time, I have been noticing for the past 2-3 years, the driving has become very “uniformed”. There are many different chassis out there, even more different skill levels, yet everyone’s driving seems to be very close to the same “style”. I attribute this to the modern day gyro.

There are drivers with harder flicks and snappier transitions, but the difference between the best and the average is minimal. I remember in the days of CS, there were average drivers and awesome drivers. The skill level between the two were very obvious. I feel GyroDrift has leveled the playing field somewhat. Not completely, but somewhat.

I suspect as more make the move to RawDrift (Which I strongly believe is inevitable at this point), we will start to see the inherent differences in chassis designs and drivers with distinct driving styles. I can see shorter wheel base cars handling visibly different from the longer wheel base cars. Different suspension setups being capable of different types of transitions. I can also see some drivers able to do things that nobody else can pull off, just out of pure talent and skill. The possibilities are endless once the control is in the driver’s hands and not electronically set / limited. There are a few drivers that come to mind that I know without a doubt have the skill and ability to push to the next level of driving. I hope the movement takes hold for this very reason.

Going RawDrift (Part 5)

RawDrift has always had the underlying objective of providing information that would make it easier for those wanting to cross over. There has been a lot of dead ends and wrong theories, so I hope this can save some of you from going down these wrong and very frustrating paths. My suggestion would be to become proficient driving without a gyro first. THEN try to make the chassis better. There is plenty to learn with a basic setup. I believe with a solid foundation and understanding of the how and why, the limits will be able to be pushed further and sooner.

Tuning To Make It Easier Is A Recipe For Failure

When you are first starting, there is no way you can know if the problem is you or the car. More times than not, it's going to be you. The symptoms are the same, and both feel like it should be easier. I know it's tempting to try to make adjustments to make it easier. I have seen it time and time again. I have given a few people really good driving chassis, and instead of developing their skills and learning how to drive RawDrift, they want to tune the chassis to make it “easier.”

Imagine this, you give someone a perfectly good riding bicycle, and the person who doesn’t know how to even ride a bike falls a couple times, then starts changing things around to make it easier for them to ride. Next thing you know, their handlebars are sideways and their seat is on backward. They fall a few more times, then they say riding a bike isn’t for them. Huh? Yeah, that’s exactly what they have done. Sideways handlebars and a backward seat, and they feel they actually tried. Yes, I'm looking right at you! (You all know who you are, the ones trying to ride bikes with backward seats) Just get a solid driving chassis and learn to drive RawDrift. THEN the adjustments will make sense. Maybe you will ultimately end up with your seat backward, but at least you know that is something that actually works. If not, you can go back to what does.

Going Back and Forth, RawDrift, GyroDrift, RawDrift, GyroDrift

Some feel like they can go back and forth between RawDrift and GyroDrift while they are learning RawDrift. Eventually people just do what is easier since one feels messed up and hard to do, and one is easy and makes you feel like a hero. If you are going to give RawDrift an honest try, take that gyro and RIP IT RIGHT OFF LIKE A BAND-AID!!! Don't talk about it, be about it.

Sticking with RawDrift and seeing progression is rewarding and very noticeable. Doing RawDrift then jumping to GyroDrift then jumping back again makes it feel like you will never get better since the difference at that moment is so great, even if you are making good progress in RawDrift it wont feel like it.

What Is A Good Chassis To Start With

I think the key factor in learning to drive RawDrift is having a chassis that is on the forgiving side. There are some chassis that are easier and some that are more difficult to learn on. There were a few theories I had, and a few others have brought these up as well. So I’m sure it’s a common way of thinking. Before getting into which chassis, let me share my findings with some of the common ideas to "make it easier:"

50/50 Weight Distribution is probably a good place to start. - False
My findings were 50/50 made it very difficult to hold drift. It did not want to pivot around the front wheels. Rather it would want to slide sideways. Having the rear wanting to pendulum around the front makes is easier. 40/60ish.
Slow the steering down to smooth it out. - False
I found the opposite to be true. The faster and the more accurate the steering setup, the easier it is to be smooth. The slower your steering is, the faster the rear-end comes around. The faster you can get your front wheels to where they need to be, the less corrections you will be making. The twitchiness you see isn't the servo being too fast, it's the driver needing to make corrections. For myself I found the slower the servo the bigger the corrections were. The slower servo made it significantly more difficult. Smoothness with a fast servo will come with time.
Make the suspension really stiff so it’s easy to control. - False
Really stiff suspension made the chassis not want to change direction. Without a gyro, you need to really utilize the weight transfer. With a gyro, you use the weight shift to overcome the gyro to get the rear-end out. Without a gyro, you aren’t fighting anything. So it takes considerably less weight transfer to snap the rear-end out. Not too stiff, not too soft, balance is the key. Learning to load up the suspension and utilizing that energy to transition is invaluable.
Increasing the traction on the rear will make it easier - False
I found the opposite to be true. The easier the rear-end slides, the less you need to “push” it out. Also, if you have too much rear traction, when you give throttle to add more angle, it will also push forward. This is NOT the desired effect, and will just complicate things even more.
Turning the gyro gain lower and lower is a good way to get used to RawDrift - False
Because of the way the gyro works, there are some points where you are steering opposite of what you need to. So as long as there is a gyro between you and your steering servo, that will always be there. That is the hardest part to learn, and when you finally take the gyro out, you will need to face your biggest obstacle. You just need to do it. The biggest gain is breaking the GyroDrift muscle memory. The rest is easy after that.

I'm not saying I am the authority on this, but I have gone down a lot of wrong paths, so I am comfortable in saying I have a lot of experience in this area. Of course I can be wrong, and I am sure I am on many things. I might even be going down the wrong path right now. I'm just trying to help by sharing my findings. Your mileage may vary.

With that being said, I decided I would test multiple chassis and see which ones I would recommend to start with. I felt it was important to find a good starting point, BOX STOCK.

If I have learned anything in my years of RC Drift, (and RC in general) that would be going off a setup sheet only gets people in the ball park. There are too many variables that make a decent amount of difference based on who is setting it up. My chassis I set up from a setup sheet will be different than a chassis setup by someone else from the same setup sheet. This is partially why my top choice sits on the top of the list. There is very little to build differently on this one.

BOX STOCK: (In order of easiest to drive)

Reve D - RDX - Stock Spool. Most fool-proof build with fixed links and spool. Built in stock form, the RDX was very forgiving and the steering feels “just right.” Build it the way the book says, and you can be sure the problem is not the car.
Note: It was the slowest I tested by a good margin.

Shibata - GRK5-R - Ball Diff 100 on Sky RC Diff Analyzer. My top choice for the longest time. I learned the most with this chassis. Very stable and forgiving. Probably my top choice to learn on if budget wasn’t part of the equation. Built to stock spec from the book.
Note: Upgrades made it more difficult to drive. Stock form is amazing to learn on.

Shibata - GRK GSII Mod - (Ball Diff 100 on Sky RC Diff Analyzer) Added Diff. Close to the GRK5-R, but not quite there. Slightly less forgiving at angle, but a lot more forgiving on the budget.
Note: Appears adding the upgraded slide rack can be a very worthwhile upgrade. Brings it close to GRK5-R

MST - FRX RS - A Front Motor / Rear Drive setup. Out of the box, not a bad way to go. Handles well, but was slightly down on speed.
Note: Not as different as I thought it would be.

Yokomo - SD 3.0 - Belt Drive - Average. What I would expect. The belt seemed to add an additional layer of challenge. Not sure if it was worse, or just different. It was definitely doable.

Yokomo - RD 2.0 - Average. What I would expect.

NOT STOCK / Chassis Conversion: (In order of easiest to drive)

Azada - Avalon - TCD (Gold Spring) My top choice and personal chassis. I found being able to adjust the left/right spring independent of the up/down to be beneficial. Not quite as stable as GRK5-R, but more nimble and more forgiving when tuned.
Note: Ended up being my main chassis. Not sure if I would recommend over the GRK5-R to start with.

Rhino Racing - SV2 - TCD (Gold Spring)My second choice at the moment. I'm finding the added rear traction to make it a little more challenging Than the Avalon. . Results are pointing toward the most aggressive while remaining manageable.
Note: Fastest of all I have tested by a considerable margin. Not sure if that is a good thing.

Team AD - AD-X - Need to revisit. I tested this early on, so I suspect it was my lack of understanding and skill that made it difficult at that time.
Note: Similar to the Rhino Racing Shark. Did not have TCD to test with.

Rhino Racing - Shark -Need to revisit. I tested this early on, so I suspect it was my lack of understanding and skill that made it difficult at that time.
Note: Similar to the Team AD AD-X. Did not have TCD to test with.

ELECTRONICS SETUP

Servo

This is one of the most important areas of RawDrift. At first the steering seemed jittery. So the immediate conclusion was I need to slow my steering down. The opposite was actually true. Quick and accurate steering makes for a smoother driving chassis. Enough torque to hold accurate is a must. My findings were the jitters came from not having the steering in the correct spot. The smaller the correction the less noticeable it is. The constant correcting also makes it look and feel jittery. Experimenting with Servo Speed also showed me how much this affects the Tail Slide Speed.

Normal, SR, and UR Mode (Does it even make a difference?)

When I first realized how important steering speed is, was when I experimented with Normal, SR, and UR modes. I didn’t notice much of a difference between Normal and SR mode, but when I went to UR mode, my driving became instantly smoother and took less effort for me to get around the track smoothly. I thought it could be the placebo effect, so I had 2 others try, but I didn’t tell them what the difference was. Both immediately were smoother in UR Mode. I believe this is due to the increased frame rate. Normal is 333Hz, SR is 830Hz, and UR is 1670Hz. So it reacts quicker and more precisely.

Getting your front wheels pointed where they need to be has proven to be extremely important. I guess at this level, every little bit makes a difference. Not 100% necessary, but sure does make things easier to learn.

ESC Tuning

Since Throttle Control is one of the main factors in being able to drive RawDrift, I found learning in Blinky Mode worked the best (Blinky Mode = No Boost and No Turbo). I then adjusted wheel speed the old fashioned way, with gearing. This provided me with the widest range for the throw on the throttle. I found Boost made modulating the throttle very difficult since it would cause the wheels to spool up quick past a certain point.

I had experimented a lot with this. First, the smoother the better. I went with a Acuvance Xarvis XX and a Fledge 10.5T. Setting the ESC Drive Frequency to 64kHz really helped with being able to finely modulate the wheel speed. The 10.5T over the 13.5T because it spooled up quicker. It seems best to be able to adjust wheel speed as quickly and accurately as possible.

Recently, as I became very comfortable driving this way, I have been able to introduce Boost and Turbo. It just makes it more of a handful than it really needs to be. I suspect at some point I will be able to return to the same type of settings we are running current day, but that is part of the progression.

DIFFERENTIAL

Spool - This is probably the easiest to use since it doesn't grip up much in the corners and remains constant the entire time. However, it is slower overall.

Gear - Since I run my gear diffs dry, there is always a lot of traction. I found the line between sliding and gripping up to be very fine. It isn't a bad option, but there are options that are easier to drive.

Ball - Being able to dial in a bit of resistance made this my preferred diff until recently. I found a correctly built Ball Diff with tension of 100 (Flysky Diff Analyzer) was ideal for me. It was the most consistent. It provided very predictable results.

C-LSD - Using the C-LSD seems best when paired with a Gyro due to the way it engages based on RPM. I found the sudden changes made it very challenging to drive with any type of consistency.

TCD - Until the TCD was introduced, the Ball Diff was my top choice. However, once the TCD was available, this without a doubt became my favorite for RawDrift. It is very consistent while in drift, but when you need the rear to grip up, such as when I am in danger of over-rotating, easing off the throttle causes the rear tires to bite and it pulls the front end back around. This actually simplified things quite a bit for me. I'm not sure if it's because of where my skill was at when it was introduced, or if it just makes things easier. Regardless, this is my goto diff at the moment.

WHEEL WEIGHT (It works kind of like a gyro)

We found adding some weight to the front wheels helps with getting the rear-end out. On the inside of the wheel where you put the tire foam, we wrap one revolution of 1oz / Inch Lead Tape. This seems to add a gyroscopic effect and allows the the steering action to push the rear-end out instead of just flicking the fronts. Too much weight will make life more difficult, as will putting weight in the rear wheels. The older aluminum Overdose wheels (Without the cutouts) seem to work well also.

TRICKY AND UNEXPECTED RESPONSES

I had come across a few things that took me a while to figure out. Once I figured it out, it was simple, but I wish I had just known from the start. There was always that nagging thought of "This is why you need a gyro."

Why does my car suddenly slam to the outside for no reason?

This was probably the worst one to figure out cause it is the most dramatic. I will use a Left-hand sweeper to demonstrate. When the car is in drift, the front wheels are aimed in the direction it is traveling. In this case, they are aimed hard right. The car is sliding toward the right and the front wheels are aimed into the drift. Suddenly, the front end will slam to the outside rail. It feels like it happens in a blink of an eye. The cause of this is simple, the rear tires gripped up. The result is the rear wheels are now the pivot point of the car, and since the front wheels are aimed hard right, the front goes exactly where the wheels are pointed. This causes the car to slam to the outside rail.

The solution is to keep the rear wheels spinning. Since the traction varies throughout the course, and as the speed of the car increases, the wheel speed also needs to increase to keep the rear wheels from gaining traction and becoming a pivot point. This ends up being second nature after awhile.

Why does my car suddenly slam to the outside when I'm exiting a corner?

The cause is very similar to above, but there are some slight differences. Let's use the same sweeper this time. So as you approach the straight, the car is in the same position again, sliding to the right, front wheels pointed hard right. With the gyro, this part is easy. You let off the throttle to lessen the car's angle and the car heads onto the straight. The gyro straightens the front wheels as the angle of the car becomes more shallow. If the gyro isn't there to do this, as the angle lessens, the front will start to track toward the outside since that's where the wheels are aimed. At that point, it seems to be natural to let off the throttle even more causing the front to slam to the outside.

This takes some practice, but as you let off the throttle, the steering needs to straighten at the same time to keep the front balanced with the rear. If More angle = More counter-steer, then Less angle = Less counter-steer. I am now responsible for both.

Where I'm At As Of Today

This is interesting as it has been evolving as I have been writing this. I have 2 top chassis right now that I can't decide between. The Azada Avalon and the Rhino Racing SV2. Both have their own unique characteristics and I am trying to settle on one. I know there are many of you who like to have many different chassis. I am the type that locks in on one, and that is where I focus all my attention.

I have found I can comfortably drive all my chassis I have RawDrift now. My true test was to pull out my RE-r I had set up 4-5 years ago, and just disconnect my gyro and let'er rip. It was surprisingly easy to drive. It's safe to say, as long as the chassis is setup somewhat well, I can now drive it without issue. This was surprising to me.

I have found with my limited track time recently (maybe 2-4 hours a month now) there is a "warm-up" period for me. I will be a bit twitchy on the steering for the first 15-30 minutes, then I can get rid of that. When I was able to put in more time, that was gone.

The challenge for myself at this time is to learn how to chase smoother. When I'm driving solo, since I control the speed and flow, it's easy. When I'm chasing, I become twitchy on the steering because I need to adjust my speed based on what the lead is doing. It's no different than GyroDrift, but it just adds that last area I need to master and I have not had much time with yet. This is yet another part of RawDrift that is exciting to work on.

In my discussions with Tyler (ScaleMagic), it was interesting because it went from driving RawDrift, to that's just how we drive. There is absolutely no point in going back to running GyroDrift because we can now drive with our friends who are driving GyroDrift. The biggest accomplishment so far had been when I overcame the stage of not being able to drive with everyone. Now that's behind me, it's really just a matter of getting better.

Up to that point, it felt a bit lonely since I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to keep up. The thought kept popping into my head that if I ever wanted to drive with everyone again would I need to drive GyroDrift again. If I had a bigger group of people attacking RawDrift with me, I think progression would have been faster and even more fun.

I wasn't sure if it was worth posting a video of our second sesh of just RawDrift tandems, since we haven't got it down quite yet. There's a lot of learning going on in our final video since we have a very limited time of driving together. All the shakes are coming from speed adjustments none of us are used to yet. I felt it would be best to post it since I'm hoping to see more people jump on, and what better way than to show it in it's early stages of tandeming. It's only going to get better.

Final Thoughts

I believe RawDrift has the potential to make some significant changes in R/C Drift. As it stands right now, Style in comps plays a minimal role in the final outcome. The majority of the runs Style score differences are minimal. Battles are won and lost on the smallest of errors. In my opinion, the style aspect has all but gone away since that part of driving is electronically limited now. Everyone is at the max or close to it. Style feels like it has been replaced by drivers trying to "gap" each other during battles, instead of trying to make their performance look better.

Before GyroDrift was a thing, Style was a huge part of winning. Drivers could tip the scales in their favor by pulling super aggressive transitions throughout their run. Insane entries would carry weight in the decision. Just being able to pull smooth lines, or having less corrections would come into play. I feel GyroDrift has lessened the differences to a point it's not enough to outweigh missing half of a zone.

These are just my thoughts on this topic. Agree or disagree, that is really not the point. Nothing changes and I'm not suggesting change either. I just felt it was time to share what has been happening here at Super-G. I am personally excited to continue RawDrift and I want to see how far my skill can get me. Whether it is with RawDrift competitions, or competing RawDrift with the GyroDrift guys, one thing is for sure, it has raised the fun factor for me to a point I did not believe was even possible. It changed a fun day at the track to a fun and rewarding day at the track, and going home feeling like I had accomplished something.