SDC2025 Rule Clarification
SDC2025 Rule Clarification
February 5, 2025
Now that the SDC2025 Season is kicking off, I felt it would benefit some of you that have questions about some of the rules in SDC. Sometimes a little understanding and background goes a long way.
Also some fail to realize that sometimes the rules are the rules. Just because someone feels it’s stupid to not be allowed to travel in basketball doesn’t mean they should change the rules because that person and maybe even all their friends think the game would be better if they could just hold the ball and run all the way down the court. The fact is, everyone needs to play by the same set of rules whether or not everyone agrees with them.
That being said, let me clarify some of the rules in SDC that seem to cause confusion. When we first started out, we tried to make it very much like Formula Drift. In fact one of our friends at the time was a professional Formula Drift Driver. So we went to him for help with the rules. It was quickly apparent that rules for 1:1 did not quite translate to 1:10 Drift for many reasons.
No Contact Rule / Now a 3 Tier Severity Scale
Background - When we first started doing comps, we allowed contact. Every time there was contact, it was judged on severity. Right away this caused a lot of issues. It REALLY took the fun out of the entire comp setting.
Without fail, someone would feel like their contact was the same as someone else’s, but was judged more severe. To fix this, we started to allow only very minor contact. Again, people would complain that they were being judged against more severely for the same contact.
The solution, NO CONTACT AT ALL THEN. Now this made it very clear cut, was there contact or not? If so, ZERO. If not, then it plays. This rule was not something we wanted. This rule was what the attitudes at the time demanded.
Now that R/C Drift has matured and attitudes have as well, we feel a 3 tier contact severity standard will work. Testing it at the SoCal Regional Finals and at the SDC2024 Worlds had proven it to work really well. I personally have ALWAYS hated the automatic zero for contact, but I also experienced the other side, and it was an ugly time. The No Contact Rule made it possible for us to get to where we are today. Even with the provision for contact, we still see the top tier drivers not needing it. So take that as you will.
Mechanical Failure Top 8, Four minute rule
We have always hated to see someone make it all the way to the Top 8, only to lose due to some sort of mechanical failure. As much as we would like to allow everyone this luxury, the potential to take us late into the night is too great. So we have limited this to the Top 8.
The limitations are in place to ensure nothing is swapped to greatly change the characteristics of the car that has made it to the Top 8. This rule is simply to allow for a quick repair. Something unsoldered, bad connection, something falling apart, bad bearing, etc. Fix it in 4 minutes and get it to the gate.
All Chassis must have Independent Rear Suspension
This is simply the type of chassis that is used in SDC. The same as not allowing Touring Cars racing in Pan Car Class. This was foresight to not have the need to exclude any particular chassis such as the LP86 or any home-brew solid rear axle setup, or converted Pan Cars. It is to simply keep the competition based on this style chassis.
Maximum Rear Wheel and Minimum Overall Weight
An extremely heavy chassis matched against an extremely light chassis would be difficult for both sides in different ways, and would lessen the quality of competition. The extremely light chassis will slow quicker and may need to be moving faster to maintain drift, where as the extremely heavy chassis will transition slow and carry the slide further and slower than might be possible with the extremely light chassis. Keeping them similar in weight is intended to keep the characteristics similar as well.
Universally, measuring a maximum weight at the rear axle and a minimum overall weight has been the standard. It has worked well for us for many years and will continue for the foreseeable future.
No Lights During Competition
You have only your fellow drifters to thank for this rule. Some thought it was funny or cool to aim their headlights and taillights up to make them blinding to everyone. Plus they could see their car easier. The problem with this is, if you are the car behind them (Farther away), you can’t see your car if their lights are blinding you. Funny for the guy with the lights, not so funny if you crash or even just struggle to see your car. Some also started putting really bright strobes on when they would hit their brakes. This was very distracting not only for the other driver, but for the judges as well. Again, the person with the bright lights can see their car well, but the person without can’t see their car as well. Definitely not a fair setup. This is not as much of an issue with shorter distances, but as the tracks become larger, this becomes a very important rule.
Rear Bumper / Core Support Maximum Height 30mm
In some areas of our track we may use rails that are 1.5” tall. We have seen people with their bumpers cut above this or just below this, but due to the how the chassis moves, it can go over the rail without contacting it. This effectively gives them an advantage. I would even say in some extreme cases if the lead can hang over the rail 1.5-2” more than the chase, it could be unchaseable. 30mm keeps it where everyone will contact the barriers if they make a miscalculation.
Modifying, Grinding Down, Scuffing Tires on non-track surface. If tires show signs of unusual wear, scuffing, or foreign substance is present… Signs of tires melting will be considered unusual wear.
This all comes down to the purpose of having a Spec Tire. The idea behind this is and has always been to keep the speed and traction similar. Tuning, driving skill, and driving style, all come into play with how much traction you can extract from the same tires as your opponent.
However, modifying your tires in anyway changes this. This includes grinding them down, putting groves into them, scuffing them on a surface rougher or of a different material than the track you are running on, chemically softening them, or melting them. (that means they are being used in a manner in which they were not designed to be used)
Anything that deviates from having the same traction undermines the very purpose of having a spec tire. This has always been a rule, even before SDC was created.
Bump-Up Driver from Lower Bracket fills 31st spot in Top 32
Many times the driver who works their way into the Top 32 from the lower bracket is a very experienced / skilled driver who had a bad qualifier. Now they are warmed up and have had many more laps than the drivers in the Top 32.
Since the TQ (Top Qualifier) is in the 1st spot, they are automatically matched with the driver in the 32nd spot. Since this driver is coming in hot, there is a disadvantage to being TQ in many cases. In fact we witnessed it more than a few times where 2 of the strongest drivers are battling in the first battle of the Top 32. TQ should be what everyone strives for, so putting the hot driver in the 31st spot now matches them with the number 2 qualifier. This seems to make TQ a more desirable spot to qualify in. This also gives the Bump-Up Driver some time to cool down after a potential hot streak.
Final Word
I hope this helps to clarify where and why these rules have come about. The rest of the rules haven't raised too many questions over the years. In the end, SDC is all about keeping the competition level and fun. That's where it started and I hope is still at today. The rules will continue to evolve as necessary, but we feel we have a pretty solid foundation here.