When illegally racing around a city or fleeing from the most electrifying man in sports entertainment today, movies like those in the Fast and the Furious franchise imply that certain tactics are a must. You have to pump nitrous oxide into the engine, you have to hit that throttle while wearing a sick white v-neck, and wherever possible, you have to drift. But is drifting…even fast?
Now I know that drifting isn’t featured in every car movie necessarily because of any possible tactical or speed-based advantage. Everyone drifts in car movies because it looks cinematic and it is a visual shorthand for speed. But I think that because of pop culture, speed and drifting are often equated, at least in the backs of our minds. So in my latest episode of Because Science, let’s see if science and physics can help us figure out if drifting would be faster than normal driving in these movies.
After you watch the new episode, check out my last video on how far Sauron could actually see, buy a Because Science shirt, mug, hat, or collectible pin, and follow me on Twitter or on Instagram to give me a suggestion for the next episode. Want Because Science days before anyone else? Subscribe to Alpha for early access to the show and peep my premium show The S.P.A.A.C.E. Program!
And thanks again to the team over at Donut Media that not only let me shoot this footage, they let me set a lap time on their track! Watch me redefine the concept of speed right here.
