Drift Itch – Is CounterSteer Dead?

Hey gang Evol here again with some more of my musings on the ever evolving animal that is RC Drift. One my my favorite vendors (BlackStar Hobbies) posted up a thought for discussion on FaceBook regarding what could be the demise of Countersteer and that really got me thinking about the future of RC Drift. It’s funny how quickly things can evolve when a segment is this new because it was only a few short months ago I was asking if RWD was going to hang around. Well that tables have now turned….. or have they? It seems that many in the United States feel like CS has already gone the way of the Dodo. While others maintain (myself included) that is alive and well. It would also seem that overseas many clubs still prefer the AWD class with only a bit of RWD sprinkled in for good measure. Debates rage in the comp circles of inclusion or exclusion of the CS class going forward. I say “why can’t we have both?” Other forms of RC competition include multiple drivetrain layout options, why not drift?

Yokomo is obviously on this train of thought as their newest drift platform includes both layouts. The YD2 and YD4 straddle this gap between serious AWD drift comp machine and the possibility of what RWD might become. I’m betting that local track surfaces and layouts play a big role in which way the wind is blowing. It’s easy to assume that just because all of the locals are doing something that everyone else must be doing it as well. I don’t think that is the case. I agree that the needle is still moving towards RWD as the dominant class, but I don’t think it’s there yet. Of coarse I could be completely full of malarkey. Blackstar (MSTs only US distributer) claims to move way more RWD chassis chassis these days than AWD cars. But is that a microcosm or subculture bias at play? Yokomo still feels it’s worth it to produce an AWD and I have no doubt that a lot of market research went into that decision. Whatever the case may be I find the whole thing fascinating.

I do think that the entry level market is long overdue to shift away from the ancient 50/50 setups of yesteryear. It’s time to update the beginner platform so that new comers to the hobby can already be on their way to to handling a RWD and I think CS is that perfect stepping stone. It’s only natural that such a setup be in a training rig simply because its nature of being able to change up the amount of overdrive the car has as the driver progresses. It only seems logical to me that as RC Drift evolves that the early mainstays evolve as well. Instead of CS being the destination setup it will now become the stepping stone on the path to RWD. So do I think CS is dead? Not by a long shot.

What do you guys think? Post up in the comments and let us know.

Thanks for hanging with me today – I’ll catch you on the next one.

-Evol

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