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Ebisu South course is notorious as being one of the most challenging drift courses in Japan, or the world for that matter, for its superior technical difficulty. Those who attempt it either have to have big steel balls, a crap car they don't mind getting banged up (that's me) or a gift for drifting, because Ebisu south course can be like walking onto a minefield if you are not prepared.

Here's a little run through of what it's like drift on Ebisu South course...

The high speed first left sweeper that you enter after coming over a launching pad and down a hill next to a bare concrete wall has you do a little piddle in your pants every time you kick the clutch and nail it down and around, usually in third gear.

There is very little room for error....oversteer and your rear end gets greeted by a not-so-soft wall of tires lined up against a totally-not-soft concret wall. Understeer and you've better have a good set of brakes and tires to pull you up before your front end eats it.



Once you've made it through the first corner safely, you have to throw out the anchor and throw even more angle on to get the car around the second corner which seems to creep up on you like a shinkansen. The wall to stop you plumeting down the ravine here is again a tire-less concrete one.

The rest of the main bottom section is pretty smooth sailing (if you don't mind stretching out the revs in second) back up the hill and to a tight hairpin. After you catch your breath, fix your helmet and wind the windows down for more cool air you get to do it all again.

Ebisu South course might be a challenge but getting through it in one piece is a good feeling, even if you don't get the line, speed and angle of Kumakubo and other D1 drivers. You may want to jump straight on to South course but be warned it may eat you up and spit you out! Beginners to drift....stick to Drift land :)

Cheers,
Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1-japan, ebisu-drifting, ebisu-south-course, japanese-drifting