Here’s What Happens if You Go Drifting on Spare Tires
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you put a set of spare tires on a 560-horsepower drift car and sent it, here’s your answer.
Fitting spare tires to a drift car sounds like a terrible idea, and it is, but the results are still hilarious.
The people behind the YouTube channel Keep it Reet decided to see what would happen if they fitted spare tires to all four corners of their Nissan Skyline R32 drift car. As seen in the video, spare tires are designed for traveling short distances at no more than 50 mph. They're not cut out for higher speeds or long distances, let alone the punishment of being fitted to a 560-horsepower drift car.
Initial testing involved spares fitted to the front wheels, with a set of bald regular tires fitted to the rear. The Skyline wore spares from a Nissan 370Z up front, which impressively come mounted on slimline alloy wheels. Despite the team's worst fears, the tiny-width wheels didn't fold, and the Skyline was able to hold some smoky drifts without too much hassle. The front tires successfully held up to multiple sessions without failure.
On day two of the experiment, the Skyline was treated to spares at all four corners. A further two spares of the more familiar type were added, mounted to ugly yellow steel rims. The diminutive T125/90 D16 rubber quickly smoked up under the rear guards, but amazingly, didn't immediately peel off the rims.
With four spares fitted, drifting was still possible. However, the drifts were far slower than they were previously, a consequence of the sheer lack of grip available. It also only took one hefty rear entry slide to destroy the right rear, ending the fun. The rim itself survived the antics, but the tire itself was completely worn through. That's not surprising, given the power being fed through the rubber-band-sized tires.
Any professional drifter will tell you that good tires are key to drifting well. While drifting is a sport about breaking grip, the more grip you have in the first place, the faster you can go while remaining on that beautiful knife edge between control and chaos. Obviously, spares were always going to do poorly, and they were never going to last long. Regardless, it's surprising just how passable they were when fitted on the front end.
You can watch the shenanigans below:
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