Assetto Corsa Evo has been steadily taking shape during its extended gestation period on the way to a full 1.0 release, which is expected sometime in late 2026. The title has been graced with features such as ranked multiplayer, more content, and other bits and pieces as Kunos works on building a worthy successor to the ultra-popular OG Assetto Corsa.
The 0.4 update, which was released in November 2025, was another crucial step towards this goal. The highlight was the debut of the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, but another interesting addition hinted at another element of the game that is set to expand as development continues.
Drifting was a key inclusion of the first AC, but such a mode has so far eluded AC Evo. The inclusion of a new drifting beast signifies that Kunos hasn’t forgotten about it. Even prior to any dedicated drifting feature appearing, AC Evo still has plenty to offer for drifting fans. This Coach Dave Academy guide explores what drifting enthusiasts can get their teeth stuck into.
There Is No Drift Mode, Yet
While there is no such drift mode, we expect one to be introduced at some point in a future update. AC Evo is starting to be graced with some dedicated drift content. You can still drift in practice modes offline, or try to find a dedicated drift lobby online, in which you can slide around for fun with like-minded drifters. You’ll just have to wait a while before the game calculates any kind of scores or results.Â
Tuning Is Key When Drifting A Car
You can drift with any rear-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive car that can send the bulk of its power to the rear wheels, but normal road and race cars are generally harder to get sideways.Â
Race cars are built to go sideways as little as possible to try and maximize laptime, so they’re generally the hardest to get their tails wagging.
Road cars are also tuned to be more docile so that they’re more approachable for normal drivers. Proper drift machines are set up to get sideways easily, but also be very controllable when the rear does let go, so that their driver can sustain a drift for as long as possible.
Some key tuning changes you can make to non-drift cars in AC Evo to improve their driftworthiness include:
- Raising rear tyre pressures to reduce grip
- Use less grippy tyre compounds to make losing traction easier, such as the Road rubber
- Toe out/negative camber at the front to help improve turn-in, which can make it easier to get the rear to break away
- Toe in/neutral/less negative camber at the rear to retain some rear grip for controllability, but not enough to cause the vehicle to snap straight
- Stiffer front suspension settings to increase front-end responsiveness
- Switch off any traction aids (traction control, stability control)
A Dedicated Drift Machine Makes Things Easier
Luckily, as of update 0.4, AC Evo now has a proper drift car for you to practice with.
The Toyota Supra Turbo RZ was released in both stock and drift-prepared specifications, with the latter coming with extra grunt and special upgrades that make it more adept at drifting. These include an adjustable suspension setup and steering system that can be tuned to the driver’s preference.
The standard setup includes a faster steering ratio to help change the attitude of the car mid-corner faster and more precisely. The suspension and chassis have also been finely tweaked to ensure the car can get and remain sideways as intuitively as possible, allowing it to feel more second-nature when trying to get around the track with the back end hanging out. The Supra Mk.IV drift is the only one of its kind in AC Evo so far, but it’s likely more drift-focused machines will arrive in future updates.
To work out which cars you can start out with on your drifting journey, Coach Dave Academy’s car list guide is here to help.Â
How To Drift
It’s all well and good having the right machinery for the job, but the art of drifting isn’t exactly straightforward. There are three key elements to drifting: initiation, holding the drift, and exiting the drift. All demand distinct methods that need to be perfectly stitched together, but do so, and you’ll have satisfaction bleeding from you.
Initiating The Drift
To get a car into a drift state, you’ll need to approach the corner with a decent bit of speed, and then brake to get more weight over the front of the car and fling the steering in the direction of the turn. Getting all the weight on the front of the vehicle takes it off the rear, and leads to the rear suspension decompressing, which reduces grip. The tail will then slide around, so you’ll quickly need to apply the opposite lock to catch the rear before it comes all the way around and spins the vehicle completely.
Getting a feel for this movement will be critical to catching it at the right time, so you’ll need to practice to get a feel for it. If you struggle to get the rear to come around, you can also use a dab of the handbrake, which will momentarily cause the rear wheels to lock and allow the rear to begin sliding. You need a certain level of aggressiveness upon corner entry, too, as the car will simply understeer if you don’t turn the wheel with enough vigour.
If you need to get your wheel set up to feel every inch of the road, then check out Coach Dave Academy’s wheel setup guide.
Maintaining And Transitioning The Drift
Once you’ve got the car sideways, you’ll want to keep it there for as long as possible. Once again, doing so will need feel, so practising and getting a handle on the car beneath you is critical. Controlling the drift requires you to carefully balance the throttle with the right amount of lock. Too much of either and you’ll likely spin out, or the car will straighten itself out.
- Too much throttle will cause the car to spin; too little will cause it to straighten out.
- Too much or too little steering can cause you to spin, as well as straighten the vehicle.
Finding the right balance between the two will allow you to hold slides forever, but eventually you’ll find the need to turn the car in the opposite direction. This is where transitioning the drift comes in.
The best way to do this is to turn more than you think you need to in the opposite direction, and then lift off the throttle so that the vehicle momentarily grips and swaps direction. Getting back on the throttle at the right time is crucial to keep the drift going, rather than spinning out because the weight balance shifts too much.
You’ll also need to let the wheel spin out of your hands during the process, before catching it at the right place to sustain the angle of attack into the following bend. Once you get this right, you can continue the drift into successive corners and sections that turn in different ways. Getting all this right won’t come immediately, but you’ll soon get a feel for how the car behaves with some practice.
Exiting The Drift
When the time comes to exit your drift, there are a couple of ways of doing so. In machines with less grunt, you can simply open the steering and your line wider, as the rear wheels will naturally regain grip and straighten the nose forwards.
- You can use the same method with higher-power vehicles, but you’ll also need to blend off the throttle slightly to prevent the car from spinning out.
- This manoeuvre also takes practice, as the vehicle will naturally want to snap the other way as you exit the drift, so getting the right amount of steering angle/throttle is crucial.
Once you get some practice under your belt, you’ll find that drifting is intuitive and natural, but you’ll need to get a fair few spins and errors out of the way first.
Drifting On Controller
While those using force feedback wheel bases can learn drifting one-to-one with real-life methods, those in gamepads will have a tougher time. Controllers don’t have the same level of force feedback and range as a full wheel and pedal setup, so you may need to tweak your controller settings to get enough responsiveness from your triggers and analogue sticks.
In the controller settings, you’ll be best off using the ‘Assisted’ steering assist setting. Using either of the others makes it too difficult to catch the car, especially when transitioning between drifts. You’ll also want the Steering Sensitivity and Steering Filter values set higher, as these will afford you greater speed and precision with the analogue sticks.
- Start from around 70% with the former and 85% with the latter, and play around with them to find your personal preference. Â
If you need to get your controller dialled in for driving AC Evo, head over to Coach Dave Academy’s controller setup guide.
Where To Drift
Once you’ve got the driving style and vehicle in your mind, you’ll want to find places to actually perform some drifting. AC Evo doesn’t currently have any drifting-focused environments in-game, but some tracks offer some sections that are perfect for learning basic and advanced drifting techniques.
Ideally, you’ll want tracks with fast, long and flowing corners that allow you to practice steering and throttle modulation to help keep a drift going. Over and above this, finding sections that have corners that switch directions will allow you to get used to transitioning drifts. Plus, bends that need to be taken at different speeds will help increase your versatility when drifting. This will come in extremely handy if you take up tandem drifting, which involves drifting side-by-side with other cars.
- Suzuka’s esses section is useful, due to its long and sweeping corners that transition nicely into different directions. The turns also slow as you progress, allowing you to get used to slowing the car while sliding.
- The downhill esses at Road Atlanta offer a more challenging drifting route, given that you’ll be heading downhill, so the car will gather speed more easily. The turns are also narrower than those found at Suzuka.
- Donington Park’s fast and flowing layout also lends itself to drifting, though its undulating nature can make it difficult to sustain slides due to the car’s weight balance shifting.
- AC Evo’s upcoming free roam maps, with the first based around the region outside of the Nurburgring Nordschleife, will likely include plenty of excellent routes for drifting once it arrives in 2026.
AC Evo may not have the level of drifting capability as its predecessor just yet, but the arrival of the drift-spec Supra is evidence that Kunos is pushing to make sure it doesn’t remain that way. AC Evo’s engaging driving model lends itself nicely towards drifting, and a potential future drift mode and extra content will only further make the title more attractive for drivers wanting to flex their sliding muscles.
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