MY SPECIAL CLUB 1:10
A resounding success for the largest rally of 1:10 scale replicas! Over 50 remote controls, in addition to putting on a great show in their dedicated rally area, thrilled spectators with the gripping counter-steering challenges on the dedicated circuit! The members of the DTI team (www.rcdti.com), who helped to organise the event, for the entire duration of My Special Car Show provided a spectrum of initiatives dedicated to in-scale drifting: In addition to the rally of mini tuning cars, so well prepared that they rival their “big sisters”, and a whole series of displays, the DTI team guys battled it out in fully-blown drifting contests, on a truly demanding circuit!   
Until we meet again at the 2008 edition of “My Special Club 1:10”, we leave you with a number of interesting facts on the modelling scene in general and in-scale drifting in particular.

From drifting on the track, to drifting in scale!
Drifting originated in Japan in the 1980s and is a special driving technique, both complex and exciting to watch, which involves sliding around bends sideways, keeping control of the car thanks to skilful counter steering and spectacular manoeuvres. Born as an amateur discipline, it did not become a competitive motor sport until 2001, when the first drift championship, the D1 GP Series, was instituted.
Drifting has since made its way well beyond Japan, taking hold in Europe and the United States – with the establishment of twin championships and the creation of numerous teams of drifters – and the “contagion” has also spread to dynamic model enthusiasts, always on the lookout for new and seductive disciplines to imitate, strictly in “scale”, specifically 1:10!

HOW IS AN RC CAR PREPARED FOR DRIFTING?
To drift “in scale” you need the chassis of a radio controlled car (simple, economical ones can be found, but also others with highly sophisticated engineering and materials). Then the first step is to completely lock the rear differential gear and partly lock the front differential gear. Tyres are fundamental for RC drifting: to obtain the desired skid effect, besides choosing a suitable surface to drift on (carpeting, smooth concrete, fine-grained asphalt), it is important to choose tyres made with a particularly hard compound, generally PVC; it is not unusual for modelling enthusiasts/drifters to make the tyres themselves using hard plastic tubes, which they then glue onto the rims.
The cars are electric driven, as this is the only type of drive system that guarantees constancy and fluidity of output; the motors are powered by 7.2V six-cell batteries, specifically conceived for these models. The power of electric motors is generally defined by the number of turns (i.e. windings of the conductor wire) characterising it: the larger the number of turns, the lower the power that will be output, meaning a reduction in the maximum speed. The opposite applies for the maximum torque of an electric motor, which is greater in motors with a larger number of turns. It is precisely this characteristic that makes motors with more turns ideal for RC drifting, since greater torque means that the car will be more controllable in sideways travel.
The top speeds range from 50 to 70 km/h, though in drifting such speeds are unlikely to be reached since the aim is not to complete a lap in as little time as possible, but rather to go around the whole track sideways, maintaining as wide a slip angle as possible and avoiding tailspins.
One of the distinctive and most appealing features of RC drift lies in the aesthetics of the cars: these are absolutely unique specimens, mechanically and aesthetically engineered using aerodynamic kits that reproduce the features of real cars, with oversized rims, special colours, multicolour decorations…in short, tuning in its purest form, but on a 1:10 scale!

“DTi” - THE TEAM
The RC drifting enthusiasts who will be guests at the My Special Car Show have a story to tell and they told it to us: “Our group grew out of an idea of Yayo, a friend who has always been a sports car fanatic and who, having become curious after seeing the third episode of the Fast &Furious saga, started navigating the Web to look for information about RC drifting. From there it was just a short step to the creation of the DTi group and the purchase of the first RC models.
In a short space of time many have joined us and helped to make the Dti grow into a tight-knit group of people who aim to popularise RC car drifting in Italy, where it is still little known. And we can say we are succeeding, given the veritable boom in scale model drifters!
These are our distinctive characteristics: the cars, professional in their mechanics and aesthetics; entertainment, with music, exhibitions and competitions down to the last sideways slide; a careful organisation of drift sessions; finally, the fundamental ingredient is a shared passion for drifting, the underlying theme of the group and all of our initiatives.