It just comes down to how far down your right foot is on the accelerator when you let the clutch out. Typically, handbrakes are good to use while decelerating or off throttle and clutch kicks are good to use while accelerating or on throttle.
Whereas pulling the handbrake is the easiest way to start a drift, it is rarely used in circuit racing because it causes a significant loss of speed at the exit of the corner. Racers use handbrake turning only to negotiate tight 180-degree bends that would otherwise require a three-point turn.
I found it easier to use a clutch kick starting out. At slower speed using the handbrake just tended to slow me down... I've been kicking the stock clutch for over 30k miles and its still going strong. The best thing to do is try both and see which YOU prefer...
If you have ever been drifting, you know that clutch kicking is a very effective way to initiate a drift in a rear wheel drive car. Clutch kicking is really very simple. Just keep even throttle, push the clutch in quickly and then release it quickly.
The handbrake can be used for initiating and maintaining the drift as well as for controlling the car's angle and speed once in the turn.
When learning to drift, our advice is to approach a tight 30mph turn in second gear at about 3000rpm – this will give you a decent amount of torque to keep the rear wheels spinning once you've induced oversteer. Remember drifting is not the fastest way round a corner so you're not trying to set speed records here.
Always depress the clutch when braking, a tip majorly for the new learners. This is one of the most common scenarios wherein people do apply the brakes but forget to disengage the clutch in-turn stalling the car.
If you want to know how drifting affects a car's tires, all you have to do is look at the track –it's coated in rubber. Drifting destroys tires and shortens the life span of tires to an afternoon. If it's a hobby you want to pursue, then find a good place to buy tires for cheap, like RNR Tire Express.
Shifting during the drift isn't beginner stuff at all. Start and stay in 2nd Gear till you are getting better. When it's no problem anymore to get faster and slower and more and less angle as YOU (not your car) want it, than you can start to shift up or initiate in 3rd.
Cars with front-wheel drive are very difficult to drift without a lot of practice. The front wheels control the car in order to prevent it from sliding. You end up understeering, which means the car doesn't turn as much as you desire.
It's not guaranteed that they won't flip, but if you drift on a flat surface in a car with a low center of gravity it will be unlikely. Most people flip them when they let the backend get away from them and then overcorrect, getting the thing fishtailing around. They usually lose it fast, too.
Within the engine at that point, an over-rev condition will occur and internal-engine components will momentarily spin far faster than what they were originally designed to do.
Coast in neutral to save fuel
Not only that, it's also unsafe as you don't have full control over the car when it's in neutral. It means you can't suddenly accelerate out of a sticky situation and you lose engine braking, running the risk of overheating the brakes when going downhill.
You really should avoid downshifting while carrying way too much speed for the gear you're going to enter, as that brings the engine into a dangerous situation, where the ECU is struggling to cut the power in order for the red line not to be exceeded, but the engine is receiving torque form the fast-spinning wheels.
The Scandinavian flick, or pendulum turn, is the most simple of these techniques. When approaching a corner, steer the car quickly in the direction opposite you intend to turn before the turn in point, then initiate the turn in the proper direction while lifting off the throttle.