The world of drifting in Assetto Corsa is as vibrant and populated as ever. Here are some of the basic setup tips to help you nail those slides and reverse entries!
Assetto Corsa is a sim with many qualities and disciplines. One of the more popular ones is drifting, which is actually part of the sim in its stock form. Compared to circuit racing, this requires different setup tweaks, of course, so we decided to put together a short guide for the basics.
For this short guide, I will be using the drift spec BMW E30 available in the base version of the game. There are hundreds of cars available externally, but for this beginner's guide, the drift spec E30 is the best place to start. I have also downloaded the updated E30 liveries from OverTake community member MadMat.
As well as the E30, we will be using the basic 'Drift' track included in Assetto Corsa. Other tracks are available, but this is the best starting point.
BMW E30 drifting at Highlands.
Practise On The Base Setup
One mandatory adjustment, even with the base setup, is to make sure you are on 'Street 90s' tyres. Anything more than that and you won't be able to break traction easily enough for the amount of power the E30 has.
The base setup of the drift spec E30 is not too bad. It is not perfect, of course, but usable. If you are new to drifting, then a fancy setup will make you a pro in a few hours. Get out on track and throw the car around for an hour or so and learn how much it does or does not slide, what gear you need to be in and, most importantly, which camera angle you like most for drifting.
There are camera adjustments you can make within Content Manager to make the camera turn as you go sideways. This can be difficult to get used to at first however, so we recommend just simply jumping into a practice session and getting to grips with the car.
Drifting Technique
You may think that you need maximum angle, and aggressive sawing at the wheel to catch a good drift. It is quite the opposite, however. To start with, focus on simply breaking traction and catching a slight slide. Build it up with more speed and progress the angle accordingly. Once you found your limit, practise this more and more and you will eventually make it around the bend sideways.
BMW E30 sideways.
Beginner's Drift Setup
The setup I have created for you is from three hours of testing and going through the trial and error process to see what works and what doesn't in 2024. The game has evolved a lot and a lot of the setup guides from six years ago aren't much use anymore.
For reference, I am using a Thrustmaster T300rs with the Ferrari edition wheel rim. I use 900 degrees of rotation and my force feedback settings within the MyThrustmaster app are also listed below.
| Setting | Percentage |
| Constant | 100% |
| Damper | 100% |
| Periodic | 100% |
| Spring | 100% |
| Overall Strenght Of Forces | 85% |
| Rotation Angle | 900° |
2024 BMW E30 Drift Setup: Beginner
Starting at the top, the aero settings have been left the same. You do not usually get enough speed for these settings to make any noticeable difference at all. If you are planning to drift at much higher speeds in the future on longer tracks, then consider adjusting these accordingly.
Next on the setup sheet is the car's alignment settings. These are the most important sets of figures at your disposal for drifting. Starting with the camber numbers, the front wheels are set at 2.4 and the rear wheels are at 0.5. The toe angle is also imperative for keeping the car stable mid-slide. The front wheels are set at 20 and the rear wheels are set at just 5.
The damper settings have been kept the same as the baseline setup. Adjusting these can give you a significant change in handling. However, for a beginner step that is designed for you to edit and change to your liking, there was no need to edit these. Play and mess around with them yourselves to learn the setup and find what works for you!
The final element of this beginner's setup is the tyre compound and the corresponding pressures. 'Street 90s' are an essential addition to this setup and pressuring the front with 31 PSI and the rear with 34 PSI seems to work the best for the power output of the BMW E30.
What do you think of our beginner-friendly BMW E30 drifting guide? Let us know over on X @OverTake_gg or down in the comments below!
