D1 Grand Prix

With movies, videogames, anime, and manga promoting drift racing, the art of controlled vehicular skidding is becoming as American as NASCAR.

As this sport slowly gains its momentum here in the States, there's still a magical mystique surrounding drift racing. In essence, drift racing is the complete opposite of what westerners consider motor sports. Instead of being the fastest racer, drift racing is all about your technique --it's like figure skating with cars. Contrary to traditional Grand Prix competitions, competitors are judged on style, form, and technique.

For the uninitiated, the art of drifting started in Japan, where young bucks would street race their cars on rural mountain roads deep in unincorporated areas of obscure providences because Japanese cities are just way too crowded to race. Some street racers became so good at navigating the winding rural roads that they began to show off by skidding around corners --and drift racing was born. The entire drift phenomenon became so popular that it transformed into a national sport in Japan (D1 Grand Prix) and now has even transcended continents and cultures with competitions being held here in the United States.

D1 Grand Prix is the officially sponsored game of its namesake's competition. Pay no attention to your preconceived notions of Fast and Furious styled arcade power sliding gameplay because D1 GP is a simulation styled game on par with Gran Turismo and Tourist Trophy. In D1 GP, you'll take part in a multitude of modes, which include entering in past D1 competitions from 2001 to 2005 in the D1 Series mode, or taking part in Time Attack, Battle, or a mini-game mode called X-treme mode.

The competitions, which take place in the D1 Series mode, are all modeled after the actual D1 GP events and include all the authentic cars, professional drivers, track courses, and over 40 rear-wheel-drive licensed cars!

What's even cooler than assuming the roles of the actual professional racers in their authentic cars? D1 GP also allows you to pick your own car, select graphics, rims, and a spoiler, and tune it. While the tuning engine is not as in-depth as Gran Turismo, you'll still be able to modify your vehicles settings and tweak your final gear ratio, front and rear spring hardness, front and rear shocks, front and rear stabilizers, front and rear chambers, front and rear tire grip, and engine power.

Instead of trying to place in the top 3 in a race, D1 tasks you to earn drift points by entering into drifts at high speed, maintaining speed during a drift, maintaining optimum angles (drift line) of turning within a drift, and cutting into an opponent vehicle's inside line during a simultaneous drift. If it sounds easy, you're dead wrong. In the game, you'll get penalized heavily for going off road, decelerating around corners, or hitting your any barriers --and it's really easy to screw up.

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