Before major tire technology developments in the 1970s, drifting was a popular racing technique, as it allowed a car to carry more speed through a turn than more conventional techniques. In order to go through a corner as fast as possible, drivers approached turns at a high rate of speed, turned the car in quickly to initiate a slide, and allowed the friction of the tires to slow them down as they kept their turn-in angle throughout the corner.

Today, drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete in rear-wheel drive cars to keep their cars sideways for as long as possible. At the top levels of competition, drivers are able to keep their cars sliding for extended periods of time, often through several turns. Drifting competitions are judged based not on the time it takes to complete a course, but how much slip angle a driver can get, how long they hold it, and how close they stay to the racing line of the track. Final rounds of competition often include tandem runs, where one car follows another through the course, attempting to keep up with or even pass the car in front.

Many attribute the return of drifting as a competitive sport to mountain-road racers of rural Japan. Informal challenges on back mountain roads eventually evolved into a heavily funded and advertised competitive events, sanctioned by organizations and held on private tracks. Drifting began in America at a grassroots level around 2002, and has exploded into a massively popular form of motorsport. Japanese drifters are still considered to be at the cutting edge of technique and car development, but their American counterparts are quickly catching up.

Any rear-wheel drive car can be drifted, and some all-wheel-drive cars can also drift, often with less angle, but higher speed. Popular competition cars include the Nissan Silvia/in the US the 240SX,the best car for drifting and most popular the Toyota Sprinter/Trueno/Levin in the US the Corolla GT-S, Mazda RX-7, Honda S2000, and Lexus SC300.

There is some debate over whether or not front-wheel-drive (FWD) vehicles can drift. By the technical definition (rear wheels slipping at a greater angle than front wheels), they are indeed able to drift. However, many consider FWD vehicles a poor choice for drifting, as the frequent use of the emergency brake (necessary to drift FWD cars) slows them down and makes them harder to control. Some use the term "power sliding" when referring to a FWD car that is or appears to be drifting. Few FWD vehicles are seen in competitions.

Many parts are available from aftermarket manufacturers that are specifically designed to modify a car for drifting. Almost all competitors take advantage of these products to enhance the suspension, driveline, chassis, and body of their cars.

The most important drifting competition in the world is the D1 Grand Prix. Once confined only to Japan, the D1GP how holds several points-worthy events at Irwindale Speedway in California. Americans like Rhys Millen, Ken Gushi, Samuel Hubinette, Benson Hsu, and Calvin Wan compete against top Japanese drivers and are judged by experienced Japanese judges.

Keiichi Tsuchiya, a legend in the drifting world, is considered the father of drifting. Known popularly as the "Drift King," he is a mainstay at D1GP events and in some of Japan's most popular motorsport videos, "Best Motoring."

Drifting techniques
There are many different ways to drift a car, including: (NOTE: ABS and TCS should be turned off before attempting to drift.)

Braking drift - This drift is performed by trail braking into a corner so that the rear wheels lose traction, then controlling the drift with proper steering and gas inputs. It is probably the most typical drifting technique for RWD cars.
Power Over Drift - This drift performed when entering a corner at full throttle to produce heavy oversteer through the turn. It is the most typical drifting technique for AWD cars.
Inertia (Feint) Drift - This is done by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the inertia of the car to swing it back to the desired drifting line. Using this technique, you can chain up many drifts into one long continuous drift where traction is never fully regained at any point. This is ideally done at the mountain passes where the continuous corners facilitates this type of drifting.
Handbrake Drift - This technique is pretty straight forward; pull the handbrake to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. Some people debate the fact that if using the handbrake creates an actual drift, or just a power slide. This is generally the main technique to preform a controlled drift in a FWD vehicle.
Dirt Drop Drift - This is done by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Only permissible on roads without barriers and lined with dirt or other materials which to lose traction. This is commonly done in WRC rallying.
Jump Drift - A dangerous maneuver to accomplish and only permissible on certain race tracks. This technique requires the rear tire on the inside of a turn or apex to be bounced over a curb to lose traction, thus resulting in the desired oversteer.
Clutch Kick - This is done by "kicking" the clutch (pushing in, then out) to send a shock through the drivetrain, upsetting the car's balance. It causes the car to go into oversteer.