Crash Team Racing: How and When to Use the Drift Engine

So last month Crash Team Racing finally got a new engine, drift! But the question still lies, how and WHEN should you use the drift engine?

[IllusionMaster]

I tried the Drift engine, and I agree what this engine offers to the races.
Instant Sacred Fire, and longer time maintaining it.
Great video!

[edwetodd]

Correct answer:
All the time, every time.

You then want to replace the OST with Initial D.
It’ll be a whole new game then.

[warlockguy]

I actually am unable to play any other class now. Drift is so good.

[BlaxxShadow]

It’s my new favorite engine. It actually helps me make tight turns and move faster coming out of them because I suck. 😀

[jangofett]

I was only ever playing Acceleration before the engine swap update. Since then I’ve been using Drift and I feel like I’m better with it now

[IAmDAN]

When you, say, are facing left while power sliding, Drift engine makes it so that
1. When you're sliding left, you turn almost as easily as the turning characters
2. When you're sliding right (such as when you're trying to slide in a straight passage), you'll be able to slide in a straight line like speed characters

[ChouchooTranslations]

It easily became my favorite engine. That extra turn, plus that you can hold reserves so much longer, letting you keep your speed. The biggest shock for me was my time trial on Electron Avenue. With speed, I could barely make it below 3:45:00, but with Drift, I got a 3:24:00 casually. I was 21 seconds faster!! I still see potential in attaining a time below 3:20:00 too.

[thegamingreaper]

I've been using the drift mechanic quite a bit lately, and I've found that it actually helps with doing some of N. Tropy's Time Trials.

[IanRB]

After they patched it, I've mained this class ever since. Yes, like you said, for certain tracks like Android Alley, I'd use speed. But for everything else, drift is the way to go. It's so versatile and forgiving online that its really the most balanced (pardon the pun) class to use. I used to HATE Clockwork Wumpa, now I absolutely love it. And it's all because of the drift class.

[GiratinaofFury]

This video puts it into better context - normally, it's very hard to get a straight answer on how best to use certain engines.

[KBABZ]

Huh, totally didn't know about the higher Reserves thing!

[Michaeldragon]

1:39 Oh i do hope you're planning on talking about how Underpowered and misleading the Turn and especially the Balance classes are.

[sebastiankulche]

For some reason, the drift engine also has a more high jump. I also realized that although it has very good handling, for some reason, in the air it has a lot more and becomes very sensitive. I usually lose the blue fire for going too far to the side because of how sensitive it is in the air. The turning class has the best turn in the ground but in the air has the worse and you cant drift very well in straight lines. And last, the "balanced" class, its not balance, is the worst of all. It has low speed and very bad turning in the air, in straight lines and curves... In the original game the stats are more balanced... You can even defeated a tiny with a polar for example...
Its like turning has two invisible stats: Turning in ground and turning in air (speed class has the best turning in air and the best turning in straight line, so i think is the best class by far)... And another invisible stat is the height jump that also depends on the class, Am I the only one who noticed this?

[TheBoydo]

Idk about everyone else, but I was able to finally unlock N. Tropy using the drift class. Based on my play style, it’s the best engine!

[HeadlinesGames]

This is an awesome info video on the drift engine, as soon as I can, I’m going to dedicate a bit to it! Thanks CGE! :)

[Wildchildinc]

Drift is an awesome class. I beat all my accel time trials when they tweaked the class. Now I main it this class.

[judgedsalmon]

Thanks, I think this is gonna help me win my last four tracks against oxide now.

[johnperkins]

I didn't actually know they patched this class till you stated it since i tried it upon release getting nowhere until i saw this video and tried it once again. It felt completely different as if it took the best aspects of Turning, Acceleration and Speed and added its own benefits making it the best Turning based class to race with. It works wonders when racers hit me constantly to allow me to catch up and overtake most of the others because of the auto-sacred fire and easier sustainability of USF in some cases.

[PARTYROCKER-szlr]

Gotta agree with you there CGE. This engine is fantastic. Now I pretty much use every class for different tracks so I do not doubt potential in balanced and turn. However drift has saved me from failure on certain tracks like let’s say Papu’s Pyramid or Turbo Track. Now Papu it was more so an easy way to cut corners while being able to recover, but for Turbo Track (a track I honestly didn’t like before) I know like because of drift class. I feel like I just turn that much smoother.

P.S. - You are 100% right about Dingo Canyon. I tried that before this video even existed and I was so shocked.

[HotTakeswithTim]

Would it be better to use that during the Time Trials against N. Tropy?