Curious about sending some 1990s drift missiles sideways? Or perhaps you want to pursue professional e-sports drifting after getting the hang of it on your own. What simulator do you need to get into, and which one is best suited for you?
Beamng's strengths and weaknesses in drifting are rather extensive, especially since it is the only title in this trio not designed with motorsport at its core. Because of this, it lacks many of the gamification elements that Assetto Corsa and RaceRoom offer.
The new Hirochi Sunburst wagon in drift form
You can feel every bump and wall tap, and those elements will have consequences. If you hit a wall lightly, you will dent the corner of your car, perhaps dislodging the taillight or unclipping one half of the bumper. These small sections add up to a fantastic and punishing experience that is missed in this trio's other two drifting sims.
Check out our review here to learn more about the new vehicle strength figures from the 0.35 update!
The Garage Gauntlet drift scenario. Image: BeamNG
Setups: In the garage mode within BeamNG, you can customise your car in terms of physical parts and aesthetic look, as well as tune and adjust your suspension, drivetrain, and gearbox. Tuning and changing your vehicle with the correct settings is essential, especially as BeamNG does not have the most intricate tyre physics to back up the rest of the title's offerings.
Freedom and Modding: Open-world maps, tons of car mods, and plenty of drifting parts add to vanilla content like wheels and suspension parts to create an incredible database of drifting content for players to get stuck into, whether you love adding hundreds of mods to your game or not.
The freeroam relevance to drifting within BeamNG has been bolstered even further in 0.35, including the drift zones across West Coast USA, Italy, Utah and the Automation Test Track.
The sweeping final corner on the new drift circuit within the West Coast USA map.
Wheel Support: Good-quality force feedback and wheel support are essential for drifting. It is a sport of micro-adjustments, and while pedal input is arguably the most critical aspect, wheel feedback is undoubtedly crucial when it comes to feeling out any damage or tune changes in BeamNG. The damage model delivers considerable modifications to the cars' handling. Ensure you don't hold onto your wheel if heading straight for a wall!
The compatibility of BeamNG is on par with modern racing simulators. If you own any of the leading brands on sale, you will be able to make it work with BeamNG. Just be careful, as mentioned above, with direct drive wheelbases and the kick they can deliver in a crash.
Budget drift-spec Ibishu Pessima.
Sandbox: As mentioned in the positives, BeamNG is a sandbox, not a racing simulator. This is only a weakness if you like structured mode-style drifting. Outside of the anticipated career mode, no specific mode is built around drifting.
Custom-made Sunburst drift car
Overall, BeamNG is a fantastic drifting simulator when it comes to building and tuning your car to exactly how you like it; however, the physics behind BeamNG's tyres are not designed for drifting and are, therefore, not on a level to compete with the other two entries in this trio, Assetto Corsa and RaceRoom.
Expansive modding community: Assetto Corsa offers thousands of drift cars, JDM legends, tire models (VDC, DCGP), and pro tracks like Ebisu, Meihan, or custom touge roads. It is no secret that this sim is the place to be for mods; it has dominated the scene for a long time alongside other titles like the two rFactor titles and the original Automobilista. Assetto Corsa's catalogue of mods is rather staggering, even just on our site here on OverTake.gg! The current tally sits at a little over 32,000...
Online drift servers: Tandem lobbies, rankings, and communities (Shutoko, VDC, Street Heroes) are the perfect places to find like-minded people with whom to set up events and servers.
SVDS Nissan 240sx. Image: Russell Jones
The age of Assetto Corsa is its worst enemy in 2025, but with Assetto Corsa EVO's own modding base on the horizon, are the times changing?
Paid mods: Assetto Corsa has reached a point where many mods are behind paywalls, and mod developers are putting in more time and effort to keep up with the quality of mods being pumped out. There are some fantastic free mods, over 32,000 on our site, but for some people, that can be a real downer, especially if you are after a specific combination or tune for your car.
Regular road cars can be converted into drifting machines with a detailed tune and some good power mods!
Assetto Corsa is still the place to go for an online drifting experience. However, with so many mods, it can get confusing and storage-heavy. Time will tell what is in store for Assetto Corsa EVO, but drifting content is certainly not out of the question.
BeamNG is also a real challenger to RaceRoom when run on high settings. Despite the graphical deficit, the car models in RaceRoom are the best of the trio, and it is first-party content.
RaceRoom's dedicated drifting touge. Image: KW Studios
Sound Design: Often praised in sim racing, the RaceRoom drifting soundtrack is fantastic and puts you in the cockpit from the first pull of the handbrake. The
Unfortunately, the drift part of RaceRoom does not come with an automated scoring system – yet, as Christian Wacker-Baur, Director of Sales & Strategy at RaceRoom, explains: "We are talking to a few promoters of real drift competitions who are looking to hold digital events, but with scoring done by humans. So it was not a priority for us thus far, but that does not mean we are not working on it."
BMW E30 M3 Drift. Image: KW Studios
Physics Engine: Offering a semi-realistic take on drifting within its sim racing framework, RaceRoom's physics engine provides a decent foundation for learning how to drift with the E30 and offers a natural progression pathway with the G82 M4.
Drifting in RaceRoom requires an unusual amount of finesse. Forget just ripping the handbrake and dealing with the consequences later. This tire model especially punishes excessive throttle or steering input, leading to snap oversteer or even understeer if your setup is lacking. On the other hand, the force feedback conveys good road details, but it still lacks the nuanced weight transfer cues found in the complex calculations of BeamNG.
Paid Content and No Mods: What you see is what you get, and whilst the content is limited, it is of excellent quality. The content within RaceRoom always sounds fantastic, and the drift class cars are no different. You must pay a premium to access any of the Drift content in RaceRoom. On offer are the G82 M4 Drift and the BMW E30 Drift. Without paying €6+ for each car, the sim has no drifting content.
RaceRoom's two drift cars. Image: KW Studios
This is not to say that there will not be more in the future, but at the moment, approaching the spring of 2025, the content's current value cannot be justified, especially when compared to its competition in this trio of drifting sims. This is not to say that there will not be more in the future, but where we are right now, approaching the spring of 2025, the current value of the content cannot be justified, especially when compared to Assetto Corsa.
What do you think about the three drifting simulators on offer here? Is there another sim you would add as an extra or in place of one of them? Let us know in the comments down below!
BeamNG.drive
The first of the trio to go under the microscope, as it were, is the newly updated BeamNG. This title has had a lot of potential for rallying and drifting content over the years, but with the latest 0.35 update finally realising that potential, we can now comfortably include it in this list!Beamng's strengths and weaknesses in drifting are rather extensive, especially since it is the only title in this trio not designed with motorsport at its core. Because of this, it lacks many of the gamification elements that Assetto Corsa and RaceRoom offer.
The new Hirochi Sunburst wagon in drift form
Strengths:
Soft-body physics: BeamNG is known for its fantastic crash and part deformation physics. Tatty MX5s and BMW E46s sliding around small local venues with bumpers and side skirts held on with zip ties and prayer—that is what BeamNG can replicate fantastically. The grungy side of drifting, the grassroots, if you will, is all about that.You can feel every bump and wall tap, and those elements will have consequences. If you hit a wall lightly, you will dent the corner of your car, perhaps dislodging the taillight or unclipping one half of the bumper. These small sections add up to a fantastic and punishing experience that is missed in this trio's other two drifting sims.
Check out our review here to learn more about the new vehicle strength figures from the 0.35 update!
The Garage Gauntlet drift scenario. Image: BeamNG
Setups: In the garage mode within BeamNG, you can customise your car in terms of physical parts and aesthetic look, as well as tune and adjust your suspension, drivetrain, and gearbox. Tuning and changing your vehicle with the correct settings is essential, especially as BeamNG does not have the most intricate tyre physics to back up the rest of the title's offerings.
Freedom and Modding: Open-world maps, tons of car mods, and plenty of drifting parts add to vanilla content like wheels and suspension parts to create an incredible database of drifting content for players to get stuck into, whether you love adding hundreds of mods to your game or not.
The freeroam relevance to drifting within BeamNG has been bolstered even further in 0.35, including the drift zones across West Coast USA, Italy, Utah and the Automation Test Track.
The sweeping final corner on the new drift circuit within the West Coast USA map.
Wheel Support: Good-quality force feedback and wheel support are essential for drifting. It is a sport of micro-adjustments, and while pedal input is arguably the most critical aspect, wheel feedback is undoubtedly crucial when it comes to feeling out any damage or tune changes in BeamNG. The damage model delivers considerable modifications to the cars' handling. Ensure you don't hold onto your wheel if heading straight for a wall!
The compatibility of BeamNG is on par with modern racing simulators. If you own any of the leading brands on sale, you will be able to make it work with BeamNG. Just be careful, as mentioned above, with direct drive wheelbases and the kick they can deliver in a crash.
Budget drift-spec Ibishu Pessima.
Weaknesses
Physics: Often described as overly floaty or unpredictable for precise drifting, BeamNG is undoubtedly not a market leader yet. There have been fantastic improvements over the last handful of updates; however, compared to Assetto Corsa or even the RaceRoom drifting physics, it is not quite yet on that level.Sandbox: As mentioned in the positives, BeamNG is a sandbox, not a racing simulator. This is only a weakness if you like structured mode-style drifting. Outside of the anticipated career mode, no specific mode is built around drifting.
Custom-made Sunburst drift car
Overall, BeamNG is a fantastic drifting simulator when it comes to building and tuning your car to exactly how you like it; however, the physics behind BeamNG's tyres are not designed for drifting and are, therefore, not on a level to compete with the other two entries in this trio, Assetto Corsa and RaceRoom.
Assetto Corsa
Assetto Corsa has been the undeniable king of drifting in sim racing for over a decade. It is undoubtedly the most in-depth and expansive drifting experience you could wish for. Kunos' original masterpiece has helped sim drifters transition from a sim car to the real thing!Strengths
Realistic physics engine: Assetto Corsa's physics lends itself perfectly to drifting. An entire drift mode was included in the title's launch in 2013; it was already leaps and bounds ahead of its competition, in this case, RaceRoom.Expansive modding community: Assetto Corsa offers thousands of drift cars, JDM legends, tire models (VDC, DCGP), and pro tracks like Ebisu, Meihan, or custom touge roads. It is no secret that this sim is the place to be for mods; it has dominated the scene for a long time alongside other titles like the two rFactor titles and the original Automobilista. Assetto Corsa's catalogue of mods is rather staggering, even just on our site here on OverTake.gg! The current tally sits at a little over 32,000...
Online drift servers: Tandem lobbies, rankings, and communities (Shutoko, VDC, Street Heroes) are the perfect places to find like-minded people with whom to set up events and servers.
SVDS Nissan 240sx. Image: Russell Jones
Weaknesses
Vanilla content: The base game drift cars are good, especially the BMW E30, but the base game lacks up-to-date drift content, with all of it being over a decade old. Unfortunately, that means mods are essential for a good experience. Not everyone wants to spend hours collating a collection of mods, just for one broken mod to make the game unplayable.The age of Assetto Corsa is its worst enemy in 2025, but with Assetto Corsa EVO's own modding base on the horizon, are the times changing?
Paid mods: Assetto Corsa has reached a point where many mods are behind paywalls, and mod developers are putting in more time and effort to keep up with the quality of mods being pumped out. There are some fantastic free mods, over 32,000 on our site, but for some people, that can be a real downer, especially if you are after a specific combination or tune for your car.
Regular road cars can be converted into drifting machines with a detailed tune and some good power mods!
Assetto Corsa is still the place to go for an online drifting experience. However, with so many mods, it can get confusing and storage-heavy. Time will tell what is in store for Assetto Corsa EVO, but drifting content is certainly not out of the question.
RaceRoom Racing Experience
Known more for its circuit simulation, RaceRoom stepped into the drifting space with its first update in 2024. Two cars are available, the BMW E30 M3 and the BMW G82 M4. The experience is limited, but the sound design is gorgeous.Strengths
Models: High-quality car and track models give RaceRoom a slight advantage over its competition. However, even with the graphical overhaul the sim received in 2024, the graphics still can not compare to an average Assetto Corsa SOL and Pure combination.BeamNG is also a real challenger to RaceRoom when run on high settings. Despite the graphical deficit, the car models in RaceRoom are the best of the trio, and it is first-party content.
RaceRoom's dedicated drifting touge. Image: KW Studios
Sound Design: Often praised in sim racing, the RaceRoom drifting soundtrack is fantastic and puts you in the cockpit from the first pull of the handbrake. The
Weaknesses
Not a priority: RaceRoom was not designed for drifting; it is more of an add-on to a sim with a vast catalogue of interesting and well-designed circuit racing machinery. That is all well and good, but the drifting scene in sim racing doesn't just have to be on Assetto Corsa. RaceRoom has potential, but more content, tracks, and drift touges are required before anyone can take the mode, or its content, seriously.Unfortunately, the drift part of RaceRoom does not come with an automated scoring system – yet, as Christian Wacker-Baur, Director of Sales & Strategy at RaceRoom, explains: "We are talking to a few promoters of real drift competitions who are looking to hold digital events, but with scoring done by humans. So it was not a priority for us thus far, but that does not mean we are not working on it."
BMW E30 M3 Drift. Image: KW Studios
Physics Engine: Offering a semi-realistic take on drifting within its sim racing framework, RaceRoom's physics engine provides a decent foundation for learning how to drift with the E30 and offers a natural progression pathway with the G82 M4.
Drifting in RaceRoom requires an unusual amount of finesse. Forget just ripping the handbrake and dealing with the consequences later. This tire model especially punishes excessive throttle or steering input, leading to snap oversteer or even understeer if your setup is lacking. On the other hand, the force feedback conveys good road details, but it still lacks the nuanced weight transfer cues found in the complex calculations of BeamNG.
Paid Content and No Mods: What you see is what you get, and whilst the content is limited, it is of excellent quality. The content within RaceRoom always sounds fantastic, and the drift class cars are no different. You must pay a premium to access any of the Drift content in RaceRoom. On offer are the G82 M4 Drift and the BMW E30 Drift. Without paying €6+ for each car, the sim has no drifting content.
RaceRoom's two drift cars. Image: KW Studios
This is not to say that there will not be more in the future, but at the moment, approaching the spring of 2025, the content's current value cannot be justified, especially when compared to its competition in this trio of drifting sims. This is not to say that there will not be more in the future, but where we are right now, approaching the spring of 2025, the current value of the content cannot be justified, especially when compared to Assetto Corsa.
Overall comparison
Below is a table that simplifies the simulators into four easy categories: Realism, Modding, Drift Community, and Ease of Use. It comes down to what you want to spend your time doing. If building your drift cars is as fun for you as drifting them, then BeamNG is almost untouchable. If realistic and competitive drifting is for you, Assetto Corsa, and for fantastic feedback through the wheel and gorgeous sound design, it would be RaceRoom.| Game | Realism | Modding | Drift Community | Ease of Use | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assetto Corsa | 4/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 | Professional and competitive drifting, online tandems and a passionate community with a healthy amount of paid and free third-party mods. |
| BeamNG.drive | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | Realistic damage and an endless catalogue of drifting parts and liveries to customise your ride to your heart's content. |
| RaceRoom | 5/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 5/5 | A simple jump-in-and-drift experience with minimal content, the game is designed for circuit racing and does not adapt perfectly. |
What do you think about the three drifting simulators on offer here? Is there another sim you would add as an extra or in place of one of them? Let us know in the comments down below!
