TOP 5 Best Car Games for Drifting

by Mike Alexander / Articles, Lists, Misc. Guides / 01 Apr 2024

When you hop into a car game of any kind, you’re probably going to see if drifting is a viable thing to do in that game. It’s one of the coolest maneuvers you can do in a car, and pulling it off in either video games or real life is a truly gratifying, while dangerous, experience. Drifting has kind of become a default feature for car games in recent times so thankfully there are plenty of options when you’re looking for sick drifting action. You’ll find a few of those awesome drifting games on this list of the Top 5 Best Car Games for Drifting. If you’re ready to travel sideways at high speeds, check your tires, and let’s get started!

BeamNG.drive

While not a game inherently about drifting, BeamNG.drive is a game that has a pretty sophisticated physics system, making drifting one of the many things you can do in this game. It is more of an arcadey drifting experience than a full-on simulator, but it is still amazingly fun to hop in any car and slide through city streets and mountain passes. Another bonus of BeamNG.drive’s physics system is the dynamic damage your car will take when you miscalculate your drift exit and slam into a wall. The dark hilarity of seeing a crumpled chunk of metal where your car once stood is something only BeamNG.drive can provide.

CarX Drift Racing Online

Now THIS game is a drifting simulator. While not the prettiest game on this list in terms of graphics, CarX is one of the most fully-featured drifting simulator games in the world. You can do everything from selecting a car, tuning it up, and taking it to the track to compete with AI or your own friends in online matches. Since its release in 2017, CarX has received a ton of updates and DLC packs to add to the game’s overall experience, making it even better with time. When you’re looking for a game that is all about drifting, CarX should be your go-to.

Assetto Corsa

Assetto Corsa is the premiere racing simulator game on the market and has been since its release in 2014. With ultra-realistic driving physics, great graphics and textures, and a ton of support for extra hardware, Assetto Corsa is most car fans’ one-stop shop for racing thrills. Whether you want to be fully immersed by attaching a VR headset, or you want to hook up a racing wheel and pedals for more realistic controls, Assetto Corsa is ready to accommodate you. What’s more, with its huge selection of cars, there are quite a few great drift cars that feel great to drive, especially with a racing wheel.

GTA V with FiveM

GTAV was and continues to be nothing short of a phenomenon. Why else would Rockstar continue to port the game to new consoles for the last 9 years? Part of what made GTA V beloved by its fans on launch was its immaculate driving physics. Not overly realistic, but a ton of fun to interact with and use. Over time, GTAV’s online portion, GTA Online, has grown exponentially, adding support for all kinds of extra features whether they were made by the original developers or not. One of those features is FiveM, an open-source, community-driven framework for modded GTA Online experiences. Within FiveM (which is free), there are tons of options for servers and mods that allow you to take GTAV’s cars to drift tracks with friends and enjoy all of the drifting action your heart can take. And, as it is community-driven, the most popular ones continue to grow and thrive, making the experience of playing within them much more fun as time goes on. If you have GTA V already, as most people do, you should give FiveM a try!

Forza Horizon 5

Playground Games’ latest Forza Horizon game has blown the doors off of the open-world racing genre. With a lovingly recreated version of Mexico on a massive map, there is a ton of visual and environmental diversity to be had as you zip through the country in whatever sports car or hot rod you happen to be piloting. The developers have been making Forza games for quite a while, and thus have mastered the balance between a realistic simulator feel and the fun of arcade car handling. So, when you take any car out on the open road in Forza Horizon 5 and try to drift it, it will in fact drift, and feel great too! Plus with over 500 cars to drive, your options are vast and varied.

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.
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