Clipping zones: what they are and how to hit them sideways
A clipping zone is a marked circle at the edge of a corner. In Slipline Garage each one is a cyan ring about 8.4 metres across with a small flag post. Pass through it while actively sliding and 600 points are added to your chain, multiplied by your current multiplier.
The idea comes from competitive drifting, where judges mark points on the track that the car should pass close to. Wikipedia’s article on drifting as a motorsport describes how real events judge line, angle and style.
The rules
- You must be scoring when you cross it. Angle between 12° and 75°, at least 29 km/h, on the road, slide held for at least 0.45 seconds. Driving through straight earns nothing.
- Any part of the zone counts. The check is whether the car’s centre is inside the circle.
- It re-arms after six seconds. On a lap that is no restriction. In an open area it stops you circling one zone.
- The bonus rides the chain. Lose the chain to a wall before banking and the zone bonus goes with it.
Where they are
| Track | Zones | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| Academy Yard | 4 | Inside of the oval’s four corner arcs |
| Harbor Circuit | 5 | Four on the right-hand edge, one on the left |
| Canyon Loop | 6 | Four on the right-hand edge, two on the left |
| Skyline Deck | 5 | Four on the right-hand edge, one on the left |
Inside zones reward a tight line. Outside zones reward commitment: you have to let the car run wide, toward the wall, while sideways.
Arriving already sideways
The most common miss is driving through a zone straight and starting the slide afterwards. Lesson 7 calls this out by name: “You crossed a zone at 4° — it only counts while drifting.”
Fix it by moving everything earlier:
- Find the zone before the corner. The flag post is visible over the kerb.
- Start the slide a car length or two before you would normally turn in.
- Aim the middle of the car, not the nose, at the circle.
- Hold the angle through it on part throttle.
Inside versus outside zones
Inside zones. Turn in early and let the nose run close to the kerb. Too much angle here swings the tail wide and the centre of the car misses the circle.
Outside zones. Enter a little faster and stay on the power so the car drifts wide. Look at the zone, not at the wall behind it. Leave the countersteer on a moment longer than feels comfortable.
Zones and multipliers
Because the bonus is multiplied, a zone clipped at ×3 is worth 1,800 points; the same zone at ×1 is worth 600. The high-value play is to build the chain through an earlier corner, then carry it through a zone. On Harbor Circuit that means linking the hairpin into the zone that follows it.
Practicing
- Four Corners on Academy Yard: 75 seconds, four zones, bronze at 2.
- High-contrast markers (Settings → Assists and access) make the rings brighter if they are hard to see against the asphalt.
- Zones always show as a shape and a post, never by colour alone.
More on placing the car: drifting lines. Back to the drifting games overview.