Academy Yard
Academy Yard is a walled concrete apron, 168 metres by 108, with nothing in the middle to hit. A painted oval runs around it, a white ring sits at its centre and two amber rings either side make a figure eight. It is where every lesson takes place and the best place to try anything new.
| Lap length | 307 m |
|---|---|
| Road width | 16 m |
| Level | Beginner |
| Clipping zones | 4 |
| Gates per lap | 8 |
| Character | Wide open and forgiving. The walls are a long way off and the oval is only paint, so running wide costs nothing. |
Corner by corner
Positions are percentages of the lap, counted from the start line in the direction of travel.
East end of the oval · 23% to 54% of the lap
One continuous right-hander with a radius of about 19 metres. A clipping zone sits just before it and another inside it. Start the slide as the top straight ends and hold one angle all the way round rather than taking it as two corners.
West end of the oval · 73% to the start line
The mirror image, with the same two zones. Hold the slide across the start line and the chain carries into the next lap.
The centre ring · Middle of the yard, 26 m across
For donuts and sustained slides. Keep the nose pointing toward the ring’s centre and steer with the throttle. In lessons and Free Drive it scores without limit; in challenges, scoring pauses after about one and a quarter turns the same way.
The figure-eight rings · Either side of centre, 18 m across
Circle one, lift, let the tail swing across the middle and catch it around the other. Each crossing is one linked transition.
Walls, runoff and recovery
The yard is fully walled, with tire stacks along the long sides. There is no runoff surface: the whole apron counts as road.
Pressing R in a timed run returns the car to the last of the track’s 8 gates you passed, stationary, with the live chain cleared and scoring paused for a second and a half. In Free Drive it returns you to the nearest point on the track instead.
Common mistakes
- Treating each end of the oval as two separate corners and straightening in between, which banks the chain early.
- Circling one ring in a challenge and wondering why points stop: change direction to keep scoring.
- Going too fast for the rings. They work best at 40 to 60 km/h.
Which car
The Finch for learning. The Meridian for the long-chain challenge it is provided for. The Brisk makes the figure eight feel easy and the Yard Exam is built around it. The numbers behind those characters are in six cars compared.
What to practice first
Lesson 5: Holding the slide. It uses the centre ring and teaches the throttle balance every yard challenge depends on. All eight are on the Drift Academy page, and drifting lines explains where to place the car in any corner.
The six challenges here
| Challenge | Judged on | Car | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oval Warm-Up | Drift score | Finch | 1,700 | 3,400 | 5,700 |
| Four Corners | Zones clipped | Your choice | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Figure Eight | Linked transitions | Your choice | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| One Long Breath | Longest chain | Meridian | 3,400 | 6,800 | 11,300 |
| Three Alike | Weakest lap score | Your choice | 1,150 | 2,300 | 3,900 |
| Yard Exam | Combined result | Brisk | 8,000 | 16,100 | 26,800 |
Thresholds were set from completed runs by the game’s reference driver: gold is what it managed, silver is 60% of that and bronze 30%. A practiced human should beat it. How each result is calculated is in drift scoring explained.