I’d like to introduce you to my freshly-updated e-brake hardware. (Z32 300ZX e-brake mechanism on S14 240SX rear)

The thing with installing new e-brake shoes is that it’s not really an upgrade, and it’s not exactly regular maintenance either. I mean, how often do you hear anyone brag about this? Most likely never (or rarely). And I know what a few of you are thinking — “But my car doesn’t even use e-brake shoes. The rear brake pads double as the handbrake pads.”  That’s not the point. The point is this — whether your car uses e-brake shoes or rear brake pads, give them a little attention, especially if they’re old, tired, or don’t lock well anymore. Even if you usually initiate drifts without pulling the handbrake, maybe you almost always feint or always clutch kick, having fresh e-brake shoes or rear pads offers a ton of peace of mind. But it’s that peace of mind that give you just enough confidence to clutch kick or manji into corners without having to feel so on-edge.

“Why is that?” you may ask. Well, it’s because aside from being one of the big drift initiation tools, the e-brake is also one of the greatest adjustment tools for drifting. You can use it to give your car a steeper angle if you’re not turned in enough, you can use it to scrub off speed, and you can even use it to maintain the angle you like if your car starts to lost momentum mid-drift and straighten out. I’m sure there are more uses for the e-brake, but those are the ways I use it.

That said, if you know you can adjust — that you don’t need to be 100% perfect on initiation, then you know you can toss your car into a corner with a little bit more confidence, or recklessness, depending on how you look at it. And confident recklessness, well, that’s just dandy.

On a sidenote, check out these tires. These tires suck! … which makes them PERFECT for drifting. Ho ho ho~ ^o^ b