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Long Beach

California Drifter achievement in Forza Motorsport 5

California Drifter

Finish the California Drifter Rivals event having earned 15,000 drift points in one lap.

California Drifter+0.1
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How to unlock the California Drifter achievement

  • DanAskerDanAsker
    12 Apr 2014 11 Apr 2014 04 Apr 2020
    This achievement took me under an hour once I had worked out the score for each corner. I have uploaded my replay however it is very much trial and error. Please note these are merely estimations, you may be able to out-perform on certain corners, and slack slightly on others. For reference my exact scores after Turn 4 and Turn 7 were 6,895 and 12,488 respectively. As mentioned in the comments, you can make the hairpin in turn 8 into a separate turn and drift, however from my experience I found you scored higher by linking the two turns into one long drift. I personally scored over 3000 on Turn 8.

    External image


    For this achievement used my own Kia Cee'd Drift tune, however from the comments of people with less drifting experience, "exxDudexx" has a tune for a Mazda RX7 called "mazda drift tune 500". If you get stuck on a corner and really can't score what others have scored, move on, and try to make up for the score on the next corner.

    Please see what scores others have achieved on each corner in the comments, as these numbers were estimated from what I achieved on each corner and are not concrete.

    No traction control, no stability and no ABS. Please use normal steering. Use manual shifting and shift to 2nd at the start (by pressing B) and leave it there. When the corners become yellow pull the e-brake and let it slide itself, no gas, then feather the gas to maintain the drift. You will use lots of rewinds. After each corner has been added, turn around and get a fresh run-up for the next drift. The key to getting a high score is a combination of entry speed, the angle of the drift and length. You will want to enter with as much angle and around the 60 mph speed, making your drift last as long as possible as sideways as possible.

    IMPORTANT: THE DRIFT WILL ONLY COUNT BETWEEN THE CONES AND THE TYRES ON EACH CORNER. IT IS NOT LIKE PREVIOUS FORZAS, YOU CANNOT GET SCORE ON THE STRAIGHTS.

    As the corners are not massively forgiving, you will need to start on the opposite side to where the driving line suggests, sweep across and then e-brake to start the turn where the yellow starts. For a lot of corners it will naturally drift without gas, and you will only be required to maintain the drift to get the score necessary on that corner. 2nd gear should have decent power at all times and never go above 70 mph so you will always have a good entry speed.

    Guide not helping? View 5 more guides for this achievement.

    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    Iceblue007Why? Why not lease such successes so that you can achieve them without a server connection. Really a pity.
    Posted by Iceblue007 On 16 Feb at 21:18
    i am dabeOnly 10 years later and I've unlocked this... I thought this was impossible, even being a half decent drifter but, I just logged on, saw the servers were up and thought... why not give it a crack.

    Thanks to the RX7 500 tune by exxDudexx. 2nd gear all corners except 1st around the roundabout (turn 2) and DanAsker for the score guide per corner. Rewind is a god send.
    Posted by i am dabe On 08 Mar at 22:23
    GiinceeI just unlocked it. Also used the RX7 500h tune by exxDudexx. I did it with automatic gear instead of manual
    Posted by Giincee On 11 Mar at 16:48
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  • SatNiteEduardoSatNiteEduardo
    12 Apr 2014 16 Apr 2014
    Another good tune for people struggling is for the GMC Syclone by snd woom988. To find the tune use keywords 1 drift and keyword 2 beginner.

    I originally got the achievement using rewind but wanted to get 15k in a clean lap which I did.

    Here is a video to show gears, speed, lines, scores etc.
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    Jakub1471SSThanks for guide! I got 15 224 points :) Top tip: don't worry if you're short in some points; I had only about 11 700 right before turn 7 and I've got everything way more than 3000 after really long swing (right, left, right)
    Posted by Jakub1471SS On 03 Aug 21 at 19:55
    The JobbymasterServers back online no idea how long for. Just unlocked this following the video, take your time, you can rewind and also reverse to get better angles into the corner. Used this exact build found it worked best, tried the others but the gmc worked best for me. Thanks for the guide glad thats over.
    Posted by The Jobbymaster On 13 Mar at 15:06
    ListlessDragonOver 9 years later but thanks for this, worked for me with much trial and error and rewind.
    Posted by ListlessDragon On 11 Jun at 22:22
  • BoothdomBoothdom
    07 Aug 2014 07 Aug 2014 18 Jan 2018
    Here's yet another tutorial vid and associated tune. I'd normally not post this as there are plenty of other solutions above, but after trying all of the other suggestions and spending a good 10 hours or so on this achievement, this worked out best for me. It's definitely pretty forgiving and I found it the easiest to handle by far.

    Car: 1995 Ford SVT Cobra R
    Tune Description: L2DRIFT
    Tune by: Beetfarmer89

    All credit goes to Beetfarmer89. I'm just reposting his good work as I don't think it's been mentioned anywhere on this site.

    Be aware that this achievement is hard and unless you have a decent amount of drifting experience it'll take you a good amount of time to crack, but it is definitely doable. Practice, take it slow, rewind and keep trying. You'll get there eventually. Try and match the scores on each corner as noted in the other solutions. There's nothing more disheartening than getting to the end and finding you just can't squeeze enough points out of the last corner. That said, don't get hung up on the odd 100 points here and there. There is definitely some wiggle room. FiLo's lap comes in at 16,200 and some of the top guys have around 20k.

    For assists; Traction, stability and ABS all off. Manual shifting and steering normal. Damage to cosmetic.

    All the best and keep at it.

    EDIT: To all those struggling to find the tune, please follow the suggested steps by x Slick Hick X
    - Go to Career
    - Go to Buy Cars
    - Buy the car (1995 Ford SVT Cobra R)
    - Back out to main menu and go to tune/upgrade
    - Search for the tune and install it (L2DRIFT by Beetfarmer89)
    - Go to Rivals select Drift select California Drifter
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    GoClimbAGlacierThe last two turns were key for me with the Cobra, made up for how tough the earlier ones were. Thank you so much for your guide!
    Posted by GoClimbAGlacier On 24 Jan 21 at 06:14
    DD91This one done it for me, the other cars/tunes were ok but this was a first time effort.
    Posted by DD91 On 14 Mar at 11:06
    HolyRipAgree. This was the way.
    Posted by HolyRip On 08 Apr at 06:10
There are 3 other guides for this achievement
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