Drift like a pro (even if you're not) with the Mustang Mach-E

Want to slide a hatchback around like a rally driver but lack the requisite skills and odd willingness to wind up upside down in a muddy ditch?

Go buy a Mustang Mach-E Rally.

Then you can easily get all of the sideways slidey fun you need with no skill necessary and much of the danger removed.

While EVs tend to focus on fuel economy or acceleration, the ability to provide a precise amount of torque and power to each wheel opens up a wide range of possibilities. One of these possibilities involves getting the back of a car to slide while still staying in control of it. Ford’s test drivers have put years of experience and hundreds of hours of testing into “RallySport mode.” I got to test it out briefly at Monticello’s dirt track.

Drifting can be pretty complex

Regular drifting takes some time to master. On a basic level, you need to purposefully induce oversteer — or boot the back end out of it to put things in simple terms. There are a few ways to do this, but they all should result in your rear losing traction and starting to slide.

Once you feel that slip, you need to countersteer and catch the drift. This is where a bit of the skill is as going too early or correcting too much will straighten the car out. Too much countersteer, or acting too late, will see you spin out. Once you’ve caught the drift you should gently use the throttle to keep your back wheels spinning while adjusting your steering to control your direction. If this all sounds complicated, then don’t worry. Ford has your back.

Related: How to drift a semi in 18 easy steps

Drifting in the Mustang Mach-E Rally

When you’re in the Mach-E Rally, you can slip the vehicle into RallySport mode and the on-board computer will deal with all of the drifting for you. If you want some slidey fun times simply pick a loose surface (dirt and gravel work well) then steer hard in the direction you want to go while applying the throttle.

The back will slide out a little bit, but the car will catch itself and head in the direction you’re steering towards. Want to straighten out? Just straighten the wheel and it will regain traction for you.

This can be counterintuitive

While I’m not the best drifter in the world, I can do it a bit. And letting your instincts kick in will mess up RallySport mode somewhat.

Basically, if you countersteer when the car starts to slide, like you should when skidding around normally, the car will take the steering input as you trying to correct the slide. It will then kill the drift and level you out. So if you are a drift aficionado, then you’ll have to ignore everything you know to get the most out of RallySport mode. With that being said, there is another way.

Related: Ford takes the 2024 Mustang Mach-E to rally school: Will it earn its stripes?

Turning off the traction control takes things to the next level

Another counterintuitive thing about RallySport is that it’s designed to work with traction control disabled. Turning off your traction control is usually the first step you take when planning to send a vehicle sideways.

Curiously enough, even with traction control disabled there are still safeguards. It’s just a sign you want the vehicle to yaw more. So the back end will slide, you’ll be able to catch it as normal and drift more naturally, but it will stop the slide when there’s a chance of you actually spinning out. This is a more advanced mode but may help beginners gain a bit of confidence before moving to a vehicle without this feature.

Final thoughts

If you’ve always dreamed of drifting, but lack the time to learn or don’t want to risk legal trouble if you’re caught sliding about in a snowy parking lot, then this could be the perfect vehicle for you. It also functions as a Mustang Mach-E when all of this is disabled.

As for how well it worked, I witnessed several people with no prior drifting experience sliding the electric ‘Stang around a dirt track without too much of a problem once this feature was enabled. You’ll be good to go after just minutes of practice, not hours — just a few slides on gravel to get a feel for it.

However, I can’t personally account for the more advanced “traction control off” mode. I didn’t get to personally try that one out, I only had three laps with the more basic setting. I did get to sit in the vehicle with one of the company’s test drivers, who was sending it sideways with traction control disabled, but that’s still me taking their word for it.

The guy was pretty good at his job.

Related: 2024 Mustang Mach-E Rally First Drive Review: Bringing us dreams of the WRC