In short: a chicane is a short, tight S of two or three bends (left-right or right-left-right) put into a straight on purpose to slow cars down. You leave it pointing the same way you came in. The fast way through: brake in a straight line before it, then drive the straightest line the road allows, clipping each inside, because the exit speed onto the next straight matters more than the entry. This track has one of 45°, 90° and 45° on 18 m, then a hairpin. What a chicane is · the line here.
- target (3 laps)
- 1:55.00
- per lap
- 38.3 s
- record
- 0:50.31
- lap length
- 345 m
- width
- 22 m
- corners
- 8
The map as the game's menu draws it, seen from above like the in-game camera. The dot is the start line.
Overview
Chicane has 8 corners, 6 right-hand and 2 left-hand, turning through 720° in total on a 345 m lap. The tightest corner has a 16 m radius. At 22 m wide it is one of the roomier tracks, forgiving while you learn to hold an angle.
To beat the target you need an average of 38.3 s a lap. Corners swap direction, so the transitions between them decide the lap.
Corner by corner
| # | Corner | Turns | Angle | Radius | How to take it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweeper | right | 90° | 28 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. |
| 2 | Corner | right | 90° | 20 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. |
| 3 | Chicane | right | 45° | 18 m | Kink / flick. Barely a corner: a quick weight swing, keep the throttle pinned and link it into the next one. |
| 4 | left | 90° | 18 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. | |
| 5 | right | 45° | 18 m | Kink / flick. Barely a corner: a quick weight swing, keep the throttle pinned and link it into the next one. | |
| 6 | Hairpin | right | 180° | 16 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. |
| 7 | Left | left | 90° | 16 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. |
| 8 | Fast sweeper | right | 90° | 26 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. |
What hairpins, chicanes and sweepers are and the line through each: corner types and how to drift them.
What is a chicane? Turn, corner and road
A chicane is a short, tight S: two or three bends that swap direction in quick succession, right-left-right or left-right-left. Unlike a hairpin, which sends you back the way you came, a chicane hands you back onto the same heading you entered with. It is a corner built to slow you down rather than to take you somewhere. The word is French, where chicane means a trick or a deliberate obstacle.
On a race track. Circuits add chicanes where cars would otherwise be too fast: at the end of a long straight or just before a fast corner. Monza's first chicane sits at the end of the start straight, Spa-Francorchamps has the Bus Stop chicane before its last corner, and Le Mans broke up the long Mulsanne Straight with two chicanes in 1990, after cars had passed 400 km/h on it. Because every car brakes hard for a chicane, it is also one of the classic places to overtake.
On a road. Traffic engineers use the same trick in towns: kerb build-outs, planters or parking bays placed on alternate sides make the lane wiggle, and drivers slow down to steer through. That road chicane is what people often mean by a "chicane road".
Chicane, esses or hairpin chicane? Esses are a longer run of alternating bends, usually part of the original layout and taken faster (see Esses). A chicane is one short wiggle added to cut speed. And when a chicane leads straight into a hairpin, as on this track, the two are driven as one problem: the chicane decides where you are on the road when you brake for the hairpin.
How to drive any chicane. Brake before it, in a straight line, not in the first bend. Then look for the straightest line through: clip the inside of each bend so the wiggle becomes a gentle curve. If a straight follows, give up a little on the way in so the last bend opens early and you can get back on the throttle sooner. Real circuits let you use the kerbs; in DRIFTIT the walls end the run, so leave the car a little room.
The chicane and the hairpin after it
The hint is "transition cleanly, then hold it long", and it describes the middle of the lap: a right-left-right chicane (45°, 90°, 45° on 18 m) and, after a short straight, a 16 m, 180° hairpin to the right.
The chicane is straighter than it looks. Over a stretch about 51 m long, the middle of the road moves 10.5 m sideways and comes back, but the road is 22 m wide. On paper that leaves a straight corridor about 11.5 m wide (less the width of the car) running right through the S. So the fastest line barely turns: stay right of centre on the way in, clip the left-hand side in the middle of the S and the right-hand side again on the way out. Every bit of steering you don't need is speed you keep.
How to drift it. Because the line is nearly straight, a big slide here only throws time away and puts the tail near a wall. Keep the angle small and treat it as transitions: lift as the car passes straight, steer the new way, back on the throttle. If you hold one slide all the way through, the score multiplier keeps building.
Then hold it long. After the chicane comes 25 m of straight to set up the hairpin. Use it to move to the left edge (the outside), brake in a straight line, then turn in late and tap the handbrake to rotate. The hairpin exit flows straight into a 16 m left and the 26 m fast sweeper that ends the lap, so a straight, early-throttle exit is worth more than a fast entry.
The theory: corner types: chicane and how to link drifts. More chicanes to practise on: Mirror Chicane and Switchback.
FAQ
What is a chicane turn?
A chicane is a short sequence of two or three tight bends in alternating directions, left-right or right-left-right, built into a straight so that cars have to slow down. You leave it pointing in the same direction you entered it.
Why do race tracks have chicanes?
To cut speed. Circuits add chicanes at the end of long straights or before fast corners where cars would otherwise go too fast to be safe. The heavy braking before a chicane also makes it a common place to overtake.
What is a chicane on a road?
In road design a chicane is a traffic-calming feature: kerb build-outs, islands or staggered parking bays that make the lane wiggle, so drivers have to slow down to steer through.
What is the racing line through a chicane?
As straight as possible. Brake before the chicane in a straight line, then aim for a line that clips the inside of each bend and barely turns, and prioritise a clean exit if a straight follows.
What is the difference between a chicane and esses?
A chicane is one short wiggle added to slow cars down. Esses are a longer run of alternating bends, an S or several in a row, often part of the original layout and taken at higher speed.
The record
The current record on Chicane is 0:50.31 by @AndrewCourtney7, 64.7 s under the target, with 33 drivers on the board. Think you can beat it? Sign in with X in the game and your fastest run goes up under your @handle.
Tips
- Drive one clean lap first: any wall contact restarts the run, and your ghost only records runs you finish.
- Once you have a personal best, race its ghost and watch the checkpoint splits to find the corner that costs you time.
- Use the width: a wide entry lets you start the slide early and carry more speed through the apex.
- New to the technique? How to drift with a keyboard covers handbrake entry, counter-steer and linking.