(This will be filled out as time permits)
I think your initial confusion has to do with the difference between powersliding and drifting. In a powerslide, your rear wheels have lost all traction and the rear of the car "swings around" for serious oversteer. While this can help you turn on tight corners, it usually does 3 things: (1) takes your car off of the "racing line" because you tend to slide to the outside of the turn, (2) eats up a lot of your speed, and (3) makes it difficult to get control back and get back up to speed quickly. DRIFTING, on the other hand, is when you are pushing the traction of your tires to the limit. The tires ARE squealing a little, but you haven't lost control of the car yet. Unlike a powerslide, when you are drifting you can maintain the racing line, and you can get back on the accelerator and get your car back up to speed quickly. Drifting is definitely the fastest way to take corners. The problem is that drifting is MUCH more difficult than powersliding. To powerslide, all you have to do is overcome the friction of the rear tires. To drift, you have to take the tires right to their friction limit and then hold them there throughout the turn. Since your speed, acceleration, turn radius, and weight distribution all effect friction, keeping your car in a drift throughout a turn can require constant adjustment
Original author: albrnick