We'd not normally advise getting information directly from Wikipedia, but its opening line on the sport of drifting is as good as any other definition you'll find:
"Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner."
Compare that definition with the Consumer Reports video above and what you see is pretty clear: it really is a 4,600-pound Tesla Model S being drifted.
Following their highest-ever rating since 2007, the guys at Consumer Reports decided to have some fun.
After all, when you spend the day doing sensible, objective tests--measuring luggage space, recording noise, counting cupholders--it's natural that you'd want to unwind a little.
Anyway, their opinions on the car's fun factor are as high as its overall rating.
"Driving a Tesla Model S is like having your own private amusement park," said CR.
"Not that we advocate tire-smoking, tail-sliding turns on any public road--ever! But such drifting can be a measure of a car's great-handling chops, as well as its available power. And boy, can the Tesla drift!"
While the car's stability systems (wisely) cannot be switched off entirely, the traction control can. The laws of physics always win in the end, and with enough provocation and judicious use of the accelerator pedal it's apparently possible to get the Model S to wag its tail.
It's not something you'd do on the road (drifting is bad, mmmkay?) but on the track it's just another string to the car's bow.
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