Is it legal to powerslide?

RWD Civic, was it?

I got pulled over once for "going too quick" in a 30mph zone (my street) when I wasn't exceeding 30mph.

Doing a power slide is very much illegal, regardless of speed. While you may think you have it under control - you don't necessarily. The problem with public roads is that everything is unpredictable. If you can skid round a corner you know like the back of your hand successfully 100% of the time, that doesn't mean there can't be a child round it one time.

Illegal. Powerslides are one thing on a track on a road you just don't have enough control.

It's only illegal if you get caught lol.

Dangerous driving is an offence, and that's one a magistrate would agree with.

I was stuck in traffic once, didn't need to go in that direction, on a high street which was blocked. On the right hand side of the road was a long free space in the line of parked cars, and with the free on-coming lane that gave me enough room to do a handbrake maneuver. So i waited until the car in front pulled forward a bit, prepared for the space two lengths to my right - then i lurched it forwards, scooped the wheel, handbrake, slipped the clutch whilst it was going round, brake and clutch off as i got round whilst back on the power letting the steering wheel slip straightening through my right hand. The whole thing took literally two seconds flat, was one smooth action and went as perfectly as i knew it would - well, i spent years perfecting car park stunts.

As i passed the cars that had been sat behind me i saw one driver clapping at me. Obviously sarcastically, as if to call me a clever dic head. I just stuck my tongue out with a smile as i accelerated past.

It was the perfect maneuver, bodyguard style, i considered myself to be in absolute control and i still swear to this moment that i was.
But i also know that if i'd been recorded on camera and prosecuted, i'd have failed in court and got points if not a ban. That's just the way it is, you just can't do it no matter how good you are.

its an offense to break traction with the road. So skids, wheelspinning etc are naughty. But fun no less

I think people are more bemused that you called it drifting, rather than that he could make it go sideways. It's harder making a FWD car go properly sideways than it is to drift anyway lol.

My mini 1000 managed to get properly tail out on almost every corner at Castle Coombe, easy, just carry way to much speed into the corner just at you hit the apex tap the brakes, and BOOM great bit lift of overtseer/slide type thing, great fun, so much so that i was quite happy to be the slowest car going round, not sure I'd call it drifting or not, but hey we all know what he meant...

I can get a good drift going, full opposite lock, sliding into a right turn for example. This with no handbrake (though a touch of scandanavian style is required), and in the front drive Polo.
But as it 'drifts' it's heavily decelerating, it's not sustainable, it's just sliding the axle round a bit to aid positioning. Bit rich calling it drifting, even though it's technically in a drift at that moment.

But that isn't the hard bit - that'll be pulling out of the slide, on the throttle, in precisely the right direction that takes the minerals - not something safe to practice on a public road where idiots can come out of nowhere!