I’d like to try Drift mode, and am reading the documentation before I enable it, so I know what to expect. I’m confused about how the throttle will react. In the Wiki it states “The user has completely manual control over the throttle as in Stabilize mode.”, yet I’ve read in the release notes that it uses “throttle assist”. I assume that’s like AltHold. Is the Wiki incorrect?
If I’m in AltHold and switch to Drift, should I expect it to hold the same altitude?
It generally won’t hold the same altitude and you’ll have to make an adjustment. It feels very much like switching from AltHold to Stabilize. When Drift Mode first came out I thought it was some fun, but my altitude changed considerably while flying. Now that PosHold is here I don’t use Drift any more.
You could set up a switch on the transmitter to add a percentage of yaw to the roll stick. Probably not as controlled as the Drift flight mode but it would still give you the characteristics of it.
I do this while flying in Pos Hold and it is fun 
You definitely will need to make use of throttle control to maintain altitude when flying in “drift” mode. The more your “pitch” the copter, the more altitude you will lose. However, this was one of my favorite modes to fly my big hex in - it was a lot like flying a sailplane. It was a little strange to “lose” yaw control on the left stick (mode 2), and have to use the throttle for a plane-like “elevator” feel. But it is definitely a fun mode to fly in.
I recently upgraded my 3.1(.5?) firmware to 3.2, and I really like PosHold. It flies a lot more like DJI’s GPS mode. Presently, I have replaced “drift” with “PosHold”, but I may get rid of “alt-hold” and bring back “drift”.
Thanks for the responses. I wanted to know what I should expect before I just enabled it in flight. Trying to keep self inflicted crashes to a minimum. I’ve been flying a lot in PosHold and really like it. Having fun with the yaw doing banked figure eights and such. Might give Drift a go though just to see.
MarkM, Never would have thought to set a switch to add yaw with roll. Makes perfect sense now that you say it. Might be fun to try that as a learning experiment in radio mixing. 
Thanks again
I fly drift mode a lot and enjoy doing so. The throttle is not as sensitive in drift mode, compare to stabilize. That being said, you do need to manage your throttle in order to maintain altitude. As was mentioned above, your altitude will change based on your speed/pitch.
Give it a try…after 3 or 4 batteries, I bet you will be enjoying it.