Heel and Toe driving

[Zyzzyx]

I'll put the ball of my foot on the brake pedal, then roll my foot over and catch the gas pedal with the outside edge of my shoe, about in the middle of my foot. This is with top-hinged brake pedal and floor-hinged gas pedal in my Mitsu.

[hhspunter]

cool article in that link above...
yeah i've been wondering about heel-toe, i knew about it, i just had no idea about the technique. i played around and tried to figure out how my big feet could fit with the heel on one pedal and the toes on the other, and i eventually gave up. but i thought i was improvising when i tried rolling my foot, i had no idea that was one way to do it. it works well. it is really fun too

[flannelhippie]

I use the side of my foot. Most pedals these days are too close to heel-and-toe shift so I use the right side of mt right foot and blip twice. I also use piloti's when auto-xing. they are good looking shoes and also very wide and give you a great feel for the pedals.


www.piloti.com

[Joy]

I tried heel and toe but I couldn't adapt to the strange way the foot had to be placed. I then tried ball and edge which I picked up very quickly.

Here is a nice article of someone (actually owning a Ti) describing the technics. http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/essenti...e/shifting.htm

[fourbysix]

I'm 6'4" with 13.5us feet. I'll follow the trend of what everyone else has been saying with this: ball of my foot on the break pedal and a quick ankle pronation to blip the gas, depending on how fast I have to revmatch i sometimes pivot my heel towards the pedal to press harder, if not, the majority of the power comes from the top third of my foot, which is on the break. Harder for a big duck-footed guy like me :P

Regarding the seat: i put my seat as low as I can..due to the fact i have a 22" torso..so I still have 100% proper visibility. next month I will be installing 2x Sparco Fighter seats..with 4pt camlock harnesses..so that should hold me in there just a little better.

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by Joy

Here is a nice article of someone (actually owning a Ti) describing the technics. http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/essenti...e/shifting.htm

Nice article that could be found at http://www.318ti.org/notebook/shifting/index.html for the past 6 years.
Brian is good at explaining things.

[Joy]

Haha, that notebook is well hidden ! I have this forum in favorites starting with the forum index. Sorry totally missed it.

[AlaskaBlue]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Why not buy a pair of Ferrari drving shoes for the ti? ...

http://www.ferraristore.com/e-shop.d...ategory_id,14/

I think oakley has racing shoes too,they sell them at some shoe stores in the malls around me. Off the subject kind of but i like the red and white shoes in the upper left.

I've got the black ferrari driving shoes. The driving shoes do make things a lot easier since they are narrow and very thin so you can feel the pedals. I am close to 6' and 140 lbs with long legs. The other problem with real heel toe down shifting is our gas pedal. To really heel toe the gas pedal need to have the engagement on the bottom of the pedal instead of the top. It makes it work much better.

The best way I have found is to do a combination. Put the ball of your foot on the brake pedal. Then you can use a combination of the side of your foot and a more conventional heel-toe method.

[AlaskaBlue]

Originally Posted by DustenT

Ok, that's what I thought, and that's what I've been trying.

When I try to blip the gas with the side of my foot, I tend to let up on the brake. How can I avoid this? Do pedal covers help?

Don't waste money on some pedal covers go to a skateshop and buy some grip tape. Cut and apply to the pedals Works great but can be slightly hard on shoes.

[dave45056]

I have never heard of people actually using their heel and toe for heel-toe driving except on vitage race cars where their pedal arrangements are different. I checked out my car this morning and I have to say, the pedlas are arranged just about perfect for heel-toe-ing (with the balls of your right foot). I guess this should have been renamed foot balling? or just balling?
Anyway, I think the problem was keeping consistant brake pressure while practicing this technique. In my experience, the amont you blip the gas is not nearly as important as the amount you brake. So keep most of your control on the brake and roll your ankle over to blip the gas.

[Hayes]

I use my heel on the brake and blip the throttle with my toes...kinda backwards but it works for me.

[Steve in No Va]

I also heel and toe using the majority of my foot on the brake and the outside edge of my foot on the gas. It gives you less control on brake modulation, but I can't seem to turn my foot inward to do it the other way which is kind of pidgeon toed.

If you want to see how a real pro does it, rent or buy Grand Prix, a movie from 1966 staring James Garner. The first race (Monte Carlo) has action shots of heel and toeing by Phil Hill and Dan Gurney standing in for other people's feet.

[HuGo]

I wish i even knew how to do this so i can see and feel the actual difference of doing this.

[mohaughn]

Unless you are road racing you really don't need this skill. It is not something that you use when drag racing, and I've never seen an autocross course that really allows a Ti to get higher up into 3rd gear with a hard braking section and a downshift into 2nd gear. Although I'm certain that they are out there...

At Sebring there is only one corner where you really have to worry about shiftlocking which is what you are trying to avoid with heel-toe. And I bark the tires just about every time I go through that corner...

[aceyx]

Originally Posted by Hayes

I use my heel on the brake and blip the throttle with my toes...kinda backwards but it works for me.

You must have some small feet.