by maintaining some gas while leftbraking, u eliminate the added effect of engine compression braking, thus allowing you to manipulate the brake bias and chassis balance in another subtle or not so subtle way

 

Will, I wish I understood like you the underlying technical explanations of what's going on. I just do what feels right and works to make the car go faster through the corner.

 

Pedal gets firmer because your power brake assist mechanism operates off the vacuum pressure from the engine. When you're opening the TB (by applying throttle), vacuum pressure drops because you're letting air in. So the assist doesn't work as well and you get a hard pedal.

Will is right, one of the advantages to left foot braking is that you can shift the brake bias frontward because you are using the engine to counteract some of the braking on the rear wheels.

 

Yeah, that's it. Scared the hell out of me the first time it happend in turn 2 at Willow going about 90 mph. Thought I had no brakes and almost lost it.

 

The one place I've experimented with left-foot braking is in the second turn of a pair of linked 2nd gear hairpins. That second turn doesn't require the downshift, as I'm already in 2nd. I think if I can get it right, it may be a time advantage, but I need to work on it more.

 

It's definitely tempting to use the left foot braking too much, balance the car beautifully, but ultimately slow yourself down.

 

Speedchannel commentators at F1 Race recently mentioned that only one driver in the race (Rubens Barrichello) uses right foot braking. All others use left foot.

Yeh, yeh, they don't use clutch to shift, but apparently most find it effective.

 

i want a mirror image pedal set

from left to right: gas brake clutch

or

clutchless shifting tranny

or thumb levers on steering wheel for brakes and gas

Left foot braking rules.......

 

one thing about left foot braking - it's alot easier with a proper racing seat where you're not trying to push the dead pedal through the floor to just stay in your seat .