lorea

Does anybody have any downshifting tips for somebody that can't heel-toe the normal way?

I did just fine heel-toeing while lapping at Laguna Seca with their Formula 1 cars (pedals are really close together), but the pedals on my S are way too far apart for my small feet to do this.

Any tips? Thanks!!

pll

I heel toe the same way as I do on the Formula Dodge (not Formula 1s - if you got to drive a Formula 1 car, tell me how!!! ). I plant the right heel of my foot in front of the gas pedal and use it as a pivot. To brake, I turn my right knee in and use the left edge of my right foot to brake. To blip, I move the knee to the right in a quick motion. It feels a bit weird for the first few times, but if you're already used to doing that in the Formula Dodges, it should be just as easy to do on the S2000.

lorea

Oops! I meant formula dodge (I just read another post that said formula 1 so I wrote that instead).

Thanks for the tip....I've been trying with my ankle more than my knee....maybe that'll work. Or maybe I should just wear wider shoes.

sfphinkterMC

get a bolt on gas pedal cover. i use a RAZO that is an improvement. a wider brake pedal closer to gas would be better. wider shoes definitely works also. personally, i like barefoot the best...big toe brake and pinky toe gas. i need some racing "foot gloves", preferably nomex.

twohoos

Gilbert's method is the safest and most reliable IMHO. When you do it that way nearly the whole ball of the foot is on the brake, and nearly the entire heel is on the gas. The blip is then a direct pressing motion with the heel, not a rolling/pivoting motion of the ankle that can cause the foot to slip off the brake. It's very stable, very controlled.

To see it in action, get one of those Best Motoring videos from Mingster -- they always have multiple in-car cameras showing the drivers' fancy footwork.

The Unabageler

i got some bigger shoes and that made it so much easier.

pll

Josh, that's interesting. I found that bigger shoes caused me to accidently hit two pedals unintentionally. Racing shoes give me better precision.

sfphinkterMC

bigger shoes(wider soles) better matches the gap between gas
and brake pedals and allows you to do a formula car style heel-toe(keep foot vertical, inner foot covers brake, outer foot covers gas). downside with wider shoes(basketball,etc) is loss of braking sensitivity for modulation. best solution is wider, semiautomatic brake pedal that gets closer to gas.

oh yes....i've thought about it.

sfphinkterMC

pic of RAZO mentioned above. is(was) sold separately and straps around oem gas w/o drilling. helps bridge gap, but still need to do toohoos style blip(ball on brake/pivot/heel on gas) with racing shoes.