Another newbie question:

when watching the japanese video of the race between the S, Z, M3, and boxster, I enjoyed watching the drivers work through the gears. If I was watching correctly, they were using the ball of their right foot on the brake, and the heel of their foot to bump the throttle. I talked to some friends who have some track/autocross experience, and they say that's backwards - they use their heel on the brake and the ball on the gas.

Personal preference, or is one just better than the other??

thx

 

Your friends must have their knees on backwards Or, their pedals are oddly placed. Our pedals are very well placed for proper heel-toe, which as you noticed is ball of the foot on the brake and heel blipping the gas. You have much better feel with the ball of your foot, and the brakes need the modulation.

In the end, you should do it however is comfortable for you, but I imagine your friends' method is physically impossible in this car.

 

I used to do it the way you described it (so Tony, it's not impossible in the S) until I started going much faster on the track. While it may feel awkward when driving relatively leisurely, I found that when you really need to stand on the brake hard, having the ball of your foot on the brake is much more secure, with much better control for trail braking (can't imagine trail braking with other than the ball of foot), and you find that it's very easy to get your heel over to the gas pedal to blip as it is now on a much leveler plane with the brake pedal than when you are only partially depressing the brake pedal. The schools like Derek Daly teaches the latter as the only correct way. (Having said that, some people find that they have to modify or bend their pedals to make it practical.)

 

Using HT is very essential... I use it in my daily driving, just to make sure the transition during the downshift is smooth.

As a note, you should never reverse the heel and toe... yes, I do hear a few people using the heel on the brake and toe on the gas but the ball of your foot (toe) has to be on the brakes because your heel can't feel the brake pressure as well as the ball of your foot. If and when you need to apply some modulation to the brakes, since the nerves on your heel isn't as sensitive as the toe area of your feet, you're going to have a hard time acquiring the feeling of what needs to be done in a tough situation.

I have size 10 feet and have no problem HT'ing, but those with larger feet, you might want to place your foot higher on the brake pedal (which would make the contact point at or just a bit below the ball of your foot) and blip the gas with your heel.

Look at my avatar, that is a photo of my HT in action, exactly as is.

 

I had difficulty heel/toeing until RT helped me out with modding my pedal alignment.

That's right - he bent my accelerator towards the brake pedal. Like butter now. Well - at least I'm smoother than before...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lig
I had difficulty heel/toeing until RT helped me out with modding my pedal alignment.

 

Heel and toe is actually a misnomer.

It came from the early days when the brake pedal was to the right and the gas pedal was in the middle. That's how it got started.

Proper heel and toe is a lot easier when you practice placing your foot towards the right side of the brake pedal. If you do it right, you don't have to move your heel very much.

 

The other advantage of using the ball of your foot on the brakes (besides security of not slipping off and better ability to feel) is the fine control allowed by bending your ankle to modulate brake pressure.

 

I too bent my gas pedal to the right more. makes HT a lot easier.

 

very good, thanks all for your input!