Hi,

Since I suspect that I will continue doing track time with some regularity, I'm attempting to learn heel-toe downshifting. I already double clutch smoothly and easily when I don't need to brake, so I'm pretty comfortable with the concept. However, I have a severe physical constraint--when I have my foot on the brake (and heel on the floorboard), my thigh just above my knee is touching the steering wheel (and, yes, the seat is all the way back, and I am sitting as far back in the seat as I can). This is no big deal for braking, but, in order to blip the accelerator with my heel, I have to lift up my heel a couple of inches, which is physically impossible without mashing the brake. Not a happy result. I have essentially the same problem if I try to use the ball of my foot for both brake and accelerator, and, in any event, I am not comfortable with the thought of braking from 130 to 70 while doing that maneuver with the ball of my foot.

I'm thinking that I will just have to abandon heel/toe shifting, but I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced the same problem and solved it.

Thanks.

--Mark

 

Heel/toe is only necessary when you are braking at 10/10ths. Thus, you will always be "mashing" the brake when you want to heel/toe. Just lean your knee a little bit to the right, and you should be fine. Also, many of us find it much easier to use the right side of the foot instead of the heel on the gas. This basically involves rotating the ankle outward, sort of like you're trying to sprain your ankle :-). Just be careful not to rotate it too much and slip your foot off the gas.

 

My track day company and two different instructors have told me it is the ball of your foot rolling onto the gas to blip the throttle while braking. This is the way I have always done it anyway as I have size fourteen feet and am 6'5'' tall. It turns out that I was correct all along.

As quoted from "Sports Car and Competition Driving" by Paul Frere
"Alternatively, and more normally, the brake can be pushed down with the left half of the foot, which is tilted to depress the accelerator with its right half as required". Or in American english, roll the ball of your foot from the brake to the gas peddle to blip.

For my S2000 I bent the gas pedal about a half inch closer to the brake peddle and used a rubber hammer to pound the gas pedal floor mount further from me to get the pedal the correct height in relation to the brake when braking hard. It is now perfect. When banging on the bracket be careful to not go to far and don't forget to readjust the gas pedal cable so you still have maximum throttle. Mine moved about a quarter of an inch further toward the engine.

Have fun...

 

todcp,

Thanks. Inevitably, that leads to other questions:

As a practical matter, is there a problem with hard braking and blipping the gas, all with the ball of your foot at the same time (i.e., how do you keep your foot full and hard on the brake pedal while also blipping the accelerator pedal)? Similarly, if you are not hard braking when doing this, how do you carefully modulate your braking while blipping the gas? Is this just a matter of a lot of practice, although it seems incredibly awkward at first?

I was a bit lost by your "fix." Specifically, what do you mean by "[using] a rubber hammer to pound the gas pedal floor mount further from me to get the pedal the correct height in relation to the brake when braking hard?" And by "When banging on the bracket be careful to not go to far and don't forget to readjust the gas pedal cable so you still have maximum throttle?"

Thanks again!

--Mark

 

You are correct it is a matter of practice. The blip of the throttle is not the big deal. It is maintaintaing the correct stready braking force while blipping. This is most challenging when trail braking.


Two issues. One is to bend the gas pedal closer to the gas pedal. The second is trickier and may not be needed for you. Bend the gas pedal only first. The gas pedal linkage mounts to the firewall under the top of the pedal. I used a rubber hammer and a screw driver to pound the linkage bracket further toward the engine bay. I disconnect the pedal to do this.

You may not want to try this but it worked well for me.....then again I used a five pound hand held sledge hammer to bend my floor flat so I could mount my aluminum race seat low enough to clear the roll bar properly.

 

In the marketplace you can purchase replacement pedals which should assist in the "modification" of the pedal to make it easier.

 

Chadwick,

I saw that, but there also was a thread which seemed to indicate that these are placed over the OEM pedals, effectively bringing the pedals closer to the seat, which is the wrong way for us with legs that are too long. I don't mind spending $79, or whatever, to elegantly solve the problem, but I'm not at all confident that it will result in a benefit. Am I missing something?

--Mark

 

According to the Marketplace, they replace the stock pedals, and don't clip over top like a lot of pedal sets do. I'm not sure if they bring the pedals any closer to the driver, though. I'm assuming they'd be basically stock dimensions.

 

You can actually mount them either way. They can be mounted over the existing pedal covers or as complete replacements with just a little more work.

J.P.

 

J.P.,

Could you elaborate as to how one would do that? I'm not sure I'm willing to saw off my accelerator pedal hoping I can attach a new one successfully, and that I will like it better, unless I could easily reattach my stock pedal.

Thanks.

--Mark