Do you Heel & Toe?

You ever watch those footwell cam shots of pro drivers doing rapid 4-3-2 shifts like in the ALMS races? It is simply amazing how fast they can HT repeatedly at will without fault.

 

Always double-declutch and therefore very often heel & toe. My first car had no synchros so I grew up doing this.

 

Also, race cars need very, very little pedal travel. My Lotus is like that too: it took me time to get used to that, especially the accelerator pedal. Being smooth took practice! How about Ferraris? Do they also have really short travel or do they compromise for less 'race oriented' drivers?

Ken

 

I also find it easier to H/T on the track than the street because I'm braking much harder on the track. That said, I have a question about location of the foot. I have heard that the ball of your foot has the most sensitivity and hence should be used for the brake while the heel could be used for the throttle. However, I was shown not to do it with the heel at all. The way I saw it was to keep most of your foot on the brake (the left portion) and then after clutch in to roll the right part of your foot over to the gas. That requires two things that I can see:

1. the brake, when depressed, becomes about the same level (or perhaps slightly higher) than the gas, not lower
2. the pedals have to be physically close to each other to roll your foot over

That being said, I also see people talk about it being easier with a driving shoe (which is known to be narrower). Thats the part that seems weird to me. Other than the fact that your foot is going to feel the pedal a heckuva alot better in a driving shoe, why would the narrowness help?

Thanks,

Scott

 

Double clutching....LOL! Old school. How cute.

<holminator throws a grenade in the room and casually continues to walk on down the hall....yeah. and he came to a door...mother...yes, son...I want to....>

PS I should never write before that 1st cup of coffee. Forgive me.

 

Sure it's old school, and your reponse brought a smile to my face, so your bomb was a dud

Still, it's a skill, and one that is still useful at times. I also know CPR even though I never use it: I like to keep my certification current anyway. Being able to double clutch is kind of like knowing CPR for gearboxes, wth the added bonus that practicing it also saves your synchronisers a bit of wear.

Bit of trivia: the term "heel-and-toe" is now a bit of a misnomer, as the modern technique is to use the sides of your foot these days. I have never used my heel and my toe. So where did the term come from? Back in the day, the throttle was the center pedal, with the brake on the right. So you would brake with your toes and use your heel on the throttle.

Don;t ask me where I read that, it was a long time ago, but I have a pornographic memory

 

Heck, I have had several cheap Italian cars with 2nd gear synchros in such bad shape that I double-clutched them all the time (even on upshifts!). If previous owners had at least rev-matched, the synchros might have lasted long enough to make it to me intact. Oh well...

 

re the above comments about the Elise and H&T...

Some upgrade their lines, bleed the system, etc, but still find the pedal travel to be too great to allow for H&T. Not all, but most (that I've spoken with)

Others discovered that you can adjust the pedal stops & linkages and that will raise the brake pedal above the gas significantly.

Others, like me, went the simpler route and added a mod to the brake pedal. (pic below)

The Heel&Toe pad looks strange, but it does the job; which is all I ask.

-doma
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i was just at the Bondurant school. here is what they taught us:

racing the corvettes--we braked with the ball of our foot, and used our heel to blip the throttle. we were blipping up to about 5500 rpms with the vettes. they also stressed to make sure that you let the clutch out when the rpm's are on the falling--(you can let out the clutch at the peak of the blip, or even earlier, and upset everything).

racing the formula fords, we used the (left side of the) ball of our foot, and rolled our foot (to the right side) to blip the throttle. the rolling works well when the brake pedal is always (even when fully depressed) going to be higher than the accelerator, and the brake and the accelerator are close together. this way seemed a lot easier to me, it requires less energy and leg/foot movement, and feels easier to fine-tune your blip. however, the pedals have to accommodate it.

the instructors at the bondurant school were fabulous. professional, concerned, and very good at working with you. i highly recommend the school!

btw, i have a size 15 foot. i was unable to have much success in my sneakers--no verticle room and the soles were way to wide to allow me any side-to-side moving room or fine control. switching and squeezing down to a size 13 (Piloti) driving shoe gave me much more feel and control, and a more narrow, exact edge, which allowed me to become very competent at it--both ways (using heel and rolling)--after lots of practice, of course. now i do it whenever i am on the street downshifting my 360--the downshift just feels empty and lame without it!

the school gives you lots of practice time just to work on just this aspect alone. it is great cause you just go in a straight line at 60 mph, h/t/ds/ u-turn, and do this over and over in a big loop. everyone in your group is doing this single file, in a big practice area, so you have plenty of room and don't screw anyone else up when you mess it all up. each day you get way better, and you need it more and more. by the 4th day, you are hardly aware you are doing it.

 

first question - what is "heel & toe"?

 

It's just practice - I've had to h&t in 3" heels at times (yeah, shouldn't even be driving in them, I know...)! Incidentally, h&t is also very useful for those (ie nearly all) Italian cars whose handbrakes are 'decorative'.

 

only in my ferrari, my work truck's pedals won't allow it.

 

Heel and toe is a general word for the idea of using the brake and gas pedal at the same time with your right foot. This has two main applications; the primary one is allowing you to downshift while braking, and the other is to enable you brake and use the gas to get the car rolling from a start to prevent rollback. Of course, the second one can be accomplished just as easily with the handbrake, but as kerrari points out...

 

Every single day on every single trip whether it's to Starbucks or San Diego.

If the car makes it out of the driveway, there will be heel and toe shifting within the next 10 minutes.

I've blipped the throttle and downshifted into 1st to PULL IN to my driveway I try not to make a habit of it tho. don't want to disturb the neighbors.

 

sorry , but is that the correct sequence ? Ie , 60 mph - h/t - d/s - uturn ?

isn't it 60mph - clutch in - d/s - h/t - clutch out - uturn ?

thats how I do it.

cheers.

 

In the beginning I always thought of the shift as 2 parts - first to neutral, then blip the throttle and then shift to next gear, with a clutch movement for each but with practice it all runs together smoothly. How much toe (ie brake) depends on the corner.

 

i wasn't meaning to delineate the sequence. that was just my shorthand for the whole "heel toe down shift" process.

if you want to get more specific, you need to add brake first to your sequence. in my opinion, the clutch going in occurs next, but the down shift and blip (h/t) occurs simultaneously, so you can't put them in a linear sequence. lastly, after the clutch is let out, you should still be on the brake.

cheers.

 

Paddle shifting is the death knell to h/t...

Ken

 

Sorry for the late response.

I double clutch, and everyone should (at least some of the time), in order to preserve and extend the life of the transmission.

I mean, if you are on the highway driving in 5th (or 6th) gear, and you want to pass someone, do you just press the clutch and dump the shifter into 3rd or 4th gear?

That's a no-no. Proper downshifting is done via double clutch. If you just dump the shifter into a lower gear, you will soon be kissing your transmission goodbye.

 

Why would you double clutch a 6-5 or a 5-4 shift? Rev match, sure, but you only want to double clutch when you are making a fairly large downshift for some reason (5-2 in my car, for instance).