Pedal position in 458 not suitable for Left Foot Braking? | FerrariChat
Buy

Pedal position in 458 not suitable for Left Foot Braking?

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by Tom(Atl), Sep 24, 2014.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Tom(Atl)

    Tom(Atl) Formula Junior

    Oct 29, 2006
    509
    USA
    Full Name:
    Tom
    #1 Tom(Atl), Sep 24, 2014
    After retraining myself away from life-long habits of 'normal braking' in a 2 pedal car and graduating to left foot braking (through simulator training, driving on the road, and finally real life on track training with the BMW M4 at the Nordschelife), I am now left foot braking 2 pedal cars and modulating the pedal well (and loving it much more than my old method).

    Funny enough, the hardest part at the track was when taking high G force right turns - my left foot which was hovering over the brake pedal with my heel dug into the carpet would fly left into the dead pedal or door. I had to force myself to really dig my left foot in much harder than I am used to before approaching high G right turns.

    All that being said - I intend to left foot brake on all 2 pedal cars with paddles from now on, and I would like a 458 in the near future.
    I recently drove a 458 and a 12c back to back, and liked the pedal positioning on the 12c, but found that the 458 pedals are much further to the right than I expected (both the gas and the brake) with not enough room for my big feet to comfortably hover over the pedals.

    It's as if the 458 pedals are so far to the right that I have to stretch my left foot diagonally to the right from the heel anchor position, and even then I can only barely press on the far left side of the brake pedal with my left foot.

    Does anyone else who left foot brakes have this problem? Any suggestions on how to resolve? I even drove without shoes but that didn't help much.
     
  2. RomanD'

    RomanD' Karting

    Nov 5, 2012
    99
    Dubai, UAE
    Full Name:
    Roman
    #2 RomanD', Sep 24, 2014
    You are right, left foot braking does not feel very natural in modern F-cars for some reason. I tried it in 458 and the FF which I drive. Did not try left foot braking in the F12 but from what I remember pedals are situated more or less identically to the FF. I think that guys at the Ferrari assume that it is not something their clients normally do.
     
  3. PhilNotHill

    PhilNotHill Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jul 3, 2006
    27,855
    Aspen CO 81611
    Full Name:
    FelipeNotMassa
    #3 PhilNotHill, Sep 24, 2014
    Since I have 3 MT cars and one 458 DCT, left foot braking just does not work for me.
     
  4. RBK

    RBK F1 Rookie

    Jul 27, 2006
    3,105
    Calif and Nev
    Full Name:
    Bob
    #4 RBK, Sep 24, 2014
    What did you find your lap time differences to be with left foot braking? Best
     
  5. clar

    clar Formula Junior

    Mar 17, 2013
    297
    Singapore
    Full Name:
    Clarence
    #5 clar, Sep 24, 2014
    Not sure if the pedal positions are the same, but I have started left foot braking in my Speciale. It feels natural doing it in this car.
     
  6. Tom(Atl)

    Tom(Atl) Formula Junior

    Oct 29, 2006
    509
    USA
    Full Name:
    Tom
    #6 Tom(Atl), Sep 25, 2014
    I believe that I ran 8:13 bridge to gantry at the Nordschleife with left foot braking but didn't have a clean lap with normal right foot braking. I can say that once I got better with the left foot I was much more confident braking later and doing small moves to stabilize the front end that I wouldn't have done before.

    Does anyone know if the 458 pedals are adjustable? Do they differ from the positioning of the Speciale?
     

Share This Page