I want to learn this technique, does anyone have any tips? i.e. do you apply the same pressure to both pedals into the corner, or do you feather the gas? Cheers
Do a search. There's a mamouth thread around somewhere on here witha lot of female doging but some good info in it too. There's also a bit of video in it too... good viewing. Fordo!
Cheers guys, muchos gracias @Riley - I did do that, but I think my work's pc just isn't up to the task. Edited by: Boris
Small tip, throw away the crappy rubber pedal cover on the brake, (i do the clutch as well) replace it with skateboard grip tape and you'll not slip off the brake as much when you've got wet/oily shoes or your on the edge of the pedal. Not my idea, spotted it on the Reeves' mk2 (i think), the only similarity between that car and mine sadly....
It's deffo a technique that's easier in certain cars than others, I've pretty much got it sorted now in my mk2 and girlfriend's R32. It's easier to do it if you're braking really hard, so you've got a solid platform to rock for your heel onto the throttle to blip it during the down-change. Practice practice practice
When I did my course at Silverstone, we spent a whole morning doing nothing but heel and toe. Apparently, it is a prerequisite to good circuit racing. At first, it feels very un-natural and jerky, but when you get the hang of it, braking and downshifting is much smoother and more balanced. It also helps to keep in mind what you're trying to achieve, rather than just doing the actions for the sake of it. The aim is to eliminate 'driveline snatch' during braking and downshifting, by matching the engine revs to the speed of the gear you're changing down into. Therefore, all the actions must be synchronised to achieve this. It's very easy to mis-time the 'blipping' action and the clutch action, resulting in a more jerky downshift. The technique ismore critical in RWD cars, where driveline snatch can cause the rears to lock up, but it's good practice in any form of track racing, especially in the wet, as the end result is a more balanced car under braking, setting you up nicely for the corner. There's no strict method of how you heel and toe. It's whatever you're most comfortable with. In the Golf, I brake with mytoes and at the same time pivot my heel over onto the throttle. On some closer spaced pedal layouts, you can blip the throttle simply by rollingthe right side of yourfoot over onto the throttle. Just my 10 pence worth!
It was a pre-requesit on the SR4 Radical. Dont use g'box for slowing down I was told, brakes, heel & toe on the way down the box use the sequential, blip blip blip.. Worked a treat. Always done this in my driving years. Habbit for me. Also soft sole shoes help a lot feeling the pedals. I cant "drive" properly unless I am wearing the right soft footware.
im actually fairly good at matching the downchange anyway and as said above its not so important with fwd. not driven to many rwd but i know from my bike that if you dont blip it your looking at some serious rear wheel drifting and a large chance of crashing when i heel and toe i use my left heel on the brake and toes for the clutch then just keep my right foot for the power. but i mainly do it coming up to traffic lights just coz it sounds great
left heel on brake and toes for clutch? Ewww. left foot does clutch and brake for me, with right foot doing brake, with side of foot rolling onto throttle to blip. interesting choice of feet.
I've got a good vid of a Radical, which illustrates heel and toe. It's basically a camera pointing at the driver's feet (obviously). I'll post it on here when I get the chance, for the record. The speed at which it is executed is unbelievable. I was watching motors TV the other day. There was a clip of some racing drivers feet, where he used a similar action to heel and toe, butfor left foot braking! I don't know about most of you, but if I so much as touch the brake pedal with my left foot, I end up going through the windscreen! This technique uses the right foot only, half on the gas, half on the brake through the corner. Never thought of that! Sorry to go off topic!
yeah i use the left foot braking.....its very unorthadox but doesnt take as long as you think to get used to i just find im quicker to get the power back down doing it that way
I only LFB for fun at low speeds in the wet, if I tried to actually balance the car with it I'd die, in flames, in a ditch. I've seen that radical video I think, incredibly quick and precise, I cant even move that fast! <hr /> edit LFB can work kinda like traction controll in mud, a little bit stops the spinning wheel and directs more torque to the other side. not as good as fiddle brakes or an LSD but helped me to tow in fields with a FWD car. Edited by: Unknown
Had a go on my way home from work, wasn't able to get up enough speed in the traffic to really have a good go, but getting used to the action is definately tricky. I've not yet decided whether I prefer using my heel on the brake and toes on the gas, or toes on the brake and heel on the gas. The problem with using the toes on the brake though is that my foot needs to be at nearly 90 degrees. More practice needed, but definately fun learning.
totally agree with all that...i did the same course of course i've got LFB'ing dialed in the other half's polo now...rather than lift when the front understeers, i just give a smooth jab of the brakes to get some turn in. its a really useful techinque in FWD.
heel and tow clip from the offical MSA ARDS vid.... click here, then scroll to bottom of page and click on 'free', then scroll to bottom of page, wait about 60secs, then right click save as
The Radical vid Jake mentions... that was Micheal Vergers driving, who was Bill's Radical passenger on Friday
