Heel Toe Question
 

When I tested the frs I could not heel toe downshift because the gas is so far from the brake. Does anybody else downshift like this? Does it just take getting used to? Is there a way to adjust the pedal position?

You probably just have to adjust your footing more than you're used to.

Actually, I was really surprised because yeah... this one is somewhat more difficult to heel-toe than other cars I've owned. Not undoable, certainly, but more difficult than I would expect from a car developed solely for driving pleasure.

The sudden acceleration lawsuit and floormat incident with the Lexus RX... Both cases, it created so much fuss and onslaught of frivolous lawsuits that most cars today have relatively short throttle pedals compared to yesteryear.

Blame it on greedy lawyers.

Considering that at least one man was in prison for vehicular manslaughter. who swore his innocence on the grounds that his car accelerated suddenly and uncontrollably, I'd say it's a bit more complicated than simple ambulance-chasing attorneys.

For me, it's not the size of the throttle pedal, it's the distance from the brake pedal. If they were closer to each other, it would be fine.

Every car has a neutral setting on the transmission, both auto and manual. So.. unless that acceleration happened within a matter of seconds (which I doubt), I'm not buying it. I remember shortly after that whole brouhaha happened, I was renewing my license at the DMV. They have mini-quizes that play on the TVs in the waiting room and show the answers after a few seconds. There was one about unintended acceleration and the answer was "MASH THE BRAKES". No choice for "drop it in neutral," I was pretty disappointed to say the least.

Those people just need to learn to drive, but instead of those of us who are actually driving a car have to pay for it. Welcome to America huh.. (I say that because I feel the typical American driver is far inferior to the typical European/Japanese driver.)

OK, in that case, if so critical and you are tailoring it for track use, there is a way. Since the throttle pedal is mounted by two bolts and a electric coupler (Fly-By-Wire) and not by cable, you can take it out fairly easily.

A machine shop, or if you are so inclined to do it yourself, you can bend the pedal's bar to move the pedal to a better location that will suit your foot and joints. It's a common trick used for building production car based race cars, and if done well, I don't see a problem with this. Just be very careful not to load up the pivot point or any plastic base to bend the rod. :)

Well yes, whatever the case may have been, it's a can of worms topic for all intensive purposes here, which we'd rather not get into. Sorry for bringing it up. It was just a fact that this was the concern, which forced the design change from Pre-Production car's pedal to the current production one.

When I test drove the car I did not feel it was the gas pedal being too short. But rather it was set too far away from the brake pedal. In my other cars I could simply put my foot closer to the right edge of the brake pedal and use the other side of the same foot to push the gas pedal. Not possible on this car. Although the technique of twisting your foot so the heel pushes the gas pedal could work fine. I am simply not used to doing it that way.

I can't heel-toe if my life depended on it.. I'm terrible at it.

I haven't had a chance to drive an MT car yet (later this afternoon, though!) but I already have plans to replace the factory pedal covers with these "grid" pedal covers from SRP Racing:

http://www.srpracing.com/prod_images...t-grid-BU1.jpg

The extra width of the gas pedal should make heel-toe a breeze, so long as the brake and gas pedals are the same height from the floor.

Practice makes perfect! You just have to work at it constantly. It helps to do it at a track where you're applying full brake pressure, because on the street you're not usually stomping on the brake pedal and it's not as easy to execute smoothly.

Although I can heel & toe using stock pedals, I found it is much more comfortable using this:
Attachment 8376
Attachment 8374

I have a whole set sitting around in the house for years. After driving the FR-S for a week, I thought why not install the gas pedal and give it a try.
I've been driving using this for three days. I love it very much. Heel & toe is never easier.

i thought the BRZ i drove was one of the easier cars to heel-toe i've ever driven. pedal placement is more or less perfect to me. different strokes for different folks, i guess.

I moved by brake pedal some so I can reach the gas pedal better to heel toe