Heel Toe Around Town?

[alexmotrix]

Originally Posted by Mandy

I always heel toe when I have a passenger, because I like giving them the smoothest ride possible. When I'm by myself, I generally only do it on turns where I rapidly decelerate for practice. I wish they had kept the peddles on the FT86 though, I have relatively small feet at a 8/8.5, and generally I can only heel toe consistently where I split my left toes on the break and my right toes on the accelerator.

To elaborate:

as opposed to:

I heel-toe because here, in winter, if I don't do it while downshifting, the rear wheels tend to lock and initiate a drift even on a straight line... so I always heel-toe since I started driving a car

[Jeffsu350]

I rev match to prevent wear on the street. If there's a big hill or a long time that I'm braking, I heal/toe for practice, not nessesity.

I should really try to rev/match and double clutch to really prevent synchro wear

[KKaWing]

Originally Posted by chillywilly

Having power thru a corner simply means being in the right gear at the right speed. It seems that you've mistaken rev matching with the heel-toe technique. I do enjoy taking fast corners occasionally but I can spare a fraction of a second to take my foot off the breaks to blip the throttle.

o_O Heel-toe is a type of rev matching no? Like double clutching is another technique? Or is braking, dabbing the throttle with the right side of the foot / heel / some part of the same foot while downshifting not considered heel-toe?

(I know some monster size 11's that actually brake with the middle of the foot and using the pinky toe area to blip )

Just because you are in gear / in a "lower" gear / doesn't necessarily mean one is dive bombing a turn / ramp. So yes, heel-toe IS simple rev matching. As I understand it, it is the name of a technique, rather than a description of racing/speeding/bombing through a turn. Or did I miss a memo somewhere that when heel-toeing it must = ?

[radroach]

Originally Posted by chillywilly

I think the act of "powering thru a corner" on public roads can be deemed as pretty friggin reckless unless you are out in the middle of no where.

I don't power through the corner, after downshifting to 2nd either way (rev matching or heel toe) I can ease off the throttle before a corner and get a smooth turn-in and then exit without any fuss thereafter.

[SuiSid3l]

Originally Posted by ML

practice makes perfect.

This, I blip and heel toe every chance I get...only way to practice. And you dont have to drive "reckless" or like a maniac to do it.

[Mister]

I do not. I'll practice the motion while sitting in a parking lot but never while driving. I do not think you have to be going WOT to do it, but on the other side (at least for me)

I have to be pushing the brakes VERY aggressively in order for my foot to be in the correct spot. I generally try to stop as slowly as possible on the street when someone is behind me, so it is just clutch in, apply brake. I move through the gates as I slow, so in the case that I need to get back on it unexpectedly I am in the correct gear.

[whaap]

In this thread and others I've seen the term 'blip' used a lot. For those of you that blip I have a suggestion that might make your down shifting go a little bit smoother. Instead of blipping the throttle try this. When you press in the clutch, down shift to a lower gear. At the same time you start to release the clutch use your right foot on the throttle to bring the revs up to the rpm you expect the engine to be at when you fully release the clutch. Synchronize your left foot and right foot together so that your rpms are right where you want them just as your clutch engages the new gear. With a little practice you will find this to be a lot smoother procedure for down shifting than just blipping the throttle. It goes a long way in giving you a feeling of self satisfaction in your driving technique.

[Freetime]

no. because I would rather replace brakes than replace the clutch.

[phloozy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the point of heel toe so you can break and downshift at the same time? As much as I try to do it to practice I find 99.99% of the time my cornering speed is not nearly fast enough that I would need "3 feet" for a good downshift. I just end up looking like an idiot.

[strat61caster]

Looks like it boils down to people who claim "it isn't hard/is necessary to be smooth" and those who claim they "don't press the brake hard enough/slow down quick enough to warrant or make a heel/toe smooth/necessary".

I'd love to take a ride along with someone who does it everywhere and claims it isn't reckless, thanks for the insight guys, feel free to keep argu- discussing.

:happy0180:

[Gixxersixxerman]

I could be wrong.. It's been some time since I heel toe a sporty car.. This one does it for me because auto.. But there is a big difference from heel toeing at 3k as opposed to 6-7k.. I blip the throttle on my bike every time out of habit from my racing days.. And on the track is a big difference then puttin around the streets.. So the practice makes perfect reasoning, to me at least, is a crock.. You get used to it on the streets your not properly doing it at the track..

I give props to the ones that spoke the truth.. They do it because it sounds cool

I believe rev matching is way different then heel toeing.. I rev match any chance I get..

[ML]

When my father taught me to drive a manual growing up he told me to always downshift the engine. All the heel toe aspect of it is making the downshift smoother. If you drive an auto the car does it for you. It actually is more fuel efficient to downshift than just brake while idling. For day to day driving this has nothing to do with RACE CAR, its more like that's how you are supposed to drive a manual.

[chillywilly]

Originally Posted by KKaWing

o_O Heel-toe is a type of rev matching no? Like double clutching is another technique? Or is braking, dabbing the throttle with the right side of the foot / heel / some part of the same foot while downshifting not considered heel-toe?

(I know some monster size 11's that actually brake with the middle of the foot and using the pinky toe area to blip )

Just because you are in gear / in a "lower" gear / doesn't necessarily mean one is dive bombing a turn / ramp. So yes, heel-toe IS simple rev matching. As I understand it, it is the name of a technique, rather than a description of racing/speeding/bombing through a turn. Or did I miss a memo somewhere that when heel-toeing it must = ?

Yes double clutch and heel-toe are both techniques used to rev match. Double clutch is no longer needed with synchronized manual transmissions. And heel-toe refers to using the heel and toe of your right foot to control the gas and brake pedals at the same time so you can rev match and down shift while braking. Of course you can also heel-toe with out shifting but that's even more far fetched for daily driving.

I hate to quote from wikipedia but this article sums up both double clutch and heel-toe quite well. [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch"]Double clutch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I agree that rev matching is very important, I do it every time I down shift but heel-toe (controlling all three gas/brake/clutch at the same time) is not a requirement for day-to-day driving.

[ML]

Originally Posted by chillywilly

Of course you can also heel-toe with out shifting but that's even more far fetched for daily driving.

You mean left foot braking?