left foot braking transitions

[Icecreamtruk]

Dude, how fucked up is your driving that you need to worry about that 100 ms or so that it takes to switch foot. Why are you worried about emergency braking AND downshifting? Are you like, waving thru traffic in your car like you would in a bike? I do not understand the point of this thread at all. Left foot braking main advantage is not the time saved while switching from gas to brake, its to be able to keep accelerating and transfert weight to the front during a turn (so like a small touch on the brakes mid corner) to balance the car out and/or correct understeer. Left foot braking has no place nor utility in city (aka street legal) driving.

[strat61caster]

wow

I had it all typed up, was going to find the specific podcast with Ross Bentley being interviewed (that @justinco also listens to ) to confirm that according to the data it's ~0.02s faster to LFB than RFB. About how I've been LFB most of the year but I'm going to stop now and focus on how I use the brake, being smooth on and off and taking advantage of the time between throttle off and brake on to gauge my speed for the corner, I've got other aspects of my driving to work on, but that's all irrelevant isn't it?

@alex.s don't worry about your left foot braking, give yourself more distance, slow down when you can't see ahead and anticipate potential hazards. That's what will save your car and your life, not 0.02 seconds quicker to the brakes. Traffic on public roads doesn't operate at that time scale, your reaction time is already 0.25 seconds, you're already SOL if you're trying to find 0.02 seconds of safety margin. Let the damn car stall if you have to panic brake and you forget to put it in neutral, who gives a shit, there's nothing you can do to prevent being rear ended or blind sided or dodging the cow in the road other than awareness awareness awareness.

[algs26]

Are you running in stock? Are aftermarket pedals even legal in stock class?

I had them on my old car to get the pedals closer and (brake pedal) higher.

[ermax]

I didn’t read the whole thread so I may be repeating what others have said. Before I started to LFB I learned to heal toe. When I first learned to heal toe I was using my toe on the gas and my heal on the brake. Then I added in LFB and that is when I learned that I was doing heal toe all wrong. You need to use your toe on the brake and your heal on the gas or else transitions from LFB to RFB are really awkward. It didn’t take long to retrain my brain to do it correctly. I also learned that applying various driving techniques on track but not in my daily drive was tricky. These things only became habit when I decided to apply them to my daily commute.

[dattran86]

taking it from Ross Bentley, "Its better to be a great right foot braker than a mediocre left foot braker"

it takes lots of practice to get the same sensitivity as your right foot. alot of top tier driver growing up in carting that's why they're so good with their left foot.

if you worry about brake/throttle overlap during initial corner entry to save a few tenth of a sec, just heel toe and get back on throttle as quick as you can. its not like we're Lewis Hamilton here

[ermax]

In autox it's good to be able to so quickly go from brake to gas though when you're in a slalom. On a road course there isn't as much demand for quick transitions from gas to brake so in that case it's not as valuable. But I think it's safe to say that most if not all competitive autoxers LFB. But I'm realizing now that the OP was solely talking about daily commutes which is kind of pointless.

[dattran86]

Originally Posted by ermax

In autox it's good to be able to so quickly go from brake to gas though when you're in a slalom. On a road course there isn't as much demand for quick transitions from gas to brake so in that case it's not as valuable. But I think it's safe to say that most if not all competitive autoxers LFB. But I'm realizing now that the OP was solely talking about daily commutes which is kind of pointless.

my problem was I started driving older manual cars with a really heavy clutch when I first got my license. so my left foot is absolutely useless when it come to LFB, I tried to practice on the street but I dont think i will get decent at it...at least not for a long while.

the first time i tried to LFB on one of my run, it didnt go that well. I over braked the car because my left foot was so used to the clutch

[ermax]

Originally Posted by dattran86

the first time i tried to LFB on one of my run, it didnt go that well. I over braked the car because my left foot was so used to the clutch

Hahaha. Same here. It wasn't until I started doing it on my daily commute (only when it was safe to do so) that it became more natural. After a few days I got better and at the next event I had more success. Once I got a feel for it I no longer needed to do it on a daily basis and at events I just pick it right back up. The next challenge was to train myself not to ride the brake the whole run because it fades the pads quick.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by ermax

In autox it's good to be able to so quickly go from brake to gas though when you're in a slalom.

Even that's debatable, depends on the car depends on the slalom and there's very few drivers with the talent to actually take advantage of that. Us average Joe's are probably faster with a consistent speed or gradual Accel or decel as needed.

[STV3]

Dear god.... This guy isn't event talking about racing.

Stop left foot braking on public roads! Your left foot resting on the pedal will inevitably lead to you pressing the pedal just enough that your brake lights turn on while you accelerate/coast and people behind you wont know when you are actually braking. There is no reason for this in everyday driving.

[M0nk3y]

Originally Posted by ermax

In autox it's good to be able to so quickly go from brake to gas though when you're in a slalom. On a road course there isn't as much demand for quick transitions from gas to brake so in that case it's not as valuable. But I think it's safe to say that most if not all competitive autoxers LFB. But I'm realizing now that the OP was solely talking about daily commutes which is kind of pointless.

That's an incorrect statement.

Anyways, if you're braking in the middle of a slalom, well you drove that slalom completely wrong IMO.

I right foot brake, don't have any issues with results.

[alex.s]

hey guys, thanks for your feedback. i can tell this is about as hotly contested as religion, and obviously everyone knows that their own answer is the only correct one, so i'll find my own path. thanks.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by justinco

My bad, thought this was the tracking / autocross forum.

Personally I would be trying avoid putting 2 feet on the same pedal, but that's just me. Hope you find a solution to your problem.

i posted here because it was the closest thing on this website to any kind of "skills" section. which seems to not actually be a thing people study for cars? it sounds more and more like car drivers just go get in a car and fuck around until something happens

[Azzudien]

I don't think it is hotly contested issue, you asked a question in a track/autocross thread about a driving technique that is used by drivers that are at top of this type of driving.

Then you state you use this technique on the street.

I am new to driving on the track, but even in my short time tracking my car there is countless things I do on the track that I would never consider attempting on the street. There is a reason people go to the track, and that is to have fun, learn, and do it in a SAFE CONTROLLED environment.
Going out on a public street and practicing a braking technique is careless and unsafe no matter how much you tell me you are a great driver. Ask the person behind you on the street how great a driver you are when you accidentally put to much pressure on the brake pedal using your left foot learning this.