Heel Toe Downshifting

[henry.haden]

I’ve been looking into setting up my BRZ for heel toe downshifting. As I am sure you all know, the stock pedal setup is not ideal for this. I am torn between a throttle spacer kit and an Accelerator Pedal. Here are the URLs. Let me know what you all think.


https://www.ft86speedfactory.com/srp...l#.XpORwxZq0lQ


https://www.ft86speedfactory.com/vel...l#.XpOR7hZq0lQ


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[Ultramaroon]

I have no problem with heel-toe but I have giant feet. Since they make different changes, get both and decide which feels best to you.

[Spuds]

It's actually pretty good from the factory for me at least. It's set up so you have to be pressing the brake a bit harder/further than you typically might in casual driving.

[Sapphireho]

I have small feet and I have never been very good at it, especially on the street where you are not braking like on track. I used to strap a piece of 2x4 on the bottom of the pedal on one of my cars.

I have both the pedal and the relocator. The pedal is still on the car. I don't think it was worth it, and am going to take it off. I bought the relocator, it is in a box somewhere. Before I could install it, I went FI. One of the goodies on my tune I can turn on and off is auto-blip. I love it.

So I guess I'm not much help.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Spuds

..you have to be pressing the brake a bit harder/further than you typically might in casual driving.

Yep

[Windycitystig]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

I have small feet and I have never been very good at it, especially on the street where you are not braking like on track. I used to strap a piece of 2x4 on the bottom of the pedal on one of my cars.

I have both the pedal and the relocator. The pedal is still on the car. I don't think it was worth it, and am going to take it off. I bought the relocator, it is in a box somewhere. Before I could install it, I went FI. One of the goodies on my tune I can turn on and off is auto-blip. I love it.

So I guess I'm not much help.

What tune do you have that allows auto-blip?

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Coming from a Focus ST, I initially found the BRZ hard to heel and toe. After a time I realized the BRZ is setup for a more classic heel and toe. Most people (myself included) don't really heel and toe - instead you press the brake pedal with the left side of your foot and roll the foot to the right to touch the throttle with the right side of your foot. This worked well for me in the ST and some other manual cars I drove.

The BRZ needs classic heel and toeing - you need to angle your right foot to around 30-45 degrees to the left. This way you press the brake with the ball of your foot and can blip the throttle with the right side of your heel.
I found that the steering column interferes with angling the foot this way a little, so I raised it a little and that helped a lot.
It took a little while to get used to it, but it works easily with the BRZ and allows for better brake control than with the first method I described.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Spuds

It's actually pretty good from the factory for me at least. It's set up so you have to be pressing the brake a bit harder/further than you typically might in casual driving.

perfect for 7/10+

[Tokay444]

This car has one of the worst pedal layouts for heel/toe of anything I’ve driven.
That being said, the Verus Engineering throttle pedal spacer makes it absolutely sublime.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Windycitystig

What tune do you have that allows auto-blip?

EcuTek Racerom features. It has launch control, downshift auto blip, flat-foot shifting, and I think a few other. I can switch on the fly with my cruise control stock. Very nice.

[soundman98]

i use my ankle. i don't know what the rest of you are going on about.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Coming from a Focus ST, I initially found the BRZ hard to heel and toe. After a time I realized the BRZ is setup for a more classic heel and toe. Most people (myself included) don't really heel and toe - instead you press the brake pedal with the left side of your foot and roll the foot to the right to touch the throttle with the right side of your foot. This worked well for me in the ST and some other manual cars I drove.

The BRZ needs classic heel and toeing - you need to angle your right foot to around 30-45 degrees to the left. This way you press the brake with the ball of your foot and can blip the throttle with the right side of your heel.
I found that the steering column interferes with angling the foot this way a little, so I raised it a little and that helped a lot.
It took a little while to get used to it, but it works easily with the BRZ and allows for better brake control than with the first method I described.

Huh, I suppose that's why people have difficulty with it in these. I learned on my Saab 9-3 where the brake pedal was way too far back, so you had to loop your toe around and press on the brake lever to do it.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Tokay444

This car has one of the worst pedal layouts for heel/toe of anything I’ve driven.
That being said, the Verus Engineering throttle pedal spacer makes it absolutely sublime.

Ok, maybe I'll install mine tomorrow. after all, I've had it for a couple years. Any installment tips?

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Coming from a Focus ST, I initially found the BRZ hard to heel and toe. After a time I realized the BRZ is setup for a more classic heel and toe. Most people (myself included) don't really heel and toe - instead you press the brake pedal with the left side of your foot and roll the foot to the right to touch the throttle with the right side of your foot. This worked well for me in the ST and some other manual cars I drove.

The BRZ needs classic heel and toeing - you need to angle your right foot to around 30-45 degrees to the left. This way you press the brake with the ball of your foot and can blip the throttle with the right side of your heel.
I found that the steering column interferes with angling the foot this way a little, so I raised it a little and that helped a lot.
It took a little while to get used to it, but it works easily with the BRZ and allows for better brake control than with the first method I described.

Haha I'm the exact opposite from you. I learned heel-toe the classic way on Hondas, but started using the ride side of my toes with my STI hatch because the transmission tunnel blocked my heel from reaching the throttle pedal. I find this method still works best for me on the FR-S. It must be really dependent on how people's feet are shaped...