RacingBeat

could someone give me some hints on heel/toe.....

(i know this is basic and beat to death, please forgive my belated arrival to p-world)

hmd

g-50cab

And actually with a 911 it's more side of the foot to side of the foot "roll" than heel n toe...

earlyapex

I have small feet so I can't roll the side of my foot onto the gas pedal. I have to use the heel of my foot to get it done. Thankfully the old 911 gas and brake pedals are close together.

Gary R.

I guess you MUST have problems judgeing your size from your avatar! Do they let you run with big blocks on your pedals? Do you use cushions on the phonebooks you sit on?

Jay Gratton

I agree wiht Jeremy. I don't think many people "Heel & Toe" really. I find my students and my instructor friends are more of a roll of the foot kind of people.

dsmith

here's a good explaination i found a few years ago, and yes, i heel/ball downshift.

http://www.318ti.org/notebook/shifting/index.html

david

911 Rod

The person in the next office must have heard me laugh.
Too funny.

911 Rod

I made up a pedal to do both and find it's still easier to regulate the gas with the side of the foot.
Under heavy braking it's right there for the blipping.

Jay Laifman

I find the roll will not work for my '73 911. I found that to make it work best, if when I started braking, I lifted my foot off the floor and braked with the ball of my foot, I could easily rotate my heal over to the gas pedal for a firm blip. But, if I left my heal on the floor when breaking, I couldn't get my heal over there.

Actually, don't you think it should really be called "toe-healing"?

And, for what it's worth, I down shift/heal toe all the time. I don't care to lose fun to gain life on the brake pads! And, at the same time, I went over 100,000 miles on my clutch. So, it can't be that bad!

sww914

I too heel/toe most of the time on the street for practice. I don't really use my heel, however, my super wide hobbitt feel can fill the space between pedals too often. I use the ball of my foot on the brake and the edge of my foot, where it swells out past the sole of my shoes, on the gas.
Don't try it with hiking boots on.

JCP911S

1) On most 911 you must build up the throttle pedal... it is too low relative to the brake... I use pieces of 1/2 in plywood cut approximately 2 inches by 4 inches... this allows me to vary the exact height by adding or subtracting I then tape them togetner and tape them to the throttle with racers tape (all TRUE race cars should have some racers tape on them)

2) When you are about 3/4 into the brake, the wood block should just touch the bottom of your shoe if you hold your foot for normal braking

3) Brake with the ball of your foot solidly on the right half of the brake... this should put the throttle just below your little toe..

4) There are two options:

a) Rotate your foot at the ankle....maintianing even braking pressure and blipping iwth the right side of your shoe right below your little toe

b) Tap your heel down on the bottom of the pedal like you are beating time to a song... if you do it this way, the wood blocks must reach to the bottom of the throttle pedal.

Typically on the street when I need a slight blip under light braking I use technique "a" as it allows more delicacy on the pedals

When I am on the track, I typically use technique "b" as it allows for more consistent pressure on the brake....especially in threshold braking situations.

The trick of heel and toe is to match the strength of the "blip" to the expected change in revs.... the key is that hte pressure on the brake and the strength of the blip are propotional... light braking you lose fewer revs and need a lighter blip... hard braking you lose alot of revs and need to give the throttle a pretty good boot

One practice technique is to get into H&T mode (Foot hard on the brake, clutch in) and blip the trottle to keep the revs consistently at a given RPM... for example, go from idel and then try to hold 2,000 rpm with a series of light rapid blips... this builds speed and also sensitivity to how much pressure is needed to raise RPM.... then hild at 2,500 RPM.... then 3,000 RPM then 4,000 RPM

This will train your foot how much to blip in varioous downshift scenarios...

Also, you must practice H&T on the street until it is as natural as putting the clutch in for an upshift...

GOod Luck