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Local 928 owner / racer Jean-Louis, lost the ability to do proper heel / toe due to an ankle issue. He rigged up a paddle behind the steering wheel to "blip" the throttle as needed without using his foot.
Apologies for the bad photo, only one I can find at the moment:
I put the Rennline pedals in my 996 and they definitely make heel and toe driving easier. The little red extensions are removable so you have both or just one attached. Not sure if they make the pedal for 928s but something similar could be done.
First learned heel and toe with an 88 944TurboS. Was introduced to autocross by reading a Road and Track article on the 88 944TurboS the previous owner had left in the glove box. My first autocross was with the local PCA. Remember that first lap. Waiting for the run my adrenaline was so high I was shaking. All my instructor said was " You don't have to do through the exact middle of the cones," and he turned off my windshield wipers a couple of times. My best time that day i got 2nd...from slowest and the girl that was slowest kept getting lost in the course. Everyone including the 930 driver that got FTD told me I had won the event because even though I was wearing a full face helmet they could see my giant grin. I was hooked.
Started reading everything I could about car racing, driving, and handling. Besides learning to chose a line that was the fastest and not going thru the center of the cones the books talked about maximizing traction with weight transfer and smoothness. And one of the ways to be smooth was to heel and toe rev match while downshifting for corners with idea to be in correct gear for the corner when you started re-applying the accelerator.
I also talked to my family owned independent Porsche shop about my new found racing bug. The first thing they did was reset the ride height to optimize handling. On the 944Turbo is was very much lower than stock. Then they gave me a very accurate tire gauge and talked about the best air pressure being a 3 psi increase from cold to hot. More and it was to low, less and it was too high. We also discussed and set the pedals for me to heel and toe. The heights between the accelerator and brake were adjustable as was the depth of the dead pedal. Then he told me to learn to drive then we would talk about making the car faster.
Drifting a corner before ordering front springs from Porsche Motorsports and an adjustable front anti-swaybar.
In reading and learning the heel and toe I found there were lots of descriptions. The one that made the most sense was keeping your heel planted on the floor. Then angling your foot to apply the brake so you could just tilt your foot sideways to blip the throttle. This is shown in the earlier posted video of Senna. The books described the heel planted on the floor makes you use your calf muscles to operate the brake and throttle instead of your thighs giving you more precision control. After adjusting the pedals it was much easier.
Like adjusting the position of the seat and steering wheel I consider adjusting the pedals just as important to proper postion for driving.
After I started getting faster by learning to drive I discussed the handling with my mechanic. We adjusted and/or upgraded one thing at a time and I learned to drive as fast as I could with each adjustment. We adjusted front and rear springs, adjustable anit-sway bars, rear brake bias, and front and rear damper rebound. And after all that was set we did a corner balance.
Went from second from slowest to the one to beat by more than 2 seconds for FTD!
Now the reason for telling this is because I was orginally looking for a nice 928 to road trip in when I got the 944. Just couldn't seem to find a 928 and got the 944 because I thought it would sell fast when a 928 did come along. The autocross thing happened because of the 944 and the article in the glovebox.
After 3 years of autocrossing and upgrading the 944Turbo my mechanic called me. He asked if I was still interested in a 928. I said I was and ended up buying the guards red 90 928GT from Jarrod Wise. When I got the GT from Jarrod it already had Eibach springs and Devek front bar. I added Ott rear drop links, a higher rear brake bias valve, and corner balanced it. Also set the pedals for heel and toe.
Autocrossed both cars for a while getting FTD in the 944Turbo and 2nd place with the 928GT.
Every Porsche I've ever owned had brake and or accelerator pedals that were adjustable for heel and toe. I always adjusted them like you would adjust the seat and steering column. It is all an integral part of driver position.
To keep with my own thread my problem is not the pedal adjustment or even adding bits to the pedal. My pedals are already maxumized for heel and toe. My foot just no longer can do the movement required. Will consider what it would take to add some sort of accelerator control, however that also gets very complicated considering I am already using my left hand to steer and my right hand to operate the shift lever.
I use Heal/toe, rev match ever day. I turn left into my slightly banked driveway, on the back side of a hill where everybody is doing 50, on the phone and or swatting at kids. I've been doing it so long I couldn't remember where I placed my heal. It's about 30% over the gas pedal.
I too adjust all of my manuals pedals to make the job easier. Jeep CJ5 LS1 5speed, MINI Cooper S and the GTS. I noticed today that sometimes I lock my ankle and rock my knee right and left. The MINI and the Jeep have the room. I'll see if I use that method in the 928 this weekend since warmer weather is coming our way. I practice all the time. The drill is when slowing down for a light, the braking Must be smooth and linear, while I rev the RPM's or step up a 1000 or 2000. I might practice more if I haven't driven the V8 in a while.
+1 for me, too. The left side accelerator tab in conjunction with pedal depth adjustment allows me to heel-toe to my heart's content, or just blip the throttle just for audio fun.
This is a great topic. I learned to 'heel and toe' early on out of necessity when my first vehicle developed a condition that would cause the engine to die immediately rather than maintain idle. Any time I had to stop I had to apply the brake and blip the throttle a bit. I then used this method for downshifts as well. At some point I heard about the term 'heel and toe' and tried it but it didn't work for me and I dismissed it. It is too clumsy for me and I end up mashing the throttle.
I watched the Senna video and that is my method exactly with my heel on the floor and rocking my foot as needed. I commute 120 miles per day and always rev-match to downshift and use engine braking to stop. It comes naturally to me and is not something I even think about.
That said, all I have ever owned have been manual trans vehicles and the 928 is the only one that I cannot 'toe and toe'. The brake pedal is so firm that it does not push in nearly enough to line up with the throttle pedal. I know the bottom of the pedal is adjustable but I don't think it would change anything at the top. Plus it angles away from the brake pedal. I have been meaning to check how much the brake pedal depth could but adjusted but I know there are rigid specs in the FWSM.
Sorry to hear of your foot issues. I had a friend that stepped on a nail while camping and got a Pseudomonis infection. Put him in the hospital for a few weeks but he did not lose any parts or have systemic damage. MRSA is a wholly different beastie - difficult to treat...
Regarding heel-toeing, it is a great part of the art of driving! I can see why you miss it!
I was fortunate to drive sticks from my first days behind the wheel and to me it is as second nature as breathing while driving in a spirited manner. Lots of time I just drove without using the clutch and rev-matched all shifts in my BMW 2002 or 240 Z's. Fun times. I do not drive the GT's that way as the gearbox is not something I want to put undue wear on.
If it is onl y the heel-and-toe adn not using a clutch... perhaps find a company that creates adaptive automotive controls - things like hands-only controls for those who can not use their legs but still drive... They may already have a solution.
I wonder if a control on the top of the stickshift that blipped the throttle would work - perhaps turn the little "map of the shift pattern" into a button, that revs the engine a bit when you press it.
I remember the '86 corvette had a button there that shifted the overdrive on/off, so the idea of running controls into the middle of the shifter has been done. I think modern Nissan Z cars automatically rev-match, so that part of the technology still exists.
if you have the desire to keep driving a stickshift, I am 100% sure your car could be tastefully adapted.
1.) Step on both pedals (brake and gas) by straddling them (half you right foot is on each pedal? I do this in my car. If the throttle isn’t high enough, braking harder also adds a bit of throttle.
2.) Left foot brake and right foot gas, simultaneously and shift without the clutch. Admittedly, this doesn’t always work well on all cars. Some cars is much easier to clutchless shift than others, so your mileage may vary with Porsches
Holy smokes, what an ordeal! But every day above dirt is a good day.
I don't heel-and-toe. Never really got the hang of it, although I haven't put much into practicing. But I have had DE instructors compliment my handling of the clutch on the track, so I must be doing something right.
01-11-2018, 07:09 PM
