jenk12m

I love Mosport, i'll have to get back one day. i think Trakcar and I were in the 1:31's or so with our .2 3.8's back in the day

Cormid

I specifically asked Ben Collins (The STIG) this very question. "What are your thoughts on left foot braking." His response was, "Don't bother."

levd

He is right. Learing left foot braking din't make me any faster or better driver. The opposite - it gave me a bad habbit of multiple very short brake pedal touches inside the curves while still holding throttle with right foot.

Results: very fast pads and rotors wear, very fast brake overheating and one complete brake system failure on track (i was very lucky to stay alive and did not even crash the car).

It's a funny skill and i like to have it, but it's not needed. Last year my friend with absolutely identical car and same tires was significantly faster than me every time we were on track together. He is also 20-30 kilos heavier than me. I used all i could, switching off aircon, braking with my left foot etc, but he is always faster, than me. Why? He's just a better driver.

Macca

Totally agree....

mlpor

Ben's an interesting guy, and without getting into the merits, or lack there of of Left foot braking, he wasn't, IMO only, near the driver the replacement Stig was/is. That's not to say he isn't a good, maybe even great driver, but he's probably a better self promoter.

FWIW, I believe Left foot has it's place, but it's not a natural, or easy adaptation for anyone who hasn't spent a lot of time developing the touch & sensitivity one's right foot's spent years acquiring. And its definitely difficult place to go, particularly if there's a 3rd pedal, clutch involved for anyone with any degree of foot dyslexia. My 2 pennies.

thusly

I am sure rally drivers never ever use their left foot for braking and balancing a car at the limit and beyond . - NOT!!!!

The classic video by the Porsche master.....


Senna had a slightly different approach - probably the loafers!

Cormid

"Ben's an interesting guy, and without getting into the merits, or lack there of of Left foot braking, he wasn't, IMO only, near the driver the replacement Stig was/is. That's not to say he isn't a good, maybe even great driver, but he's probably a better self promoter."

Not sure I agree with this^. I spent two days around him at COTA with Jaguar USA. Never once did I sense an ego, and I've been around plenty of surgeons.
In the passenger seat next to him, I actually felt he had a Significant amount of driving ability.
All around nice guy. Wouldn't speak unkindly about Top Gear either.

Cormid

Love the walter and senna vids. Excellent perspectives. Difficult to argue against Rohrl foot usage.
Only critique, the 70's **** soundtrack in Rohrl's video.

Cormid

So I don't insult Orthojoe...
What I meant was: I've been around plenty of General surgeons, trauma surgeons and neurosurgeons to recognize a self-promoting ego. Orthopods are NOT included in this generalization.

Macca

LHB has its place with a three pedal set up in Rally. For a two pedal set up on the road probably less so. At our local track I believe there are two areas I could benefit fractionally with LFB on the transition. However, due to my build I have found when attempting LFB in these areas my left let moves over the brake and my knew comes on contact with the bottom of the steering wheel (yes Ive adjusted it - I have ROW folding buckets and maybe that changes the angle of my leg). It feels a bit awkward and my knee gets in the way fractionally so I have abandoned it for any very small difference it may make to my lap times. Many kids like Senna brought up on a diet of Karts are well familiar with two pedal config and natural LFB from an early age. I picked it up late and must say it does toake a little practice in each car to get the sensitivity of the left foot back into the frame...

orthojoe

Lol! Generalizations are there for a reason and are just generalizations. I'm a glorified carpenter.

thusly

For me, fit is really critical whether I can LFB at all. In some cars, there is no way I can even attempt to do so. Fortunately, the GT3 and LWB are just at the right distance for me. LFBing was greatly enabled when I am able to plant my left heel on the floorboard to get a better feel and control of it - without doing so, I found that I brake caveman style - either on or off. There just isn't enough leverage to control the brake pedal smoothly (by example - try accelerating smoothly without your heel planted).

Macca

Precisely my experience too. At 6'2" all should seem fine but Im long in the leg not torso (good as my helmet never rubs even with a sunroof car). Im sure I can play with the steering wheel height/seat position a bit more here but when i did try it a few times on track I found I couldnt consistently move my knee over without interfering with the bottom of the wheel - not every time but a few occasions. The new LWB seats have height adjustment which may improve the situation over the ROW folding bucket seats which are fixed...

TRAKCAR

If there is a way I can get there this year for a PCA race, I would love to go back, my top 3 track.

Maybe next summer otherwise for DE?

DrJupeman

It has been a long time for me, too. My current plan is to go to the PCA race this year.