Mvez

I always told myself if Dario Franchitti could win multiple Indy car titles right foot braking, it's good enough for me.

He has been retired for some time now.......LOL.

C.J. Ichiban

I do both which is why I raise the topic.

I think it is interesting and covering the brake pedal 10% for some maneuvers is similar to feeding in 10-30% maintenance throttle to stabilize the car and keep the rear planted under high load corners.

For those guys that drive Laguna, Turn 6 comes to mind since you really try to roll a lot of speed through and don't want the car to radically porpoise- that is an: on throttle off throttle on brake off brake on throttle input all within a super short window of space and time.

The pedal box definitely makes a big difference.

In the viper because it has so few shifts around a lap and has so much downforce, that is how I was able to get such a good lap around chuckwalla. Little drag on the brake pedal into the apex.

Spyerx

Karts are easy.
Street cars I'm like a 15 yr old kid first drive
Track
Can't do it especially with a clutch

TRAKCAR

I can do it fine in a kart, but I don't like to in a car.
I don't know why, I just don't like it.

Also; as DE drovers; We benefit from letting the car settle and load up the right tire for the sake of smoothness.

Been giving it some though tough, I'm sure I could find time perfecting LFB by braking longer while starting to feed in throttle keeping the nose down a little longer on tighter corners.

if you look at my typical lazy lap times and my best laps, the difference is braking later and hanging onto the brakes a little longer to make sure the front end sticks.

LFB will be a much bigger difference in a 997 CUP then the RWS GT3.

montoya

It's definitely a skill that is important to master. We share data in our team and you can definitely tell on certain corners where the extra control it gives you allows you to do things right foot only people can't. In our case that is Turn 1 at PIR. I'll be at Willow this weekend for the SCCA Super Tour and there T2, instead of a lift, a brush on the brakes while at full throttle would be interesting to try. But alas...

.... that's my same experience!

Mvez

+1. If we were racing, and HAD to find time, it would certainly be one thing. But as a weekend warrior, I just don't have the desire to really perfect it, just to find those last bits of time left on the table.

Hell, I still run all my DE cars on Nittos, if I want to go faster, much easier to mount up a set of HoHo's or Pirelli take offs....LOL

ervtx

Actually it's just the opposite. Corners which call for full/threshold braking are not good candidates for LFB. But for corners which are, as C.J. describes, LFB actually settles the car onto the suspension better, leading to LESS weight transfer:

jlanka

From what I understand, LFB is used to settle the car with a quick stab, but not during hard braking at the end of a straight etc. The videos I've seen of pros use it that way.

jeffwhite

I realize this is a GT3 forum and my current track car is a Mini Cooper S so I am at the opposite end of the spectrum in every way possible from GT3s. However, I left-foot brake as much as possible. I find that it keeps the car smoother and better planted. As CJ says, it is most helpful in corners that are not full braking so you can more easily keep revs up by being off the throttle for a shorter time. I see LFB as just another tool to balance the car as the situation demands.

Scrappy1972

Ricky uses both feet. Be like Ricky.

TRAKCAR

I know a guy that was heating up his brakes on formation lap LFBing and when the start came he got brake instead of the clutch. Got rear ended, so there's that..

mikemessi

If done correctly I think you can actually be smoother in the transition from full throttle to full brake when left foot braking.

signes

Having a good laugh at some of the comments in this thread. I've done it sporadically in lower to medium speed corners, but like somebody else said I too have the coordination of a teenager when trying to do full braking from high speed. Just not there with modulating smoothly.

Thanks for the return to regular programming CJ...

Scrappy1972

My understanding is that the split second pause between coming off gas onto the brake avoids an overly abrupt transfer of weight which is not ideal in a street car. Race cars, especially high aero ones with massively stiff springs do not benefit from this momentary 'dead zone'.

Theoretically, with left foot braking, one switches from full power to full braking force instantaneously and violently (or possibly even with some overlap). Again, my intuition tells me this may not be ideal in a street car, but what do I know?

mikemessi

Part of the abrupt(actually delay then abrupt) weight transfer takes place because of the compliance of the system. With left foot braking it is possible to gently preload and take up that compliance before getting on the brakes hard. But I agree in threshold braking scenarios the gains are less (but I think still present). Where left foot braking is most beneficial for me is the non threshold braking corners. My biggest issue is in a street car if no racing harness it's difficult to have both legs in the air. Sometimes I need that left leg on the floor to hold me in place. None of this matters though if you can't train your left foot to have the same sensitivity as the right and be able to train your brain to keep straight the difference between clutch/shifting finesse and braking. Who knows? Maybe Leh Keen would be even faster if he left foot braked? I think the results are different for everyone depending how ambidextrous they can be.