Edward

Age and a by-gone era: I love my analog watch, tube guitar amps, 993 and 911SC, and almost always heel toe simply as a course of habit. Not every car's pedals are conducive to this, but with stock pedals on both the 993 and SC, it is routine and satisfying. Now left-foot braking is something I never really practiced enough so forget about trying to do that on the street.

Edward

rk-d

Same here. Mechanical watch, hifi vinyl system, old fashioned Italian espresso machine and this old car.

I guess I like making things hard for myself.

Mark in Baltimore

On the street, I use it far less for turns. When I do use it for turns, it's to balance pitch and squat and so I can keep the engine in the meatier part of the rev range if I'm trying to set up a pass but want to burn off a little bit of speed with the brakes. Really depends on how fast I'm moving.

I use LFB'ing far more in every day driving for safety management and use it every single time I'm behind the wheel, whether it's a manual or auto. If traffic is heavy and I'm trying to move from the middle lane to the right lane in order to merge to an off-ramp, my left foot is over the brake while my right foot is on the gas. Since another driver could dive in front of me, I need to reduce speed in an instant. People do some stupid things, so it's best to always be ready without losing that half second or so as your brain processes an issue and tells your right foot to move from the gas to the brake pedal, still requiring at least half an inch before your pedal movement results in a loss of speed.

Not long ago, I was in the slow lane in heavy traffic and moving at around 60 MPH. A car in the merge lane cut right in front of me, a serious WTF, oh-sh*t moment. I had to stand on the brakes in order to not hit him and was able to avoid collision mostly because my left foot was hovering over the brake pedal.

When you're on the highway and no one else is around, just use your left foot to brush off speed. It'll be weird and awkward at first, but you should be able to get the hang of it eventually.

GPA951s

I heel Toe Every time Im on the street or track... The problem is, I like wearing hiking boots... VERY hard to heel toe in those... Loafers would actually be good... Or course They are also two separate cars Track / Street.. But I DID adjust the brake pedal in the racecar to get a comfortable height with relation to the gas pedal... When I am on track I don't even realize im doing it... Its just habit... and that translated to the street...

SpeedyC2

Every time I have tried left-foot braking in a car (I can almost get away with it on a kart - but I'm not good) I put my forehead into the windshield. Maybe now I'm half-way proficient - I'm not will to give myself more than that - with heel-toe I should start challenging myself to learn to left-foot brake.

Mark in Baltimore

It took me a little bit to learn (don't fully recall since it's been so long ago). Just remember that your right foot was clueless at one time, but it learned how to brake and throttle!

Once you do it, you'll wonder how you ever drove without it.

RudyP

Yeah, it's pretty quick to dial in your left foot. It's been a while since I 'learned' but I vaguely recall it being no more than a few laps at Summit Point before I had my left foot pretty well calibrated. The first couple of left foot applications do feel a bit intense though...

No worse than when I drive an automatic and forget that I'm driving an auto and clutch in* as I roll to a stop.

* clutch in here = sharp, fast stab at the left half of the super wide brake pedal where the clutch pedal should be.

Mark in Baltimore

LOL, what the heck were you doing at Slummit Point?

Allen

...I've been here long enough that hopefully you guys won't make too much fun of me.....but while I have certainly heard the term "heel to toe", I really had no idea of the procedure, until I saw that video above. I only cruise through the country roads, with no track time, so it's not a technique for me, but it looks like a good idea for the track!

Mark in Baltimore

Yes, yes, I know this is a video of a crappy old Ferrari, but I just saw this video last night and thought it was highly entertaining.

rk-d

Here's another pretty good video I saw on Jalopnik.

s2racer

just caught up with this thread...very interesting the variety of approaches. I heel n toe on the street when I'm hard on the brakes into a turn; otherwise just slow the car down, and match the revs. when I had a race car, I didn't really need to because the gearbox was an old Hewland with dog rings. Only used the clutch to take off, then used the left foot for braking (great modulation). I LFB in all of my passenger cars (failed my first driver test because the instructor didn't like it). I liked the Senna video, and marveled at the double-clutch; something I have never learned.

Good stuff

Britzky9

I used that video as my Heel Toe tutorial!

SIDEBAR: Just drove a 1984 Carrera with 915 and short shifter - the really nice seller let me take it out on a 20 minute test drive...but...pretty much insisted that I blip on the up-shift, too. Is that a thing I should be doing with other manual trans? He was saying that the fly-wheel is big and that supports the life of the clutch by rev matching on all shifts.

rk-d

If you have a very close ratio gearbox with tight windows for matching revs, a super light flywheel and very lightweight rotating parts… along with a clunky box and long clutch….I could see it.

Otherwise, no - if you are reasonably smooth and quick, you should be able to change the gear before the revs drop too much between shifts. I have a lightweight flywheel and have never need to upshift throttle blip.

JParanee

the wings peddle makers it easy