brake pedal too high and too hard - difficult to heel and toe
09-15-2013, 06:34 PM
#1
brake pedal too high and too hard - difficult to heel and toe
A car I'm seriously considering buying has one annoying feature: the brake pedal seems unusually high and firm. (By high, I mean close to the driver, so that I have to lift my knee higher to brake.) So when I tried to heel and toe, I found it very hard to depress the throttle much at all - and my toe bumps into something under the steering column. (I don't think I've experienced this is a Porsche before.) I'm guessing the thing my toe is hitting is the air vent for the feet - it's a big soft black tube with an flat oval cross section and some big holes (for air to exit, I guess). Seems to be rubber. Maybe my toe hits this thing because it's too low, but I'm guessing that if the brake pedal were lower, my toe would miss this thing because my toe would be further down in the footwell.
This could be a deal-killer - one of the reasons I decided to get a Porsche is that the pedal setup and driving position are usually excellent.
I found some related threads: many about the pedal being too low and/or soft, one about it being too high, and none about it being too hard. I also found some very helpful posts by Loren and his RennTech thread about adjusting the pedal height here:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...nt/#entry42701
Maybe this explains why the pedal is so high (maybe it's adjusted improperly). But why so hard? I was doing a test drive with the owner in the car, so I couldn't slam on the brakes like one might on track, but I did brake reasonably hard, and I'd say the pedal barely moved. Definitely not far enough to enable heel and toeing.
I'll have a Porsche dealer do a pre-purchase inspection, so I'm wondering what they should look for. (Some dealers don't even know the pedal is adjustable.) Any ideas what could cause the pedal to be so hard? (And/or how to fix it.)
And any other ideas, about why it's so high (and how to fix that) - other than improper adjustment? (I would guess Porsche made it adjustable to enable correcting for other things that affect the position, so I'm wondering what such things could be.)
I need to figure this out soon, so help would be greatly appreciated!!!
This could be a deal-killer - one of the reasons I decided to get a Porsche is that the pedal setup and driving position are usually excellent.
I found some related threads: many about the pedal being too low and/or soft, one about it being too high, and none about it being too hard. I also found some very helpful posts by Loren and his RennTech thread about adjusting the pedal height here:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...nt/#entry42701
Maybe this explains why the pedal is so high (maybe it's adjusted improperly). But why so hard? I was doing a test drive with the owner in the car, so I couldn't slam on the brakes like one might on track, but I did brake reasonably hard, and I'd say the pedal barely moved. Definitely not far enough to enable heel and toeing.
I'll have a Porsche dealer do a pre-purchase inspection, so I'm wondering what they should look for. (Some dealers don't even know the pedal is adjustable.) Any ideas what could cause the pedal to be so hard? (And/or how to fix it.)
And any other ideas, about why it's so high (and how to fix that) - other than improper adjustment? (I would guess Porsche made it adjustable to enable correcting for other things that affect the position, so I'm wondering what such things could be.)
I need to figure this out soon, so help would be greatly appreciated!!!
09-15-2013, 06:38 PM
#2
P.S. Although I only found one other thread about the pedal being too high, this apparently isn't super rare. A friend has this problem with his 997.2 GT3 - unlike any other 911 he's ever driven (mainly GT3s). (He solved it by raising the accelerator, but that just further messes up the driving position.) He didn't mention the other issues though (too firm, and toe bumping into something above).
09-15-2013, 11:29 PM
#3
Drifting
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Ephrata, PA, USA now. Originally from the UK
Posts: 3,075
Likes: 0
Received 20 Likes
on
15 Posts
Why you are not getting any replies just might be that you are obviously a tracker and the majority on here are not. Heel and toeing. You ever thought of joining an Irish dance group haha.
09-16-2013, 01:40 AM
#4
Rennlist Member
Couple of thoughts..
1. OEM pedals? Not an uncommon mod to change out brake and gas pedals, maybe there is something funky about them if they were replaced?
2. Pedals that are properly adjusted for good heel/toe when driving aggressively (like on-track) usually are much more difficult to heel/toe with typical street driving... Just not enough brake force to lower the brake pedal to the right spot. Similarly, pedals that are adjusted for nice street heel/toe action are going to be way off when you are threshold braking into a hairpin. The brake pedal will be too low in relation to the gas pedal.
3. There are tons of aftermarket pedals geared towards track performance, I'm sure you could find something that fits your feet and style. It's not like a Lotus or something where the damn footbox is just so small it is a challenge to finesse the pedals without slim driving shoes or if you have really big feet.
None of this helps if there is really something wrong with your brake system or pedal assembly, but you don't typically hear complaints about the brake pedal being too firm.
1. OEM pedals? Not an uncommon mod to change out brake and gas pedals, maybe there is something funky about them if they were replaced?
2. Pedals that are properly adjusted for good heel/toe when driving aggressively (like on-track) usually are much more difficult to heel/toe with typical street driving... Just not enough brake force to lower the brake pedal to the right spot. Similarly, pedals that are adjusted for nice street heel/toe action are going to be way off when you are threshold braking into a hairpin. The brake pedal will be too low in relation to the gas pedal.
3. There are tons of aftermarket pedals geared towards track performance, I'm sure you could find something that fits your feet and style. It's not like a Lotus or something where the damn footbox is just so small it is a challenge to finesse the pedals without slim driving shoes or if you have really big feet.
None of this helps if there is really something wrong with your brake system or pedal assembly, but you don't typically hear complaints about the brake pedal being too firm.
09-16-2013, 05:44 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
I agree with pfbz
Are you experiencing this with street driving? Unless you are heavy on the brakes it will naturally be harder to heel toe as the pedals won't line up as good. You definitely have to roll your foot more when not hard on the binders. I actually bought rennline pedals (mostly for style) that have extension plates to widen the gas pedal make it easier to heel toe. I normally don't downshift in autocross, and the need to heel toe on the street just isn't there unless for fun/ practice. It seems to have helped, kind of hard to tell.
Are you experiencing this with street driving? Unless you are heavy on the brakes it will naturally be harder to heel toe as the pedals won't line up as good. You definitely have to roll your foot more when not hard on the binders. I actually bought rennline pedals (mostly for style) that have extension plates to widen the gas pedal make it easier to heel toe. I normally don't downshift in autocross, and the need to heel toe on the street just isn't there unless for fun/ practice. It seems to have helped, kind of hard to tell.
09-16-2013, 06:04 PM
#6
Just to clarify, this car's brake position and feel is different from most 996s I've driven - certainly all I've driven this year. The normal 996 brakes enable me to heel and toe comfortably whether on the street or when braking hard as one would on track (when the dealer lets me do a test drive without a passenger :-) .) It's true that some car's pedals are too high for the street, and others are too low for the track, but the 996's are normally just right.
The aftermarket pedal idea is something to check. Any other ideas about what could cause a 996 brake pedal to be too firm? Or too high other than misadjustment? (I think there's got to be some other cause - if nothing else could affect the pedal position, there'd be no need for adjustment.)
The aftermarket pedal idea is something to check. Any other ideas about what could cause a 996 brake pedal to be too firm? Or too high other than misadjustment? (I think there's got to be some other cause - if nothing else could affect the pedal position, there'd be no need for adjustment.)
