BrokeAss

How about another thread on one of everyone's favorite topics - heel and toe?

I heel and toe in my car all the time. ....but instructing a student how to do it, well that's a whole 'nother topic! So the question becomes, what techniques/tips/excercises do you do with a student to teach them heel & toe?

• It's a difficult technique to practice on the street. You need to be braking fairly hard to get the brake pedal down far enough to make the blip an easy reach.
• Teaching the technique on the track might mean watching your student blow a corner entry because the released brake pressure.

tkerrmd

great question and I await some great answers. In my car I cant heel toe unless I am at track speeds. However my buddy with a miata drives around all day heel toe driving.
I think its best learned away from the track but sometimes that may not be possible. And can you really see them doing it correctly or hear it or feel it or what!
Good question Terry, the answers will certainly help me instruct better.

sjanes

I don't "teach" heal/toe. What I do is describe how to do it to a student, and probabaly take them out in a slower run group (in my car) to demonstrate it. Then suggest they practice it on the street before trying it at the track (reminding them to not hammer the brakes in traffic). When they are comfortable doing it on the street, then I get them to try it at the track, and do any necessary fine tuning.

Larry Herman

I'll give you the first excercise for your students to do. Get them to twist their foot around on the brake pedal while still maintaining proper braking pressure. Most novice drivers are pretty "dead-footed" and don't feel the pedals with their feet. They use their legs. This will help them to "reach over to the gas" without losing braking effect, and can be easily practiced on the street.

Z-man

IMHO, the street is a more ideal place to learn heel and toe. The braking may not be as hard on the street, but the driver can still learn this important technique on the street. Stopping for a stoplight or slowing down for an off-ramp are good places to practice. At the track, a newbie driver has far more things to worry about than getting the rythm of heel/toe down.

Edit
Some of the things that i did to learn heel/toe was this:
- First off, just learn to brake with only the left half of the sole of your foot. This will get the driver used to the position the foot needs to be in to heel/toe.
- Next, while braking, I would simply feel the throttle pedal with my foot - not giving it a blip, but simply getting used to where underneath my foot the pedal is.
- Next, I would start rolling my foot to get the blip down. With the clutch in (drivetrain disengaged), I'd blip the throttle several times while still braking. I did this to get used to the blipping part without having to worry about the release of the clutch.
- Finally, I connected all the elements of the heel toe downship together.

At first, I thought I'd never be able to master the technique. Now, on the track, it's a subconscious program in my toolset of driving.

-Z-man.

Veloce Raptor

To add to the above, I indicate that an empty parking lot is actually a much better place to practice than on the street.

Sean F

Another trick on the street is to practice just the blipping. While in gear, put the clutch in and let the RPM's drop then practice just blipping the throttle to the right RPM then let the clutch out (no braking at all). Helps to give a sense of how much pressure is required on the throttle.

spazegun2213

Granted I'm not an instructor at all, but i recommend that people start with the car stopped and learn pedal control before they ever try it with the car moving.

I normally advise people to learn how much brake it takes to blip the gas. Once they can blip the gas, have them learn to modulate the blip (ie, hard, soft, etc). While learning this, have them shift down gears. Basically learn/train the foot to heel toe while not in motion, as well as the hand. Once they are confident in that I would have them start somewhere on the street/parking lot at slow speeds.

I hope that by the time someone trys it moving, they know the motions.

M758

I do the exactly same thing, but tend to demonstrate in the car parked so they can watch the foot work. Then run a few laps at speed in my car so they feel it.

BTW... I learn and practiced heel & toe on street after being show in a parked car. It look lots of practice and the track is just to busy to get it right. If you MUST teach it there are some exercies you can do to with parked car to get used to holding the brake while bliping. That is the hardest and least natural part of the game. One nice thing is that heel & toe on street IS harder, but allows more room for error. Get good on street and then it is easy on the track. I still only nail maybe 70% of my heel & toes on street (perfect no lunges, etc), but nail 999 out of 1000 on track. Even then I don't believe I have spun the car from a missed heel & toe. Nice, because I know a few racers who have and let me tell you missing a heel & toe while trail braking is great way to spin a car REALLY FAST.

mrbill_fl

Q: what is difference between Heel and Toe, and Double clutching?
(is this the same thing? I'm double clutching with a 901 box... )

fwiw: one thing I watch for in threshold braking is getting the feet working independently.

often when braking hard, the driver 'gives up' on the brake when the foot puts the clutch in. (ie, the brake pressure decreases, once the clutch goes in)...

so I work on getting the feet/legs working independently on braking. Brake just as hard when the clutch goes in... typically where there's a good runout (sebring's T7 and T10, moroso T9, and maybe T6 and T8 at hmstd).

buying a few transmissions helps a great deal on motivation to learn... ;-)

Bull

I won't teach it on the track. It needs to be learned on a lightly traveled road or in a large parking lot.

For those with 911s with the pedals hinged at the floor, the pedals are adjustable on every one i ever owned up through the 993. Don't know about suspended pedals.

I always remember seeing Jurgen Barth driving "The Little Red Taxi" (modified 917) around Weissach with a block of wood attached to the gas pedal!

JustinL

Double Clutch: While driving- disengage the clutch- shift to neutral- engage clutch- disengage clutch- shift to next gear- engage clutch.

Heel-toe: While braking- disengage clutch- rev match the engine by blipping throttle and shift down- engage clutch without any unsettling to the car still under braking.

tkerrmd

I think the proper foot wear is also important. Big difference between driving shoes to feel the pedals and nike basketball sneaks!

BostonDMD

FWIW, pedal extensions or racing pedals make the process easier....

993inNC

FWIW I don't teach it........hell I don't even practice it. I can be smoother (and faster)not doing it. But as it applies to DE, I wouldn't think its appropriate. Its usually all one can do to teach a new or relatively new student how to drive and or drive a new to them track. Heel/toe is a racing, speed trick that would most likely not get used by a newbie so why enter it into the mix?
Heel toe should be left for much later, more advanced instruction, not weekend worriors DE'ing

Just my .00002 cents