A Driving Related Question
 

I have been working hard to acclimate myself to driving a manual transmission car and have got almost everything nailed down at this point except for heal-toe downshifting. I have trouble keeping my brake pressure constant while blipping the throttle which is made worse when the pace picks up.

Do you guys have any tips on your techniques and thoughts on heal-toe? I know it just takes practice but I don't want to be practicing the wrong way and figured I would make a noob thread to ask.

Thanks!

Yah for these organ pedals use the side of your foot to blip instead of the actual heel unless you need full brake power.

Good advice.

Yeah, I agree with ken. With the pedal setup on the Z I found myself mostly using the side of my foot more than my heel to heel-toe. It's almost exactly the same in the 5.0.

Depending on the size of your foot/shoe, you might find that you need a little more pedal area. You can get some nice SRP Racing aluminum pedals for the Z that extend the gas pedal out to the left a few more mm, and of course you have a wide range of freedom on where exactly you want to mount the clutch/brake pedal to fit your needs.

Not to mention the improved pedal feel with a metal pedal instead of the rubber covers we have for the brake/clutch.

Oh and some good driving inspired shoes will help tremendously. Puma Drift Cats, Speed Cats, and Replicats are all great choices. :tup:

+1 But I'm not the greatest at this. I'm still learning. I don't do it when I go spirted driving yet. It is hard to maintain an even amount of brake pressure when doing. I seem to apply more brake at the moment I blip the throttle.

Yeah it takes a bit of practice to learn how to maintain consistent brake pressure while you are blipping the throttle, but you will learn. :tup:

That's good. Now I know I don't completly suck at it then. LOL

Yep, and there really is no "correct" way to do it. Everyone is different so you just have to find the style that works best for you. It's a great feeling once you get it down perfect. :tup:

Then you have to learn how and when to apply it on the track threw the corners. Good timing also.

I agree with ken and steve. The pedals are close enough to place your right foot half on the brake, half on the gas. Since the part of your foot on the brake is the stronger part (ball of your foot), you can learn to keep steady pressure while twisting the outer edge to blip the throttle. Practice on sections of road where precision is not important to get the hang of it.

I learned to toe-heel when I was 17. My Pontiac LeMans had a Rochester 4 barrel that would flood when first started up (needle valve or float problem, but that's not important right now), forcing me to master toe-heel to keep then damn thing running. Sometimes necessity forces change, but it is skill I've used since.

I personally have just learned how to rotate my right foot, heel planted, left side of my right foot maintains brake pressure while my right side blips the throttle. And yes a proper set of driving shoes helps, I have a set of sparco's that I wear when I go to autocross or just want to go out for a spirited drive. But for the everyday I wear my puma driftcats :).

I've actually been looking at some Pumas. Coolest shoe of all time.

The driftcats work great for me, driving and fine dining, dont have to change shoes lol.

I here you pimp daddy!

In my personal experience and driving style, I've found it to be more ball and side than heel and toe. I brake with the ball of my foot and roll my foot to the side to apply throttle.
Adjusting or modifying the pedals to make this easier helps, as does a proper driving shoe that gives you good "feel".

Pumas are for poseurs. I wear these:

http://www.the370z.com/members/lunaz...10-simpson.jpg

Amatures.... I can heel toe in my snow boots. :D

Sh*t, I can work all three pedals at the same time with my snow boots on!

:icon18:

Nice clown shoes. :p

:iagree: pretty ugly shoes..

Screw you guys!
Your comments about my "proper" driving shoes made me go out and buy a pair of these:

http://www.the370z.com/members/lunaz...27309-puma.jpg


Now where did I leave my Ed Hardy shirt? :inoutroflpuke:

:icon18:

These are "proper" driving shoes as well. They just aren't fireproof.

http://www.zappos.com/images/z/1/1/5/1154647-p-2x.jpg

At least there fire red.

Now that I think about it, fireproof shoes were a waste of time and money.
I always ended up burning my feet at the beach, anyway.

I went to Zappos to get that picture and now I have like 3 pairs of other shoes in my cart. Damn you, Luna! :mad:


:bowrofl:

How do the sizes run on these pumas? I want to order a pair but am not sure what size to get. I usually where an 11.5 or a 12, more times than not an 11.5. I also have narrow feet. Thanks. Also what pair do you recommend?

It's funny, except for dress shoes and boots, nearly every pair of tennis/walking/regular shoes, works well for me.

Minor detail: If you are using the side of your foot you may want to watch out for deep sole tread. Those deep ridges could stick, instead of sliding on the brake pedal and not allow you enough gas pressure. This would only be annoying, not fatal.

OP: You will get the hang of it, and will be glad you learned.

i wear piloti's when motoring my Z and G. for weekdays in my dd i wear leather slippers (or snow boots/shoes in the winter :D). the trick is to have shoes with rounded heel.

For me, Pumas tend to run about a half size small. I'm normally a 11-11.5 and I always get my Pumas in 11.5.

I have the Speed Cats, original Drift Cats (not the new ones with the offset laces), and the Replicats. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either. They're not a great walking shoe (no support) but for driving they are all very good.

Thanks Kenchan, that is what I do currently but the only shoes I have that are wide enough are my running shoes and I normally wear Vans which are too thin to reach both pedals. That makes sense though as far as using it with full brake power as that is probably why the gas is a bit harder to reach to blip when only doing light braking.

Thanks M4! That is great to hear you bridge the two pedals with the ball of your shoe as that is what I currently do, I don't know why I felt it was probably wrong haha.

I actually really like driving with my Vans due to great feel of the pedals through the shoe but I was looking at the Drift Cats when I was going to order a Snell '05 helmet for an Auto-x event.


Thanks everyone for chiming in, I definitely will take your advice to heart and hope to improve my driving with more practice.

i see... you can replace the pedals and get wider ones to match your foot print (literally :icon17: ). i dont have issues with my Z or my Fit but on my G35C i use a tad wider metal pedal on the gas pedal to make it easier to reach.

it's not like you're STUCK with the pedals that came with the car. but i recommend you practice with what you have now and once you're kinda consistent look for other pedals as needed. chances are you'll learn how to twist your foot even with VANS and be able to work it. :D

I agree with ken re: pedal width. While the Z pedals are fine for toe heel shifting for me, I had aftermarket pedals in my old MINI Cooper and currently in my Mazda3 because the span between gas and brake was too wide. The downside to some of the aftermarket pedals is that it can bring the gas and brake too close together, making it easier to depress them both, such as in an emergency stop.

professordave- yes, that is a dangerous situation!

another tricky thing about pedals is the forward/aft positioning. some pedals are thicker than other brands like razo (raiser, literally) where others are thin. depending on where the brake pedal is and gas pedal sometimes it's better to bring the gas pedal closer to your foot allowing better blip with less foot movement. but then again if one make a mistake of double pedaling due to suck-at-driving-because-i-like-playing-with-dolls-and-stuffed-animals-and pillows, then they might be in for a big surprise. :D

:icon18::roflpuke2::icon17:

Hahaha, that is a very good point. I am definitely trying to make the most out of what I have and that is why I appreciate the help immensely. The more I practiced heal-toe, the less awkward the twisting action feels but it still will take some time for it to become natural I feel. :driving:

This method worked so well for me that I find my self doing it in everyday driving... practice! It becomes second nature, good luck!

MUCH better. Favorite color scheme.. how much? What model of shoe is that? (i.e. where do I find these haha)