59 replies to this topic

[mini93]

cant heal n toe in my volvo revs drop too quick and not correct pedal position...also main one, cant hear the engine so no idea what its doing

als leftie braking is to really keep the car balanced through corners

Edited by mini93, 20 March 2008 - 12:18 AM.

[Black.Ghost]

My mate taught me it a while ago and I began practising in my other Mini. I have sorted Double D Clutching now, but heel-toe braking needs a fair bit of work. I can do it in big army boots - but that really isnt on purpose.

I'm shocked that theres been no smutty comments relating to this! You lot are slipping

I didnt get what you meant for a second. Then I reread the highlighted bit.

[minivanman]

lmao, gutted, and with my disgusting mind i shoulda picked up on that

[Mayfair85]

...and left foot braking primarly had nothing to do with getting the back out on cars, it was to get rid of the time between brakes comin off and accelerator comin on, and the opposite.

Yeah. Tis. It was about balancing the car sideway around the corners.

My mate taught me it a while ago and I began practising in my other Mini. I have sorted Double D Clutching now, but heel-toe braking needs a fair bit of work. I can do it in big army boots - but that really isnt on purpose.

I'm shocked that theres been no smutty comments relating to this! You lot are slipping

We've failed!

[Ethel]

You can change gear without using the clutch if the engine speed is right, experiment in the company car/works van because it ain't good for your gearbox. The speeds are lower than you'd want for best acceleration so not really a fast driving technique.

The idea of left foot braking Paddy Hopkirk stylee is that you can lock the back wheels but use the accelerator to overcome the front brakes and keep the front ones turning. The place to try is a nice empty snowy carpark other wise it soon becomes expensive in brake pads and transmission components.

Edited by Ethel, 20 March 2008 - 12:28 AM.

[Black.Ghost]

Yeah when my clutch was buggered on my last Mini my mother was telling me she had to drive without a clutch once. I couldnt figure it out - everytime I tried it, it just went 'grrrrrrrr' and threw it out.

Ive learnt a bit since then though.

Im driving a Ford Galaxy tomorrow haha. If I get chance I might practice a couple of techniques.

[duncancallum]

when you heal and toe you can drop down a gear earlier that normal by bringing the engine speed up to the road speed for that chosen gear

eg 5000rpm= 45mph in second so if you get your revs right you can drop it into 2nd earlier helps slow you down at the expensie of engine and box wear.

sounds awsome from outside the car though

left foot braking helps to promote oversteer, think of it as a mild form of handbrake turn it helps a hevy front engined car turn in on low grip surfaces and can be used to balance the car in a bend

[Stoo]

Nearly all my cars have had very slow syncro into second so I instinctively toe n'heel just to match the revs on a down shift. Started in an MGB years ago and have always done it. Mind you my new passat (sorry guys!) you can't even blip the throttle properly as the engine management tries to smooth things out and slows the throttle response so much there's no point in doing it unless you shift slowly and just use it to save wear on the clutch.

It's one of those things why I like the mini - It just feels "right" when you do it and makes for a much smoother (did I say faster?) drive.

Stoo

[Jammy]

As has been said, the idea behind double de-clutching (apart from when you don't have synchros in your gearbox), and using heel and toe is to get a smooth as possible gearchange. The smoother the gearchange the more balanced the car will be, the more balanced the car is the quicker you'll get around a track.

Double de-clutching and heel and toe and two different things, but you heel and toe on the down shift to match the revs. Theres generally no need to heel and toe on the upshift, because you generally don't need to be braking when changing up a gear!

[alexcrosse]

As has been said, the idea behind double de-clutching (apart from when you don't have synchros in your gearbox), and using heel and toe is to get a smooth as possible gearchange. The smoother the gearchange the more balanced the car will be, the more balanced the car is the quicker you'll get around a track.

Double de-clutching and heel and toe and two different things, but you heel and toe on the down shift to match the revs. Theres generally no need to heel and toe on the upshift, because you generally don't need to be braking when changing up a gear!

finally!

[Jupitus]

Yeah when my clutch was buggered on my last Mini my mother was telling me she had to drive without a clutch once. I couldnt figure it out - everytime I tried it, it just went 'grrrrrrrr' and threw it out.

Ive learnt a bit since then though.

Im driving a Ford Galaxy tomorrow haha. If I get chance I might practice a couple of techniques.

Many years ago my clutch died in Fulham... I was at college in Sth kensington so just a short drive away so off we went. Changing gears isn't so bad if you get the hang of it, but stopping and starting is quite challenging. At any red lights I had to stop the engine, put it in gear, and thenget going again on the starter motor... my battery was giving up as I got to college but we made it... don't think many of the folks in Sth Kensington were impressed with a car full of ugly stoodents shouting out of the window 'Don't step on the zebra crossing!!!!!!!!'

Don't try it in a Galaxy, by the way, they have god awful gearboxes to start with!!!

[Black.Ghost]

I meant I might ry heel-toe and left foot braking in the Galaxy. I drove it this morning. Its horrible. It feels like it is going to tip over or something stupid.

[Jupitus]

I meant I might ry heel-toe and left foot braking in the Galaxy. I drove it this morning. Its horrible. It feels like it is going to tip over or something stupid.

I'm using my Galaxy to and from the station at the moment, and it's like going through treacle in a massive ferry... horrible!!!

[Bumperchaser]

Had to double D for a while when I was figuring out why the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. It was the only way to get it down into first without crunching! Turned out to be the pedal to master cylinder clevis pin was almost worn through! It does make it sound a lot better though.

Heel-Toe is really easy when you're 6'6" with size 13 feet! I do it in all cars but especially the min.

I even use my left foot on the accelerator when I'm bored on long motorway drives. Feels a bit wierd at first but helps you to get the feel of gentle control in your left.

[Bigfoot]

Heel-Toe is really easy when you're 6'6" with size 13 feet! I do it in all cars but especially the min.

Yess! You mean you've actually found an advantage of having huge feet? Woohoo!

I'll get my 14s on the case. Guess I probably shouldn't start messing about with heel-toe and double de-clutching in my Mum's car though Bad enough trying to get it into 2nd in the first place.