Heel toe using any pedals

[b106b]

I heel-toe constantly. My new 05 Legacy GT Ltd replaced my faithful Acura RSX. My other car is a Miata. Both the Miata and the Acura required aftermarket pedals for me to accurately and consistently heel-toe. The Miata much less so, because you could bend the gas pedal with your hands. The Legacy required a little bit more effort, as described below. And I totally stole the idea from a fellow Miata driver:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=321551

 

I bought a length of 3/4" square aluminum "tube" and riveted 2 pieces together. The aluminum extends well below the stock pedal, but is light and rigid. That's enough real estate to cover the pedal and provide space for attaching the aluminum pedal cover.

 

The angle cut in the picture was to allow my rivet gun to get closer. I drilled through the stock pad and fastened with 1.5" 8-32 bolts with nuts from Lowes. The rest of the screws just attach the pedal cover to the aluminum. I also pulled some of the "carbon fiber" stickers from the pedal covers and replaced them with safety tread (stick on sandpaper)

 

http://i43.tinypic.com/2wf4vg4.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/w17kuv.jpg

 

The 3/4" increase in height allows me to extend the pedal (with the pivot) by a whopping 3" and still clear the floor mats with a 3/8 gap. The pedals are cheapo Walmart. Total material cost was less than $27.

 

For whatever reason, people on LGT seem to heel-toe with the side step method. This mod allows me to consistently heel-toe with the ball of my foot securely on the brake and blip the gas with my heel, the way I was taught.

 

Hope that helps promote more heel-toeing!

[SBT]

Welcome to the site and glad you could join us.

 

Thank you for making your first LGT.com post a "technical walk-through" one.

[b106b]

Hahaha, thanks! I've been a bit of a lurker for a while.

 

I searched the forum for a pedal mod that enabled heel-toe, but didn't find one. After I finished, I thought I'd illustrate that the side step "heel-toe" (which I'm not a fan of) was not the only option. And now I can securely heel-toe into a four wheel drift, engine growling, and come out the other side grinning like an idiot. Best $27 I ever spent!

[FPerron]

Looks like you did a nice job of engineering this. My only reservation is that it looks like there is the potential for clipping the gas pedal while going for the brake in an emergency - like missing a braking point at the end of a long straight:eek: Also, I've never had a problem executing the classical heel and toe with the STI pedals that are available as an option (toe firmly on the brake, slight ankle twist to bring the heel over the accelerator). Of course, there are many ways to do a heel and toe. When the gas and brake pedals are close together and at the same height, some people simply rock (supinate) the foot and depress the gas with the outside of the foot. I had a car once where it was necessary to place the heel on the brake and tap the gas with the toe - not ideal, but it worked.

 

Anyway, just be careful about hitting the gas by mistake as I mentioned above.

[SBT]

I forget which car mag mentioned it when the 4th Gen was introduced, but they liked the placing of the pedals and thought that heeling-and-toeing was pretty easy.

 

With my big clods and the STI pedal option, I'm good to go, but might do this for the 98 where the pedals aren't as well placed.

[iNVAR]

I heel toe using the stock pedals. Maybe it helps that I have small feet. Only a size 7 shoe. OP, that looks nice though.

[13fido13]

Maybe I'm just useless but I can't heel toe properly. It could be the size 13 shoes... Or the fact that I'm used to driving transports... Just doesn't work in my legacy. I'll leave the fun to the professionals.

[Jazz95]

I learned how to heel and toe on my old RS. It took me a while to figure out the revs on the LGT because the RS had a lightened flywheel, but I never considered changing the pedals. I have a 11.5 size foot, but I wear indoor soccer shoes to drive fast with...gives me much better pedal feel.

[aac0036]

Creative, but it looks pretty bootleg.

 

Not my cup of tea

[stm25rs]

I learned how to heel and toe on my old RS. It took me a while to figure out the revs on the LGT because the RS had a lightened flywheel, but I never considered changing the pedals. I have a 11.5 size foot, but I wear indoor soccer shoes to drive fast with...gives me much better pedal feel.

 

I made a couple attempts at heel and toe in my old RS, but quickly realized that I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and didn't want to damage anything.

 

I'll make another attempt at learning in the Miata when the weather warms up...I'll be sure to watch some more youtube videos and pray to the ghost of Senna to guide my feet.

[aac0036]

I made a couple attempts at heel and toe but quickly realized that I had no idea what the hell I was doing

Same

 

Rev-match downshifting is my substitute, but every once in a while I come across the perfect opportunity when heel-toeing would be ideal...

[iNVAR]

You can't really hurt your car by doing it, except if you screw up while braking and crash. Your clutch is out when you rev anyway.

 

Anyway, I forced myself to learn the technique. Took about a week to get comfortable with it. Just keep doing it everytime you brake and you'll master it eventually.

 

Then try doing a heel-toe double-clutch downshift to challenge yourself a bit.

[FJuan]

Not the most prettiest set-up, but looks very effective. Nice job!

 

I'm use to the side step method, I'm 6'2" and it's hard for me to twist my foot while my knees are bent. Been doing this ever since the mid 90's during my autocross years, and just gotten use to it.

[FPerron]

Don't confuse heel-and-toe with double clutching. Heel-and-toe just means that you hold the brake while blipping the throttle during a downshift. Double clutching is when you move the gearshift into neutral before blipping the throttle during a downshift. Hell-and-toe can be done either with or without double clutching. The reason for heel-and-toe is to be able to keep your foot on the brake while downshifting. The reason for double clutching is to avoid grinding gears with a transmission that lacks syncros. It's called "double clutching" because the clutch is depressed once as you pull the gearshift into neutral, and again as you put the gearshift into the next lower gear. You blip the throttle while in neutral. With today's transmissions, you really don't need to double clutch - you can simply blip the throttle while the clutch is depressed. These days, truck drivers sometimes double clutch, but race car drivers don't.

[SBT]

I double clutch when the transmission is overnight cold, until the fluid warms enough to fully coat everything. Easier on the synchros, and it's good to practice DCing for the time when you get into an old rig that has no sychros. I heel-toe often otherwise, again, to keep my feet, and muscle memory, in the game.

[FJuan]

http://assets.grfxpstore.com/attached_files/2008243679/granny_shifting_not_double_clutching_like_you_should_fast_and_the_furious_vinyl_sticker_decal_grafixpressions_grfxp_prv.gif

[BoozeRS05]

How is side-stepping the gas and brake so much different/worse?

 

Clutch in, blip the gas, brake & downshift, clutch out, and I'm in the sweet spot of the powerband, without losing speed, and I'm ready to accelerate through the turn.

[FPerron]

How is side-stepping the gas and brake so much different/worse?

 

Clutch in, blip the gas, brake, downshift, clutch out, and I'm in the sweet spot of the powerband, without losing speed, and I'm ready to accelerate through the turn.

 

Not completely sure I understand what you're saying, but the point is to keep your foot on the brake while you are downshifting. Since there are 3 pedals and you have only 2 feet, the foot on the brake has to do double-duty by also blipping the gas. This is not rocket surgery:)

[BoozeRS05]

I'm not trying to make this more difficult then it needs to be and I can see how for a split second your off the brake without power to the wheels, but how applicable is this to 99% of drivers on the street?

[FPerron]

You are correct that it doesn't matter for the street. The main reason for using heel and toe on the street is to make it second nature for when you are on the track.

[BoozeRS05]

So Heel-Toe, bc RACECAR!

[boxkita]

Clutch in, blip the gas, brake & downshift, clutch out, and I'm in the sweet spot of the powerband, without losing speed, and I'm ready to accelerate through the turn.

 

This is what I do, and find it very fast. OTOH, I'm on my 2nd tranny after rebuilding the first one twice.

 

I use a thick soled driving boot for the wagon which allows for freedom of movement in my ankle. I have to turn my foot at a good angle to get the heel/toe to work right. Eventually, I discovered I could put the ball of my foot on the brake and roll my ankle onto the lower edge of the gas pedal to get the blip.

 

When I moved to the Miata, I had to get a thin soled driving shoe as I had no feel for the pedals. Also, I had to unlearn all the bad habits I'd developed in the wagon.

 

The OP has an interesting idea. Happy it works for him.

[aac0036]

The concept and actions are pretty simple to grasp, however my lower extremities have zero coordination, I can't multitask, and I haz biggish feets.

[iNVAR]

Don't confuse heel-and-toe with double clutching. Heel-and-toe just means that you hold the brake while blipping the throttle during a downshift. Double clutching is when you move the gearshift into neutral before blipping the throttle during a downshift. Hell-and-toe can be done either with or without double clutching. The reason for heel-and-toe is to be able to keep your foot on the brake while downshifting. The reason for double clutching is to avoid grinding gears with a transmission that lacks syncros. It's called "double clutching" because the clutch is depressed once as you pull the gearshift into neutral, and again as you put the gearshift into the next lower gear. You blip the throttle while in neutral. With today's transmissions, you really don't need to double clutch - you can simply blip the throttle while the clutch is depressed. These days, truck drivers sometimes double clutch, but race car drivers don't.

 

I'm assuming you were responding to my post since I'm the only one that mentioned double clutching? Yes, I know the difference.

 

You don't need to double clutch on modern cars because we have syncros. But when I do a 2 gear drop say from 4 to 2 or 5 to 3, I make it a habit of double clutching because it saves the wear on your syncros, especially for a big jump like that.

 

It can only help the life of the car to double clutch. And as SBT said, when the tranny is very, very cold after sitting out overnight, it makes the shift easier.

 

My everyday driving is a mish mash of single and double clutching, heel toeing or not, etc. and it comes instinctively to me depending on the conditions. I don't even think about it.

[boxkita]

The concept and actions are pretty simple to grasp, however my lower extremities have zero coordination, I can't multitask, and I haz biggish feets.

 

Sounds like a 5EAT upgrade is in your future.