Heel - Toe Down Shifting 2019 GT

[The_Don_72]

I've been watching videos on heel-toe downshifting so have the theory off pat now. Went for a drive today and realised that the brake pedal is a LOT higher than the accelerator! Not just a bit, but a lot. When I try downshifting, I find that I can't reach the accelerator without basically having the brake already fully depressed.

How do you guys do it on stock GT? Do you / can you change out the pedals?

Cheers

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[Mazman]

are you doing it with the side of your foot or actually the heel? With the heel it should be more doable, some cars are more difficult to do heel-toe with.
On my MX-5 the pedals are perfectly positioned to do it with the side of the foot. I know there are additons to the accelerator pad for e.g. the MX-5 not sure why some feel there is a need for them in that car, maybe there is something for the GT as well.

By the way on your 19 don't you have rev-matching the car would take care of that for you. Or you just want to get the hang of it?

I've been watching videos on heel-toe downshifting so have the theory off pat now. Went for a drive today and realised that the brake pedal is a LOT higher than the accelerator! Not just a bit, but a lot. When I try downshifting, I find that I can't reach the accelerator without basically having the brake already fully depressed.


How do you guys do it on stock GT? Do you / can you change out the pedals?

Cheers

 

[The_Don_72]

are you doing it with the side of your foot or actually the heel? With the heel it should be more doable, some cars are more difficult to do heel-toe with.
On my MX-5 the pedals are perfectly positioned to do it with the side of the foot. I know there are additons to the accelerator pad for e.g. the MX-5 not sure why some feel there is a need for them in that car, maybe there is something for the GT as well.

By the way on your 19 don't you have rev-matching the car would take care of that for you. Or you just want to get the hang of it?

Yes, it has the auto rev matching feature which I have on now, but I want to do it all myself Whenever the car slows down going uphill I always blip the throttle because I don't need to brake as well. I did find another thread which mentions getting spacers 1" od 1/4" ID 1/2" thick, which seems to be the trick. Will see what I can find in my local hardware shops.

 

[Mustang_Lou]

I generally find the pedals are positioned for easier heel-toe when at the track when you're clamping down on the brakes hard approaching a turn in the track. For the street when you need just light brake pedal pressure, yeah not as easy.

 

[2018OFPP1?2]

Yes, it has the auto rev matching feature which I have on now, but I want to do it all myself Whenever the car slows down going uphill I always blip the throttle because I don't need to brake as well. I did find another thread which mentions getting spacers 1" od 1/4" ID 1/2" thick, which seems to be the trick. Will see what I can find in my local hardware shops.

The spacers will help quite a bit. Unbolting the pedal assembly is a bit awkward, but not too bad. IIRC, somewhere around .75 inches is the max you can go (studs aren't long enough for more).

 

[TheSnowmanMafia]

Does the 2018 have rev matching functionality? Or was that just 2019+.

If it does, turn that on. It heel toes for you lol.

Thought I'd hate it but god its so nice.

 

[Elp_jc]

Yeah, 'heel-and-toe' is supposed to be a track 'tool', where you have the brake pedal close to the accelerator. If you raise any of the pedals, you'd completely alter how to drive the car; no way I'd even consider that. And when at the track, you wouldn't be able to do it where it matters the most. If you want to do it with light braking, just buy aluminum pedals with a heel-toe extension on the gas pedal (somebody else mentioned that already); it's much easier that way. Finally, in order to get the hang of it, stick to one drive mode, since each one (annoyingly) has a different throttle map. The more aggressive the map, the less you have to depress the gas pedal for the same blip, so it helps to get the most aggressive mapping you feel comfortable with. And as you said, keep practicing when no braking is needed, to get them just right. Then you can start with the brakes. Finally, you can always turn on rev-matching, and just do it a hair earlier than the computer. And if you can't, for some reason, then the 'nanny' would do it for you. Ha ha.

EDIT: Forgot to say, it's unfortunate you can't select MagneRide mode independently. I MUCH prefer sport mode, but it turns MR into 'hard', and it's annoying where I live. So have to use 'normal' mode, where the throttle is quite lazy. Need a huge amount of throttle to get the aggressive blip I like, and like the computer gets (fortunately). So I don't even try, and let the computer do it . I only do it myself in the canyons, when I have it in sport. The easiest car for that by far was my ex-Porsche. The clutch is WAAAY more forgiving too, so I was always super smooth. This car demands perfection, which is fine with me, because it pushes me to be better and more consistent, but it takes full concentration. I haven't stalled it yet, but close a few times that I wasn't paying attention. The take-up is really nice, but super short, so you have to be very precise with the left foot. I like those challenges. Ha ha. It's part of the fun to drive a manual. Enjoying the heck out of it .

 

[The_Don_72]

Does the 2018 have rev matching functionality? Or was that just 2019+.

If it does, turn that on. It heel toes for you lol.

Thought I'd hate it but god its so nice.

2019+ is when they introduced it. It is nice, and I do have it on all the time, but I really want to learn to do it myself. Hell, I specifically bought the MT6 so I can do the work myself

 

[The_Don_72]

, just buy aluminum pedals with a heel-toe extension on the gas pedal (somebody else mentioned that already); it's much easier that way.

I looked into that, but they all seem to require drilling into the factory pedals which I don't want to do. Since I don't (and won't) be tracking my car, the spacer option seems to be the way to go for the street. Everyone who has done it has raved over it for street / canyon usage.

 

[ice445]

You gotta actually pivot your foot. Flat bottom shoes like converse all stars or the like help tremendously

 

[The_Don_72]

You gotta actually pivot your foot. Flat bottom shoes like converse all stars or the like help tremendously

Indeed. The problem is the PP1 Brembo's bite so easily that you have to basically have them fully depressed before you can reach the accelerator. Good for track use I guess, but not so much for street use.

 

[Elp_jc]

That was a great point; these brakes are by far the 'touchiest' I've had. And I've owned several 6/4-piston brakes before. Haven't tried 'heel and toeing' on this car yet, but with the brakes so sensitive, and in normal mode (so the suspension doesn't beat you up), which requires quite a bit of accelerator travel, it's going to be almost impossible to do it right, and be smooth. Will give it a try next time I use the car, and see how I do. I've done many different track schools, and different track levels, and I'm pretty good at heel-and-toeing at the track, but can't do it smoothly AND consistently with light brakes. No way at 58 I could get used to raising just one pedal now, but young guys probably can. Must feel super weird. Ha ha. But no sense in even trying to heel-and-toe until you can do perfect throttle-blip downshifts without touching the brakes. So those who want to try it, make sure you master throttle-blips first. It's like trying to run before walking. Once you have that mastered, then you can start with the heel-and-toe. Otherwise you'd get frustrated. Even for us who have done it for a long time will be quite a challenge on this car .

 

[Johnnydarkgt350]

I've been watching videos on heel-toe downshifting so have the theory off pat now. Went for a drive today and realised that the brake pedal is a LOT higher than the accelerator! Not just a bit, but a lot. When I try downshifting, I find that I can't reach the accelerator without basically having the brake already fully depressed.

How do you guys do it on stock GT? Do you / can you change out the pedals?

Cheers

I have the solution on my GT350R; When you are at the track pedal your brake pedal will naturally go lower with heated breaks and the height of the pedals Will be close enough for heel and toe, but the gas pedal is sooo far to the right ; Steeda has a drill on wide pedal for 33$; but on the street with cooler brakes, the brake pedal is too high for the gas pedal so I add a hard foam rubber pad put on with the right stuff and it is removable when you go to the track by pulling it off.

 

[mavisky]

With a 10mm socket you can adjust the height with some cheap plastic spacers from Home Depot. I've also paired that with a set of SRP racing pedals and their heel plate. Works great in my car.

 

[The_Don_72]

With a 10mm socket you can adjust the height with some cheap plastic spacers from Home Depot. I've also paired that with a set of SRP racing pedals and their heel plate. Works great in my car.

This is what I'm looking at doing (with the spacers), but struggling to find something which is a good fit.

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