Heel and toe through multiple gears

[MattW]

Well I meant like... getting prepared for a turn and thinking about the apex and all that jazz-a-roony. Wasn't clear.

to first order: circle of forces

Think of the limit of getting through the turn is the traction of the tires. The force (traction), magnitude and direction, has to stay inside a circle: straight ahead is breaking, straight back is breaking, and to the sides is turning. You brake approaching a turn. Then as you start turning, you need to back off the brake: you are trading braking traction for turning traction. In the tightest part of the turn you should have the smallest amount of braking or acceleration (often none). Then on exit from the turn, you can trade turn-traction for acceleration-traction: as you straighten the wheel start giving more gas.

There are what I would call second order effect which are balance of the car on the four wheels (e.g., heavy braking puts more load on the front tires), but there are others that can explain better than me.

With respect to apex etc: in general, the larger the turn radius, the higher speed you can go.

Sponsored

 

[jabrax]

Here's step 1. Find the spot you can put your foot on the brake pedal that you can get to the gas pedal. This will typically be with the the right edge of the brake pedal hitting the middle of your foot. I will roll my foot to the right and hit the gas pedal with the side of my shoe. A pedal cover like the one from Steeda might help on the Mustang. Once you have that spot, use it everytime you go for the brakes. Your goal is to commit that to muscle memory. You don't want to be heading down to turn one thinking about where your foot goes on the brake pedal. I don't care if your driving on track, driving to work or picking your mother in law up from her mani-pedi, put your foot on the brake pedal in that same spot. Don't worry about any other aspect of the heel/toe motion for now. Just work on the muscle memory of getting your foot on the brake pedal in the right place.

Thanks Jim, I'm on it.

Also, off to see what the Chin Motorsports is all about :cheers:

 

[GJarrett]

Sub'd waiting for step 2 and 3

 

[JamesinLittleSilver]

Awesome because it is something to work on daily not at the track.

 

[tom_sprecher]

3rd gear is sufficient for most turns even down to 30 mph. Not sure your track, but there's a track I run that has a long straight I'm in 5th on then slow down into a series of short turns that are 30mph max. I would downshift from 5th to 4th then 3rd as you're braking and be in third before the start of the turn.

^^^ This and learn the traction circle.

 

[BlkGT3]

3rd gear is sufficient for most turns even down to 30 mph. Not sure your track, but there's a track I run that has a long straight I'm in 5th on then slow down into a series of short turns that are 30mph max. I would downshift from 5th to 4th then 3rd as you're braking and be in third before the start of the turn.

In my GT3 at Sebring in the hairpin, 40mph Apex speed if I got it perfect, it was worth it to go to 2nd gear, 80mph max, as I could stand on the throttle and slingshot out of the turn. Gotta love all that weight on the rear. Haven't had the GT350 to Sebring yet but I would bet I will wind up in 3rd gear as I won't be able to put the power down in 2nd on exit.

Peter

 

[Lowrider]

Can't go wrong with visuals...And endless practice.

[ame]

[ame]

 

[F0J]

Can't go wrong with visuals...And endless practice.

To be clear, in the first video, left-foot braking is not the same as heel-and-toe downshifting.

I've played around with the idea of a 5-2 and you'd have to be going pretty slow for a downshift to 2nd to be worth it.

 

[Gatorac]

I like the 2nd video.

Here's step 2. The first thing you find when you go to blip the throttle is you screw up the pressure you are putting on the brake pedal. We've all done the blip and found ourselves forced forward in the seat as we stab the brake pedal. Our passenger is not impressed and looks our direction like we have a mental defect. We need to practice moving or rolling our foot without changing the pressure on the brake pedal. Please be sure you have completed step 1 before moving forward. I will roll my foot to the right to the beat of the music on the stereo. All the time being very conscious of keeping consistent brake pedal pressure. It will be pretty obvious if your not keeping consistent brake pedal pressure. We are not trying to blip the throttle yet. This is something you can practice almost anywhere all the time. Again the goal is commit this to muscle memory. Having the ability to roll our foot towards the gas pedal without changing brake pedal pressure will go a long way in making the final step and implementing heel/toe into our track routine.

Have fun.

 

[jabrax]

^^^^^ Yes Yes Yes^^^
Where I have the most trouble - blipping coming out of a high speed straight that requires hard braking is very easy. Its the soft braking and feeling like i cant reach the pedal without pushing harder is where I struggle.... I'm off to practice, practice and more practice

Thanks for the drills

Sponsored