Foot positions heel and toe

[ChiBimmer]

How do you position your foot for heel and toe?

Do you heel and toe or use the ball of your foot on both the gas and brake or something else?

[135TX]

I use the ball of my toe on brake, blip with right side of foot.

[drewnel22]

Originally Posted by 135TX

I use the ball of my toe on brake, blip with right side of foot.

+1. I find it easier to place my heel at the very bottom of the gas pedal and use the technique above.

[rrinker]

+2, that's how I've always done it. I do have fairly large feet, but unlike some cars, BMW usually has the pedal positions right so it's not too hard to learn to do. Some less drive oriented cars, unless you have size 16 basketball player feet, it ain't happening.

[135TX]

Originally Posted by rrinker

+2, that's how I've always done it. I do have fairly large feet, but unlike some cars, BMW usually has the pedal positions right so it's not too hard to learn to do. Some less drive oriented cars, unless you have size 16 basketball player feet, it ain't happening.

My previous car was a heavily modified 6speed Acura TSX which I tracked. Wanna talk about a bitch to heel toe, the pedal depth was off, and laterally I'd have to rotate my ankle and knee to get it even close.

[amsnow440]

Just like this

[135TX]

Exactly!! Lol so much more work than the one. Especially due to the short gear ratios in the Acura. Down shifting 2 gears trail braking turns. Then add in the fat leather seats and stock belts and it was work with my ass sliding all over.

[Horigan]

I do it differently. I brake only with the ball of my foot and roll my foot over to blip throttle. The key is changing your normal braking mode to always brake with the ball of your foot so you can blip the throttle any time. Trying different foot placements depending on whether I planned to heel toe or not didn't work for me.

Rich

[ShocknAwe]

I have some super wide hobbit feet, so I just use the left side of my foot for the brake, and the right side, part of my heel for the throttle.

[FactorX81]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I have some super wide hobbit feet, so I just use the left side of my foot for the brake, and the right side, part of my heel for the throttle.

+1 I place my foot so it is half on the brake half on the gas then just rock it a little toward the right for the blip.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by 135TX

I use the ball of my toe on brake, blip with right side of foot.

This.

[Wakka]

Originally Posted by 135TX

I use the ball of my toe on brake, blip with right side of foot.

Exactly.

[JimD]

I use left side of foot for brake and right for blipping too. But I think it's probably better to use the heel. Side to side works fine for normal driving. But on a track, you are on the brake harder and it will be lower making it harder to use the other side of the same foot on the gas. Track is where you really need to blip the throttle because of your rpm. Maybe I'll try using my heel.

The close placement of the pedals is what the Audi had that was rumored to have lots of unintended acceleration issues. The close placement in a bimmer is the most likely explanation of some observations of unintended acceleration in them too.

[The Wind Breezes]

The reason it's called heel-toe is because when you're braking as hard as possible, the brake will be down far enough below the gas that you HAVE to use the length of your foot to bridge the gap--thus your toes will be on the brake and the heel hits the gas.

When driving and braking normally, you don't push the pedal down that far, and it's actually a huge pain to literally heel-toe unless you're very flexible. That's why everyone, me included, just rolls their foot when downshifting under normal braking.

[tuj]

I have size 11 kicks.

Last weekend I was doing heel-toe in pretty much every corner on the track. Here's how I do it: I put my toe on the brake to keep the most feel in the pedal. Then I pivot my heel to the right, swinging it like a pendulum towards the throttle. I use the OUTSIDE EDGE of my right foot to blip the throttle. My heel never touches the throttle. The heel stays in the air and the outside of the shoe does all the work touching the throttle. When my blip is done, my heel swings back down straight below the brake.

This technique will work very well in cramped pedalboxes, like the Miata's I used to drive.

The best way to practice this is to sit in a parking lot, put it in neutral and try to blip to specific rev points. If you can blip the throttle in a controlled manner while you are pushing hard and MODULATING the brake, you've got it! The second form of practice is on a long off-ramp from the highway. You get multiple shifts down and you don't need to be braking hard.

There is a misnomer that you have to brake hard to do heel-toe. Not true.

[ONDEMAND]

Originally Posted by tuj

I have size 11 kicks.

Last weekend I was doing heel-toe in pretty much every corner on the track. Here's how I do it: I put my toe on the brake to keep the most feel in the pedal. Then I pivot my heel to the right, swinging it like a pendulum towards the throttle. I use the OUTSIDE EDGE of my right foot to blip the throttle. My heel never touches the throttle. The heel stays in the air and the outside of the shoe does all the work touching the throttle. When my blip is done, my heel swings back down straight below the brake.

This technique will work very well in cramped pedalboxes, like the Miata's I used to drive.

The best way to practice this is to sit in a parking lot, put it in neutral and try to blip to specific rev points. If you can blip the throttle in a controlled manner while you are pushing hard and MODULATING the brake, you've got it! The second form of practice is on a long off-ramp from the highway. You get multiple shifts down and you don't need to be braking hard.

There is a misnomer that you have to brake hard to do heel-toe. Not true.

+1

I do the same with size 12. Once you get the process down standing still, then in motion in a straight line its time to do it approaching a corner. This is where the smile comes!

I have a right hander on the way to work each morning that is at the bottom of a hill and opens into a 2 lane (each direction) hwy with zero traffic early in the morning. There is nothing like heel toeing down through 2 gears and then nailing it on the exit of your turn!

[MightyMouseTech]

Just do it all the time, street, track, whatever. After a while, you don't even have to think about it, takes as much thought as just stepping on the brake.

I am actually not sure exactly what part of my foot I use anymore. Will have to pay attention to it next time.

Although, I do find the computer kills the throttle response in our cars while the clutch is in, really have to step on the gas to rev it up. Is this why people install a clutch stop, so you are no longer hitting the switch at the end of clutch travel?

[Mach1er]

If you don't hit the switch at the bottom of the clutch travel, your car won't start. The switch is there for a reason. We put the clutch stop in to take the dead space out of the bottom of the travel.

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Just do it all the time, street, track, whatever. After a while, you don't even have to think about it, takes as much thought as just stepping on the brake.

I am actually not sure exactly what part of my foot I use anymore. Will have to pay attention to it next time.

Although, I do find the computer kills the throttle response in our cars while the clutch is in, really have to step on the gas to rev it up. Is this why people install a clutch stop, so you are no longer hitting the switch at the end of clutch travel?

[MightyMouseTech]

Ya, that is what I figured unfortunately.