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Jeremy Billiel
03-30-2007, 09:21 PM
I attended Skip Barber Racing School, where it was ingrained in your head to always Heel, Toe Downshift. It wasn't an option as those cars had no syncros. As a result, I have always done this in my GSR as well.

I have been talking with many and seen a lot of race footage (Including Ruck and Amy at the ARRC) and I am amazed that most do not Heel Toe downshift in production based cars. I certainly realize that you don't *have* to, but going back to simple terms; you slowing down more than you may need to, No?

I do admit, that as my brake pedal goes down over the length of the race I loose the gas sometimes and my downshift gets a little sloppy.

Thoughts?

zracre
03-30-2007, 09:33 PM
Practice in a street car. The light applications needed at regular road speed makes your foot more sensitive to brake pedal pressure and gives you more control. When you are at race speeds the heavier pedal pressure the easier it is to match revs.

Jeremy Billiel
03-30-2007, 09:36 PM
Practice in a street car. The light applications needed at regular road speed makes your foot more sensitive to brake pedal pressure and gives you more control. When you are at race speeds the heavier pedal pressure the easier it is to match revs.
[/b]

Understood Evan, but if its so important why are many successful drivers not doing it?

Andy Bettencourt
03-30-2007, 10:15 PM
The same reason I don't left-foot brake. I am not comfortable doing it and have had success without it. Now H&T I definately do.

lateapex911
03-30-2007, 10:43 PM
If by H&T you mean holding the brakes while blipping the throttle during a downshift, I do, for sure, esp when skipping a gear. (rarely, but I do that as well)

But, I never double clutch on the track. In my old 911 I do on the street when tooling around, but never in the race car. I either don't have the skill to do it fast enough, or I just don't think the cost is worth the benefit.

Bildon
03-30-2007, 11:15 PM
>> why are many successful drivers not doing it?

Because in IT even those of us who are winning are not getting 100% out of the car or ourselves at all times.
Be honest now! B)

Oh and Evan ... congrats on landing the seat with us for Miami! Best of luck to you and Andrew.
See you down there in a few weeks. :023:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3ULS7pnxyg

JLawton
03-31-2007, 05:37 AM
Where's the waffle iron........

Jeremy, you need to stop trying to get advice from 10,000 different people!! Especially since you are very liberal with despensing it!!! Even when not asked!!! Holy crap!!! :rolleyes:

I found that H&T is much more important in a rear wheel drive. I think most times you can get away with it in a FWD........ However, when I'm screaming through the first part of Big Bend, hard on the brakes AND turning the wheel, you're damn right I want the downshift to be smooth. It has become second nature for me so that's the only way I do it. Left foot braking is a whole 'nother story........

Practice grasshopper.............

924Guy
03-31-2007, 06:24 AM
I left-foot brake AND H+T... but then, I do run a RWD car. Sorry, no video yet... ;)

gran racing
03-31-2007, 07:01 AM
I always H&T on my street car and it's become second nature. LOL

I used to in the race car, have the pedals set-up so that I can, but I no longer H&T in my current car (FWD, Prelude).

Jeremy Billiel
03-31-2007, 07:31 AM
>> why are many successful drivers not doing it?

Because in IT even those of us who are winning are not getting 100% out of the car or ourselves at all times.
Be honest now! B)

[/b]

This is precisely my point. I technically double clutch now, because I had to with the skippy cars, but I can tell a difference on how smooth the car is. I go brake ->clutch->neutral->clutch->blip->gear->clutch.

So I in a production car I am pretty sure I am doing much more than neccessary and I believe I am loosing time screwing around and thinking about this sometimes. Can't I just go to brake->clutch->blip->gear->clutch?

Oh an yes Jeff I ask questions, but I still know I have much to learn so I ask. I am not afraid to say I am a rookie still.

Jeremy - Who is waiting to find a yellow stripe on the back of my GSR one day. There you go, I just gave you guys a good prank to pull on me!

JimLill
03-31-2007, 08:07 AM
I took the Skippy course too... but thankfully had H/T down long before that. Shouldn't the question have 2 choices....

1) H/T blip for a good rev-match
2) H/T with full double clutch & rev match

I probably only need #1 but instinctly do 2, a habit I should break.

Shimming the BP to get it level with the AP under threshold braking makes it easier BTW.

dj10
03-31-2007, 08:30 AM
H & T means to me, keeping the car balanced & being smooth. The more abrupt you are with the car the more likley you might spin when driving near the edge, the more abrupt you are on the drive train & suspension the more repairs you have. Since I'm part Welsh & Scotch I absoutely hate to spend money when I break things :D , whether it's my own car or even if I'm driving someone else's. The smoother you are the faster you will be.

BMW RACER
03-31-2007, 08:32 AM
I'm old school.

H&T and double clutch on street car and racecar ALL the time, helps smooth out the down shifts, AND easier on the gearbox, PLUS sounds good ;)

That's on of the reasons I make sure my street car is a stick.

Practice, practice, practice.

tom_sprecher
03-31-2007, 08:35 AM
Being new to the driving aspect of racing this has been a very interesting post. However I am now a little confused, so hopefully you can steer me straight or shift my understanding into high gear (what a couple of hokey puns).

My past experience is that you need to blip the throttle to speed match on trannys with synchros and not so much with dog ring type boxes. Dog rings can typically be shifted very quickly (the faster the better) and w/o the clutch. This leads to left foot braking most of the time. When up shifting you only need to let off slightly to "unlock" the dogs. Like on a MX bike.

More time needs to be taken with synchos (if they are to survive) to allow them to do the speed matching. Blipping kind of helps them along and keeps up the revs as you take more time to shift especially on multiple downshifts.

I have located my brake pedal closer to facilitate the whole "heel-toe" shifting experience. Also, isn't it more of a rolling of the foot and ankle to blip it anyway?

Also, how do you left foot brake and use the clutch to downshift? No cracks about being more endowed than the next guy either! :o

dj10
03-31-2007, 09:09 AM
Being new to the driving aspect of racing this has been a very interesting post. However I am now a little confused, so hopefully you can steer me straight or shift my understanding into high gear (what a couple of hokey puns).

Also, isn't it more of a rolling of the foot and ankle to blip it anyway?

Also, how do you left foot brake and use the clutch to downshift? No cracks about being more endowed than the next guy either! :o [/b]



Also, isn't it more of a rolling of the foot and ankle to blip it anyway? YES



Also, how do you left foot brake and use the clutch to downshift? I do not downshift when left foot braking, I'm already in a slected gear if I do decide to left foot brake.


DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS STUFF IN A RACE UNLESS YOU CAN DO IT AS EASY AS YOU BREATH

JimLill
03-31-2007, 09:12 AM
I have located my brake pedal closer to facilitate the whole "heel-toe" shifting experience. Also, isn't it more of a rolling of the foot and ankle to blip it anyway?[/b]

Skippy will tell you that rolling your ankle will cause uneven braking. They suggest keeping your right knee to the left as you start to brake, then move your knee to the right to cause the blip.

bldn10
03-31-2007, 09:55 AM
Sounds to me like Jeremy's question is based on the false premise that H&T and double clutching always go together. The latter has to have the former but not vice versa. While it is indeed easier on the tranny, he does not need to be double clutching his Integra.

I always H&T but not in the traditional configuration. I am too slew-footed to rotate my heel counterclockwise to get to the gas so I have my heel on the brake and rotate my toes in a more comfortable way to the gas. The heel is less sensitive than the toes and it is off the floor but IMO hard braking demands less sensitivity than rev-matching w/ the gas. As others have suggested, I sensitize my heel in my street car. It is my understanding that the genesis of the blip is w/ non-syncho boxes that require rev-matching: you raise/blip the revs above the necessary point, put slight pressure on the gearshift, and when the revs fall to the proper point, it slides into the lower gear. We don't need to do that; all we need to do is have the revs high enough so that you don't either create way too much engine braking and lock the drive wheels up or tear up your tranny. You can do that by blipping but also by applying and holding a sufficient amount of throttle. I try to do the latter because I think it is smoother but usually backslide to blipping. I have heard some in-car audio and been impressed w/ how the engine revs rose and fell but you never were aware of where the shifts were. To me, that's the epitome. :026:

lateapex911
03-31-2007, 10:45 AM
Good explanations. The type of transmission, is the key, as mentioned. And, to some degree, the ruggedness of it is too. Also, some other factors come into play, like the flywheel and it's effect, and throttle response. So with a heavy flywheel, and a sluggish throttle response, you really have to give it a helthy blip, and relatively early. Other cars it can be the opposite, a little blip, and rather late. It is definately something to practice, and not in the middle of a race! (It's one more reason to drive the same car on the street as the one you race)

pfcs49
03-31-2007, 10:49 AM
I've always wondered, how can you shift with your foot in your mouth? phil

dj10
03-31-2007, 12:19 PM
It is definately something to practice, and not in the middle of a race! (It's one more reason to drive the same car on the street as the one you race) [/b]



Oh HELL!!!!! :026: I was wondering where my 6th gear was in my E36, damn, it's not the same as my E46 M3! Damn you Jake, now I'm all confused. :D

924Guy
03-31-2007, 03:59 PM
You think you have problems... I keep waiting for the boost to kick in when I'm on track!!! :026:



Since I'm part Welsh & Scotch I absoutely hate to spend money when I break things :D
[/b]

Amen, Brother! ;)
http://vaughanscott.com/Helmet/front_small1.jpghttp://vaughanscott.com/Helmet/top_small.jpg

dj10
03-31-2007, 04:23 PM
You think you have problems... I keep waiting for the boost to kick in when I'm on track!!! :026:



Amen, Brother! ;)
http://vaughanscott.com/Helmet/front_small1.jpghttp://vaughanscott.com/Helmet/top_small.jpg [/b]



Nice helmet! Who did the work?

924Guy
03-31-2007, 04:42 PM
:D Local artists, Joe and Jenn Rutherford... also fellow gearheads and former ITB Capri racers...

dj10
03-31-2007, 04:50 PM
:D Local artists, Joe and Jenn Rutherford... also fellow gearheads and former ITB Capri racers... [/b]

Please pass along my compliments to them.

Marcus Miller
03-31-2007, 06:07 PM
I H&T anytime I am braking shifting. When not shifting, I LFB.

I can't double clutch. I'd rather watch a monkey F$%^ a football, thna attempt it. I'm simply not that nimble.

For H&T I do use the right knee pointed left, rather than roll. I think having an unruly car, rather than FWD versus correct wheel drive causes it. :birra: :birra: :P

Those of you who have never had a RWD car, especially an unruly one (Pro7/Spec7) have no idea what you are missing. I put a good friend who races an ITB VW in my car for an enduro. I told him specifically, do not shift unless straight, if you can't H&T perfectly.... 4 spins later, he quit shifting while turning. (West Coasters, Turn 2 @ Thunderhill, Turn 3 at Thunderhill, and 10 at Thundehill)

You learn *very* quickly how to LFB, and H&T.

Marcus

Chris Wire
04-01-2007, 02:04 PM
I'll add my preference for both LFB and H&T.

I do the more traditional ball-of-the-foot on the BP edge and a roll to the right to accomodate the blip. It definitely takes practice, which makes driving a MT on the street very helpful. The tag on my old street Mustang 5.0 read "L8 BRAKR" for good reason. H&T was practiced on most occasions.

LFB when no downshift is required, such as entering the Carousel at Sebring. I find it to be smoother and requires less motion/effort to accomplish. I know it helps trail braking in FWD cars but RWD doesn't usually need that technique as much.

rsx858
04-01-2007, 05:03 PM
I also attended skippy like some of you and learned the double clutch. I dont think its necesary to double clutch, but I always Heel Toe on every downshift whether driving my FWD on the street or RWD on the track. I dont know how anyone could not heel toe on the track without spinning the car or unnecessarily wearing the tranny.

handfulz28
04-01-2007, 11:29 PM
Another skippy grad here. A little confused about all the different responses so check me out here to help clarify.
The non-sequential skippy cars preferred "double-clutching" and "rev-matching" during downshifts. Double-clutching is where you depress the clutch pedal twice for each lower gear selection, the first time to get the car out of gear, while in neutral the revs are "matched" for the selected lower gear, then the clutch is depressed again to finally select the lower gear. Since this is typically done during braking, the "heel and toe" language represents the simultaneous application of brake pedal and gas pedal.
I say "preferred" because during my school I regularly failed to use the clutch at all during downshifts. Lifting off the gas unloaded the trans so you could select neutral, then a decent blip getting the revs just a tad higher than the lower gear would let you slip the shifter in. Same with upshifts but of course letting the revs drop. Of course, when I got it wrong, everybody knew it :D
As for "production" cars with synchronized trans, matching engine revs to the lower gear while the clutch is depressed does nothing to save or help the synchros. All that does is disconnect the flywheel from the input shaft; the trans still has to spin the input shaft to the higher revs using the synchros. Matching the engine revs before you release the clutch just smooths the downshift. However, double-clutching will help reduce trans wear since the engine would spin the input shaft when you blip the throttle while in neutral, clutch pedal released. YMMV
I'm a left foot braking, double-clutching, heel and toe'er :P And sometimes I skip a gear on the downshift.
Feel free to critique...my technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIs0-ILjI1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFWAx-huuA
Oh yeah, as for foot placement, I've done it both ways depending on pedal layout. Bottom hinged pedals I use the heel on the brake, toe on the gas. Top hinged is typically more of the "roll" than a true HNT. Unless the pedal goes to the floor :o Then it's usually some contortion to get any part of the foot to blip the throttle.
Thanks,
Michael

DavidM
04-02-2007, 01:37 PM
I'm a left foot braking, double-clutching, heel and toe'er :P And sometimes I skip a gear on the downshift.
[/b]

That was going to be my follow-up question. Do you go through every gear, I.e. 2 downshifts if going from 5-3, or use one downshift and go straight to the gear you want? I've been going through every gear as it's kind of helped me keep my rhythm, but think I'm going to try skipping straight to the gear this year a couple times and see how it goes.

I really struggled with H&T downshifting at the Panoz school and am still fighting with it in the 240. Not because I don't understand the concept, but because my size 13 feet are so big it's very hard for me to find a comfortable position for my foot and not have my knee hit the freaking steering wheel. I've been using a 13" wheel to give my knee more room, but that's been too small a wheel on tracks with tight corners. I'll get it figured out one day.

David

erlrich
04-02-2007, 03:23 PM
David, I always run down through the gears on the 240; if I'm going from 5th gear down to a 3rd, or even 2nd gear corner (such as T1 at Summit) I feel like I've got plenty of time for 2-3 downshifts. These cars take long enough to haul down from 120 that you could almost eat a sandwich between the break point and turn-in :)

And I do also h&t on the downshifts; although I still need a lot of practice I think TTO is a very real issue in our rwd cars (ask me about South Bend at VIR), so I do whatever I can to eliminate it.

And oh, yeah, I use an even smaller (12.5") wheel in my car to get as much knee room as possible. I've never really had a problem with it, even in tight turns, but it does get a little busy in there when the back end starts stepping out.

gran racing
04-02-2007, 04:51 PM
I go directly from 5th gear into to 3rd (it done late in the braking process).

RSTPerformance
04-02-2007, 05:50 PM
I don't brake, thats why dave will always be n my mirror at the end of a race ;)

Actually, Dave; "skipping" gears... do you find that that uses more braking (IE: wears the brakes faster)? I am not sure my car would ever stop if I depended soley on the brakes and not partialy the engine.

Raymond

handfulz28
04-02-2007, 08:31 PM
but because my size 13 feet are so big it's very hard for me to find a comfortable position for my foot and not have my knee hit the freaking steering wheel.
David[/b]

No wonder! Easy solution: have your toes amputated! :P
Do you still have the tilt wheel available? I'm gonna guess you've got long legs so you should be back from the wheel a bit. Between tilting the wheel up a bit and using a spacer I would think you'd have a little room to move the knee? I know that's one of my pet peeves, having your hand(s) hit your knee(s) while working the wheel.
I skip gears infrequently, but Sebring's hairpin is one place that always seems to be a "short" braking zone coming down from 5th gear to 2nd. And maybe it's just me, but I'm not one that likes to zing the motor to redline on each downshift just so I can make a bunch of noise. I would hope a race car's brake system is stronger than the engine providing deceleration. IMHO that's just bad form. For me, having the car in gear during threshold braking is just a way to help minimize brake lockup.

DavidM
04-02-2007, 09:05 PM
No wonder! Easy solution: have your toes amputated! :P
Do you still have the tilt wheel available? I'm gonna guess you've got long legs so you should be back from the wheel a bit. Between tilting the wheel up a bit and using a spacer I would think you'd have a little room to move the knee? I know that's one of my pet peeves, having your hand(s) hit your knee(s) while working the wheel.
I skip gears infrequently, but Sebring's hairpin is one place that always seems to be a "short" braking zone coming down from 5th gear to 2nd. And maybe it's just me, but I'm not one that likes to zing the motor to redline on each downshift just so I can make a bunch of noise. I would hope a race car's brake system is stronger than the engine providing deceleration. IMHO that's just bad form. For me, having the car in gear during threshold braking is just a way to help minimize brake lockup.
[/b]

Yup. I'm 6'5" with long legs. I have the tilt up a couple notches, but anymore and it'd be uncomfortable because of how far the seat is back. I was amazed the seat was back far enough for me since Bob is 5 or 6 inches shorter than me. He must've been straight legged and armed when driving. I'd like the steering wheel closer to me so I think I'm going to try a spacer next and see how that works. It may get the steering wheel out far enough that my knee can go behind it. I found a nice OMP steering wheel that has almost a 3" dish to it as well. It's pretty pricey at $219 though.

I think the thought with doing one downshift even when dropping multiple gears is that it makes it easier to stay at the maximum threshold on the brakes. If you're not having to roll your foot to blip the throttle then you can stay focused on the braking and just do the one downshift at the end of your braking. At least that's the theory Carroll Smith mentions in his books. I like the rhythm of going through all the gears, because then I know "where" I am in relation to car and engine speed. My concern with skipping gears would be getting the timing right. But I guess you never know till you try it.

David

JLawton
04-03-2007, 07:16 AM
That was going to be my follow-up question. Do you go through every gear, I.e. 2 downshifts if going from 5-3, or use one downshift and go straight to the gear you want? I've been going through every gear as it's kind of helped me keep my rhythm, but think I'm going to try skipping straight to the gear this year a couple times and see how it goes.

I[/b]


When going 5th to 3rd I go 5,4,3 due to a fear of going 5th to 1st. Easy to do with all the other "little" distractions going on. But I go straight from 4th to 2nd. No fear of hitting the wrong gear there....

gran racing
04-03-2007, 08:27 AM
Ray, using Carbotech' brakes (I say this because my experience was much different than when I used Porterfield) my brakes last quite a while. Do keep in mind that I primarily race at Lime Rock which is very light on brakes. This is basically how things were explained to me. What is the purpose of various actions, benefits / cons, and is it necessary with the car being raced? With my FWD Prelude, I have not found H&T to provide a benefit. Funny enough, I was a little hesitant to stop doing H&T partially because I had worked so hard when driving day-to-day pefecting it and now I'm not going to even apply this on the track? :( Since I became convinced it wasn't necessary, why continue doing it when it is just one addition input to the car? I also don't use my engine to slow the car down, I use my brakes. :P Even if this means you'd go though brake pads faster, it sure is cheaper than paying for a replacement engine and easier to replace. Shift from 5th > 4th > 3rd - why? Again, for my car it doesn't make sense. It just isn't necessary and involves additional steps, more input, and for my car/driving style I have not been convinced there are any benefits.


When going 5th to 3rd I go 5,4,3 due to a fear of going 5th to 1st. Easy to do with all the other "little" distractions going on.[/b]

Jeff, you're reasoning here is because you don't trust yourself to shift properly. Maybe slow your shift down by 1/8 of a second and you won't have this problem. Can't sacrifice the time? If you eliminate one shift you can.

Although I do NOT use this reasoning to make my decision, this does have some merrit: doing H&T adds to the chance of messing up (while I don't see a benefit). 20 laps of Ray filling my rear view mirrors while I'm pushing my car to its limits. It only would take one slight ooops doing H&T that would enable him to go by. Sure I've perfected H&T by doing it for years and it has become second nature. Have you ever been walking and stumble? Who put that bump in my walking path! LOL

Everyone will have their opinions, and of couse we're all right. ;) I also can't say that sometime in the future with my car I won't be convinced that there are times when H&T should be used.

benspeed
04-03-2007, 10:51 AM
In my sports cars I always heel and toe - comes totally natural to match the gears. Getting the right peddle setup is what makes it easy - the timing comes when the feet are comfortable. I blip the throttle hard to really make sure my car is super smooth under braking without getting the rear loose from letting out the clutch with the RPMs down. Listen to the front running folks at LRP going into Big Bend or at NHIS into turn 3 hairpin - seems like everybody does the H&T. I think it's a big key to making sure you don't unsettle the car under maximum braking - also helps if you want to trail brake without sliding the car. I spent mucho hours setting up te peddles in my new ITA Fiero.

When I started running the stock car I wasn't sure what to do. The throttle peddle is not a peddle but a plastic roller - no way to heal and toe it. Thought about switching up the peddles and there is no way to get down in there without dissasembling everything to get in. Took the car to Watkins Glen wondering how it would do - no need to heel and toe. This thing absolutely needs the motor to slow it down after hard braking - ran a 2:09 at the glen on the long course and felt like I was loafing it into the corners without doing the H&T. The equipment is so tough in these cars you can really manhandle the crap out of it and you need to. If I had unlimited cash I'd pay to have a new set of peddles put in by a NASCAR shop but in this type of ride it didn't matter as much as I thought it would.

MMiskoe
04-03-2007, 12:57 PM
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet is to slide out of gear while under braking, but w/o using the clutch. Under heavy braking this works quite well. Then blip, then clutch down and take your next gear. Solves having to run the pedal up & down twice.

I typically double clutch out of habit since my first track car (914) didn't downshift quickly with out it. I was a bit surprised to find that most people don't do this. It also helps if you have a clutch that binds up and won't fully dissengage when its hot.

If you want a real force fed method of learning how to double clutch, or shift w/o the clutch, take a drive in a large truck that has no syncros or cogs. Put your ear plugs in if you don't like the sound of gears grinding on each other.

jamsilvia
04-03-2007, 04:33 PM
I both double clutch (mostly out of habit - but not sure where I got that habit from), and left foot brake.

If anyone cares to try and download the relatively large file (20M WMV format - sorry). Here's a driver camera for one lap at my SCCA school. This lap is one in the final race. Before the race, my crew was playing with the kill switch. In doing so, they reset the ECU, and with that, reset the speed limiter to kick in at 115 MPH. So when you see me just holding speed at around 110 or so, that's me keeping off of the speed limiter (which cuts power completely, and sometimes wouldn't restart!)

Can you guess what track??? :-)

Critique is welcome!!

My one lap (http://www.negative-camber.org/jam149/video/onelap_driver.wmv)

joe

(edit: found out how to make URL work!)

gsbaker
04-03-2007, 05:13 PM
If you want a real force fed method of learning how to double clutch, or shift w/o the clutch, take a drive in a large truck that has no syncros or cogs.[/b]
Bingo. I once had a summer job as a youngster shuttling the big tractors around town. No choice but to double clutch those beasts.

I still H&T double clutch when downshifting, even on the street. Force of habit I suppose. For extra fun, try doing it without the clutch. :) No LFB for me though. I tried it once and concluded it would soon result in injured humans and substantial property damage.

handfulz28
04-03-2007, 06:27 PM
Critique is welcome!![/b]
Only thing I could "critique" is the hand shuffling, especially when it didn't seem necessary. It's just one of my pet peeves and 9 and 3 seem to work so well.
I have no idea which track, but I like your choice of platforms :)

BAC
04-03-2007, 08:03 PM
Over the years I have tried and tried to get good at Heal & Toe to no avail :(
I don't know if it's the pedal layout in the cars I have had or if I am just a total Smeghead!

On my street car I have done a major upgrade to the brakes and I just use them as Dave does.
I'll just slip it into the right gear for that turn and off I go. I wish I could master H&T but I just don't see that happening....sigh....

~Brian

rsx858
04-03-2007, 08:36 PM
If any of you want to see some good heel toe action go rent the 60's movie Grand Prix with James Garner. There is a scene of them racing at monaco with lots of heel toe footage! won some oscars to!

mattbatson
04-04-2007, 03:09 PM
I dont heel and toe or match revs...just downshift.
I realize this will probably wear out the synchros quicker. But havent had a problem yet.

I also skip gears downshifting, going from 4th to 2nd very often (never use 5th...gearing is really high on my car).

Me thinks it would take many, many years to learn how to h&t while still maintaining threshold braking. I'm on the brakes so hard, for so short of a time...it would be tough to do anything else other then downshift, without sacrificing my braking.

I also use carbotechs, and I dont usually get beat in the braking zone :eclipsee_steering:

jamsilvia
04-05-2007, 10:26 AM
Only thing I could "critique" is the hand shuffling, especially when it didn't seem necessary. It's just one of my pet peeves and 9 and 3 seem to work so well.
[/b]

It's true. I've experimented with small-shuffles, no shuffle-but preload brefore turning in, and with complete fixed hand position. The only one I really didn't like was small shuffles. You were moving your hands like mad for something the other methods accomplished easily. It also made it hard to be smooth.

I think in the video I'm doing preload (that's what I call it anyway). I honestly don't know if I do it now or not. I'll have to look at newer video.

I expect hand position and steering technique is a whole new thread!



I also skip gears downshifting, going from 4th to 2nd very often (never use 5th...gearing is really high on my car).
[/b]

I do the same. And I won't say I've never been outbraked, but my feeble mind can't concentrate on max braking AND breathing (let alone shifting). So I brake hard, and right before turn-in is when I do the heel-toe revmatch and into the correct gear. So one shift (max) for any turn entry. My skips are usually 5->3 (with the crazy rear end ratio I have).

joe

joeg
04-06-2007, 07:30 AM
Heel & Toe?--I like doing it in my street car, but the pedal layout in the race car makes it impossible.

Just turn up the idle.

I basically only have two gears on the track (3rd and 4th) so there is no "skipping".

Z3_GoCar
04-06-2007, 11:33 AM
The classic place for a heel-toe would be turn three at Laguna-Seca. Turn three is a mid speed turn that's entered just a little too hot to make it through. I scrub off speed and shift it down a gear in the first third of the turn, hit the apex on the gas. :eclipsee_steering:

Now turn four is a great place to left foot brake.

How I'm going to miss running there this season :(

James