I raced dirt track cars and with modifies and late models you have to lfb to keep the car set up, up on the bars, we call it. My track car had an automatic and I started right foot. Made myself go to lfb and it is faster for me.
I raced dirt track cars and with modifies and late models you have to lfb to keep the car set up, up on the bars, we call it. My track car had an automatic and I started right foot. Made myself go to lfb and it is faster for me.
In reply to theruleslawyer :
Just got my first SIM this weekend. Immediately tried LFB. Seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. Went for a errand run to pickup something for my wife and tried LFB in the real world. Almost broke my nose on the steering wheel!
Blind Rhino Racing said:In reply to theruleslawyer :
Just got my first SIM this weekend. Immediately tried LFB. Seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. Went for a errand run to pickup something for my wife and tried LFB in the real world. Almost broke my nose on the steering wheel!
Lol. The G force differences are real! I can do it IRL if I think about it, but now that I have a manual rather than a DCT I'm not seeing the benefit as much.
JG Pasterjak said:gwjr said:If I try this, what is the game plan for a left foot brake induced spin? The advice is usually "in a spin, two feet in". Not sure not would work smoothly enough in the moment.
Gotta go three feet in at that point.
Actually same rules still apply apply—two feet in. It can take some practice, but think how clumsy your feet wrestle when you were first learning to heel-and-toe. Work on getting reps in a safe, controlled environment, just like learning any new skill.
In that case you would cross your right foot over the left to push in the clutch.
I had a vascular surgeon(who was a really good driver) tell me to switch the hand I use for eating with a fork. Most people hold it in their right hand. Switch to the left hand and your brain will start to adapt to do fine motor skills with the right side of the brain. You might stab yourself in the face a few times, so be careful. He also pointed out the bigger the muscle, the dumber it is. Use the muscles in your lower leg, not just your thigh muscle.
I've been involved in this same discussion for 40+ years now, and I still right-foot brake. So does Randy Pobst, by the way.
jstein77 said:I've been involved in this same discussion for 40+ years now, and I still right-foot brake. So does Randy Pobst, by the way.
Interestingly, when I drive a manual car, even in an autocross situation where I'm only in 2nd gear, I always right foot brake. The only time I'll slide a left foot over on a three pedal car is to give a little tap of the brake to seat the pad down a straight on longer road courses.
In reply to theruleslawyer :
I'm the same way, I feel scared to try it on the track. I've done it around town a bit seems fine but despite loving how I can modulate both the throttle and the brake in the sim I don't have the confidence to LFB on track.
Swampfox7 said:In reply to theruleslawyer :
I'm the same way, I feel scared to try it on the track. I've done it around town a bit seems fine but despite loving how I can modulate both the throttle and the brake in the sim I don't have the confidence to LFB on track.
I wouldn't say I'm scared to try it. More that I forget if I don't explicitly think about it.
A fellow DE instructor just had this question come up. A parent sent him a rather pointed letter about LFBing. He always does it and wants his kid to learn it, but wanted to know what the DE establishment thought. He pointed to a research document that provided initial positive support for LFBing (the take away being a shortened reaction time from throttle to brake) but the experiment was done on sims with a small cohort of about 30 people and they suggested a bigger real world study be done.
The only time I've used my left foot is during ice time trials or on slippery surfaces to get the car rotated better.
I once got yelled at by corner workers at an indoor cart facility in Montreal for using my left foot too much!
Well written article JP. I too have been LFB for decades. Not sure if it's a result of Turner, or it just happened. In my two pedal cars it's straight forward. And in my NYC driving I gain a bit of confidence knowing my brake pedal is always on alert. As mentioned with manual cars it's a bit more tricky. On track I will switch between LFB only (corners that don't require downshifts) to classic heel and toe for most other corners. Often, with the last heel/toe downshift into a corner completed I will switch back to final braking and trailbraking with LFB. This then sets me up for using both brake and throttle if needed on corner exit (albeit that is rare). As an HPDE instructor I often have students consider the LFB option. Many students drive two pedals vehicles as daily drivers so I simply ask them to start their LFB in controlled environments since most students spend many more hours in this environment to get a feel for this muscle memory environment. Bottom line, just try to experiment with the process. Over time it will become second nature. Bonus: Works great in off roading muddy conditions too when trying to change direction.
In reply to jgrewe :
Great point. 10+ years ago I switched my work computer mouse from right hand use to left handed mouse. Horrible results at first, but over time... this is my new normal. Related... when I started playing pool I noticed some shots were difficult shooting right handed. Thinking of all the times I had suggested to my HPDE students to try LFB, decided to start shooting left handed when those situations occurred. Of course it sucked, but 100 shots, 1000 shots later muscle memory started to kick in. Again, just start the LFB process, give it some time and see if it works for you.
Semi-related topic, but someday I would LOVE to do a story about working with a sports physician or human kinematicist regarding in-car performance and muscle group use and strength vs sensitivity and all that stuff. I think it's a fascinating area of study. We give natural skill and "feel" a lot of credit in motorsport, but I think that can only really get you so far. If you look at top athletes in any discipline, it all starts with technique and efficiency of movement, and I can't imagine driving a car is any different.
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