https://www.youtube.com/embed/kNoUlA_vNGA
Jeff Westphal piloted the Professional Awesome Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution to a 13th overall finish at last year's Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge. But if style and smoothness points were factored in, they might have finished higher.
The 2016 Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge will be he…
I don't know how to heel-toe. 
I really need to learn. It kills me from having decent lap times.
Klayfish wrote: I don't know how to heel-toe.
Don't just heel toe - double clutch.
I could never really get the hang of it until I read somewhere to "think about it as two separate shifts" (shift 3rd to neutral, blip throttle, then shift neutral to 2nd - for example). Since it makes sense to your legs to roll on the throttle as you release the clutch pedal, the blipping becomes much easier, and thinking about it as two shifts ensures the timing and order of everything is correct. Then you just have to remember to keep your foot on the brake the whole time.
I'm taking it from the street to the track this summer. It is taking me a while to move it from brain-involved activity to muscle memory, but it gets better every session.
The best tip I have gotten for this stage of the process is, do the shift a little earlier before the turn than you otherwise would. It lets me get my full brain capacity back in time to still look through the apex and judge my entry speed.
Re: Jeff's entry into the climbing esses at 140mph shows the kind of commitment I doubt I will ever have. Damn.
I'm I the only one that Toe Heel? ie I reach over with my gorilla toes to stab at the accelerator.
In reply to RossD:
You might be. That seems like it would be a whole lot more difficult.
It depends on the car. My E36 with the floor mounted gas pedal was easier to heel toe using the "rock the foot sideways onto the pedal" method, where you kind of jab with your pinky toe.
Most japanese cars I've driven lend themselves better to the pivoting the ball of the foot to rotate the heel into the pedal method. Like I have to drive the miata this way. If I do the BMW method, my foot doesnt reach.
RossD wrote: I'm I the only one that Toe Heel? ie I reach over with my gorilla toes to stab at the accelerator.
With some cars this is easier, I do it with my Samurai w/ stock pedals but I heel-and-toe in the Corolla (with oversized pedals...otherwise I'd need to wear clown shoes to hit two pedals at once)
I'm convinced that with anything but a BMW-style ultra-long gas pedal (which it looks like the car in this video has), only contortionists actually heel-and-toe, it's more like side-of-foot-and-toe.
Relevant video: Behold the king of fancy footwork:
Also this old asian guy:
Good lord, the people running out of the way of the speeding rally car freaked me out a little...
In reply to OldGray320i:
I saw a video of one of the drivers saying something like he couldn't even see them as people because it would have slowed him down. Just another rock/bush/tree.
You can set you pedals up correctly to help. Your brake pedal depressed should match height of the gas pedal. That way your foot is in an even surface.
I use the side of my foot. The E46 is set up for it beautifully - I do it on pretty much every downshift - and so was my old Neon ACR. But between the crappy pedal placement and the light flywheel, I just don't have it down pat for the Manic Miata.
I had a dodgy 2nd gear synchro in one of my track cars, so it taught me to double-clutch. I've never lost the habit, you can hear it in my track videos even on the V8 Miata. I rev-match every downshift if not double-clutch it.
One reason to use your toes on the brake and your heel on the accelerator (as opposed to the other way around) is sensitivity. You still need to be able to modulate the brake, and you'll do a better job of that with your toes.
I think miatas are super easy to heeltoe and thus learn to heel toe in. I used to do it in traffic all day every day to commit it to memory. With my most recent car it wanted to die coming to a stop, heel toeing was a valuable resource to keep her going
My huge feet lend themselves to rolling the side of my foot onto the gas pedal.
Mine seems to be crap as of late. I am beginning to suspect I should blame my tools. I'm wondering if the hybrid system is selectively overruling my blips in the interest of efficiency. It seems to want to give me about +250 rpm or with slightly more effort, +2000 rpm, and rarely something in between. All of my blips are massively high or low.
I can't not heel toe, to the point that I did it when driving my buddy's 3500 Dodge dually diesel. He was like, "Was that a heel toe?" I was like, "Yep."
snailmont5oh wrote: I can't not heel toe, to the point that I did it when driving my buddy's 3500 Dodge dually diesel. He was like, "Was that a heel toe?" I was like, "Yep."
I was driving my 84 f250 diesel about a year ago, and coming up to a turn I decided to see if I could left foot brake and no clutch revmatch + shift from 4th to 3rd. Worked great. hahaha fun driving big trucks like a sportscar.
Im alright at it. I keep practicing on the street but I have trouble translating that to the track.
In reply to Desmond:
Or this old French guy driving an econobox...
Swmbo can high heel-toe. 
I cannot heel-toe due to a weak ankle and drop foot condition. I cannot role my foot and then bring it back. I haz sad.
Robbie wrote:snailmont5oh wrote: I can't not heel toe, to the point that I did it when driving my buddy's 3500 Dodge dually diesel. He was like, "Was that a heel toe?" I was like, "Yep."I was driving my 84 f250 diesel about a year ago, and coming up to a turn I decided to see if I could left foot brake and no clutch revmatch + shift from 4th to 3rd. Worked great. hahaha fun driving big trucks like a sportscar.
I try not to no-clutch anything synchronized. It can be real hard on the blocker rings. I also really want a dog box so that I can left foot brake my car on the road course.
I asked one of my truck driving buddies if he left foot braked in the big truck, and he was like, "No, why would I?" I explained that he could keep slowing down while downshifting to the next gear (to increase the effectiveness of the Jake), and he just thought that was dumb.
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