How to proper heel-toe in a 350Z (Video)
03-16-2006, 10:22 AM
#21
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Originally Posted by Bee Ess Pee
try it anyway?
i mean thats the way i do it...
alot of people use the foot-roll method
but then i call it foot-roll down shift instead of heel-toe
...
a proper heel-toe involves both the heel and the toe
i mean thats the way i do it...
alot of people use the foot-roll method
but then i call it foot-roll down shift instead of heel-toe
...
a proper heel-toe involves both the heel and the toe
i prefer the foot roll method...my right foot is not flexible enough to heel-toe
Wearing proper foot wears is also a must. Puma makes some nice driving shoes.
03-16-2006, 10:23 AM
#22
I'm 6'0", have size 12 shoes, and huge legs. I can't do it with my heel but I do it all the time just rollling my foot to the right....
Big toe/left side of foot on brake... roll foot to the right and blip.
I think driving feels the best in simple tennis shoes or crosstrainers or whatever.
Big toe/left side of foot on brake... roll foot to the right and blip.
I think driving feels the best in simple tennis shoes or crosstrainers or whatever.
03-16-2006, 10:24 AM
#23
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Originally Posted by Wired 24/7
I'm 6'0", have size 12 shoes, and huge legs. I can't do it with my heel but I do it all the time just rollling my foot to the right....
Big toe/left side of foot on brake... roll foot to the right and blip.
I think driving feels the best in simple tennis shoes or crosstrainers or whatever.
Big toe/left side of foot on brake... roll foot to the right and blip.
I think driving feels the best in simple tennis shoes or crosstrainers or whatever.
03-16-2006, 12:55 PM
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For newbies practice step by step at a time while parked then slowly apply the technique when driving. Do this over time, its not a simple technique, people driving for years cant even do it, it takes practice. After a while it'll become much easier, but its still one hell of a technique to use in daily driving, its more oriented for tracking and cornering.
03-16-2006, 03:06 PM
#30
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Originally Posted by cellphoneguy
lets see you do it with the car actually running
...or if i take it literally meaning making a video with the car on but parked thats fine with me...
i'll do it tomorrow morning then
Last edited by Vamos_Rafael; 03-16-2006 at 03:16 PM.
03-16-2006, 03:10 PM
#31
I heel toe on a day to day basis. It's like second nature for me. Once you figure it out it's just like turning on your blinker.
The purpose of heel-toeing is to downshift while braking, which accomplishes a number of things.
It always keeps you in the right gear. There is no guessing after a turn about which gear you should be in. If you progressively work down through the gears before you enter the turn and as you're slowing down, you're always in the right gear. It also sets you up for turns. It's better to be in the right gear before the turn, rather than trying to find it afterwards. This way you can power through-out of turns rather than coasting through and digging for your gear afterwards. Another reason is that it helps maintain stability and it assists braking. When you slam on your brakes all your weight is shifted forward. The weight at your rear tires is lightened to the point they hardly get any traction to assist braking. By downshifting while braking it helps even things out so you can maximize braking traction from all 4 tires.
Of course, you need to know how to properly rev-match a downshift before you attempt to learn to heel-toe. You can't very well expect to be able to heel-toe if you don't know how to downshift properly to begin with.
The purpose of heel-toeing is to downshift while braking, which accomplishes a number of things.
It always keeps you in the right gear. There is no guessing after a turn about which gear you should be in. If you progressively work down through the gears before you enter the turn and as you're slowing down, you're always in the right gear. It also sets you up for turns. It's better to be in the right gear before the turn, rather than trying to find it afterwards. This way you can power through-out of turns rather than coasting through and digging for your gear afterwards. Another reason is that it helps maintain stability and it assists braking. When you slam on your brakes all your weight is shifted forward. The weight at your rear tires is lightened to the point they hardly get any traction to assist braking. By downshifting while braking it helps even things out so you can maximize braking traction from all 4 tires.
Of course, you need to know how to properly rev-match a downshift before you attempt to learn to heel-toe. You can't very well expect to be able to heel-toe if you don't know how to downshift properly to begin with.
03-16-2006, 03:22 PM
#32
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Originally Posted by roast
I heel toe on a day to day basis. It's like second nature for me. Once you figure it out it's just like turning on your blinker.
The purpose of heel-toeing is to downshift while braking, which accomplishes a number of things.
It always keeps you in the right gear. There is no guessing after a turn about which gear you should be in. If you progressively work down through the gears before you enter the turn and as you're slowing down, you're always in the right gear. It also sets you up for turns. It's better to be in the right gear before the turn, rather than trying to find it afterwards. This way you can power through-out of turns rather than coasting through and digging for your gear afterwards. Another reason is that it helps maintain stability and it assists braking. When you slam on your brakes all your weight is shifted forward. The weight at your rear tires is lightened to the point they hardly get any traction to assist braking. By downshifting while braking it helps even things out so you can maximize braking traction from all 4 tires.
Of course, you need to know how to properly rev-match a downshift before you attempt to learn to heel-toe. You can't very well expect to be able to heel-toe if you don't know how to downshift properly to begin with.
The purpose of heel-toeing is to downshift while braking, which accomplishes a number of things.
It always keeps you in the right gear. There is no guessing after a turn about which gear you should be in. If you progressively work down through the gears before you enter the turn and as you're slowing down, you're always in the right gear. It also sets you up for turns. It's better to be in the right gear before the turn, rather than trying to find it afterwards. This way you can power through-out of turns rather than coasting through and digging for your gear afterwards. Another reason is that it helps maintain stability and it assists braking. When you slam on your brakes all your weight is shifted forward. The weight at your rear tires is lightened to the point they hardly get any traction to assist braking. By downshifting while braking it helps even things out so you can maximize braking traction from all 4 tires.
Of course, you need to know how to properly rev-match a downshift before you attempt to learn to heel-toe. You can't very well expect to be able to heel-toe if you don't know how to downshift properly to begin with.
that is a good write up on what heel toe does and the advantages of doing so
sometimes i get lazy and just downshift with rev-match instead, but when im feeling it, the driving consists of alot of late braking and powering through the turns
i agree that one should learn how to rev-match down shift first because u need to understand which rpm to blip the throttle to... and the notion of rev-matching, every car is different so ie. the s2000 have a diffferent blip rpm range for a certain gear than the 350z etc etc...
but once u master it, its really fun and gets u more in touch with the car
03-16-2006, 06:32 PM
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Admit it, you put your son in the car to do that.
Looking at the size of the feet it looks like size 6EE
(you started the EEEEEEEEE thing )
From what I read heel toe is a name for a shifting technique, but in modern cars does not have to be taken literally.
Proper "heel toe" does not require you to use the heel, IMO.
The term was coined from race cars where the throttle is not anchored at the front/top but rather a real long pedal anchored at the floor.
Everyone has there own way of doing heel toe depending on shoe/foot and pedal setup, and that's perfectly fine.
BTW have you looked into Skip Barber's "Going Faster" ?
I think with your enthusiasm and spare time, that might be a book you really enjoy!
Actually I have something else for discussion regarding heel-toe:
So let's not talk about double-clutch heel toe, because thats for the real race geeks and not needed in cars with synchros (as much).
So just one time clutch in:
Now question is whether you put the gear in before the blip or afterwards.
I know that the cleaner way is to do it after the blip. But I don't think it makes such a difference as you are depressing the clutch anyway?
I found it easier to have already moved the gear lever and then do the blip and then immediately let the clutch out.
Also if you look at all the Best Motoring videos, it looks like they do it simultaneously. They are so fast, that basically you cannot tell whether the gear lever is moved before the blip or afterwards.
What do you think?
Looking at the size of the feet it looks like size 6EE
(you started the EEEEEEEEE thing
)From what I read heel toe is a name for a shifting technique, but in modern cars does not have to be taken literally.
Proper "heel toe" does not require you to use the heel, IMO.
The term was coined from race cars where the throttle is not anchored at the front/top but rather a real long pedal anchored at the floor.
Everyone has there own way of doing heel toe depending on shoe/foot and pedal setup, and that's perfectly fine.
BTW have you looked into Skip Barber's "Going Faster" ?
I think with your enthusiasm and spare time, that might be a book you really enjoy!
Actually I have something else for discussion regarding heel-toe:
So let's not talk about double-clutch heel toe, because thats for the real race geeks
and not needed in cars with synchros (as much).So just one time clutch in:
Now question is whether you put the gear in before the blip or afterwards.
I know that the cleaner way is to do it after the blip. But I don't think it makes such a difference as you are depressing the clutch anyway?
I found it easier to have already moved the gear lever and then do the blip and then immediately let the clutch out.
Also if you look at all the Best Motoring videos, it looks like they do it simultaneously. They are so fast, that basically you cannot tell whether the gear lever is moved before the blip or afterwards.
What do you think?
03-16-2006, 06:45 PM
#36
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Watching some one who knows how to do this and do it well is both stunning to watch and a work of art. My good friend who is also a professional race car driver drove my car and did this the first time ever driving it. I've never seen it done so fast in my entire life, proper heal toe downshifting is that seperates the men from the boys.
PJ (is still a boy)
PJ (is still a boy)
03-16-2006, 09:10 PM
#37
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Originally Posted by leeboyNY
Good vid.. A little slow though.. For me clutch in, bliping the gas and downshifting happens almost at the same time.
trying to just show the concept of heel-toe
with shoes on and my hands not video taping would be better
say driving around taping with one of those foot well cameras as seen in BMI
and on top i've only been driving for a little over 2 years and my first car i couldnt do heel-toe (audi had bad pedal set up with their first gen A4s)
and i've only had my Z car for 6 months (which also meaning about 5 months of heel-toe practice total) ... i think its just practice
03-16-2006, 10:09 PM
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I'm a member of the foot rolling club. My clonkers are way too un-coordinated to do it that way, smoothly. Besides, my natural driving position has my right foot canted about 30 degrees to the right, so trying to bring it around all the way to the left is extremely uncomfortable.
J you have girl feet
J you have girl feet
03-17-2006, 03:21 AM
#40
Originally Posted by pedroosan
So just one time clutch in:
Now question is whether you put the gear in before the blip or afterwards.
I know that the cleaner way is to do it after the blip. But I don't think it makes such a difference as you are depressing the clutch anyway?
I found it easier to have already moved the gear lever and then do the blip and then immediately let the clutch out.
Also if you look at all the Best Motoring videos, it looks like they do it simultaneously. They are so fast, that basically you cannot tell whether the gear lever is moved before the blip or afterwards.
What do you think?
Now question is whether you put the gear in before the blip or afterwards.
I know that the cleaner way is to do it after the blip. But I don't think it makes such a difference as you are depressing the clutch anyway?
I found it easier to have already moved the gear lever and then do the blip and then immediately let the clutch out.
Also if you look at all the Best Motoring videos, it looks like they do it simultaneously. They are so fast, that basically you cannot tell whether the gear lever is moved before the blip or afterwards.
What do you think?
The goal is to have the proper rev and be fully engaged in the correct gear when you release the clutch.
So, work backward from the end of the heel’n’toe/shift operation and find the proper timing for your blip, factoring how much gas you give and how fast the engine drops revs after the blip.
You are right, if you’re not double clutching, the timing of the blip does not affect the actual gear shift mechanism.
Last edited by Kolia; 03-17-2006 at 03:41 AM.