Today at the autox, I was running on a very tight course that really did not set up well for the evo (or me is more like it). what happend is that the course while fast in many spots had LOTS of gates that really needed to be taken in first gear, however you were well into second gear while on the approach to the slow gates. Well I havent used my right foot to brake in awhile, so heal toe into first really was not an option. (first reason is I have size 14 feet, second is I really dont have a good feel with my right foot anymore) So I left it in second and had big time lag issues.

How do some of you left foot guys deal with the lag on a course where you need to downshift many times, but because of the LFB'ing its very difficult. (besides buying a straight cut box) Or is it just when we run into a course like this, were screwed. (Not the right foot guys, just us lefties)

 

Haha I got screwed with big feet too . Damn tiny pedals, damn you!

I tried left foot braking once, didn't work out so well at AutoX

 

I tried left foot brakeing this winter on snow and its a good surface to practice on. My feet are size 16 and I have the same problem.. most of the time.... dont hurt me.. I just downshift without heel toe because.. well my feet are too big and the pedals in the regular lancer (not sure how different the pedal setup is) are too far away (one is closer than the other). OF course... just downshifting on a regular lancer putting out 125 ftlbs of torque and 115 whp really is a lot different than on an evo with AWD and tons more power haha.

But I feel for ya man.

 

with size 8 and half feet, 5' 8'' and 145 lbs; heel and toe, left foot braking etc... its all great!

sorry to say evo was not designed for supersized folks.. it was designed for slender asians... hey look at the pro nascar and F1 racers, they are all slender and often times very small in stature. even military jetfighters cockpits are so cramped, big boys belong in the marines hehe..... i still blame half of you supersized dudes for our fatarse recardos.

 

How certain are you that you "really needed" first gear?

I used to think I needed first gear, until I tried just leaving it in second gear. Usually I find that the Evo does just fine leaving it in second.

But you could be right -- I obviously have no idea how tight the course was. Any idea what your speed was in the tightest corners (RPM & gear)?

 

I agree.

I tried LFB for a while. I was consistantly slower becuase I ended up braking too much, too hard.

But you get on one of these "miata courses" where lots of downshifting is required, and you just have to deal with the turbo lag.

 

yeah left foot braking isnt very difficult; just very ackward feeling for any driver.... i try to practice it once in awhile in an opening parking lot or an open highway.... NOT on an autoX course LOL

 

Recently this subject came up on our local autoX mailing list, and I stated the opinion that LFB wasn't really necessary... Our top local kart autoXer disagreed. Of course, he has to left-foot brake since the brake pedal is nowhere near the throttle, and furthermore, his clutch is a lever on the steering column.

So my advice if you want to learn to LFB -- learn to drive a kart.

 

Haha I agree. I was talking to some of the other top drivers that I autoX with and some LFB others don't and their times are very close. LFB can be an advantage, but its all in your driving style too. If you feel it than don't do it.. you'd probably be better off not doing it. Of course I say this and I may be way off becasue I've only driven an EVO 3 or 4 times.

 

Bingo, it was a course designed by a miata owner A few fast parts that required 2nd gear, but when you had to slow, You had to SLOW. I really dont recall my speed or rpm, but coming out of many of the gates it seemed like at least 2-3 seconds went by before boost came up. This happend on numerous turns. However as soon as the boost kicked in it felt like I was back on the binders

I guess since you werent there its hard to describe to you guys what exactly it was like, but you will just have to take my word that first gear would have been preferable. So assuming that, do you think that "brake boosting" so to speak would have help with that low of an rpm. I dont know because in order to keep the boost up in 2nd gear I would have had to give it a lot of gas, while on the brake pedal Maybe a few stabs at the gas pedal kinda like "wap...wap...wap..." would have worked. Something to try next time.

As far as the whole which is better left foot or right foot, I dont know. I have learned to use my left foot, and feel very comfortable doing it now so thats what I am going to use. Hell, yesterday I tried to go back to right foot braking for a run, and it was like I had never driven before After two corners I was back to my left foot. To each his own on this one, but as yesterday pointed out, LFB can have its disadvatages too.

 

a) You identify the turns during walkthrough that will require a downshift, and RFB/heel-toe those.

b) You initiate braking with your left foot, switch feet WHILE braking, and do your RFB/heel-toe.

c) You achieve Zen with your LFB, and find that your feet magically RFB when you intend to downshift.

I do all three. I grew up LFBing automatics - yet when I went to LFB a stick while autocrossing, it took me almost a full season just to get back to my level of effectiveness with RFB. Now, it's built into my feet and, I feel, a clear advantage.

b) came about during a divisional, driving an ESP Camaro on a course that had lots of fast sweepers leading into tight 180s (think an air force parking pad with lots of little bays). You *had* to go to first for each of those 180s, so I decided I'd just RFB everything. First two runs Sat., coming out of the sweepers, tried to lift throttle to get over to the brake - spun the car instantly. Crap - I HAVE to LFB this! Last run, come out of sweeper, initiate LFB, come off the gas and swap feet during HARD braking, heel-toe, off to the next sweeper. Lather, rinse, repeat x5. The next day we ran the same course backwards, and I did it each run. That's what got me to c).

Now I don't even have to think about it during course walks - my feet magically get everything done. But it took a lot of work to get to this point.

KeS

 

i just realized this recently but our pedals are not at all designed for "heel-toe" but rather "inside-outside" (i'll call it that for the sake of this post.. no idea if it has a name or not). i have a size 9 foot and my heel doesn't touch the accelerator ever. nor could it ever with my toe on the brake pedal at the same time. the reason being is the accelerator is hinged above the pedal, whereas other cars ideal for heel-toe (like my 944 turbo) is hinged at the floor where i can get my entire foot on the pedal, or when my toe is on the brake, there is plenty of accerator surface for the heel to blip the throttle. i never really did much with heel toe then because i was never that serious about racing. now with the evo, heel toe doesn't work, but "inside outside" does. basically the inside ball of my foot presses on the brake pedal, and the other side of the foot presses the accelerator. you don't need to twist your foot to get both pedals, but rather you roll the foot a little to blip the throttle. for those with big feet, this will actually benefit you as smaller feet aren't as wide leaving very little foot pressing on the brake (sometimes a little scarey).

i was also taught to never LFB in a three pedal car. especially in an autocross, there is just to much going on to try to LFB. unless your REALLLLLLY experienced and practice it all the time, don't worry about it. learn the EVO version of the heel toe and that will help you enter/exit the turn in the right gear so you don't need to worry about LFB. thats what i'm doing, and hopefully i'll be ok at it by the next autocross

 

Almost all cars are that way, nothing I've ever driven uses a true "heel-toe". It's always a matter of braking with the ball of your foot on the right side of the brake pedal, and rolling your ankle over to blip the gas with some part of the edge of your foot. Maybe the old-style gas pedals that were hinged to the floor at the base worked with a true "heel", I dunno.

It is true that LFB is difficult to do driving a stick. It is true that this is even more difficult during an autocross. It is also true that there are benefits to be realized. None of those statements are in conflict.

KeS

 

Left foot braking is most effective mid corner in helping the car rotate.

 

Actually, it's MOST effective in reducing the coast time between gas and brake. Just like when you're upshifting, when you're coasting you're losing time. It has other tactical benefits, such as the situation I described above, but that's the big time saver in autocross. We don't have many turns that are long enough for the car to take a set like the track guys.

KeS