heel-toe/rev-match

[vtluu]

I can do it and I wear size 8. The key is to keep the ball of your foot on the brake and really turn your foot around and blip the throttle with your heel. I found that wearing Puma Speedcats really helped improve my heel-toe technique. I used to blip the throttle with the right side of my foot but I found this had two problems: my foot was only partly on the brake (size 8 remember), and I didn't have good precise control of blipping the throttle with the side of my foot. The Puma's narrow sole forced me to get my foot turned around and I found it was easier to make the sharp jabs at the throttle needed to rev-match.

Another thing I found is that while you can practice heel-toe when rolling to a stop at a stop light, it's not quite the same as doing heel-toe while braking for a turn on the racetrack. On the track the revs are much higher and you brake much harder and hold the brake longer before blipping and shifting.

[earlyapex]

I can barely do it with my size 13's. I think I need a big ass brake pedal like Boris Said maybe I sit too close

No that means you are doing it wrong. A kid with size 3 shoes could do it if he knew the technique. No way in hell anyone cannot do it unless the brake and throttle where a foot apart, which they aren't.

It really is *heel* and *toe*. Toe or toe cushion part of your foot on the brake, heel on the gas, so your foot is sideways, you don't use the sides of your foot for both pedals.

[hphan]

dumb question, but doesn't heel/toe waste more gas as opposed to just braking?

[MarkSAE]

I got heel/toe downshifts down a lot better after my 2nd track day. I wouldn't advise practicing it for your first track event or two until you learn the basics of being safe on the track.

Prior to my first two track events, I practiced heel/toe on the street in my civic. It was easier to learn on my civic since the pedals are closer together compared to my evo. I started noticing it becoming second nature to me after a while after practicing it lap after lap on the track. Cool stuff.. I still need more practice though to be able to do it faster.

[dohcvtec]

Prior to my first two track events, I practiced heel/toe on the street in my civic. It was easier to learn on my civic since the pedals are closer together compared to my evo. I started noticing it becoming second nature to me after a while after practicing it lap after lap on the track. Cool stuff.. I still need more practice though to be able to do it faster.

Same here and I have developed the bad habit of "fat foot" instead of true heel toe from tracking the Honda.

[MarkSAE]

haha.. yeah, when I was first learning, I found it really hard to do in my evo. In the civic, I could just roll my ankle over and it would blip the gas pedal.

[ZK]

Actually, you don't always have to rotate the whole foot out to blip the throttle to heel toe downshift. A fast way to do it is to have your right foot partly on the brake and just use the right side of the top of your foot to tap the throttle. I still use the whole foot method but it can usually be done this way as well.

As far as practice, I just toe heel downshift everywhere I go when I am slowing down - corners, coming to a stop light etc. After a while it is a normal thing when you are driving. The hardest to get is the toe heel into 1st. If you can do that smoothly, you're doing pretty good.

[nightwalker]

I've used heel-toe downshifts for years. It feels weird to drive not doing it. It's much easier on your drive train. I don't feel the need to downshift through every gear though. Just find the gear that matches the speed.

I think the hardest part of doing heel-toe is maintaining and still being able to modulate braking pressure all the while blipping the throttle to match your trans rpm.

The guys who are good at this stuff do it and you won't even feel it if you were riding in the car. It's phenomenal.

[MitsuMan]

I can barely do it with my size 13's. I think I need a big ass brake pedal like Boris Said maybe I sit too close

You're saying you need a bigger brake pedal to heel/toe? :methods4:

well I'm told it certainly can make it easier so you don't have to twist your foot so much what you never heard of that or something?

[ayn]

oh also, for DC, you can do it without pressing the clutch twice, if you do it right you should be able to move the shifter into neutral without using the clutch... You can do it easily at the track under braking, or on the streets, you can do it right at the point when your engine is doing neither driving or braking (like right after you lift off the throttle, and before it starts engine-braking)...

--Andrew