Heel Toe Downshifting Everyday driving
 

I am over six feet tall and when I try to Heel Toe my knees end up hitting the wheel, I have found this new (new to me) tecknique where I put my foot on the brake put the car in neutral and lean the side of my foot over on the gas to raise the rpm's up and then complete the down shift. My friends have been telling me this is a racing tecknique but I have been doing it all the time during everyday driving because I like the feeling of it and the sound that it makes. Is this bad for my rx. I know there are other people out there that drive there rx like a racecar all the time I wanna hear what other styles you guys use when shifting/brakeing/accerating on the streets.

I still can't seem to rev match with my feet, pedals, and ankles combination. Either my ankles don't rotate enough or the pedals are too far apart. I have to take my foot completely off of the brake to hit the gas. This method is great for off ramps. That's the only time I use it. I'm 6'1" so wearing driving shoes keeps my knees from hitting the steering wheel since they have much thinner soles. But I don't wear driving shoes very often. Wider pedals would help me.

The 'heel-toe' downshifting method is named that way due to the size and placement of pedals in a racecar. Fortunately, for us, the Mazda pedal placement is much more convenient for everyday driving, since they knew most people would never get their cars out on the track.

The method that you describe of using the right part of your right shoe to press the accelerator to increase RPM and 'match' it to the transaxle speed is commonly used. This is called 'rev-matching' and you can do it on both downshifting (by 'blipping' throttle to match decreasing tranny speed), and on upshifts, by giving time for the engine RPM to come down to match the tranny speed in the next gear.

It's good for your transmission to allow matching on upshifts, but when downshifting, you need to be sure not to overrev the engine like downshifting into 2nd gear going 50mph - this will wind the engine up too high, and could also break loose your rear tires as the transmission and drivetrain can't maintain traction. As long as you're doing this smoothly and within reason, it's actually easier on your synchros in the transmission, and can take some of the load off of the brakes during downshifting.

I can't remember a time when I *didn't* use rev-matching on downshifting unless it was a panic stop - in which case the clutch pedal is all the way on the floor to disengage the engine anyway...

I do Heel-Toe naturally now, that's how I shift. At the beginning my car had a little shifting issue with the first and second and at that time RPM matching was the only way to drive that car. Our 7 can be setup and allow heel-toe to be comfortably done (do a search), I simply added a face plate to the gas paddle.

BTW, GM syncro mesh fluid cured the transmission.

Heel And Tow Out
 

Do a search. This has been tallked about before.

A good family friend used to race formula ford in the U.K for a few years and the technique he passed on to me was similar to yours. place the ball of your foot on the brake pedal and hit the gas with the rest of the foot.

I do this all the time when im driving anything with a stick

Brake pads are cheaper and easier to replace than clutches.

B

Pull that stick out of your arse man.....



Anyway, that technique is still considered to be heel and toe even though you are using the sides of your feet to accomplish it. Basically, you're just doing part of the tranny's job so it doesn't have to. Good habit to have, especially when driving in rain/snow/ice because it makes everything smoother if done properly. :)

Heel and toe is only necessary under racing conditions. Otherwise, it is just a severe extra burden on the machinery. Of course, it's always wise to synch gears when downshifting (upshifting, too). If you ever drove non-synchro farm tractors you gain a good bit of skill at this. Most of the people I see downshifting furiously (like my european wife who was instructed to shift maniacally by her 1st husband) are missing so many shifts it makes me cringe. They just create extra work and wear for the synchros. And the shocks propagated thru the drivetrain bang and loosen and break other things, too. Also, it looks dumb: nothing more amateurish than rough jerky handling, the best drivers are very smooth.

B

I find with my size 13 feet heel toe is kinda hard so I find using the sides of my feet the best method of " heel/toe'n ". Besides we all can't be 5'4 asian drivers with a size 7 foot.

Well, the key is to do it properly (smoothly). If done correctly, you will not even feel a transition between gear changes. Since this is doing the work for the synchros, how is it wearing them out? Curious about that one....

Bliffle, Heel and toe is not a method of slowing a car but used to match engine RPM with the clutch on a downshift, this will not wear out the clutch as it is actually less stressful on the components.

It is also the best way to accelerate quickly at the correct RPM without straining the engine ie: putting your foot down hard in too high a gear.

Braking should be done prior to shifting gears ie: coming into a corner lift off throttle, brake, heel and toe change down, apex the corner then accelerate smoothly at the maximum grip that wont make your tires break away and your car leave the road.

If heel and tow driving is rough and amatuerish I'd better call a few guys I'v watched driving like, Carrol Shelby, Jr Johnston, Colin McRay, Nelson Piquet, Mario Andretti and every other race car driver in the world. If heel and toe driving makes you a jerky driver you are doing it badly.

If you driveline is thumping and breaking things, you are simply not matching the RPM to the speed in that gear, done correctly as previously mentioned it should be indetectable

Sorry man but you are completely wrong here

Heel and toe downshifting *IS* rev-matching. I don't know what you think it is, but it SAVES wear and tear; not increases it. The reason it's called heel and toe is because it's done under braking and, thus, requires the right foot to pull double duty. Race cars do it because there is never a good time to coast, so they downshift, but they are at the limit of traction, so they have to do it SMOOTHLY, hense rev-matching. The basis of rev-matching is simply that for a given speed, the ratios of two adjacent gears dictate two different engine RPMs. In a downshift, the lower gear requires a higher engine RPM, so you blip the throttle before engaging the gear. This is less work on the tranny and less wear on the clutch and less vibration and less stress on the drivetrain. It's a GOOD THING (tm).

I do it in the race car, and I do it on the street....every single day....every single shift. And yes, Heel-Toe is revmatching. Whether you use the ball of your foot, and the outside of your foot, or true heel toe, it's all the same, the only difference is your technique.

my BMW gas pedal has its hinge point mounted to the floorboard, making it impossible to heel-toe with your heel and toe, so i place my foot half way over each...jabbing with the right half and squishing with the left.

makes proper heel toe a releif to use on a normally configured pedal setup.

That's funny. I had a BMW 2002 with a floor hinged gas pedal and it was the easiest car in the universe to heel and toe. In fact, it was the only one I could litteraly heel and toe, as opposed to using the side of my foot. Perhaps things changed since 1973, but they used to do it right.

mine is an 86 325es, when i put my heel down the pedal barely moves from the lack of leverage

Have you tried it with high heels on? :D

The thing is you need to be 4'11 with a size 41/2 in mens shoes (sometimes I love being a girl :D). Im not to great at the heal toe down shifting yet, but i can tell you i have a much easer time doing so then my bf. Becuase I have such a small foot I can heal toe pretty much by the book. I feel bad for all you tall guys driving a fb. That is also why i swear a fb is the best car for any women who loves to drive 5speed.

Its not easy but can be done :)

Rotarychick, you are a showoff..... :)

that's how I do it....but I have an FC......and it does not hurt your car as long as you do it right.........

I do not push the clutch in all the way in when I'm accelerating......i go in about 1/4 of the way ( i have a 6 puck racing clutch too so yours may vary) and shifting is done much faster.... I hate people that ride the brakes and I only use them when downshifting does not slow me down enough........instead of breaking late and slowing down just downshift earlier in the turn and take the turn..........tap the brakes to shift the weight to the front wheels for more grip and ease on the throttle ( don't punch it.....i'm sure I didn't HAVE to tell you this though) towards the end of the curve and accelerate out of it...


I drive mountain roads( a hwy actually) everyday as part of my commute to work.......