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I am new to road racing (HPDE events only) - am using my 2008 z06 c6 corvette. I am really having a hard time matching revs for the downshifts. I know you are supposed to use different parts of your foot to hold the brake and 'blip' the throttle at the same time, but i cant figure out where to put my foot. Can anyone direct me to any videos that show someone doing this in a c6? the gas pedal seems to low compared to the brake, and I cant really hit it.
When you are on the track you'll be stepping on the brake pedal with more force than you do on the street and the brake pedal won't seem so high above the gas. You brake with the ball of your foot and rock your foot to the right to blip the gas with the right edge of your foot.
I mounted heel/toe plate to my gas pedal, which raises my gas pedal to almost equal level as my brake. Be very careful when on public streets if you are new to this, as the edge of your foot might accidentally catch the gas pedal during emergency braking. A friend of mine totaled his race car on public street doing this. That's why factories always have the brake pedal at a much higher activation level than gas pedal.
The video is very good. First way to practice is just sit in your driveway with car running in neutral. Step on brake hard, blip throttle like in video while using clutch. Just do that a lot until it becomes an automatic action. Then you can try it in an empty parking lot while moving.
The key is practice and the track is the wrong place to begin learning. Find a lonely straight road. Get to 60-ish in 4th gear and lightly hit the brake, downshifting from 4th->3rd->2nd and first if you feel like it. Repeat frequently. In the beginning, the light brake pedal touch will help you learn how to maintain constant brake pedal pressure as you blip the throttle. It also allows you some additional time between downshifts for your brain to process what is happening. Increase brake pedal pressure as muscle memory improves.
Incorporate heel toe into all of your street driving. Any 90* turn is a good excuse for a downshift.
When you are on the track you'll be stepping on the brake pedal with more force than you do on the street and the brake pedal won't seem so high above the gas. You brake with the ball of your foot and rock your foot to the right to blip the gas with the right edge of your foot.
I found it to be easier to do at the track than on the street.
I can heel and toe, but find it annoying and sometimes a problem. I would much rather concentrate on my line, braking, and balance of the car at that crucial moment before a turn in. The auto blip is awesome and adjustable. I have it in my C6Z. Really saves the abuse on your driveline.
The auto-blip is one of my next upgrades. I have no qualms with using technology. I'm no pro and don't plan to be. I just want to have fun in my events, and this gadget will help towards that that goal =]
thanks everyone. i think my biggest challenge is the space between brake and accelerator is a little too much, so when I try to grab the accelerator with right side of right foot, i just fall into the gap between brake and accelerator, which is scary.
I suppose I could just rotate my right foot so it is more sideways, or I could somehow make or buy a wider accelerator pedal. Any suggestions for a wider pedal that doesnt cost $100?
And I definitely need to practice more
When I am driving down the front straight at lime rock, there are numbers to count down the braking zone. i think i top out now at close to 130 on the straight (i'm sure many can do better), but if I start braking at number 6 or 5, it is way too early, and I end up coasting into turn 1. Thats because the car brakes so well. If I start braking at number 4, then it becomes a disaster for me to get it downshifted before the turn (too much for me to do all at once), and I am letting out the clutch once I am into the turn, so basically I am a complete mess at turn 1, which makes the instructors think I am a moron.
One instructor told me to run the whole course in 4th gear, which is doable and still pretty fast, but a lot less exciting.
It was really hard for me to learn, on the street you can't.
Grid up in the back at the track and learn, heres how I did it.
In your daily start braking with the ball and big toe of your foot, do it until you don't have to think about it any longer...where it's pure muscle memory.
Then start working in the rest of it at the track.
The only way I could actually practice was with the car running but not driving. Looking for about a 700 RPM bump.
On the street it was impossible as the amount of brake pressure involved is very high for the street. The guys that say they always do it on the street I find it hard to believe unless their ankles are way more flexible than mine. I do blip on street downshifts, but its not a heal toe.
The C6 peddles are very far apart and not really set up for it, helped mine out a bit by using an aluminum peddle cover and putting a 1/2" layer of kydex under it.
The motion for me is more of a big toe and ball of foot on brake while rotating side of heal over to blip throttle.
Got decent at it, but finally gave up and installed an Auto Blip.
Like others have mentioned, the braking force on the street is typically not hard enough to simulate braking at the track.
I learned on the street by getting on the freeway and finding an exit with a long straight off ramp. I could get about two solid heel toe down shifts in before I would get back on the freeway and find another off ramp in the opposite direction. I had a nice little loop and could do 2 hard downshifts every few minutes.
Some of us do, indeed, find it easier to execute on the track. Your braking zone is longer, the foot is well established on the pedal with pressure set so the only thing left to do right before turning the wheel is to simply clutch, shift, blip - all in one fluid motion. While doing it on the street you may find that you aren't going as fast and you are shifting immediately after moving right foot to brake without giving time to modulate/establish the pressure on the pedal. This makes it a complicated, low rpm, herky jerky process for most. As suggested above, get in behind the group at pit out to practice a few times.
Some of us do, indeed, find it easier to execute on the track. Your braking zone is longer, the foot is well established on the pedal with pressure set so the only thing left to do right before turning the wheel is to simply clutch, shift, blip - all in one fluid motion. While doing it on the street you may find that you aren't going as fast and you are shifting immediately after moving right foot to brake without giving time to modulate/establish the pressure on the pedal. This makes it a complicated, low rpm, herky jerky process for most. As suggested above, get in behind the group at pit out to practice a few times.
Here we are again Arte
Each time I chime in on this subject I start a s*** storm.
You do not need to hell and toe. It takes way too much space to accomplish and is way too complicated.
Run the car into the corner in the same gear as though you were not going to shift. After braking, in the neutral, balance part of the corner, with a little gas, move the clutch in, change gears, drive away.
It will take a little time to learn, but way less than heel and toe and you can practice it on the street at any speed.
On the street it was impossible as the amount of brake pressure involved is very high for the street. The guys that say they always do it on the street I find it hard to believe unless their ankles are way more flexible than mine. I do blip on street downshifts, bu you should learn H&T in t its not a heal toe.
Well, you should practice H&T in the way that's most comfortable for you.
However, most of my students that have learned to H&T from me have learned it on he street. I even take them out on the street at lunchtime at a track event. Practicing without a corner coming up makes it easier to learn.
I think the wider pedals should be installed if you're uncomfortable with the stock ones. Anything to make it easier.
I H&T all the time on the street without thinking about it, the pedal height difference, soft or hard braking doesn't bother me.
06-18-2016, 09:35 PM
heel-toe downshifting
I found it to be easier to do at the track than on the street.
