Heel and Toe

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MRC

·May 31, 2020

That is the practice of changing gear with a blip of the throttle with one side of the foot while maintaining steady pressure on the brakes with the other side of the foot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe_shifting

Not often seen or heard nowadays, but yesterday I saw it in (on?) what I think was a Ferrari. As it approached me from behind I thought it was a motorbike at 8-10,000 rpm, but no it was a 12 cylinder at about 3,000. As it came up to a traffic island the brake lights stayed on and the driver changed down twice blipping the throttle both times, Then I enjoyed the howl of the engine as it powered away out of the island.

There have been lots of classics out and about recently in this nice weather we've been having, E-type, Lancia Fulvia, Alfa-Romeo "boat-tail", MGA all in the last week, but I haven't heard anyone changing gear like that Ferrari driver.

I do it in in any Lotus because the pedals are in the right place and it's smoother on the car, no bobbing up & down as in the IAM method, but my (now scrapped) Mazda runabout had the pedals too far apart. Shame, otherwise it was a fun little thing.

So my question is: who else does this?

 

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Alpha

·May 31, 2020

Double de clutch was standard practice in my youth but on my cars now it serves no purpose. On the rare occasion I drive my daughters JCW I enjoy doubling if only to listen to the wonderful sound 😀

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch_(technique)

 

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MRC

·May 31, 2020

Alpha

Double de clutch was standard practice in my youth but on my cars now it serves no purpose. On the rare occasion I drive my daughters JCW I enjoy doubling if only to listen to the wonderful sound 😀

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch_(technique)

Had to look up JCW ("John Cooper Works" MINI). Loved my 1960's Cooper "S", somewhat non-standard -- a local friend was an occasional BMC works driver who could get stuff from Abingdon 😀

 

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Spruce

·May 31, 2020·Sunburst dial fan

Last car I had to double de-clutch was my original (not heritage) Fiat 500 (Cinquecento).

 

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BlackTalon

·May 31, 2020·This Space for Rent

Some newer cars with automatic (pdk) transmissions do the throttle blips, not the actual driver. So great-sounding blips are not always from good drivers.

 

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MRC

·May 31, 2020

BlackTalon

Some newer cars with automatic (pdk) transmissions do the throttle blips, not the actual driver. So great-sounding blips are not always from good drivers.

Mmmmm, interesting. Could well be the explanation.

 

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Alpha

·May 31, 2020

BlackTalon

Some newer cars with automatic (pdk) transmissions do the throttle blips, not the actual driver. So great-sounding blips are not always from good drivers.

Learn something new every day but that is from someone who has paddle shifts on his car and has only used them once, couldn't quite see the point 😀

 

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amfalconer

·May 31, 2020

Some of the sportier paddle shift boxes do it too if you hold down the shift paddle.

I learned to heel and toe, more for fun than anything, I used to double declutch on my old car as synchro on third was shot.

 

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timjohn

·May 31, 2020

No synchro on 1st and 2nd. Have to double declutch. You'd need a foot like a soup plate to heel and toe...

 

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X350 XJR

·May 31, 2020·Vintage Omega Aficionado

Datsun 240Z, perfect pedal placement, sounds fabulous with triple Webers!

 

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Yellowjacket

·May 31, 2020

I agree! On the Z and and my other sports cars, heel-toe was the way to keep revs up in the engine’s high torque zone during autocross races. It wasn’t to make the shift smoother

 

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tikkathree

·Jun 1, 2020

I do it for my own pleasure just to balance the revs in my 911.
MRC made reference to IAM which I'm guessing to be Institute of Advanced Motorists. When I did my IAM training back in the early 70's they used the police advanced driver training manual "Roadcraft" and I can confirm that the emphasis was on using one control at a time and doing it smoothly but positively so you braked or changed gear but not both at the same time.
You were also encouraged to "make good progress" by driving to the speed limit: I wonder if that's changed....

 

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pascs

·Jun 1, 2020

BlackTalon

Some newer cars with automatic (pdk) transmissions do the throttle blips, not the actual driver. So great-sounding blips are not always from good drivers.

Alfa Romeo had a similar system in their Selespeed cars. Its a manual transmission fitted with automatic gear change mechanism with paddle controls on the steering wheel. Could be slightly temperamental system but worked very well and on the down shift the car would blip the throttle, pretty cool when braking hard and coupled with a bit noisier exhaust 😁

I use heel and toe a fair bit for fun, especially when braking hard for something like a 2nd gear corner, a couple of blips, into 2nd and away, no quicker for me than normal driving but adds some fun 👍

 

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MtV

·Jun 1, 2020

Alpha

Double de clutch was standard practice in my youth but on my cars now it serves no purpose. On the rare occasion I drive my daughters JCW I enjoy doubling if only to listen to the wonderful sound 😀

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch_(technique)

(Didn’t really expect my first post to be about cars, but here goes😀)

The manual transmissions in the current MINI lineup even blip for you, except for the shift down to 1st. Which is a feature I really enjoy and still would love a deactivation-button for, at least on occasions...

„Occasion“ is what heel-and-toeing is about for me, anyway. I couldn’t imagine a non-synchro gearbox for my daily driver, way too lazy for that. But on those few sundays, going to a racetrack (as a spectator) in the early morning, empty B-roads, responsive car, it’s just lovely. After 2-3 attempts to find the right foot position again, that is.

@timjohn To me, that Defender is about as cool as one can travel. Congrats!

 

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Gasman

·Jun 1, 2020

Motorcycles with quickshifters also have auto blip on the downshift. I know I’ve got one.

 

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amfalconer

·Jun 1, 2020

Can we all just take a sec to see Ayton Senna showing us how it's all done? Bonus points for loafers and socks.

 

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destroid

·Jun 1, 2020

Some manuals have an "Auto Blip" feature. I like to do it myself but on the track it is an advantage for an amateur.
Ayrton was from the era of manual F1 and race cars and a master at it.

Fortunately in newer cars (Porsche) you can disable the blip if you want to practice:

 

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vbrad26

·Jun 1, 2020

MRC

Not often seen or heard nowadays,

Guess we hang out with different crowds lol.
I do it daily while coming off a rather short off-ramp into a nice hard right-hander.
After being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic it is the highlight of my commute lol.

Another good heel-toe video at Suzuka

Edited: Jun 1, 2020

 

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Speedmasterfan88

·Jun 1, 2020

I have to double clutch into first and second with the mga as the gears are not synchronized. Heel toe on downshifts is fun, but sometimes if there is enough room I just blip it to make the shift smoother and brake afterwards.

Anyone has experience with left foot breaking though?

 

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amfalconer

·Jun 1, 2020

Tried it, failed hard, my left foot has no idea of progressive braking, it's on or off with that guy.