Ok, I'm not a TOTAL newbie to DSMs, but I was sitting in awful traffic today and a thought occurred to me. When my roommate drives my car, he brakes while still in gear, then puts the clutch in right before the car will start to stall out. I always put the clutch in before or right when I brake...

Which technique is better? I figured if you're coming to a complete stop or if you're entering a corner when driving aggressivly/racing it'd be better not to have the engine working against your braking, but at the same time does the engine braking really help overall braking distance?

Thanks!

Vandy:wary

If you're just driving around, normal everyday stuff, either way is no big deal.

I myself push the clutch in first. I don't know why,I just don't want the car to buck and possibly stall as you come close to stopping if you don't push the clutch in soon enough.

Now, if you're racing (autocross, road racing, ect...), I'd say it depends on the circumstances. There are times where you might want to mash the brake AND the gas at the same time. (I don't remember what circumstances where that would be needed, maybe to keep a turbo spooled up in a corner?)

But, you get the idea.

I heel-and-toe downshift when I brake.

/\/\/\

I always rev match too. When ur cruising in 4th at say 40mph...put in the clutch, rev er up to about 4200rpm and release......smoothest downshit evar!!! I love my car!! Heel toe is the way to go but it takes lots of practice!!!!!!!!!

I've tried heel-toe downshifting a couple of times, but when you drive with the wheel all the way down like I do, it gets tough. I always end up whaling the brake and sending my passenger into the windshield. :-) Even when I autocrossed I never had to do it.

^ Practice makes perfect. I ride with my wheel pretty low too, people always ask me if I hit my knees. It's a good thing to get use to when daily driving, then it becomes second nature.

Just don't try doing it the first time while your in traffic (don't wanna slam into the car in front of you).

Another thing that you can do is get some racing pedals which have a wide lower part to the gas pedal, which is for heel and toe.

i still don't really understand the whole heel-toe thing. anyone wanna try to explain it?

i have read shit about it, but never really tried, and now I just forget everything i read.

Street driving, yeah, doesn't matter.

Example of braking into a simple turn:
In gear coming to the start of the turn, start to brake as you turn in, depending on speed depends on when you start the brake.
As you are coming to the apex and the rpms drop a little, kick the clutch in and down shift.
Roll your foot onto the gas as you let the clutch out matching engine rpm.
Let of the brake as you getto the apex and roll you foot more onto the gas as you start to exit the turn.
By the time you get to the exit of the turn you should be full throttle.

Trying to type that out doesn't work the best. And this is for a simple turn, not a combination turn, you need to change your line into and exiting the turn, as well as when you brake, how much throttle etc.



http://www.exileracing.com
una salus victus
Mods List: http://highlander.dsmpower.com/sig.htm

I H&T out of habit now. Only time it's given me problems is on the track when I overheated my brakes - I went to roll my foot over to bump up the rpm's and my foot was *under* the gas pedal already because the brake pedal was down so far. Not the best feeling when braking from ~100 mph down to ~30 mph. Oops!

alright though even w/heal toe braking....


are you hitting the brake first, then putting in the clutch and rev matching? (as in the engine is in gear, connected to teh drive train, with the brake being used)

or are you doing it simultaneously...

Actually found a great How To site on Heel/Toe (from the pedal group buy, wish I had gotten in on that!!! x( )

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving/driving_heeltoe.lasso

Hope this clears some up :thumbsup

Vandy

P.S. if there's a repost its my bad, my computer screwed up....

Hey, cool someone found the turnfast site. It has a lot of good info. Personally I heel toe and double clutch downshift always when daily driving. It makes driving more fun and more interesting i think, plus it saves your synchros and is very smooth when you practice it. The thing that sucks though is riding with people that just put in the clutch, wait for the RPMs to drop then row it into 2nd and let out the clutch, everytime they shift i cant help but think about itx(

Hopefully, now that this is natural in daily driving I can work up to using it in auto-X this season and left foot braking too. Does anyone else drive like this?

Originally posted by SilverEclipse
Hey, cool someone found the turnfast site. It has a lot of good info. Personally I heel toe and double clutch downshift always when daily driving. It makes driving more fun and more interesting i think, plus it saves your synchros and is very smooth when you practice it. The thing that sucks though is riding with people that just put in the clutch, wait for the RPMs to drop then row it into 2nd and let out the clutch, everytime they shift i cant help but think about itx( Hopefully, now that this is natural in daily driving I can work up to using it in auto-X this season and left foot braking too. Does anyone else drive like this?

lol me too man

i heel and toe downshift when i wanna drive her like she was made to be driven, thats just all there is to it. its an advanced driving style, so thats why i like it. sets you apart from the daily drivers



_________
96 talon esi-t
san clemente, ca

DarkOne> Screw you guys, i'm going home.
chrysler kid> and fyi i have never HAD to shave.
DR1665> I'm sure your Talon and my Talon are all there needs to be, since we're the only two Talons that really matter around here

Originally posted by sarahdr1665
...some girls like the "nerdy" guys

when I race from like 30mph....From 4th to 2nd.....revved up to like 5000rpm....theres nothing like the feeling of catching 2nd gear RIGHT where the power is then you take off...I've won many a races like that where the other guy is like "Whoa!":thumbsup