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More advanced driving techniques

A7xogg

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Hampton roads
#1
Anyone who tracks their fiesta st use heal tow downshifting, Left foot braking,or trail braking while on track?Have you guys tried to learn how to do either of these techniques? If so how long did it take you? Has it helped you?
Myself i have only mastered heal toe down shifting. I have used left foot braking and trail braking on slight occasion but im not close to try using them all the time on track. Next year i plan on trying to get left foot braking and trail braking down and just wondering if i can master them in one season of autox?
 


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341
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166
Location
Lecco
#2
Anyone who tracks their fiesta st use heal tow downshifting, Left foot braking,or trail braking while on track?Have you guys tried to learn how to do either of these techniques? If so how long did it take you? Has it helped you?
Myself i have only mastered heal toe down shifting. I have used left foot braking and trail braking on slight occasion but im not close to try using them all the time on track. Next year i plan on trying to get left foot braking and trail braking down and just wondering if i can master them in one season of autox?
Well, I used left foot braking in my first Lancia Integrale only to keep the turbo in pressure. Heal tow downshifting is mostly used in rear traction cars [:)]
I've tried to do heal tow downshifting with my lady's car (a Citroen Grand Picasso) [scratch]..but I forgot it had automatic transmission [:D] [hihi] [hihi] [clap]...so the GPS voice said "but WTF are you doin' turkey??" [hihi]

My lady's car
https://ibb.co/bTnURz
 


TyphoonFiST

9000 Post Club
Premium Account
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Rich-fizzield
#3
Well, I used left foot braking in my first Lancia Integrale only to keep the turbo in pressure. Heal tow downshifting is mostly used in rear traction cars [:)]
I've tried to do heal tow downshifting with my lady's car (a Citroen Grand Picasso) [scratch]..but I forgot it had automatic transmission [:D] [hihi] [hihi] [clap]...so the GPS voice said "but WTF are you doin' turkey??" [hihi]
I wish we could program our cars to talk to us the way we prefer if there was something it didn't like or patronize you for not doing something right. It would be hilarious! id love to hear you say that in an Italians accent in English also in a voice recording on the Forum!
 


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Lecco
#4
I wish we could program our cars to talk to us the way we prefer if there was something it didn't like or patronize you for not doing something right. It would be hilarious! id love to hear you say that in an Italians accent in English also in a voice recording on the Forum!
My voice recorded? omgosh….I don't think to be such an interesting thing [biggrin] [biggrin]...anyway thaank Youu [:)]
 


cxwrench

Active member
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Location
Marin County
#5
Heal toe downshifting is mostly used in rear traction cars
Why would you think it's mostly used in rear wheel drive cars? I'm guessing that's what you mean. I've raced karts a bunch so left foot braking is really easy for me. That said I've never really seen a reason to do it in a 3 pedal car. If I had paddle shifters and only 2 pedals, sure. If I were on a track and had to use the brakes to set the car up for a corner and wasn't downshifting, sure. Normal driving...not so much.
 


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Lecco
#8
Why would you think it's mostly used in rear wheel drive cars? I'm guessing that's what you mean. I've raced karts a bunch so left foot braking is really easy for me. That said I've never really seen a reason to do it in a 3 pedal car. If I had paddle shifters and only 2 pedals, sure. If I were on a track and had to use the brakes to set the car up for a corner and wasn't downshifting, sure. Normal driving...not so much.
I think that this kind of work is done to avoid that rear wheels get blocked by the engine brake, when a low gear is shifted.
For rear wheel drive cars, this block is produced by the excessive engine brake (I hope I wrote this in right english...[wink])
In normal driving, I agree with You, it is unecessary [:)]
 


cxwrench

Active member
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Location
Marin County
#9
I think that this kind of work is done to avoid that rear wheels get blocked by the engine brake, when a low gear is shifted.
For rear wheel drive cars, this block is produced by the excessive engine brake (I hope I wrote this in right english...[wink])
In normal driving, I agree with You, it is unecessary [:)]
Yes, it's used to smoothly downshift as you decelerate. Generally you'd be braking hard enough that you don't actually need to go through all the gears on a normal H pattern stickshift. If you have a sequential gear box you'd have to go through each gear til you reached whichever one you'd be using on corner exit. Downshifting improperly/not smoothly will upset a front wheel drive car just like a rear wheel drive car but you're right...it won't generally cause unwanted oversteer.
 


alexrex20

1000 Post Club
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Spring
#10
I heel/toe on downshifts and also left-foot brake and trail brake. It's easier to learn left foot braking on the track. On the street it's hard to be smooth with your left foot and FiST brakes are very sensitive. Left foot braking makes a huge difference on the track. You can keep the turbo spooled by gassing up early or simply by not lifting, and more importantly you can adjust the attitude of the car via weight transfer.

Do you need to do any of them on the track? Not at all. But it helps.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 


Woods247

2000 Post Club
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Atl
#11
I heel/toe all the time on the street and track. I’m still learning left foot braking on track. I haven’t found the balance point yet. I’ve practice in a couple of turns at different tracks, but so far it feels wrong. I’m left foot dominant so my modulation needs of work. That and my brakes are ridiculously effective. Eventually it’ll help me be much smoother and flow faster.
 


Messages
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Location
Lecco
#12
I heel/toe all the time on the street and track. I’m still learning left foot braking on track. I haven’t found the balance point yet. I’ve practice in a couple of turns at different tracks, but so far it feels wrong. I’m left foot dominant so my modulation needs of work. That and my brakes are ridiculously effective. Eventually it’ll help me be much smoother and flow faster.
Yea, find the balance point with the left foot is pretty hard..then, after some practice, it becomes instinctive [:)]
The first time I've tried left foot braking has been really comical….I pressed the pedal so strongly that my passenger (Was my Pa) slipped under the glove compartment……(He is still there) [hihi]
 




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