Please explain the need for heal toe downshifting. Does it really help that much? My tendancy is to not be slowed down enough, then when I let out the clutch the car is still being slowed by the transmission. Is this a bad way to slow the car before entering a turn?

 

In real racing, you don't need to heel-toe, or even downshift. Just bust through your shifts real fast, and slow down enough to make the turnout for the return lane and you're done.

 

The car is not slowed down by the transmission but by the engine. It's that shock that you feel while letting out the clutch that can disturb the car balance while cornering (on the track!!!).

 

to eliminate the unsettling of the car's weight when downshifting.

 

Plus you run the risk of overrevving your motor...and blowing it up.

 

All good points except this one! Brakes were made to slow down the car, not the transmission. Pads and rotors are much less costly than gears, sychros or the whole tranny!

 

Umm...I thought that only double clutching saves wear on your synchros. Heel toe actually increases wear on your synchros as compared to just putting in the clutch and using the brakes, shifting into first after stopping at the light.

Proper heel-toe reduces wear and tear on the drivetrain as compared to improper heel-toe (just putting in the clutch and downshifting without rev-matching).

 

Go to http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving..._heeltoe.lasso for a thorough and in-depth explaination for heel-toeing.

 

I concur! turnfast is awesome

 

Actually heel-toeing, when done properly, will reduce "wear and tear" on the synchros. The reason being is that when you heel-toe you are "rev matching", which requires "blipping" the throttle to match the engine speed with the transmission speed. By "rev matching" you are helping the synchros to mesh the gears properly.

 

How so - heel toeing only brings the engine itself up to the proper rev, the transmission spindle, which the synchros are responsible for bringing to the proper speed to match the drivetrain, is disengaged from the drivetrain while the clutch pedal is down. This means that when you blip the throttle, upon letting the clutch pedal out the synchros have to work to bring the spindle up to the increased rpm speed of the engine (you are downshifting, and the spindle is still traveling at the pervious gear's rpm), thereby causing wear and tear that they would not have had had the user double clutched or simply put in the clutch and braked to a halt.

 

Read this archived thread:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id...=322712#322712

 

Um, what do you put your "toe" on, then?

 

I think he was more referring to perfectly executed blip-throttle downshifts.

 

As you all know how to upshift properly, you must know how to downshift properly.

This is an essential skill to driving a manual car.

Get some Best Motoring videos for demonstration. There's a small video camera pointed to the drivers feet when they lap around the circuit.

 

this is a preference thing...Most people toe the the brake and heel the accelerator. Your toe has must mor control over pressure than your heel so you can control the braking a lot more better. However, I do know some people who toe the accel. and heel the brake...i personally found this to be quite akward and clumbsy. It does take some practice and limber ankles...good shoes and some good heel/toe race pedals (like Razo's) are good too..

 

LOL, thanks for the advice, but that wasn't really my question. Philly_01_ITR_Driver made a reference to using this technique in the snow such that you don't have to use the brake. I was just being a jackass, and as usual, look where it got me