OV9

A er.... friend struggles with heal and toeing as soon as he is putting some real brake pressure on.

So how do people manage it ?

Currently I have to break with the inner half of my foot and then while braking tilt my foot over to stab the throttle. On relatively firm braking this is fine and obviously I sound like a driving god. Despite loads of practice it still clumsy and on bumpy roads my foot doesn't feel that secure.

Do most people hit the throttle with the heel and keep the ball of the foot on the brake ? I don't think my ankle can twist that much and the clips brake pedal is pretty firm.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 11:23 am A er.... friend struggles with heal and toeing as soon as he is putting some real brake pressure on.

So how do people manage it ?

Currently I have to break with the inner half of my foot and then while braking tilt my foot over to stab the throttle. On relatively firm braking this is fine and obviously I sound like a driving god. Despite loads of practice it still clumsy and on bumpy roads my foot doesn't feel that secure.

Do most people hit the throttle with the heel and keep the ball of the foot on the brake ? I don't think my ankle can twist that much and the clips brake pedal is pretty firm.

Dave!

That.

Only the left (approx 80%?) or the ball of my foot on the break. It’s the side of my foot that prods the throttle - not the heel.

I think it really depends on how the pedals are positioned. The 330i SPAWTAH was perfect for the classic most of the ball and the heel for a blip. The 166 SUPER was clearly not designed for that as I had to blip with the side of my foot.

I kinda miss H+T and only get to do it in the sim rig now.

Jimmy Choo wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:05 pm I think it really depends on how the pedals are positioned.

So true. Don’t make me break out my VXR8/dishwasher parts images again….

So the answer is it depends.

I need a bit more heel practice but it could be I'm just an oaf.

Dave!

It definitely depends, some cars are just easier than others.

Pedal spacing - both horizontally and in depth, pedal weight, pressure and response, I would assume pivot point and movement arc too.

Best car I’ve had for it was the e30, nothing else has come anywhere near. I guess if you’re an expert who has used it a lot in many different cars then you’ll find it easier to adapt your style to individual vehicles.

Yeah it’s easy on a sim, but real world pedal spacing rules out a lot of cars. I’ve always wondered on the difficulty of this in the real world on a racing car. Assuming they have very mildly assisted brakes, such that one would be putting over 100kg of force into the brake pedal, whilst pivoting the heel - must get painful after a while.

100% pedal alignment- for instance its a struggle to heel and toe my works Vauxhall vivaro as the throttle pedal sits about 3” above the throttle. It’s clearly not that much of an issue in a van, but is the most obvious case of pedals not helping I’ve come across

As a technique I generally break with the left side of my foot and roll my ankle to hit the throttle, as my ankles are fucked and following traditional heel and toe technique fucking hurts

Basically I can’t do this



If you can’t do that and the pedals are too far apart you can get kits that give you a larger throttle pedal

jamcg wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 1:44 pm
If you can’t do that and the pedals are too far apart you can get kits that give you a larger throttle pedal

Although that image is defo an MOT fail - need a 50mm minimum gap between brake and throttle.

Disclaimer- while the image was posted my jamcg to demonstrate the availability of extended throttle pedals, jamcg does not condone modifying a vehicle outside of mot test requirements, and definitely does not recommend the removal of said items once a year for…… reasons

All very well covered above. Lotus and Caterham with the fairly tight pedal boxes are usually well set up for it IME, when you get into cars less overtly designed as sports cars it can be trickier.

I generally find it easier when putting in a bit more pressure into the break pedal, gives a bit more stability for pivoting. Having said that when you're going much faster and potentially have some lateral acceleration as well (such as during STW), and things are happening quicker, it's a lot to do in not much time. Fun challenge though.

I've big feet but can't seem to get my ankle to rotate at all, I gave it another go on a long route to Tescos.

I may temporarily extend my accelerator pedal and see if that helps having it a little higher.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 5:38 pm I've big feet but can't seem to get my ankle to rotate at all, I gave it another go on a long route to Tescos.

I may temporarily extend my accelerator pedal and see if that helps having it a little higher.

Dave!

There’s a common mod for 182’s where you unbolt the throttle pedal and fit a spacer underneath to lift the whole pedal and roll it slightly to one side

Fabia was great for this, had a larger brake pedal, which also made left foot breaking easier.

Who remembers the first time they tried left foot braking?

John wrote: Sun Jan 04, 2026 11:28 am Who remembers the first time they tried left foot braking?

Ford sportka. With sun visor half down. Those things hurt when you headbut them

John wrote: Sun Jan 04, 2026 11:28 am Who remembers the first time they tried left foot braking?

When I first got the Jag, I did left foot braking when I forgot i didn't have a clutch.

It's years since I've driven one, but seem to recall that the pedal spacing on Clio 182s wasn't great for H+T