Is it hard to learn?
I've been trying to get the hang of it in my CRX but its difficult. My feet are too big so I can't heel-toe exactly I have to kind of rock my foot to the gas pedal from the brake. Any tips? I'd like to get the technique down. My sticky throttle might not be helping much either. I was think if I got new pedals with the grippier stuff for the brake and the larger smooth gas pedal it would help. Thanks.

 

I've been autocrossing for years and don't heel/toe downshift. I know plenty of National competitors who also don't do it either and do well.

Actually if i have to shift to first for a corner I just blip the throttle before downshifting.

 

I would suggest doing it without using the brake first. Just get on a straight and level road (that doesn't have anyone on it) and just practice blipping the throttle before downshifting. Get that part of it smooth. Then try doing it with the brake. The way I was taught, the balls of your toes are on the brake pedal and your heel controls the gas. I usually just sort of rock my foot over and hit the gas with my heel/side of the foot. Closely spaced pedals may help also.

It isn't all that useful in day to day driving, but it's kinda fun.

 

just keep practicing.. took me about a month to be able to do it smoothly.. you don't really need it in auto-x although i do on rare occassions use it.. however, it's a must on road course.. strangely enough, it's easier to do it on track than the street..

 

I moved my foot up on the brake. I used to brake with my toe but now i use more the center of my foot. It has really made heel toe more easy for me. I having been practicing for a couple months and now its second nature. Practice when rolling up to stops signs... where there is no traffic.

 

it is definitely easier to do it at a track b/c you are always braking the same amount for each corner where on a street you are always braking differently for each situation

the best place to learn without being too dangerous is on a cloverleaf interchange...braking consitently (not lockup) and practice

 

depending on the course layout i will sometimes heel toe from third to second at an autox. not a lot of courses allow me to hit third but id say almost half the events this season have had long starts and i would reach third(b18c with type r tranny) for about 2 seconds and then would have to heel toe for a corner. not that big of a deal. just keep practicing till you know your gearing and throttle response.

driving at the limmit actually helps to do it smoothly and also i cant even begin to tell you how mych a nice light flywheel helps. just one quick blip of the heel and the revs will be right up where you need them.

 

here's a written blurb that might be helpful and hopefully not too confusing. my best advice is for you to ride along with someone to see how it's done.

http://www.littlemini.us/technical/heelandtoe/article.pdf

 

Maybe some pedal covers will help bridge the gap between brake and throttle pedals. The RAZO carbon fiber (I'm not sure if they're real CF or not, that's just the description) pedal covers work great for me.

 

My ankle is not flexible enough for me to heel-toe.