jefferino

What is funny is that is one of the reasons that I like my tC so much is the placement of the pedals. It is much easier for me to heel toe downshift and I was looking for that. I plan to autocross the car next year and having the pedals close reminds me of my old race car. I can see though that if you wear wide shoes it could be a MAJOR problem. I have actually seen people bend their pedals before to make them closer so maybe you could do the same to make the farther if that would be better for you.

Boosted_TC

...don't complain; the close gas/brake/clutch allow for better heel+toe driving.

djct_watt

yup what those guys said. . . I feel that the brake pedal is too far away on my xA!!!
Any REAL manual car is setup this way. It is the best set up for a manual transmission, so that you CAN hit the gas and brake at the same time.
Unfortunately I think you guys have larger than average feet, so it may not be driver error.

Try Moving your feet/seat back so that you only use your toes to hit the pedal, rather than the "ball"(which means the big flat area on the front of your foot if you know).
Another thing you can try if it gets rediculous is to cut the right edge off the pedal. Now you're going to have a really small brake pedal, which may not be the best thing, so I would recommend that you add on "clamp-on" style aftermarket racing pedals, and position them so that they are farther to the left. This should remedy the problem.

zilasram

.. yeah, the close pedals are from a racing set-up .. . .

. you want them close together to reduce the amount of motion, which of course will eat up valuable time. . .

. . i also think that the clutch is set high for this reason, regardless i still push to the floor. . .. and the gas/brake is the heel approach . .

.. its funny how racing setups complement the female drivers, more than male drivers, . . but that's just the way it is .. .

z

mikewest

being able to brake and blip the throttle (right foot) while downshifting (left foot) is key to handling corners quickly. you don't need to do it for day-to-day driving, but it's pretty much racing 101 if you for the autocross circuit-racing crowd. of course paddle shifters a e-clutches are chaning that a bit

WaterDragon

shifting down to a lower gear and using compression to slow down instead of or in addition to using the breaks.... does that answer your question?

Boosted_TC

...not to argue, but i'd say you're using rpm's to slow the car down, not compression.

JasonH

I'm glad you're not arguing, because you're wrong. From here:

WaterDragon

wow... I was pretty dead-on with my description!

JasonH

Yeah, I got your back.

chris0

thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess I've gotten used to it because I haven't clipped the brake pedal in the last week. either that or my car grew.

and on a side note...just passed the 1000 mile mark, car's all broken in, now for some fun :D

djct_watt

yup

ScottTC

Quote:
Engine Braking

This term describes the driving technique of slowing a vehicle by taking your foot off the throttle, particularly in a lower gear (such as first gear/Low Range). Engine braking uses the compression of the engine and the low gearing of the transmission/transfer gearbox to slow the vehicle.


I see in the definition that it says "by taking your foot off the throttle".

I want to see pictures of these race car tc's you all are driving where by pressing three pedals at the same time actually improves your track time by improving handling or braking or whatever. Sorry I think it sounds a bit silly. But I guess to each his own so if that floats your boat then Cheers.

HollyDo

I thought it was just me and my big chuncky shoes! :oops:

tCtech

most definetly too close. i don't have too much trouble in shoes, but in work boots size 13 it's waaay to close for comfort. bad times

djct_watt

hahaha, although I disagree with you, I see your point.

I don't heel n toe to really improve braking, or even save that much time, as I'm not a hardcore racer or anything, but I use it to maintain better control of the car. . . like when I'm slowing down as I'm turning, and want to downshift without letting off the brakes. I don't feel that it really helps braking all that much since I think my tires are more likely to give than my brakes, but it does make it so that I'm already in gear before I need to be, instead of having to shift later. Sometimes that makes the difference of merging into that hole in traffic, you know? And no, I'm not the punk kid who changes lanes all over the place and goes nowhere, cutting people off for no reason. I look for gaps, holes, and lane openings(following semi's in traffic can be very handy, as they generally keep a constant pace, rather than flooring the gas and brake like other idiots).
Back to the point, I drive a manual, and if I'm in a situation where I'm anticipating a need for sudden acceleration, I like to maintain a low gear, and it's difficult to shift if you are already braking, thus heel n toe comes into play. And it may seem like a pain, but after a few weeks of practice, it comes naturally and doesn't take any extra effort whatsoever.

WaterDragon

Unless I missed it, I don't recall anywhere in this thread where anyone said that they were driving a "race car tC".... I use three peddles on occasion to rev-match so that there's less wear on the synchro's. Like you stated, to each his own, and no one asked you to perform that maneuver.

WaterDragon

lol.... I was typing while you posted this.... but very well said! :D

ScottTC

Well I'm glad yours is not a race car, because mine is!!! :D