Left foot braking

Yayox said:
and how it benefits you in handle?
it maks the car sideways right?

Complitely the opposite! Imagine you're going in 4th and brake HARD before the corner. You need 3rd or even 2nd to make good exit, if you press the clutch, engage gear and release the clutch while cornering, you have big chance of ending sideways because of momentary change of torgue on rear (I assume RWD) wheels.
The only right way is to select a gear before the corner, enter the corner braking and smoothly accelerate out from the apex. And since shifting 4->2 isn't trivial while braking hard from high speed, you need to rev the engine just before you release the clutch to match it with gearbox and wheels.
So while you're stepping on brake with your right foot's toe, you press the clutch, move the shifter, momentarily blip the throttle with a heel and release the clutch while engine is revving.
Sounds simple (well, maybe not) but actually it requires lot of practise :) When I try that and fail to blip the throttle, I usually panic, go into the corner with clutch depressed, because I'm afraid to release it and end up sideways, and release it only at the exit. Loosing valuable time :(
More often I just brake earlier so I have some time to change a gear, because it's slower without heel&toe.
 
Was that a comment to my post? I din't say you should brake in corner. I said you should brake before corner and "enter the corner braking". I do mean only entry, not the curve itself. Well, maybe not clear enough.
 
Leppy said:
^^^

You should have done all the braking before the corner. Braking while cornering is for bad drivers only.
Or FWD cars. It'e not the greatest performance machine, just trying to make due with what I got. It's really weird controlling the rear with the brake pedal, it used to be the other way around. :lol:
 
MXM said:
Was that a comment to my post? I din't say you should brake in corner. I said you should brake before corner and "enter the corner braking". I do mean only entry, not the curve itself. Well, maybe not clear enough.

No it was to gerenals comment.

He said experts brake during the corner.
 
Braking while cornering is NOT for bad drivers!!! For tight hairpins you need brakes while going into the corner to get the car rotated as well as you won't be at the limit of the car!!!
This doesn't mean all the braking should be done in the corner, this means some will be under a straight line, some will be done during the corner

90degree< turns usually require trail braking, (Braking while entering the corner) If you ever talk to race car drivers (Jon Fogarty ALMS) they will tell you the same thing.

For further proof of this, if you ever look at Data Acquisition of Schumacher out of "Ferrari Formula 1"(p196), he is braking then turning in to corner Still lateral deacceleration (which means he is still braking) moving toward full longitudinal acceleration (Or full turning ability)

Now, for 90degree> turns yes braking should be done before (In most cases) and you should accelerate through the whole corner.
 
From what i know...which isn't really that much :( LFB is used to stabilise a FWD car going into and through a corner by minimising the weight transfer during braking into a corner.

If you brake hard before a corner the weight transfer to the front wheels will be huge, compressing the springs, as soon as you lift off the brake the springs will release and when you accelerate the weight transfer will go towards the rear...not good for traction at the front, making it more likely to spin wheels and slow you down, also decreases steering ability.

LFB on the other hand, allows you to brake while still on the accelerator, so the car wont deccelerate as quickly but because the rear brakes are doing most of the braking the weight wont transfer to the front wheels as severly, as a result of all that when you get off the brake there isn't a huge weight transfer to the rear and because you have been on the accelerator the whole time there won't be a big spike of power to break traction and spin the front wheels....i hope that made sense


another advantage of LFB is when driving AWD turbo cars, because you stay on the power the whole time the turbos don't spool down and lose boost....so the turbo lag isnt as noticable, if at all. generally a good thing :thumbsup: unfortunately this also tends to eat brake pads...not good :thumbsdown: but hey brakepads are cheap :D

I hope this has helped...

personally i think there should be a whole new thread on driving techniques and the physics of car control, fascinating stuff
 
LFB is more for smoothness in rwd cars, as you balance the throttle against the brakes to smoothen the transitions. You can use a more rearward brake bias without the associated instability if you LFB (to get better straight line braking). Mid engined cars are typically much more sensitive to this. You get wicked oversteer if you come off the brakes too quickly when in the corner.

In a fwd it's less important for that, but moreso for balancing the rear when on the throttle (mid corner). It's only handy for steady state understeer prone fwd's too, a good one can hold line.

The reason is the same though, to dynamically vary the brake distribution.
 
Normally when I race go-karts (more precisely when I used to race) left foot braking was the only to go; like you must use it in order to gain speed in cornering or else people could pass you very easily. I think it takes too much time to brake and slow the car first, then throttle when making a turn in racing. Practically all race cars drivers use heel-toe method (and double-clutch; but it's not necessary for newer cars now) to get more power when turning, even for F1 racers. Of course, it's not cool to do this on busy streets, only try this when you're in a safe environment :)
 
bobo_1314 said:
Normally when I race go-karts (more precisely when I used to race) left foot braking was the only to go; like you must use it in order to gain speed in cornering or else people could pass you very easily. I think it takes too much time to brake and slow the car first, then throttle when making a turn in racing. Practically all race cars drivers use heel-toe method (and double-clutch; but it's not necessary for newer cars now) to get more power when turning, even for F1 racers. Of course, it's not cool to do this on busy streets, only try this when you're in a safe environment :)

First bold point.

Not only do you do it for speed... but its mighty hard to get your right foot over the steering column to get to the pedal :p

Second bold Point.

That sort of stuff is nessesary in the V8 Supercars. You don't do it and you quickly find out what gearbox throwing a dog ring sounds like.
 
More precisely I should say when cornering in go-kart racing it's necessary to use both the brakes and the throttle at the same time. Sorry for the confusion!

P.S. Never try to use your right foot to brake in go-kart; it's not some acrobat training to cross your legs over the steering column to prove how flexible your body is :lol:
 
Personally, I would like to left foot brake when I start drive at teh start of next year cos it looks pro 8) Many race car drivers do it.

On a race track you usually only left foot brake so that you can still apply pressure on the throttle at the same time. Why would you want to do that? Well at higher speeds usually, if you let go of the throttle, the rear of the car tends to "step out". This usually means the REAR has "OVERTOOK" the FRONT and that usually ends up in the car getting crossed up. Applying throttle pressure balances the car during braking.

Thats my essay for the nite :D
 
For all I'm concerned, left foot braking is only used in autocross courses, where brake balance is extremely vital to a good time. Professional drivers use left foot braking to have more control, but it requires that you learn how to handle both pedals accurately.

I have read that Michael Schumacher uses left foot braking while Barrichello uses standard braking.
 
I think in a FWD manual it's easier to use engine breaking as it has the same effect. On an auto or RWD car I'd use the LFB.
 
chickeneater said:
For all I'm concerned, left foot braking is only used in autocross courses, where brake balance is extremely vital to a good time. Professional drivers use left foot braking to have more control, but it requires that you learn how to handle both pedals accurately.

I have read that Michael Schumacher uses left foot braking while Barrichello uses standard braking.

mmmm some people in V8 supercars use it...
 
chickeneater said:
For all I'm concerned, left foot braking is only used in autocross courses, where brake balance is extremely vital to a good time. Professional drivers use left foot braking to have more control, but it requires that you learn how to handle both pedals accurately.

I have read that Michael Schumacher uses left foot braking while Barrichello uses standard braking.
I don't have a V8 supercar :)... Many Professional drivers use left foot braking, but anyone can do it at a track, but I'm young and have never raced at a track, with the exception of autocross.
 
sort of different question but why are we taught only to use the right fot for throttle and brake in normal road driving in automatic cars? IT seems like we would have better control and better reaction time when using brake in an emergency becasue wewouldn't have to swing our foot over from gas to brake
 
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