944 Heel & Toe downshifting

[George_Mayson]

Hi all. I own a 1983 944 - you may have seen it on the front cover of PP back in June.

One thing I have never been able to master in the 944 is Heel and Toe shifting. I am now extremely well practised at it in my Girlfriends 1969 Beetle, where the pedals all go the same way (floor hinged) like a 911.

Now, can anyone advise how the do it on the 944? Do you really use toe on the brakes and heel on the accelerator, because I find that with the pedal layout, when using the brakes the brake pedal is far higher than the accelerator, so I struggle to bend my foot enough to press the relatively heavy accelerator.

Or, do you use one edge of the ball of your foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator?

Perhaps I'm just needing to get on with it and just get used to bending my foot right back, but I wanted to see if anybody else had worked out a good technique.

Cheers!
George

 

[Eldavo]

Heel and Toe in any car is very difficult if you're only lightly pressing the brakes. On track, where you're giving them a good shove then you'll have the brake pedal far lower so it'll be much easier to blip the throttle with your heel/side of foot.

 

[edh]

Heel and Toe in any car is very difficult if you're only lightly pressing the brakes. On track, where you're giving them a good shove then you'll have the brake pedal far lower so it'll be much easier to blip the throttle with your heel/side of foot.

Exactly....I find the pedal setup is really good on track for H&T. Not a great need for H&T in road driving unless you're really pushing on IMO, in which case you'll be braking harder & it will be easier.

 

[MattDC2]

Hi George,

I enjoyed reading the article on you and your 944. Looks a great car.

I had exactly the same problem when literally trying to use heel and toe. Not sure if it's down to my size 11's, but your latter description of "ball of foot on the brake and roll the right side of your foot onto the accelerator" works just fine for me, on road or track.

I think the term heel n toe can be misleading.

There are some good YouTube videos on the technique.

cheers,
Matt

 

[Ex Skyline]

Try Yoga George, to make your foot more bendy.....!! []

 

[TTM]

My feet are too long for any kind of heel & toeing, so I do toe & toeing instead, braking with the left half of the foot and acting on the throttle with the other half.
It goes wihout saying that the height of the brake pedal should be adjusted first to suit the driver's preference, and that is doable with a spanner and a certain amount of swearing depending on the adjuster's size and flexiblity.

 

[jasonp]

Hey George,,,
nice article and your car looks great...
but with respect,,
that aftermarket decal/porsche sig on the back of yours has to go mate,,,,
easy fix at £45,,,,,,jasonp