ORIGINAL: sihinch
Richard,
any tips for heel-and-toe changing?
Simon
Sure, the basics are that you brake with the toe of your right foot and blip the accelerator with the heel of the right foot when changing down. Accordingly, you need to twist your foot to a kind of uncomfortable angle - envisage a rectangular box with your toes at top left corner and heel at bottom right corner with the foot creating a diagonal between the two.
First tip is to practice doing it without any braking. Just cruise in say 4th and then downchange to third with a blip of throttle in the middle. Left foot can stay on the clutch as we are not trying to double declutch here. Keep doing this until you are comfortable matching the revs on all downchanges, ie., your downchange is smooth and seemless because you have - with your well timed blip - brought the engine revs up to precisely the required level to engage the lower gear without the revs coming up or down any further. The size of the blip depends a little on which downchange you are doing ie., 5 to 4 needs a little blip whereas 3 to 2 needs a bigger one as the gear ratios are further apart, and also the speed of your change.
Second tip is to practice the braking without the blip. Just practice braking with your toes only - or really the ball of your foot and your toes.
Third tip is to try a dry run or three while not moving. In this instance forget about the clutch and gears and just press on the brake pedal while stationary and role your heel off the brake and use it to blip the accelerator. Try getting a constant blip from say idle to 3500rpm. For normal driving on the road this is not a million miles from the size of the blip you are aiming for. On the track when you are changing into the next gear at say 6500rpm you need to give it more of a bootful. You are trying to develop sensitivity and muscle memory for a new physical action. To start with you have to concentrate real hard but later it becomes unconscious. Remember the first time you drove a manual car and let the clutch out to fast? Well you soon got the hang of that.
Fourth tip is to try it one gear at a time on a nice straight - and relatively deserted - road. Try 4 to 3 first. Its a straight shot and is perhaps the easiest to get right. Take it easy. Just try say 2000rpm in 4th and very gentle braking then downshift to 3rd with a little blip on the way. The more confident you get, the harder you can brake and the higher rev changes become easier with your growing precision.
Its really just a case of breaking (no pun intended) it down into steps, practicing a bit, then giving it a try. Be prepared to brake too hard the first time as you are trying to balance a small movement on the brake with a larger movement on the throttle all through the one foot. Do not take a passenger as they will laugh at you (bad for confidence) or swear at you when you try to launch them through the windsheild (bad for relationship with passenger).
As you get more used to it you may find you can do it with your foot more upright and less diagonal by just rolling the side of the foot off the brake pedal. You may also find the pedals are at the "wrong" height - but they are adjustable in a 911, so you can fix that. What works on the road often isn't so good at the track. My brake pedal is a little high on the road but just about right on the track where I am braking much harder and the pedal sinks a little lower.
Good luck - its fun learning a new skill.
RB
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