Heel toe question.
 

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have some issues doing heel toe downshifting on my 8 and was looking for some advice from those who have experience. My issue is that I can't seem to get my foot to twist in far enough to blip the throttle with my heel, or even the side of it, without my knee being blocked. I do sit fairly close, but that is most comfortable for my steering. How do some of you get around this? Are there any stretches that help, or could it be my frame? im about 5'8-5'9 220lbs at about 13% bf. I do have rather large legs. could this be the problem? or is it my sitting position? Id really appreciate any insight.

Many of us have fitted an extension to the acc. pedal to help with this . Its also good idea to practice with the car stationary so you can adjust your seating position to best effect.

Thanks, Is there a product already made for this, or is it a homemade mod? And when I just searched accelerator pedal extension I found one DIY where somebody just moved the pedal. I might try that.

A couple of things:

1. Driving shoes are much easier to manipulate the pedals than boots or running shoes

2. Don't be afraid to stick your head under your steering wheel and see what everything looks like. Racers have been bending metal pedal assemblies for years to get them closer together. The Mazda accel pedal is a plastic unit and it will break if you try and move it. Take a look at the brake pedal. Heel/Toe is a throttle and brake relationship. The clutch is independant.

There are about three methods that drivers usually use for the H/T. They all involve how you touch/brush/push the accel pedal. Some people touch the accel pedal with their heel, others roll their rt foot and activate it this way, others will pivot on their heel and blip the throttle with the ball of their foot.

Advice:

-Bring that brake pedal waaaay over and right next to the accel pedal. You'll then have many more options.

-Make the space between them tight enough so an error will not allow your foot to sneak down inbetween the two pedals.

-Use driving shoes


Now here is the money hot tip: The proper benefits of h/t in road racing allow you to maximum brake and match your cars rpm to the cars speed so the rear tires do no upset traction which allows the car to retain grip which allows the car to be driven very quickly. ALMOST EVERYBODY will lift off the brake pedal when performing h/t. Everybody. This is easy to see when you data log your brake pedal pressure (which we've been doing for years and many top level teams will also record). It is a skill to gently hood your foot on the brake and blip the throttle once or twice, shift and dance the car on the edge of grip at 100mph 3 feet from another car. Technically what is happening (or not happening) is a h/t effort almost always lifts pressure off the brake so braking is not optimized in the brake zone. To put this another way, you approach a braking zone (street or track), your desire is maximum braking, you depress the brake pedal vigorously activating the brakes and you hold it down---right? OK, now let's pretend you lift off the brake pedal as you h/t. You have not maximized braking for that small distance that your foot has come off the brake pedal.

Talented drivers will retain the same amount of brake pedal pressure when h/t and/or they can choose to add more or less brake. Most (and near all) people will pull their foot off the brake when h/t.

Have fun and don't be afraid to get into ABS when you try this. ABS is your friend.

My pedal is not modified and I don't have anything more than just a regular shoe. I sit with the seat full forward and my knees jammed into the dash panels and don't have any problem :dunno: the dash panel has actually cracked from my RH knee being jammed into it. My carpet even has a hole in it worn down to the floorboard from six years of my heal digging into it.

maybe you just need to work on technique and practice, practice, practice ...

Thank, this does help. I am using piloti DTM shoes. I was driving about 1000 miles a week a few months ago, so i was destroying the heels of shoes extemely fast, so I got those. Ill try and find which of thise methods is most comfortable for me and keep all of this in mind

I try not to break things haha, Im used to a 350z and there is a lot more room down there. Ive only had the rx8 for a few days now.

Just move the seat back as little as possible so you knee won't hit, I had the same problem you'll eventually just feel comfortable with the new seating position it won't be that big of a change

It only saves a quarter of inch or so but it helps a lot.

I'm not sure which model you have but the aluminum cover on the pedal is held on by 2 hex screws. You can remove these and slide the cover down and to the left by one hole and then screw them back in. The hole you are moving it to isn't made for this but it holds just fine. It also doesn't sit perfectly but you won't notice it once your driving. It is easy cheap and free; try it, if you don't like it change it back. I have had this setup for over a year and have not had any problems. I also have big feet so that makes it a bit easier :p.

Eric, if felt good to hear you say that almost everyone lets up on the brake when performing the h/t maneuver. I've gotten half-way decent at h/t on the street (hoping to track my RX-8 starting next year), but no matter how hard I try, I find myself letting up on the brake as I do it. Nice to know I'm not the only one!

I've adjusted my seating position a bit, I cant do it to quite the extent I've seen some professionals do, actually using their heel, but I can tap it where the arch of my foot is if I'm braking fairly hard. I'm going to try and adjust the pedal tomorrow, and practice some more.

H&T is more about the results than exactly how you do it - if the brake stays where it needs to and the engine gets revved up to where it needs to be for the next gear it's all gravy :)