Recently chatted in a local car forum regarding heel and toe downshifting technique. There was quite a bit of controversy about whether the technique was required.

Based on driving literature and my own anecdotal experience, the difference is marked and I would approach refining my shifting first before attempting to clip an apex quicker or dive in later on braking.

Yet others seem to feel differently, for e.g.
"...not absolutely needed as proven by some racers who have won competitions..."
"...heel and toe isnt that important and dont worry too much about it..."
"...heel and toe not so important...better to focus more effort on the braking..."

Just wondering what the drivers here think.

 

I'm a big fan of heel-and-toe down shifts. Adding engine braking to true threshold braking and you've got a skid. It might be a short one but it's still not optimal. It's also more important for car control when braking hard in a corner where a skid has more negative consequence. The fact that all Formula 1 cars' transmissions match revs during down shifts trumps all arguments to the contrary.

Most of us don't drive at the level where it makes a big difference but Skip, the S2000 lap record holder around Summit Point, doesn't heel-and-toe. I'm 7/100s off the record and I do. The fastest guy I've ever seen in an S2000, Rene, does h&t. It makes me wonder how much faster could Skip be if he did h&t.

The proper method is to keep your heel on the floor mat while braking and use the right side of your right foot to roll over to depress the throttle for the blip. I had to add a pedal extension to the S2000 to allow me to do it properly. Some actually use their heel to blip the throttle but if you use that technique you lose the fine muscle control allowed by keeping your heel on the mat and using your feet and even toe muscles to modulate the brakes. With your heel in the air you're using your thigh muscles and your body is more likely to move around under braking making fine control more difficult.



Here's a link to my web page about heel-and-toeing: http://robrobinette.com/S2000HeelToe.htm

 

I don't know how you can not heel toe and be fast but some people seem to?
Before I learnt I had to brake earlier then come off the brake to blip the throttle.
So you end up clutch in, coasting while you blip the throttle.. doesn't feel good at all.
Now I heel toe I can brake later, downshift/revmatch and keep my foot coverring the brake if I need till I'm back on the gas.

I heel toe with the front of my foot/toes on the brake, the back of my foot is off the floor then twists right to catch the side of accelerator.
Its easier to do if you grab pull the gas pedal over a bit just be carefull its not too close else you end up hitting the brake and gas at the same time.

I still row thru every gear on multi downshifts and let the clutch out on each one to engine brake.
I think I lose time doing this and am wasting my clutch but I don't want to overrev and its good practice.

 

I think this guy does proper heel toe without left foot braking and lets the clutch out on each downshift
If I could get half this good I'd be pretty happy
He uses his left foot to just get the brakes ready like they do in these cars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1rXJHhlSLc

 

I use the heel in the air technique (I picked it up from some of the Best Motoring videos), although I tend to do it too early, as shown here at Spa.

It does result in fewer rear lockups over my previous "normal" technique, so is a benefit for your average track day amateur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXOlp4onqmY

 

I cannot fathom running around the track not using heel and toe techniques!

And for the record, I frequently skip gears when heel toeing, such as 4th to 2nd
I have never felt the need to row down just one gear at a time in the car, and of course on the bike, I skip shifts all the time
6th revmatched down to 3rd, then full throttle acceleration trying to keep the front tire on the ground is when the fun just starts to kick in

 

I brake and hit the clutch at the same time so the ABS isn't fighting the idling engine. I let the revs drop to idle while I'm braking and when I'm ready to down shift I blip the throttle for the clutch release (not the shift itself). The downside to this technique is you have to know what gear you need. On a new track rowing down through the gears will let you discover what gear is best for each corner. The major downside of rowing down through the gears is no matter how good you are you will alter the brake pedal pressure during the heel and toe.

 

I think I need to start skipping sometimes but if I keep practicing I should get good enough it makes no difference
I mean the engine braking effect is on the rear wheels I never locked a rear on the brake

 

Threshold braking--getting close to 100% out of your brakes and tires--is a very fine line (but masked by ABS) and the foot pedal movements during heel-and-toe are enough to move you away from 100%. Most people release some brake pressure during the throttle blip. Take a look at pretty much any non-professional racer's acquisition data during braking and you'll see brake pressure and/or deceleration varying during braking while shifting.

 

Not sure if I'm right or wrong, but I row through gears to get transmission shaft up to speed. I don't clutch in and out for each gear during a heel-toe, though.