Heel & toeing and left foot braking in Formula Ford.

[Don Rennis]

It seems to me that the art and ability to ‘heel & toe’ is rapidly disappearing in FF. Maybe it’s not necessary, or even desirable anymore. What about left foot braking - is that now universal in FF?
Interested to get some feedback from you FF pilots.

[JNWRF01]

Heel and Toe - absolutely - esp on the "big stops" and in the wet.

Left foot braking - doubtful makes any difference over a laptime.

[spearce]

Not possible to left foot brake on many of the older cars as the s/column is in the way - unfortunately.

[JustinDawkins]

Agree Steve, some left foot brake, but very few. All the quick peole heel and toe. Heel and toe makes a difference between laptime. Left foot braking does as well, but it takes some getting used to, and you go a lot slower when learning!

[Bob Pearson]

This is interesting.
I have never got round to learning to heel and toe, and neither have my two sons. An interesting conversation ensued between the quicker of my sons and another driver with whom he sometimes finds m=himself racing with around the front of the BARC Renault field. The other driver was a believer of heeling and toeing and neither could understand how the other could drive as quickly as he did.
This leads one to question whether it really does achieve anything other than make a safer down change in the wet.

[Morcilman]

you can drive a FF without heel and toe and be quick, but in othere categories with H gearbox you will absolutelly need it. The problem now a days is that if you dont learn to master it in FF is very difficult to learn it later, and even worst if you have being fast in FF. Its a pitty, but drivrs are less and less prepared now a days.

[Irv the Swerve]

left foot braking can be useful in corners without a downchange and these are usually fast corners. To be honest, I tried it once, scared myself silly and have been reluctant to do it again.
Incidentally, a good way to practice is to knock your road car into neutral and use your left on the stopper - it will give you the touch that you need if you haven't karted.

[Mackmot]

A lot of driver in that we get dont want to learn the important things like that because they tend to think they already know everything. The first thing we have to do is make them realise that they are there to learn not win, and then winning will come to them.

Its also a problem that drivers now are in such a rush to move up, they dont stick around and learn they just want to keep moving up to the next step.

[mattray]

I remember watching Dan Wheldon when he was in FF, I dont think he ever bothered H/T but compare his style to Jenson Buttonwho was super smooth and always H/T and who made fewer mistakes?! I have always done it if nothing else it sounds better innit!!

[Russfeld]

Do you need to though? If you're left foot braking, as long as you get the car intro neutral before you blip, isnt that pretty much the next best thing to heel-toe? As long as the downchange is smooth id assume mission accomplished.

[JNWRF01]

Slip a single seater into neutral whilst braking !!! Good luck, I think you'll be eating gravel quicker than John Holmes's love interest whilst filiming on a beach!

H&T - a) No you don;t 100% need it in FF b)It makes you smoother (slightly) and I am sure if you progress up the ladder into quikcer and more power machinery you'll find it more and more useful

LFB - IMO I have only ever LFB a single seater at same gear corners (and to be honest slow same gear corners as I haven;t mastered it). Occassionally I brake normally (and h&t) and let my left foot take over the braking and get onto the power with my right (ie at Druids @ Brands)

If you really are interested in LFB speak to Pennti Arrikala - he's the man.

[jminsh]

Your asking for trouble if you try and Left Foot Brake in a FF for one most 1600 cars have the steering in the way, for two its not like theve too much power to harness !!.

As for Heel and Toe it does help i believe as you don't tend to get the rear wheels locking which can be quite exciting at some corners. Also it takes the shock out of the transmission and saves the dogrings .

[Don Rennis]

This is indeed fascinating.

Is it of general opinion that the Zetec national championship guys, who are invariably ex-karters heel & toe, and or left foot brake?

[Mackmot]

They should do and we try to teach them how to drive race cars properly, but often when they come from karting they think they already know it all.

[Russfeld]

I tested a Zetec car for a very top squad once in the late 90s, and was talking to a driver who did *very* well in F3, and I was asking him how he was getting his downchanges in time for a particular corner, and he couldnt comprehend that I was using a clutch. Apparently the rest of the team werent even breathing the throttle on upshifts.

[Don Rennis]

Russfeld, this is what I'm hearing.
I'm faced with a dilema with coaching an ex karter. Do I say "what the hell" and just slam it through the gears, clutchless! Or do i teach him to heel and toe and use the clutch?

What's the view guys?

[Russfeld]

If its your car or your team, he'd better learn. Put it this way, when he breaks the gearbox, make him repair the first one. One of the reasons I made sure I knew how to heel-toe was because I did a stint as a school mechanic. I can stack gears faster than I could get a girl's bra off.

From a practical standpoint, more and more cars are losing their manuals, at the very least they're going sequential. The ideal mix imo is a driver with good enough footwork that they can left foot brake and still baby the gearbox. I had a video of Emmerson Fittipaldi driving CART at Phoenix *way* back and he's left foot braking a regular H pattern, with no clutch on up or downshifts. Sounded amazing and he had the foot action of a ballerina.

[Morcilman]

teach him how to do it properly and looking after the box, once he knows how to do it he can choose not to, but is very important for a driver to be able to do it if he needs to. I can prove to you that no matter what car, in the rain is faster to drive with heel and toe, and for sure as Russfeld says the team box budget will notice it a lot!!!

[Don Rennis]

I agree Russfeld and Morcilman totaly. I don't think you can beat 'knowing' how to do it all - then choosing 'if' you want to do it all. Lets face it. It's a fat lot of use being a 10th or two faster for a few laps... but wrecking the gearbox and not finishing!
I understand the likes of Davidson never bothered with the clutch, on up or down shifts - and so never bothered with Heel&Toe manouveres !!!

[goughy]

Having raced in FFord 1600 for 2 seasons and having just completed the Zetec Winter Series I would say Heel and Toe is a must. Some chicanes I don't but that’s so I get the 'snatch' effect to aid the car change direction, but in all other situations heel and toeing is so much smoother. As said, it’s more important in the wet as if you just bang into a lower gear the rear locks which creates oversteer on entry which is not so desirable. I know of drivers who are consistently going through dog rings but we did a whole season only changing a dog once.

In a Zetec I think it’s more important to do it as they do require a bigger heel and toe than a 1600. I’ll be surprised if there are drivers not doing it at this level as I can only see it as a big compromise, not only on reliability but on performance too.

[Tim Falce]

Why do you heel and toe if some people deem it unecasary?

[Russfeld]

How do you *not* match the revs though? I can understand clutchless upshifts with a breathe, but even those are risky. I lost my first ever race lead getting too nervous and grabbing neutral instead of the next gear. Likewise I threw away a decent podium later on doing a downshift to 1st and locking up the rear and doing a 180. And that time I was heel-toing, I just got too excited. I cant imagine how you can do a lap at competitive speed without treating the gearbox properly. How the hell do these guys drive road cars?

[goughy]

I've always done it from my first ever test in a fford. My dad, an ex-rally driver, taught me heel and toeing in a road car while I was still karting. In road cars you heel and toe to stop the massive weight transfer of engine breaking and it just seems the natural thing to do. To be quite honest I have never tried to drive a lap not doing it. I feel it would just destroy the box for starters and the price dogs are you don't want to be doing that.

[UKFFORDSTER]

Originally posted by Don Rennis
It seems to me that the art and ability to ‘heel & toe’ is rapidly disappearing in FF. Maybe it’s not necessary, or even desirable anymore. What about left foot braking - is that now universal in FF?
Interested to get some feedback from you FF pilots.

I heard that Clarkey-boy is good at Hell and toeing... oops I mean heel and toe-ing and left foot braking. Dont know how much of that to beleive though

[Red Dog]

When I am on the limit turning in to a corner if I do a poor job of heel and toeing I always lose time as it unsettles the car. I have to use extra lock and can't get back on the throttle as quick but I don't necessarily lose a place. I have listened very carefully to all the front runners and every one heels and toes. I don't think it is a question of how much power I think it is how little power. Less power means every bit of speed you lose hurts your lap time more.

I am still trying to learn how to left foot brake - my tutor tells me it is at its most effective when you need to lose a little bit of speed for a high speed corner, and by left foot braking you can keep the throttle on and avoid unwanted weight transfer.