shifting techniques Options

[TrD3sgte94]

can somebody tell me how the heel toe method works?

[blu94gt]

Ok I did a report on this for one of my english classes lol, I actually called up the Bragg-Smith Advanced Driving School and talked to an instructor about it (was pretty cool, could hear the Corvette's roaring around in the background while I talked to him).

The explainantions on here are pretty good; you use your toe to lightly brake while you downshift (the car isn't in gear for this) and then before putting the car back in gear you blip the throttle with your heel and ease off the clutch so the engine very smoothly matches up to speed with the drivetrain as you enter the corner. As soon as the car is in gear you should not touch the brakes anymore, the speed should be maintained through the corner and then accelerate onto the straight. This is mostly a useful technique in more high speed track racing where the smoothness of the downshift is crucial in balancing the car's forward/backward motion. For example, if you dump the clutch and pitch the car forward, it will throw the weight distribution off in the corner and you will not be able to corner as fast. The idea is to keep the car level on a front to back basis. Also, to maintain the weight balance do not use the engine to slow down (i.e. shift to a gear lower and let the engine slow down the car).

As for drifting I don't think it's true heel-toe that they're using, but they have their foot like that to control the pedals.

Heel-toe isn't something you're going to use driving on the streets or in an AutoX (just aren't going fast enough that it would make a difference)...and unfortunately most of our Celicas won't be in any fast enough track applications to need this. But if you're ever road racing a Corvette or something you know how to now