its tricky, and i cant master if yet either. But i ahvent really gone out and tried alot. Its too much work for me in the morning when i drive to school.

 

I thought it was pretty much pointless to "double clutch" with the syncro mesh (may be incorrect term) of our gear boxes.

Here is a better (less drift specific) write up


http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/heelandtoe.html

(and for the lazy ones who dont wanna click the link)

Heel toe Downshifting
Why is “Heel toe” important? Remember, as you approach the traction limit of your tires, anything that takes traction can cause the car to slide. Have you ever downshifted and released the clutch too quickly and felt the car jump as the engine RPM’s were forced up to match the cars speed? Kind of like tapping the brakes. Think of this, if you are driving at 70 mph in 4th gear, at 4000 rpm’s and shift down to 3rd, your engine rpm’s will go up, to say 5200 rpm’s. You can accomplish this by easing out the clutch, until the engine is forced up in rpm’s by the car. This works, but it is slow, hard on the clutch and transmission synchros, and uses up some of your traction to force the RPM’s up. The alternative is to match the engine speed to the transmission speed (in the lower gear). This can be done by pushing in the clutch, blipping the throttle, selecting the lower gear and releasing the clutch. The problem is, downshifting is done at the same time we are braking. Guess what, we have two feet and three pedals to operate simultaneously! The Heel Toe technique solves this problem.

“Heel toe” is a misnomer. It can be done in many ways, depending on the pedals in the car, and the anatomy of the driver. Although it can be, it is not usually done with the heel and toe. The process is commonly done by placing the ball of the foot on the right side of the brake pedal, and while holding consistent brake pressure, the side of the foot rolls onto the throttle, “blipping” the throttle. Depending on your anatomy, and the pedals, it can be done any way that allows the brakes to be used while the throttle is blipped.

Heel Toe cannot be done smoothly unless two things are done:

1) The pedals must be matched. Normally this is done by adjusting until the brake and throttle are even in height, when the brakes are pressed on. The pedals must also be properly spaced. In my car it required adjusting and bending the gas pedal until I got the match I needed. In many cars, the pedals have some range of adjustment, making the process easier. One thing to remember, as you adjust the gas pedal, make sure that there is a mechanical stop for the pedal. If you rely on the stops in the carburetor or injection system to stop the motion, you will probably bend or break something as you try to squeeze a couple more horsepower out of the pedal. Also, make sure the linkage allows the butterflies in the carburetor to be fully open when the pedal hits your mechanical stop.

2) The technique must be practiced. Do not come to the track, with the intention of learning to Heel Toe. Learn the technique on the street, and practice it until it is second nature, before trying it at the track. If your street car is different from your track car, and your street car has a manual transmission, set its pedals for Heel Toe, and learn the technique. Try to get the pedal arrangement similar for both cars. If you must learn the technique in your track car, make it low on your priority list. When driving the line is second nature, you are comfortable in traffic, you’ve got all of the corner stations figured out, start working on it.


Heel Toe is not a required skill at your first event or two, as a matter of fact, you don’t ever have to learn it. It is a tool that will make you a smoother driver (ie. faster!), and you will be easier on your equipment. It’s a tool to add to your arsenal of skills as your high performance driving becomes more polished.

 

I do it every single downshift. Once you have a feel for how much throttle=how many revs, you can snap them off easily. It's easier on drivetrain components as well as much safer when you're driving hard, because dragging the clutch out takes torque from the tire to speed up the drivetrain when you're downshifting, and if you do that at the limit, your tires give up and you understeer into a guardrail or spin off a cliff.

 

Yep, I also do this with almost every downshift unless I am downshifting to pass some lame-o going 55 in a 65. I don't really think about it anymore, its just a habit for me. I'm a little more diligent with my shoe shopping though, making sure that the soles of the shoes have a decent grip and won't slip off the pedals.

 

yeah on these cars its pretty hard, because the gas pedal is set further back than the brake. on other cars though its not so bad...

 

1) Clutch in, gear to neutral, Clutch out
2) Blip the throttle to match your current speed (this one you have to figure out through trial and error, also you can tell how closely you matched the revs by how easy the shifter goes into the gear, if you did it really good it should just slide into gear like knife through butter)
3) As the engine is about to hit the needed RPMs clutch in and by that time if you did it good the RPMs should be on the right spot you should just be able to slide the shifter in the gear
4) AS SOON AS the gear is in ALMOST drop the clutch (by this i mean not copletely drop it, but only give it a little bit of slack, do it fast but smooth)

Now regarding part 4: every car has a different clutch and clutches on Audis tend to be very specific and due to that I actually start letting go a little bit as I'm engaging the gear.

After you do it enough and get used to your car you won't even think about it and just do it automatically. I always stay in gear unless I'm braking for a red light that I know wont turn green anytime soon. You never know when you might need to put the power to the wheels fast.

 

i use the half footer like the other guy was explaining since his feet are too big.
hahahahaa. me too.
only i use it to get sidewayz while approaching a 90 turn
at like 45-55 mph.
the foot brake puts all the weight in the front enabling you to pop the clutch and
break the tires loose with the gears still in peak your peak powerband.

 

watch the following video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...q=ferrari+F430
the classic heel-toe action is so beautiful.

 

Here is a link to another...earlier thread on the subject, with a link to an Edmunds.com article on heel toe technique...

Heel Toe Discusion

 

I was really practicing it tonight coming home from coaching on some windy back roads by my house. Im really gettin the hang of it, and it's pretty awesome how much more traction and less understeer you get.