Does anyone left-foot brake?

[dontlifttoshift]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Going hard into a tight corner - lifting suddenly and going to the brakes and also asking the tire to grip to cause turn in... and you've just transferred all the weight to the nose of the car.... now you're loose. Then you lift off the brake and stab the throttle --- if you weren't on the throttle you're not moving the car forward... the time it takes to go from the brake to the throttle adds up. And it's not smooth... smooth is fast. And it's jerky and moving weight all over in sudden motions. You might feel fast because you're busy... but you're not.

The car doesn't care if the deceleration comes from either pedal. It could be argued that just lifting is better when you just need to scrub a little speed. You are not asking the front tires to do anything but turn with all the stopping coming from the rear, which helps the car rotate and gets pointed in the right direction. Smooth is fast, but smooth doesn't mean your appendages are moving slow.

By all means, everyone should try left foot braking. It works well for some people. The idea that you will never go fast without it is just wrong. Hollis and Cashmore both have nationals jackets and left foot brake. Strano, Heitkotter, and Rhodes also have jackets and do not left foot brake. If there was an exit poll at every autocross I think you would find about 60% of the drivers do not left foot brake at all.

[Neil B]

In road racing I believe this is a divided issue. There many successful road racers that left foot brake and many that right foot brake. I road raced for many years and I did not left foot brake. I would do a 'brake check' coming into hard braking zones to pump up the brakes and ensure brake pressure with my left foot. Then I would switch feet and do a traditional heel-and-toe downshift in the braking zone. If I needed to settle the car mid-corner, I would again use my left foot on the brake without lifting the throttle. I might also use my left foot during late corner entry if I didn't get the car rotated enough during turn in. If you've got an auto or can do clutchless downshifting then I definitely see a benefit to left foot braking.

[BMR Sales]

It really depends on the car

Go-Karts - obviously Left Foot Braking
Auto-X - Right Foot
Road-Course with Paddle-Shifters - Left Foot
Road-Course, Manual & Clutch - Right Foot

On the Street, Manual Trans, Right Foot

[Dr G]

Since I started this thread I thought I would chime in. I'm glad to see that many folks actually do left foot brake. With the traditional H-pattern transmission and clutch being so common on pro-touring style cars I was not sure if many folks would have bothered with it. It's much easier to left foot brake when you don't have a clutch pedal!

I started auto-crossing in 1995 with a VW Rabbit. My friend who brought me into the sport, and is one of the best auto-crossers I know of, told me to learn how to left foot brake, or it would limit my potential. Since I did not know any better, I started doing it, and I sucked royally. But I gradually got better. The biggest epiphany for me in improving my auto-crossing was learning to stop looking at my front bumper and truly look "ahead". One could argue that left foot braking is a front wheel drive thing, but later we both switched to rear wheel drive BMW's and we both continued left foot braking with great success.

At that point in my life almost all the cars I'd owned had been equipped with H-pattern and clutch. Then my wife bought a 2002 M3 with the SMG shifting (really just an H-box with a bunch of computer controlled actuators). It had no clutch pedal and gave me the first chance to really experiment with full time left foot braking. She subsequently got a V10 M5, then an Audi S6 (auto) and I got a series of BMW 335i's, also automatics. Also during this time I was traveling a lot for work and renting cars, all auto's of course. Over the span of time I've left foot and right foot braked so much that I honestly don't even pay attention to it anymore.

I think it is a good skill for anyone to have in their tool box. In auto-x I would often brake against full engine power through fast slaloms to help settle the car. That worked great. Since most of the courses were strictly 2nd gear affairs, you could left foot brake almost the whole time, clutch or not. It definitely smooths out the transition from throttle to brake, since the two can overlap, which they cannot (by definition) when you right foot brake.

In my limited road course experience I did not really left foot brake unless there was no clutch pedal in the car.

All that being said, I think left foot braking is pretty much ubiquitous at the top levels of motorsport. F1, WRC, Le Mans, DTM, BTCC, where all transmissions are either paddle shift or sequential dog-boxes which don't require the clutch to shift (just match revs). I've seen enough in-car footage of Sprint Car drivers left foot braking on both ovals and road courses to convince me that at least some, if not most, of them do it.

With a regular H-box on a road course I'm not sure which is best honestly.

Personally, if I was building a 69 Camaro or similar I'd install a 6-speed sequential dog-box with automatic ignition retard for no-lift upshifts. I relished watching the BTCC drivers in the glory days of the Super Touring formula (1990's) banging through the gears and it just looked so fun!

[dontlifttoshift]

Originally Posted by Dr G

no-lift upshifts.

Like!

[rustomatic]

I want a "hoon handle". I think my mountain bike has one, but I just call it a brake lever...

Originally Posted by GregWeld

In rally school you'll learn it's all about the brakes and the throttle, and the steering wheel is just about the least important tool.... You can make the car corner 90* with the brake and the throttle -- or hold a long sweeper - nose 45* to the edge of the road and suck the car in tighter or let it drift out just using the throttle or the brake. A quick application of the hoon handle will rotate the car
while you're still into the throttle - whip the ass around and off you go. We don't have hoon handles... That might be too sloppy for Auto X.

[Graham08]

Originally Posted by Dr G

I've seen enough in-car footage of Sprint Car drivers left foot braking on both ovals and road courses to convince me that at least some, if not most, of them do it.

Most of the NASCAR guys left foot brake on ovals.

I think that's what you meant by "sprint car". In an actual sprint car (like my avatar) you have to left foot brake. The torque tube, power steering, and fuel pump are all in the way of getting your right foot over to the brake pedal.

[Dr G]

Originally Posted by Graham08

Most of the NASCAR guys left foot brake on ovals.

I think that's what you meant by "sprint car". In an actual sprint car (like my avatar) you have to left foot brake. The torque tube, power steering, and fuel pump are all in the way of getting your right foot over to the brake pedal.

Yes, I meant "Sprint" car, not sprint car.

I should have said Cup Car (Winston Cup, Sprint Cup etc).

[Panteracer]

I have been left foot braking my Firebird for many years
and only during Autocrossing... I bought the Pantera and
my size 14 feet barely fit down in the foot box.. I actually
had to cut the bottom corner of the brake pedal to keep me from
hitting it accidentally.. so no left foot braking that car

I had an interesting conversation with a guy who has a full
race pantera when I was in Texas.. he fabricated a throttle pedal
that extended down, over and below the brake pedal so he could blip the
throttle and brake when downshifting.... said it worked pretty good

He finally switched to left foot braking (he does not have size 14 feet)
and has not changed back since

He also has his car locked out of 5th gear now
He hits 182 at the Texas World Speedway track
and was downshifting to 3rd at the end of the straight
and hit 5th and ended up in the weeds.. came in and blocked
that damn 5th gear out and its been that way every since

Bob

[GregWeld]

Like most of these things --- whether you do "this" or do "that" -- everyone learns from the discussion. If we talked to 30 different guys about how they go thru the same corner on the same track - we'd hear 29 scenarios....


The point for most -- try some different stuff -- talk to different people (the fast ones) and experiment and find what works for you. Everybody is different.


Bob Bondurant told me once - He should have named his school the Bob Bondurant school of Braking.... because he's never had to teach anyone how to stand on the throttle. LOL --- So F'n true!