Actually, back in the day it really was heel and toe because the pedals were spaced pretty far apart. It's a somewhat contemporary thing that the pedals are so close together. I too use my foot on the far right side of the brake pedal and rock it over to the right to hit the gas. I have modified the pedals with custom plates on my track car to make it super easy. The only issue is that you need to warn other folks that might drive your car so they don't cover both pedals when trying to stop. My friend's father-in-law-to-be, of all people, did just that in his '91 LX around turn 3 at Summit Point doing about 115. Four or five barrel rolls later the only thing he said was "Son, I think you need a new car."

 

Sorry, I don't think I read all of this thread...

Heel-Toe is used when setting up for a turn.
It allows you to do a number of things almost simultaneously:
- brake
- double clutch downshift
- keep the motor in the power band and smoothly release the clutch
- use the brake and gas at the same time to keep the car balanced when entering a turn

and it will help save the clutch/syncros.

My old car has 265K miles with the factory clutch. It gotta be wafer thin with a dished out fly wheel but it's still going, although I have to double clutch second and third. lol.

Regarding slowing down while in gear? Yes, It doesn't hurt the clutch (unless it slips) but it will wear out your valve train faster than coasting in neutral.

 

Sounds like you have the stop light routine down correctly. Not only does it make life easier for the throwout bearing, it also saves the crankshaft thrust bearings too (very expensive after the crank throws start to hit the block).

On a causal street driving down shift its okay to let the clutch drag a little bit ... it serves to speed the engine up smoothly, but not blip the throttle at the same time. When you blip the throttle you are trying to just overshoot the rev match and it should easily pull into gear.

Like its been said, heal toe is not necessary for street driving. And to really heal toe you would have to be pigeon footed. As even I suggested before, ball of your foot on the brake pedal, rock your foot to blip the gas pedal ... but it does help to have a wider pedal pad on the gas pedal to even do that.

Except for starting in first, you should not slip the clutch between gears on the upshifts ... but you are not popping the clutch either. Its all about good timing and accounting for the throttle hang.

There is no reasion for your car not to be able to smoothly down shift above 1000.

A guide ... I think you are getting it in all these helpful posts.

 

<edited>

if u wanna learn how to drive stick the correct way watch this video. this subject makes me mad.
http://www.caranddriver.com/carvideo...ctid=626972429


It's not nice to call people names...

 

Good video ... exactly what I have been preaching ... ball of the foot on the brake, roll the foot onto the gas. The wider the extension on the gas pedal, the less you have to do that awkward foot twist.

 

Heel-toe downshifting where the foot pivots:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0j-3xIZK-Bk

 

If you can't figure this process out now, there is no hope. I went to youtube and watched a few of the vidieos. Some good instruction. Still see no value in double clutch unless the blocker rings are toast.

 

I understand the process but I showed an example of how someone pivoted their foot instead of just rolling it over. The throttle lag won't allow a proper blip if you roll your foot onto the throttle. I find that the DBW throttle requires a quick stab (almost WOT) to get the RPMs up quickly enough. I'm not going to try heel-toe downshifting on the road, but I thought I'd show an example of how someone was pivoting their foot in a Subaru on a race track. I cannot do that on my Stang because of the steering column.