Considering doing road course work next summer. The 4th Gen brake and gas are not really ideally set up for heel-toe shifting...what are you guys doing to improve this setup? Are you just replacing the pedals with sparco's or are you totally modifying the the assembly...or is the fact I've never worn race shoes throwing me off and this setup isn't as bad as what I thought?

I always thought the Camaro peddles were actually pretty good. Are they too separated for you?

I'll be honest, never been taught how to heel-toe, but taking the forefoot and touching the brakes, while trying to tap the gas with my heel, seems fairly difficult with street shoes...seems hard to modulate...I don't have really wide feet. I was thinking that getting a set of sparco pedals with a wider brake and that L shaped gas pedal (thus narrowing the gap between the two) might assist in helping me when I start practicing heel-toe shifting. Every road course video I watch showing a good driver, they are excellent with their footwork/shifting. I haven't a clue...just trying to put myself in the best position to learn.

That's your problem. The term "heal toe" comes from many years ago. Today, the term stuck, but the action is different. When you step on the brake, use just the left half of your foot. More like just the ball of your foot. It'll take practice to know how far over you can go without sliding off the peddle. Then you roll your foot for the right which allows you to blip the the throttle.

YouTube it, I'm sure there are some videos out there that will better explain it.

I took the gas pedal assembly out of the car, removed the shaft, and bent it to move the gas pedal closer to the brake pedal. I can't say for certain, but I may have used some heat on the shaft to make it easier to bend.

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?sho...93&hl=pedal

I haven't figured it out either,The harder you brake the further the pedal heights are apart.

We tried to get my buddy Greg's car setup to do it as he has much more seat time than me. We fixed the gas pedal where it wouldn't pivot on it's mount and reached down and bent the pedal closer to the brake pedal.

The difference in pedal heights when braking is what we cant figure out.

I have gotten pretty good at rev matching prior to the corner.

Really you need a lot more seat time before you even consider this tactic on track.

Doesn't Alan make a phenolic block type of pedal extension for just this purpose (to raise the gas pedal to the brake pedal's level, or vice versa)??

Yes, some examples in this thread:
http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?sho...54&hl=pedal

I'll second that. For someone new to the track it is much safer to downshift on corner exit and you'll likely be faster because you can concentrate on braking rather than downshifting while braking. In Carroll Smith's "Drive to Win" book he actually condemns downshifting while braking for that reason. Having said that I do it,,, hard to say if I'd be faster without or not. Maybe I should test it next time.

In your brain if you "think" you need to be in 3rd for "x" corner, leave it in 4th and get on the gas as soon as the car is done rotating...not floor it but crack it open and feed it gas pedal.

On the road I can heel-toe it (well, ball of foot and side of foot) and normal speeds. On track you're right, I am usually pressing the brake much farther/harder and the height is different. And I have done the "wide gas pedal" mod already. I would consider a block on the brake pedal to increase it's height.

Maybe I'm lucky, but mine are perfect, street or track. Actually, on the street it was a little bit of a reach because the brake peddle was a little high, but on the track, it's perfect.

Ever driven an Lotus Elise? I don't know what they were thinking because the brake peddle is much lower than the gas peddle. Impossible to get to the gas without modification.

I have never had an issue while on track. You do have to practice prior to going out and crank into a corner at 150+ and trying to nail it properly. I struggled more with stock pedals in a corvette. The last corvette I drove had pedal extensions that worked fine for me.

John

I actually bent my gas pedal over and up. To get it to raise I just bent more "L" into the assembly. with the Harrop intake the throttle responds very quickly which is really nice when you want that quick rev match. I learned back in the early 80s from a local rally driver and have done it ever since. I do not even really think about it. My 89 Formula had a nice feel and pedal location from the factory. Luckily I have a pretty wide foot. In the 80s I used to like driving with Desert Boots which were popular at the time. They were wide with a thin sole and only a small heel. Now I always look for shoes with a thin sole and rounded heel for a casual shoe.

Check these Ferrari 330 pedals.



How hard would it be to make some like this?

I took a plastic cutting board I bought at WalMart and cut out an overlay for my gas pedal and rivetted it on. I made it wider on the brake side so its closer to the brake pedal and the plastic on top of the existing pedal makes the gas pedal a little higher too. I'll try to remember to take some pics next time I'm in the garage. I think I got the idea from a post on here......like most of my ideas, haha!

Is that an actual ITB Harrop, or is it the sheet metal with the individual runners into a common plenum type Harrop??

That (rally) driver's last name would not happen to be Sprongl, would it? (I don't know what part of the great northland you are from. )

I also find the pedal placing on my 2nd and 3rd gen fine, I have some of those bolt on alloy serrated pedal covers on the 3rd gen and its all good but I guess us UK guys were weaned on manual trans so have been toe and heeling for the last 46 odd years and I also have big feet!!

+1 on the race shoes. Lets you feel as well as hear what you're doing with the gas pedal. Of course, quiet engines aren't a problem around here, but I like 'em anyway.

BobP

It is an ITB Harrop I run. 8 throttle bodies.



I know who the Sprongl's are and have seen them race quite a few times, the Rally of the Tall Pines is a favourite of mine to watch up here. A guy I went to college with in the 80s had started rally racing in his teens. He was considered an up and coming driver, and had won several class titles. Totyota was putting together a deal for him to run the to in the top class. On his way home from an event his girl friend was driving and a drunk hit them head on and killed them both. He was 25. It was pretty sad.

Anyway he and I would go out and play in the school overflow parking lots on spares, especially in the snow. We got kicked out lots. He got me using heel and toe in my 1981 Dodge Omni with a 4spd and 76hp.

^^^^That intake setup is SICK!!!

I'm sorry to hear about your talented friend and his girlfriend.