Automatic - brake with left foot, or right?

[CoolHands]

Got an auto. Sometimes I brake with my right foot, sometimes my left. Go-karting you would always brake with left, but obviously this means you can still be accelerating with your right. In a road car, I think I've heard (but might have made up) that you should brake with your right, to ensure you are not also accelerating at the same time inadvertently. However, I am not an 80 year old lady.

Whaddya reckon?

[Rovinghawk]

Right. Simples.

That's why there's often a rest for the left foot.

RH

[kambites]

Whichever you find more comfortable, surely?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Right foot only for me on the road.

[Rex Ironstone]

I don't drive Auto very often. But for some reason I tend to brake with my left.
I feel it needs something to do.

[ChiChoAndy]

For normal road use, my right foot. If I want to headbutt the windscreen, I always use my left foot.

[Digger]

Right as I don't enjoy head/steering wheel interfaces should I have to brake harder than expected.

[SWH]

Either.... although, as above, the windscreen does get very close very quickly the first time you do it with your left foot; mostly I use my right foot.

Left foot on the brake, in say an 850 T5 Auto, is quite effective at stabilising the car while cornering and building up a load of turbo boost to launch you out of the corner for instance... ahem, so I've heard

[g3org3y]

Right.

[Spanna]

Definitely the right foot. My left is only good for clutches. The worst is when you forget you're driving an auto and go for the clutch which is non-existent and hit the brake... hard.

[Switch]

First time I drove left hand drive in the states I kept braking with my Left. But soon drummed that out of my system! Right foot for braking

[anonymous-user]

Driven my grandads auto quite a few times and I always without thinking left foot brake. Isn't bad at all until under 10mph in traffic where every time you stop you stop sharply.

[groomi]

I always drove my Jags using the left foot to brake, but with my current E39 the pedal is too far to the right to do comfortably.

I should also point out the reason for doing so in the Jags started out because I was twisting myself slightly in the seat by only using one leg and so causing back pain on long journeys. Started using both feet to drive and the problem went away.

[IainT]

ChiChoAndy said:

For normal road use, my right foot. If I want to headbutt the windscreen, I always use my left foot.

Ah! You have the same lack of left foot feel am me then.

I sometimes try this at low speed and usually tend to come to a sudden stop, if I try to be more gentle I end up not braking enough. Left foot is severely lacking in the fine motor control that allows hard but not harsh braking.

[CoolHands]

F1 drivers brake with their left, so it must be possible to get good feel and modulation using the left, even though most of us are used to braking with our right.

I might start practising using just my left, to see if I get used to it. It's a bit like trying to catch or throw a ball left-handed though, not quite, 'right'

[Gad-Westy]

Right for me as well. Left foot is too used to pushing a clutch to the floor. I don't want to do that to a brake pedal and don't have the coordination to stop it!

[Bacon Is Proof]

doogz said:

Practice it on straights before you try it on a corner, and make sure it's quiet, and there's no-one around, don't want to cause an accident.

But once you get the hang of it, it's second nature.

Why?
Driving on the road it offers no benefit.

[I'm Rick james]

Always right IMO.

[Bacon Is Proof]

I'm Rick james said:

Always right IMO.

I'm about to attempt left foot braking for the first time, hold my drink bh.

[r-kid]

Always my right foot.

Nothing worse than a momentary lapse where you forget you're driving an auto, going to depress a non existent clutch pedal and catching the brake.