Left foot braking, kills power?!

[Lee540]

Cornering whilst still pressing the accelerator and apply a little left foot brake to scrub a some speed without lifting an potentially causing oversteer. The engine loses all power?

Whats that all about?! Returns to normal as soon as I drive normally.. experimented and the car wont allow me to press both the brake and the throttle at the same time?

Car is a 2009 Audi A3. Is this normal?

[Arbathnot]

Yes quite normal.

[EDLT]

Its a feature.

[davepoth]

As above. The ECU may allow a blip on the throttle for heel and toe, but it's quite common these days for a car to cut the throttle when both pedals are pressed at the same time, presumably because of stupid people.

[Mastodon2]

Good old vag.

[GroundEffect]

Engine calibration to reduce wear.

[Lee540]

Ok, thanks.. just so I know its normal.

davepoth said:

As above. The ECU may allow a blip on the throttle for heel and toe, but it's quite common these days for a car to cut the throttle when both pedals are pressed at the same time, presumably because of stupid people.

Heel and toe almost impossible.. Audi put the brake pedal so far forward and with floor mounted accelerator its really awkward!

Edited by Lee540 on Sunday 27th January 15:57

[g3org3y]

EDLT said:

It's a 'feature'.

EFA.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Yup, it's a "safety feature" to stop muppets jumping on both pedals at once! Also protects the drivetrain from burnout speciaists. But completely kills the use of left foot braking to stabilise the car.

I believe Merc do this as well.

All you need now is an electric parking brake to completely ruin the car. Oh wait a minute...

[iva cosworth]

Is it an Auto ?

SAAB had a widgit attached to the brake to prevent building up boost pressure[on thier turbos]

whilst stationary to prolong the life of the 'box.

[Lee540]

iva cosworth said:

Is it an Auto ?

SAAB had a widgit attached to the brake to prevent building up boost pressure[on thier turbos]

whilst stationary to prolong the life of the 'box.

No, its a 6 speed manual gearbox

[soad]

It's normal. That's modern cars for you.

[Lee540]

Bit annoying, nevermind.. :/

[vit4]

I know that VAG do this, do any other manufacturers?

[wildman0609]

Lee540 said:

left foot brake to scrub a some speed without lifting an potentially causing oversteer.

using left foot for brake does not reduce the potential for oversteer. which ever way you slow down shifts weight away from the rear and increases the chances of oversteer.

[Lee540]

wildman0609 said:

using left foot for brake does not reduce the potential for oversteer. which ever way you slow down shifts weight away from the rear and increases the chances of oversteer.

I realise this but that moment when you think, whoops, going too fast.. instead of panicking and lifting off which can violently unsettle the balance of the car, rightly or wrongly, I apply some brake with left foot whilst maintaining foot on throttle as a method that I've used to slow down at bit more controlled.

Its not how I normally drive but was on unfamiliar road yesterday and noticed what happened when I pressed both pedals.

[rubystone]

Why would it oversteer? It's fwd, right? And left foot braking wouldnt kill oversteer either since the braking is evenly distributed front to rear (diagonally actually). Left foot braking lessens weight transfer rear to front though and if anything would therefore reduce understeer, but unless you are using the road like a racetrack, you shouldn't ever need to left foot brake.

[The Wookie]

vit4 said:

I know that VAG do this, do any other manufacturers?

Not killing the power specifically but a good mate has a Merc Sprinter camper and thought his gearbox was on the way out as it was clunking occasionally and wasn't going into gear sometimes when he was parking. He's a racer and left foot brakes with Autos.

I suggested he tuck his left foot back and it transformed it. Just the fractional overlap of brakes and throttle seemed to confuse it!

[kimducati]

rubystone said:

Why would it oversteer? It's fwd, right?

Off topic, but you've obviously never driven a Peugeot 205

Kim

[Lee540]

kimducati said:

Off topic, but you've obviously never driven a Peugeot 205

Kim

One of my previous cars, a 205 GTi..