Footwear For Heel & Toe Driving
Discussion
I also think H&T can be a useful "tool" on the road. It shouldn't be overplayed, but equally I think it is something that can be readily learned (I don't agree with Ripley - it's not that hard) and can be useful at times.
HPC members have had a fairly good (even robust
)debate on the topic, and for what it's worth I've copied one of my posts below setting out my thoughts.
[Extract from HPC discussion forum]
The primary purpose of H&T is to enable a gear to be taken smoothly whilst braking. At high braking levels near the threshold of grip, matching revs is important to avoid the risk of losing traction at the driven wheels (more likely to be an issue on a rear drive car due to the weight transfer).
Equally, when the brakes are unable to lock the brakes, heel & toe allows a lower gear to be taken to increase braking force at the wheels. All of this is most relevant of course on a track, where one is braking hard and trying to shave time.
So onto the road. I think there are quite a few occasions when H&T is highly desirable, indeed necessary for optimum safety. Roadcraft now alludes to this - ie the need to overlap braking and changing gear, although it doesn't go so far as describe or advocate H&T (an omission in my view). To give a few examples:
1) A driver has misjudged a corner. It is tighter than expected, and more braking is required. The System becomes compressed and there is no time to come off the brakes and take a lower gear needed for control in the corner. H&T allows the driver to take the gear with no loss of vehicle stability.
2) A variation on (1). Here the driver hasn't made a mistake. On the country lanes, occasionally one can come around one corner to be faced by another which is much tighter, and there were no clues this would happen. There is not much straight to brake in before the corner. I have seen quite a few drivers brake in such situations but then not have enough time to change gear, and they coast around the tight corner in a high gear. Two solutions - brake harder to create more time to take a gear, or heel & toe. I would strongly argue the latter is preferable, because the harder one brakes the more likely the loss of traction (eg, if in wet or slippery conditions). Heel & toe allows the driver to compress the two actions required - slowing down and changing gear - without any loss of stability of the car whatsoever.
3) Downhill, particularly left hand bends. Here I would advocate trail braking, to keep the weight of the car on its nose to aid turn in. Clearly if one is to trail brake, and one needs to change down a gear as well, then H&T is the only option for a smooth and safe change.
4) Turn into a junction on the left, particularly when going downhill, with a queue of cars behind. Using the System, one does have to brake a bit earlier to then get the gearchange in before the turn. Following cars can get impatient as we slow to a crawl, take the gear and then turn. Better in my view to overlap braking and gearchanging to keep the traffic flowing.
In all of the above examples, one could just overlap brake and change down without matching revs, but that is clearly less desirable (for the reasons noted above), particularly in powerful cars. It is neither as mechanically sympathetic nor as safe as H&T.
One could argue that H&T is only needed when one has made a mistake (see (1) above). And therefore we should be able to avoid H&T by avoiding the mistake. As can be seen from above, I don't actually agree with this premise, because there are times when H&T isn't about recovering from an error. Nevertheless, the premise is faulty in any event, because which of us never misjudges a corner?
I think all of the above examples are based on normal road driving. There is no suggestion the technique is required because one is driving faster than normal, or trying to apply track skills inappropriately. One does not need to brake hard for H&T to work. For me H&T is a skill that has its place in the tool box, and I absolutely think it is right that an [HPC] Gold driver should be able to H&T, and know when and how to use it.
Finally, I can't help commenting that all the really great drivers in the [HPC] Club that I've been privileged to sit with use H&T at some point, either in situations akin to those set out above, or because it just complements the drive. I certainly find that in certain cars, and when I am pressing on, H&T complements the driving very well. It does aid flow, it permits trail braking and it is also fun. This is not, I know, an argument to support its inclusion in the [HPC] Gold syllabus, but again I think the master driver should know all the tricks. The truly outstanding drivers in the Club seamlessly blend a whole range of different techniques, adapting constantly to ever corner, taking into account camber, surface condition and line. It is a joy to behold progressive, intellingent driving done very safely, and if you ask these drivers I am sure many, if not all, of them would say H&T, trail braking, hinting at the steering, masterful chassis balance etc are all necessary to drive at that level. Above all, they use their brain to adapt, modify and flex their approach to perfectly mould their drive to the conditions. They go beyond Roadcraft, recognising any rule based system is inherently limited.
[End extract]
Kind regards
Steve
HPC members have had a fairly good (even robust
)debate on the topic, and for what it's worth I've copied one of my posts below setting out my thoughts. [Extract from HPC discussion forum]
The primary purpose of H&T is to enable a gear to be taken smoothly whilst braking. At high braking levels near the threshold of grip, matching revs is important to avoid the risk of losing traction at the driven wheels (more likely to be an issue on a rear drive car due to the weight transfer).
Equally, when the brakes are unable to lock the brakes, heel & toe allows a lower gear to be taken to increase braking force at the wheels. All of this is most relevant of course on a track, where one is braking hard and trying to shave time.
So onto the road. I think there are quite a few occasions when H&T is highly desirable, indeed necessary for optimum safety. Roadcraft now alludes to this - ie the need to overlap braking and changing gear, although it doesn't go so far as describe or advocate H&T (an omission in my view). To give a few examples:
1) A driver has misjudged a corner. It is tighter than expected, and more braking is required. The System becomes compressed and there is no time to come off the brakes and take a lower gear needed for control in the corner. H&T allows the driver to take the gear with no loss of vehicle stability.
2) A variation on (1). Here the driver hasn't made a mistake. On the country lanes, occasionally one can come around one corner to be faced by another which is much tighter, and there were no clues this would happen. There is not much straight to brake in before the corner. I have seen quite a few drivers brake in such situations but then not have enough time to change gear, and they coast around the tight corner in a high gear. Two solutions - brake harder to create more time to take a gear, or heel & toe. I would strongly argue the latter is preferable, because the harder one brakes the more likely the loss of traction (eg, if in wet or slippery conditions). Heel & toe allows the driver to compress the two actions required - slowing down and changing gear - without any loss of stability of the car whatsoever.
3) Downhill, particularly left hand bends. Here I would advocate trail braking, to keep the weight of the car on its nose to aid turn in. Clearly if one is to trail brake, and one needs to change down a gear as well, then H&T is the only option for a smooth and safe change.
4) Turn into a junction on the left, particularly when going downhill, with a queue of cars behind. Using the System, one does have to brake a bit earlier to then get the gearchange in before the turn. Following cars can get impatient as we slow to a crawl, take the gear and then turn. Better in my view to overlap braking and gearchanging to keep the traffic flowing.
In all of the above examples, one could just overlap brake and change down without matching revs, but that is clearly less desirable (for the reasons noted above), particularly in powerful cars. It is neither as mechanically sympathetic nor as safe as H&T.
One could argue that H&T is only needed when one has made a mistake (see (1) above). And therefore we should be able to avoid H&T by avoiding the mistake. As can be seen from above, I don't actually agree with this premise, because there are times when H&T isn't about recovering from an error. Nevertheless, the premise is faulty in any event, because which of us never misjudges a corner?
I think all of the above examples are based on normal road driving. There is no suggestion the technique is required because one is driving faster than normal, or trying to apply track skills inappropriately. One does not need to brake hard for H&T to work. For me H&T is a skill that has its place in the tool box, and I absolutely think it is right that an [HPC] Gold driver should be able to H&T, and know when and how to use it.
Finally, I can't help commenting that all the really great drivers in the [HPC] Club that I've been privileged to sit with use H&T at some point, either in situations akin to those set out above, or because it just complements the drive. I certainly find that in certain cars, and when I am pressing on, H&T complements the driving very well. It does aid flow, it permits trail braking and it is also fun. This is not, I know, an argument to support its inclusion in the [HPC] Gold syllabus, but again I think the master driver should know all the tricks. The truly outstanding drivers in the Club seamlessly blend a whole range of different techniques, adapting constantly to ever corner, taking into account camber, surface condition and line. It is a joy to behold progressive, intellingent driving done very safely, and if you ask these drivers I am sure many, if not all, of them would say H&T, trail braking, hinting at the steering, masterful chassis balance etc are all necessary to drive at that level. Above all, they use their brain to adapt, modify and flex their approach to perfectly mould their drive to the conditions. They go beyond Roadcraft, recognising any rule based system is inherently limited.
[End extract]
Kind regards
Steve
An excellent description of how to H&T can be found here:
[url]www.trackdayracing.co.uk/heeltoe.htm[/url]
Steve
[url]www.trackdayracing.co.uk/heeltoe.htm[/url]
Steve
I think on the road that if you're entering a corner, and you can't see whether it tightens, then you should really be going slow enough to allow for this lack of forward visibility - afterall, it may not just be a tightening corner, but a pedestrian, loose animals, cyclist etc that means you can't proceed at your current speed. Far better to be going round the corner with enough control in hand for the unexpected, whatever that might be...
So maybe if you want to H&T on the road, best to do it all in a straight line before the corner, entering it at an appropriate speed and in the right gear for the visibility.
I'd not want to try H&T in a modern car with over assisted brakes - you'd be activating the ABS before you could blip the throttle for the gearchange!
So maybe if you want to H&T on the road, best to do it all in a straight line before the corner, entering it at an appropriate speed and in the right gear for the visibility.
I'd not want to try H&T in a modern car with over assisted brakes - you'd be activating the ABS before you could blip the throttle for the gearchange!
said:
I think on the road that if you're entering a corner, and you can't see whether it tightens, then you should really be going slow enough to allow for this lack of forward visibility - afterall, it may not just be a tightening corner, but a pedestrian, loose animals, cyclist etc that means you can't proceed at your current speed. Far better to be going round the corner with enough control in hand for the unexpected, whatever that might be...
So maybe if you want to H&T on the road, best to do it all in a straight line before the corner, entering it at an appropriate speed and in the right gear for the visibility.
I'd not want to try H&T in a modern car with over assisted brakes - you'd be activating the ABS before you could blip the throttle for the gearchange!
I would use H&T to slow me down to same corner entry speed as normal - using limit point analysis. It is not about entering corners more quickly or with a different safety margin.
I can't agree at all that it's tough to H&T on modern cars - it's pretty easy to H&T with even a light touch on the brake pedal on just about any car I've driven.
Steve
BOF said:
We CAN assume I hope, that heel and toe is being discussed here in an 'off road' context?
BOF.
Hi BOF,
What's wrong with heel & toe? Obviously, things can go pear shaped if you're trying to learn heel & toe on a public road. However, if learnt on track and done smoothly, there's nothing wrong with it. Frankly, I made far more mistakes learning to double declutch than I ever did learning heel & toe.
This is an advanced driving forum, so lets look at it from a System point of view. Driving systematically, you separate braking and gear changing. Normally, you'd match revs with engine speed through a sustained revs change or double declutch. However, sometimes it's beneficial to brake/gear overlap, e.g. when going downhill or being tailgated (see p.64-65 of Roadcraft). In these circumstances, heel & toe is ideal, because you can still match revs whilst braking.
I've used heel & toe on practically all the various advanced tests I've done in the car, including whilst "commentary" driving during my IAM Special Assessment. My commentary went something roughly like:
" ... positioning early to the centreline for the left hand bend ahead, it's downhill so I'm going to overlap, matching speed with vision, using heel and toe down into second and on the throttle to balance the vehicle ... "
I got a faultless score for Gears in the IAM Special Assessment and the IAM Examiner's written debrief cited stylish gear changes. Who says the IAM doesn't permit heel & toe?
stefan1 said:
Ref. flexibility, I have to agree. I did my IAM Special Assessment a couple of years back with the deputy examiner and he was happy with fixed grip, H&T - all as long as they done as part of a well planned, systematic drive, and not used to cover up failings in observation or system.
Steve
PS Regarding the PH foot fettish, check out these driving shoes: www.piloti.com/
(My pair have been good and lasted well. Although I find any shoes are generally fine, as long as the sole isn't too thick.)
>> Edited by Mark_SV on Thursday 5th January 16:51
Andrew Noakes said:
[quote=DanH]Ideally you should be hitting the throttle with the outside side of your shoe. i.e. twisting your foot to the right whilst bringing your heal out to 40deg or so to the right.
Thanks for the picture, it speaks a 1000 words! I basically use my right foot in the same way but I prefer to have my right foot further to the nearside of the RHD car. This is something that just suits me, not everybody. I can reach the throttle most of the time ok but I have, in the past, not made contact with the throttle pedal in certain cars. A wider shoe assists me in this task.
Chumpers
>> Edited by Chumpers on Thursday 5th January 23:06
Mark,
Well done on your Special Assessment - but can we differentiate between
Advanced Driving and "thinking" driving?
We are singing from the same hymnsheet but probably age changes our approach to driving...on March 10 1967, with Traffic Police Sgt Robert Kerr, I passed the City of Glasgow Safe Driving Course...the last drive was Glasgow to Saltcoats, about 30 miles...without using the brakes (or clutch except at stop) was a fail...Ford Anglia reg MTB460C.
(There was not as much traffic in 1967 - it was easier).
On the way back, he drove, and showed me things I had never known - a bit like driving with John Lyon
I have no problems with heel and toe but, as my initial post was meant to indicate, would not like it to be practised on public roads by youngsters - many of whom read advanced driving Forums like PH.
Re double-declutching - on my Senior Observer Test I had to do it in my Auto (sorry) and then in my wifes' manual to show I understood both - Examiner put his hand on my left knee as he did not beleive I was not using the clutch...fortunately we were un-observed.
Interesting debate - we are all always learning?
BOF.
>> Edited by BOF on Friday 6th January 18:42
Well done on your Special Assessment - but can we differentiate between
Advanced Driving and "thinking" driving?
We are singing from the same hymnsheet but probably age changes our approach to driving...on March 10 1967, with Traffic Police Sgt Robert Kerr, I passed the City of Glasgow Safe Driving Course...the last drive was Glasgow to Saltcoats, about 30 miles...without using the brakes (or clutch except at stop) was a fail...Ford Anglia reg MTB460C.
(There was not as much traffic in 1967 - it was easier).
On the way back, he drove, and showed me things I had never known - a bit like driving with John Lyon
I have no problems with heel and toe but, as my initial post was meant to indicate, would not like it to be practised on public roads by youngsters - many of whom read advanced driving Forums like PH.
Re double-declutching - on my Senior Observer Test I had to do it in my Auto (sorry) and then in my wifes' manual to show I understood both - Examiner put his hand on my left knee as he did not beleive I was not using the clutch...fortunately we were un-observed.
Interesting debate - we are all always learning?
BOF.
>> Edited by BOF on Friday 6th January 18:42
Hi there BOF,
As usual, you and I are having an interesting debate (a nice thing about PH) whilst singing from the same hymn sheet!
If a youngster (or oldster!) wants to learn H&T on public roads, I'd advise against it, but that's not going to stop 'em. I suspect moralising could even encourage it. Moreover, they merely have to read Paul Ripley's Expert Driving, rather than trawl through this forum, to learn "advanced" techniques like this.
I replied for two reasons. Firstly, to reassure prospective IAM members and Observers who already H&T that it's not forbidden. If their local Chief Observer disagrees, they can check definitively with their Regional Examiner.
Secondly, I wanted to highlight when techniques like H&T and fixed grip steering are useful and thus acceptable (whilst remaining safe, smooth and systematic). If you H&T every single gear change, this loses significant benefits of the System in road driving. Equally, this would be inflexible in its own way.
Cheers
As usual, you and I are having an interesting debate (a nice thing about PH) whilst singing from the same hymn sheet!
BOF said:I'm not sure what you mean by this. Not all "thinking" drivers drive systematically, but they may be decent drivers nontheless. I hope IAM drivers are "thinking" (except when I'm having an off day!). Very occasionally, and I'm thinking of some in my own car group, the odd Observer is unthinking!
can we differentiate between Advanced Driving and "thinking" driving?
If a youngster (or oldster!) wants to learn H&T on public roads, I'd advise against it, but that's not going to stop 'em. I suspect moralising could even encourage it. Moreover, they merely have to read Paul Ripley's Expert Driving, rather than trawl through this forum, to learn "advanced" techniques like this.
I replied for two reasons. Firstly, to reassure prospective IAM members and Observers who already H&T that it's not forbidden. If their local Chief Observer disagrees, they can check definitively with their Regional Examiner.
Secondly, I wanted to highlight when techniques like H&T and fixed grip steering are useful and thus acceptable (whilst remaining safe, smooth and systematic). If you H&T every single gear change, this loses significant benefits of the System in road driving. Equally, this would be inflexible in its own way.
Cheers
Mark,
Here is a useful graphic to help the Associates ignore tailgaters on the Sunday morning 30mph drives...
http://tinypic.com/8wgtah.gif
BOF.
PS - I wish I could define'Thinking' driving - we try to make a start when Observing? Nearest I can get is when you get to the stage when you are totally aware of what is happening around you, relaxed, enjoying every drive, but conscious of danger and ready to react to it - as a natural state of mind and not neccessarily an IAM state of mind.
>> Edited by BOF on Saturday 7th January 19:05
Here is a useful graphic to help the Associates ignore tailgaters on the Sunday morning 30mph drives...
http://tinypic.com/8wgtah.gif
BOF.
PS - I wish I could define'Thinking' driving - we try to make a start when Observing? Nearest I can get is when you get to the stage when you are totally aware of what is happening around you, relaxed, enjoying every drive, but conscious of danger and ready to react to it - as a natural state of mind and not neccessarily an IAM state of mind.
>> Edited by BOF on Saturday 7th January 19:05
bmw114 said:
Most driving shoes are narrow light and have a thin heel and sole, I have some Italian leather shoes that cost a fortune but will last for ever (as long as i don`t walk very far in them).
I decided that a type of trainer would do the trick,you can pick them up on Ebay very cheap, I have 8 pairs now, sounds odd i know but the total cost was less than half what i paid for my Italian ones.
There are some for sale on Ebay now, the item number is 5457106134
They went for 99p, not bad eh
Mark_SV said:
If you H&T every single gear change, this loses significant benefits of the System in road driving. Equally, this would be inflexible in its own way.
Could you elaborate on that? I'm interested to hear your opinion.
Just my opinion:
I H&T every gear change and always have done. I've yet to see a problem with it. For me it is as normal as pressing the clutch down. I'm curious as to how H&T could be innapropriate at any point.
In fact, I think H&T is safer as it prevents the strain on the tyres grip with the road everytime you let the clutch up (not to mention the drivetrain). If you're decelerating with the clutch down, then that is also dangerous, for obvious reasons. Also, if you're decelerating in one gear then you'll spend some time in a gear that is too high for proper control of the car should you need to take evasive action (this one has been discussed before on this forum).
I'm interested to hear your views.
Rob.
I'm an Observer with the Basingstoke Group - and I also drive on track as much as I can.
On road - I never (unless "playing"
bother with H&T - although I do 1) use the System, 2) Match revs on the downshift (as with H&T) - its just that I do it after I have finished braking.
On road - where you are not trying to save valuable tenths of a second off one's lap - I find completing braking before the hazard/turn/whatever - leaving space for a gear change after (complete with throttle blip) - works just fine.
Your point of the car not being in the ideal gear:
You're right. For a split-second moment or two this may indeed be true - particularly if you've just come off a fast road and are turning into a hairpin - say a Fourth to Second block change. Its just on-the-road this simply doesn't matter. If you're local to me I'd be more than happy to so you a "demo drive" so you can see how smooth and flowing the system can be in practice...
A few statements I believe to be true and of interest:
The system seperates braking and gearchanging to avoid clutch-drag braking.
Heel and Toe achieves the same thing.
The system also seperates braking and gearchanging to ensure both hands are on the wheel under braking - the very time when most grip is being used and therefore when the driver may need to take some corrective action. Also true during hard acceleration...
Heel and Toe doesn't help with this...you still need to set a hand free to gearshift whilst hanging onto the steering wheel and pressing the brake pedal - lots going on at once.
Flappy-Paddle-Throttle-Blipping systems deal with this completely however (hence their favour in F1 etc) in that
Both hands are on the wheel during gearchanging
Revs are matched perfectly by computer
The shift is very quick eliminating any coasting time otherwise experienced during gearchange - in turn this eliminates any instability created by drive-train interruption.
No need for dual-pedal-foot-dancing - always handy when selling Ferraris to Pop Stars.
Its my view that the future of gearchanging will be systems like these.
Shame - because all the heel and toe finesse I enjoy so much on the track will become a thing of the past...
I'm an Observer with the Basingstoke Group - and I also drive on track as much as I can.
On road - I never (unless "playing"
bother with H&T - although I do 1) use the System, 2) Match revs on the downshift (as with H&T) - its just that I do it after I have finished braking. On road - where you are not trying to save valuable tenths of a second off one's lap - I find completing braking before the hazard/turn/whatever - leaving space for a gear change after (complete with throttle blip) - works just fine.
Your point of the car not being in the ideal gear:
You're right. For a split-second moment or two this may indeed be true - particularly if you've just come off a fast road and are turning into a hairpin - say a Fourth to Second block change. Its just on-the-road this simply doesn't matter. If you're local to me I'd be more than happy to so you a "demo drive" so you can see how smooth and flowing the system can be in practice... A few statements I believe to be true and of interest:
The system seperates braking and gearchanging to avoid clutch-drag braking.
Heel and Toe achieves the same thing.
The system also seperates braking and gearchanging to ensure both hands are on the wheel under braking - the very time when most grip is being used and therefore when the driver may need to take some corrective action. Also true during hard acceleration...
Heel and Toe doesn't help with this...you still need to set a hand free to gearshift whilst hanging onto the steering wheel and pressing the brake pedal - lots going on at once.
Flappy-Paddle-Throttle-Blipping systems deal with this completely however (hence their favour in F1 etc) in that
Both hands are on the wheel during gearchanging
Revs are matched perfectly by computer
The shift is very quick eliminating any coasting time otherwise experienced during gearchange - in turn this eliminates any instability created by drive-train interruption.
No need for dual-pedal-foot-dancing - always handy when selling Ferraris to Pop Stars.
Its my view that the future of gearchanging will be systems like these.
Shame - because all the heel and toe finesse I enjoy so much on the track will become a thing of the past...
I use H&T simply to smooth out the effects of bringing the clutch up when changing down to a lower gear, eg before a corner. I don't do it to drive faster or to test the limits of adhesion, just to drive as smoothly as possible.
If there's another technique to achieve this then I'm all ears.
If there's another technique to achieve this then I'm all ears.
Don: thanks for your response - I understand your system now. I think I'll continue heel and toeing, but I do understand your rationale.
Of course, as you know, I blend the car into the bend - increasing steering as I come off the brakes (though you'd hardly notice, this is a subtle thing); which necessitates a heel and toe. We have of course discussed this before, and differ greatly on this topic!! I think we'll agree to differ Your system seems just right for your driving methods, and mine seems appropriate for mine.
thanks for the response.
Of course, as you know, I blend the car into the bend - increasing steering as I come off the brakes (though you'd hardly notice, this is a subtle thing); which necessitates a heel and toe. We have of course discussed this before, and differ greatly on this topic!! I think we'll agree to differ
Your system seems just right for your driving methods, and mine seems appropriate for mine. thanks for the response.
Hi Rob,
I was, of course, generalising. However, the spirit of what I meant was that sticking dogmatically to one technique is inflexible. It can be valuable to have a number of techniques in the driving tool kit. E.g. H&T, double-declutching and (single clutch) sustained revs gear changes all achieve smoothness through matched revs. Sometimes one is more helpful than another. As you know, H&T works best when braking heavily. Under lighter braking, a sustained revs (or double-declutch) would probably be a simpler way to match revs. (Not that a H&T would be impossible, obviously.) Even a "conventional" gear change has its place, such as when chosing to overlap when matching revs has negligable benefit (e.g. at very low revs).
Having said that, a particular type of gear change isn't an end in itself. Safety, smoothness and, for "advanced" drivers, being systematic are important. If using H&T works for you, then I wouldn't criticise it. I imagine the new President of the IAM uses H&T considerably!
Hi Leosayer - As you know, the objective is smoothness, achieved by matching revs to engine speed. There are several ways of doing this. The easiest is a sustained revs change. Simply keep your foot on the accelerator to raise the revs as you engage the lower gear, then let out the clutch once the revs have been matched.
Alternatively, you can double declutch. This is essentially the same thing, except you match revs whilst in neutral prior to seleting the lower gear. This has the minor advantage of saving wear on the synchromesh, but was developed in the days before synchromesh. Some people like to double declutch deliberatley because it takes longer. This ensures unhurried gear changes, thereby helping you to be smooth and disciplining you to plan further ahead.
>> Edited by Mark_SV on Friday 13th January 22:51
I was, of course, generalising. However, the spirit of what I meant was that sticking dogmatically to one technique is inflexible. It can be valuable to have a number of techniques in the driving tool kit. E.g. H&T, double-declutching and (single clutch) sustained revs gear changes all achieve smoothness through matched revs. Sometimes one is more helpful than another. As you know, H&T works best when braking heavily. Under lighter braking, a sustained revs (or double-declutch) would probably be a simpler way to match revs. (Not that a H&T would be impossible, obviously.) Even a "conventional" gear change has its place, such as when chosing to overlap when matching revs has negligable benefit (e.g. at very low revs).
Having said that, a particular type of gear change isn't an end in itself. Safety, smoothness and, for "advanced" drivers, being systematic are important. If using H&T works for you, then I wouldn't criticise it. I imagine the new President of the IAM uses H&T considerably!
Hi Leosayer - As you know, the objective is smoothness, achieved by matching revs to engine speed. There are several ways of doing this. The easiest is a sustained revs change. Simply keep your foot on the accelerator to raise the revs as you engage the lower gear, then let out the clutch once the revs have been matched.
Alternatively, you can double declutch. This is essentially the same thing, except you match revs whilst in neutral prior to seleting the lower gear. This has the minor advantage of saving wear on the synchromesh, but was developed in the days before synchromesh. Some people like to double declutch deliberatley because it takes longer. This ensures unhurried gear changes, thereby helping you to be smooth and disciplining you to plan further ahead.
>> Edited by Mark_SV on Friday 13th January 22:51
RobM77 said:
Don: thanks for your response - I understand your system now. I think I'll continue heel and toeing, but I do understand your rationale.
Interestingly, police System was origninally devised by a racing driver, albeit with a different goal from racing. The rationale appears to have worked, both disciplining longer range planning and reducing task loading on the driver. Police pursuit driver accidents dropped from 1 per 7000 miles to 1 per 70-100,000 miles after the introduction of "the System", with all its quirks like avoiding brake/gear overlap.
RobM77 said:
Of course, as you know, I blend the car into the bend - increasing steering as I come off the brakes (though you'd hardly notice, this is a subtle thing); which necessitates a heel and toe.
I'd challenge you on that. Trail braking merely requires increasing steering as you come off the brakes, in order to remain within the limit of grip. It doesn't really matter what sort of gear change you use. (I was first taught trail braking before I could H&T.)
Mark_SV said:
I'd challenge you on that. Trail braking merely requires increasing steering as you come off the brakes, in order to remain within the limit of grip. It doesn't really matter what sort of gear change you use. (I was first taught trail braking before I could H&T.)
That's true strictly speaking, but assuming you do want to change down at some point during the approach then trail braking makes it very likely that you will be braking while you do it. That means that if you need to blip the throttle to match revs during the gear change you more or less have to use heel-and-toe to do it. So although trail braking and H&T are separate techniques, if you're using trail braking you're quite likely to need to use H&T too.
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