Honest John and Left Foot Braking?
Discussion
fido said:
I'm used to left foot braking in karts but very rarely do it in a car as the pedals are too close. No doubt with electric cars, it will become more common.
Why would it be more common with electric cars than with other 2-pedal cars?And yes, electric cars can also do the "throttle cut on brake application" thing.
I'd be surprised if any driving instructor or organisation recommends left foot braking in an automatic. It's a technique that simply has no place in everyday driving. PH driving gods with their enthusiasm for driving and supercar fleets are not representative of everyday drivers. That's why I compare it to heel and toe. You won't find a single motoring body or driving school that recommends it for everyday driving and rightly so. By all means let people who want to use these techniques crack on but any thought that they should be widespread amongst the general driving population is just laughable.
I've spent the last 7 years driving automatics. Jaguar XJ, BMW135i and a Touareg.
Never, in the thousands of miles covered, have I ever felt it necessary to use my left foot for braking. Drop it down a gear on the gearbox, sure, but when are you ever going to need to shave the last thousand of a second off the run to Tesco? Even driving enthusiastically, in a car like the BMW, you're well into licence losing speeds before it comes a problem.
I suspect the people who enthusiastically left foot brake are the same folk who have a pair of driving shoes and a specific driving sunglasses to get them to the shops, looking down on the rest of the population who wear flip-flops and free sunglasses to nip to Tesco.
Never, in the thousands of miles covered, have I ever felt it necessary to use my left foot for braking. Drop it down a gear on the gearbox, sure, but when are you ever going to need to shave the last thousand of a second off the run to Tesco? Even driving enthusiastically, in a car like the BMW, you're well into licence losing speeds before it comes a problem.
I suspect the people who enthusiastically left foot brake are the same folk who have a pair of driving shoes and a specific driving sunglasses to get them to the shops, looking down on the rest of the population who wear flip-flops and free sunglasses to nip to Tesco.
borcy said:
yonex said:
H and T is very useful in lightweight cars.
I think perhaps the point is about the general driving population, most don't know h&t even exists. Most don't drive lightweight cars. If people want to do it that's fine, but I don't think it's needed as general driving skill.
InitialDave said:
And yes, electric cars can also do the "throttle cut on brake application" thing.
You see that would annoy me and I would switch it off and do the 2-pedal thing. Obiously we're talking about when sports cars are electric e.g. MX-5 Mk ETom_Spotley_When said:
I suspect the people who enthusiastically left foot brake are the same folk who have a pair of driving shoes and a specific driving sunglasses to get them to the shops, looking down on the rest of the population who wear flip-flops and free sunglasses to nip to Tesco.
I know you jest but as someone who wears Puma Speedcats and 3025 Aviator Classic in the summer, I don't feel the need for left-foot braking.Edited by fido on Monday 30th September 10:12
V6 Pushfit said:
Bobberoo99 said:
I drive a Focus diesel, it's not red. or Rioja it's not an automatic either, but I have no issue with left foot braking in either manual or auto's, but then to be fair I like shiny slashy stabby things too!!!! 
A fascinating insight, with a hint of menace. 10/10. Tom_Spotley_When said:
I've spent the last 7 years driving automatics. Jaguar XJ, BMW135i and a Touareg.
Never, in the thousands of miles covered, have I ever felt it necessary to use my left foot for braking. Drop it down a gear on the gearbox, sure, but when are you ever going to need to shave the last thousand of a second off the run to Tesco? Even driving enthusiastically, in a car like the BMW, you're well into licence losing speeds before it comes a problem.
I suspect the people who enthusiastically left foot brake are the same folk who have a pair of driving shoes and a specific driving sunglasses to get them to the shops, looking down on the rest of the population who wear flip-flops and free sunglasses to nip to Tesco.
I use my left foot for braking most of the time in my automatic. As I said earlier in the thread there’s 2 pedals and you have 2 feet so why multi task with one foot? Also useful to cover the brake with the left foot while manoeuvring slowly.Never, in the thousands of miles covered, have I ever felt it necessary to use my left foot for braking. Drop it down a gear on the gearbox, sure, but when are you ever going to need to shave the last thousand of a second off the run to Tesco? Even driving enthusiastically, in a car like the BMW, you're well into licence losing speeds before it comes a problem.
I suspect the people who enthusiastically left foot brake are the same folk who have a pair of driving shoes and a specific driving sunglasses to get them to the shops, looking down on the rest of the population who wear flip-flops and free sunglasses to nip to Tesco.
No I don’t own driving shoes, gloves or special sunglasses.
fido said:
You see that would annoy me and I would switch it off then do the 2-pedal thing. Obiously we're talking about when sports cars are electric e.g. MX-5 Mk E
How would you "switch it off"? It's not a user-level option, and I don't think even a dealer can/would be willing to change it.You can have it removed from some ECUs when remapping (or at least set the cut metrics to numbers that won't do anything), but then you're into a completely different (and warranty voiding) situation.
Taylor James said:
I'd be surprised if any driving instructor or organisation recommends left foot braking in an automatic. It's a technique that simply has no place in everyday driving. PH driving gods with their enthusiasm for driving and supercar fleets are not representative of everyday drivers. That's why I compare it to heel and toe. You won't find a single motoring body or driving school that recommends it for everyday driving and rightly so. By all means let people who want to use these techniques crack on but any thought that they should be widespread amongst the general driving population is just laughable.
Driving instructors teach people to pass their driving tests, that’s pretty much all they’re interested in. You wouldn’t fail a test by braking with your left foot. I’d say it’s safer as the time to the brake pedal will be fractionally less.Heel and toe is a very different matter.
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