Defining some Terms that are Tossed Around

[blargonator]

speaking of braking techniques. most of you know who michael shumacher (probably destroyed his name) is and he brakes with his left foot. i never realized that does not mean much because there are only 2 pedals in a F1 car. so might as well use what you have.

[malcolm]

most F1 drivers brake with their left foot. I believe Rubens Barrichello is one of the few that still use his right foot. Jean Alesi was another driver who preferred to right-foot-brake. He said it just felt more natural, and he felt he was faster when he used his right foot.

Depending on the car, I left-foot-brake sometimes mid-corner, and if I get into a car without a power-booster for the brakes, I might start left-foot-braking for corners where I don't need to downshift. If I ever get into a formula car, you can bet my right foot will never touch the brake... (providing left-foot-braking is possible in that specific car!)

[Drifterlunchb0x]

final!!! SOMEONE MENCHINS LEFT FOOT BRAKING!!!!!!!!!


This is a technique that i use when doing highspeed drifts to help initiate. Its a technique my friend Jason taught me ( rally driver for about 12 years ) and its worked wonders on initiation than normal braking or heel toeing for me. Rally drivers also use this technique so not just f1 drivers. It works wonders on transfering the weight.

So happy to see ppl actually talking about this, most other forums i get laughed at for discussing this style. Kinda shows the ignorance of the other forums i guess.

[blargonator]

im glad i actually got a response at all. anyways another thing about F1 cars is there is.....nowhere to put your feet! have you seen the interior of those lay-z boys? they have to make specific seats which most of you probably know....but anyways you dont have anywhere to put your legs. it looks like something homer made out of a barbeque(spelling) one thing with rally driving is braking points are everything because you dont want to lock up your tires on some leaves but you dont want to slow down too much. but with those guys it is all about speed.

[Drifterlunchb0x]

yeah i dont understand why ppl dont think about left foot braking...if it works with f1 and rally cars why wouldnt it work for ff and fr and awd to drift....:-D

[clarksteiner]

Well I've heard guys talk about neutral throttle. what is neutral throttle is that just lifting off the accelerator and coasting?

what is hard to master, left foot braking or heel and toeing? i know its two different things but i just was curious

[GRiDRaceTech]

Neutral throttle is also called maintenance throttle. It is where you are simply maintaining constant pressure on the throttle.

Left foot braking is MUCH MUCH MUCH harder to master than heel-and-toeing. The only people who can really do it well are guys who were weaned on go-karts or were active in rally at a very young age. Otherwise, it's practically impossible to do to the fullest extent.

[SidewaysGts]

Never heard of neutral throttle- so i cant comment on that.

Rally driver use LFB for a different reason. They have whats known as a turbo restrictor- think of a restrictive tube on the turbo. This really kills a turbo, and inreases the lag time. To help prevent turbo lag a driver will brake, and keep on the throttle (to keep the revs going) so the turbo will keep spining. This isnt as common as it once was with BOVs and in specific the ALS (anti-lag system, initial d fanatics would know this as a mid firing system)

For normal street driving LFB can have its advantages if you make a mistake a bit, but its not something i would reccomend. Its a poor use of brakes. Your giving the wheels power while trying to stop them- just think about it for a moment. In FF cars where cornering was too fast lfb can be used to create a decent slip angle however and help cope with understeer- but there are other ways to do so as well.

For heel-toe, its neither a "grip based" technique or "drift based" . Its simply the fastest and smoothest way to brake and down shift. Since your braking, rev matching, and down shifting all at one time- rather then doing it all one by one.

"Or how anyone could possibly respect shift lock or E brake on a FR but not E-brake or feint on FF"

I dont respect hand brakes in FR for drifting, nor do i considering it a drift technique for FF.

Some can call it drifting- i just call it @$$ dragging.


Added- censorship is funny around here

[scirocco]

That brings me to a point: I used to do that on my crx to drift sometimes. I agree that it is not the same as drifting, but lets just call it drifting for this post. I would brake and floor it (low hp so i could use lots of throttle) thereby locking the rears and keeping the fronts rolling. It's just a cheap and inefficient yet fun way to e brake basically. It is also very useful for cars with foot parking brakes where it is the only practical way to lock the rears. This also reminds me that when I'm going for a really fast time attack lap or just want to pass someone, I eliminate turbo lag by putting on a turbo that's still got lag, but great peak boost (keep in mind my scirocco is on a CVT and I keep the revs high and slip the clutch whenever my revs are below their limit, even if it is only 1000rpms short. This keeps boost up and still puts down the same power since no CVT is perfect for all conditions, this helps a lot.

[SidewaysGts]

Haha, ive always had the craziest image in my head of one of the cars with a foot-parking brake,

Trying to heel-toe and hitting that pedal to lock up the back tires to start a drift

[blargonator]

..............did you ever think about how you would release it? i cant imagine starting to drift then leaning over to hit a button to release the parking brake. but in my car the parking brake is on the left hand side (its still a lever though) those crazy germans....cant wait till monday. im going to sleep all sunday then sleep through school.

[SidewaysGts]

For those who couldnt tell it was more of a joke about the situation not something to be taken serious