Use Engine Brake

[Joe_Legal]

Hi yeah, there's no need to do Heel&Toe if there's no need to slow the car down while trying to downshift at the same time. This technique frankly not really needed in normal driving.

 

Cheers!

Edited November 8, 2007 by Joe_Legal

[Joe_Legal]

Yep basically your described technique (rev-matching) is the same as heel and toe except without the simultaneous application of brakes. Rev-matching's about smooth downshifts while heel and toe has additional braking involved.

 

Cheers!

[Zcold]

yeah....

 

its somehow still a very manual car...

 

oei.. no one wanna guess why i use 2 legs?

 

u driving alpha ritee?

i read somewhere for FWD cars on track there is a technique called left foot braking... cos FWDs have a heavy nose.. so doing that shifts the weight to the front... thou it will be a strain on the gear box

 

u dun do that do u?

 

alternatively pull handbrake... dori dori does that ...

wells he's the drift king...

[Madsumm]

errr... have u read thru... in normal driving condition, i do not use left and right leg at the same time.. if u drive long enough, best to keep your feet AWAY from the brake pedal while you are on a certain speed, otherwise u will cause chain collision.

 

normally only during slopes.. well its a matter of getting use to.. and.. wat's wrong with applying emergency brake using your left foot?

[Madsumm]

haha... i dun drift. sorry. dunno how to as well.

 

i do left foot braking coz.. if i dun... on the slope.. even if my car is engaged in gear 1 and i do not have a clutch, my car will slide back.. not nice to hit another vehicle behind right?

 

keke

[Anjas]

I think it's rather troublesome to engage the handbrake and it's slower than using the one-foot method, which I'm using now..(My car is using the same principle as maddsum's car - duologic - same as selespeed) So I will try to perfect his method of using left leg to brake and right leg to accelerate on the slopes..

Edited November 8, 2007 by Anjas

[Anjas]

Hahaha.... I think we are in the same boat in this situation...

This is also the reason why my wife hates my car....

[Zcold]

hahaha its not to the point till the car drifts ...

 

http://www.modernracer.com/tips/leftfootbraking.html

 

haha i know abt yr original reason...

jus wondering if u do this stun as well....

[Icekitten]

Depends how much space you have to break, if you approach a red light from a long distance and from a high speed you can gradually shift down and break by doing that,

 

but if you have a car in front of you and you don't have much experience you better don't concentrate too much on shifting down to break or it might be too late.

 

I don't know how to explain it well but engine braking is much much more effective than simply using brakes to stop. Now I often practice engine braking at red lights, ya unless I'm lazy la.

 

Even downshifting by just one gear is effective in helping the car to reduce speed faster. There's been a few occasions where engine braking enabled me to avoid beating a red light and stopping before the stop line smoothly.

 

Maybe if a new driver then don't focus on the engine braking part while stopping first, but for regular or experienced manual drivers, the clutch and shifting should be second nature already.

[Icekitten]

actually, when there's car in front(not too far away), shouldn't I just shift to neutral and brake accordingly, am i right? This is especially so for novices.

But if I approach red light from distance or anticipate I have to stop, how do I downshift or react such that car does not jerk or lurch?

Shifting to neutral is quite unsafe when rolling for long distance.

 

 

I think jerking or lurching is due to 'throwing' of the clutch, or releasing the clutch too fast. Engine brake is also supposed to be used together with brakes, not just downshift like that.

 

Even in neutral and just relying on the brake pedal to brake, the pedal can be controlled by releasing it at the appropriate moment to reduce the jerk when stopping to a minimum.

 

I think everything boils down to control. Clutch control, brake pedal control, etc. That's how you achieve a smooth drive with a manual car.

 

Don't worry, I don't think there'll be circumstances where the car rolls in neutral for long distances. Usually it's only neutral and brake at red light, and the distance between junctions is not long and brakes are being applied too. If anything, need to accelerate, just shift in to the appropriate gear. Once you get used to driving manual, it'll all be very instinctive to you.