QuestionQUESTION: Yea hey Dan its me again about the heel and toe. i'm a regular. Now that i'm driving the car i realized that heel and toe can be a lot more easier if and only if the pedals were more parallel. when i press the brakes (lightly cause i dont wanna do any heavy braking yet cause i dont know what i'm doing) i realize that the gas pedal is very far. i but my toe on the brakes and i almost slip my foot off the brakes to press the gas. i think its something i can get use to but comfort is important. what should i do to make all three pedals parallel?
ANSWER: EAsy- - -BEND THEM !!
Usually the gas pedal is suspended from above and is made of steel rod about 5/16" in diameter. I once made a tool out of 1/2 " rod that looked like a fork with two tines, then I welded a big nut to the other end, I can put it over the rod, and put a wrench on it and bend hell outta things. Move the gas pedal closer to the brake, about. 1&1/2" between them should be good. Then with heavy pressure on the brake, adjust your throttle linkage so that the gas pedal is just a bit below the depressed brake pedal. If it's way below, attach a block of wood or a piece of aluminum plate to the pedal to even them up.
Honda's are paprticularly bad about this pedal placement.
Glad your're' having some success with it, it's a very important part of professional level race driving.
Good luck again !!
Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: the heel and toe is coming out fine but its 12:56 am right now and this is the time i practice so im safe. when i downshift the car sounds like the tires lock for a split sec. is that normal because i stopped doing it smooth and now i'm trying to do it more faster. I'm also able to downshift consecutive gears. i went 80 mph in 4th gear and downshifting braking to first. it coulda been faster but i dont wanna push it yet. man u are the best with all of your knowledge. my dad does not support my racing habits at all. i'm all out on my own really. so therefore i'm not suppose to be doing this. my dad also gave me a very very very disturbing comment "You cannot brake and clutch at the same time, it tears the clutch up." he thinks he knows everything. is that true? that dont make any sense at all. if anything wouldnt it wear the brakes down faster just because u working against them? but the clutch has nothing to do with them. well those are my to questions, that and the wheel locking. i guess i'm thanking u tho more than anything.
o yea and for something impressive i learned how to drive the manual on sunday. my dad tried to teach me but i learned it in 1 attempt. i pulled off and put it in second gear. he thought i already knew but only reason why i knew was because i poisoned myself with it without actually driving one yet. i been driving for a year now and they finally decided to let me prove to them i can learn it in 15 minutes. but i was wrong. 1 attempt which is like 2 seconds. i'm never going to get into this racing biz without any support. but right now i'm making little progress with this heel-toeing. soon its going to be good enough to hit the track. hopefully i can think of something before then
AnswerYou should practice SMOOTH- --that's the most important part, the fast will come on it's own. Be patient, it takes a long time to perfect the activity. Braking and downshifting at the same time will not harm the clutch IF YOU''RE DOING IT SMOOTHLY. That little bit of wheel lock is not a good thing though, practice making the transition smoother, without any jerky motion.
The downshifting process should work WITH the brakes to slow the car faster. So there should be no accelerated brake wear eitiher.
As far as parental support goes, I suffered the same thing. My parents thought of racers as low class trash. Since they grew up on the 30's I guess they were closer to the truth back then. There are still some low class- - -or classless people in racing, Tony Stewart comes to mind.
Your only option then, is to make sure you study very hard in school, and find the kind of career that pays well enough to support your desires. You have virtually no chance of making it into professional racing without about $2 or 3 million in sponsorship of some sort. I'm pretty sure your parents wouldn't be willing or able to provide it, so you'll have to EARN it. It may be that you can do this on a race track, but not very likely. This means you are going to have to earn it yourself. Start thinking along those lines.
Again, good luck
Dan
