Heel toe shifting what , when, where, why, how?

[TTaM]

I have read about heal toe shifting in the plethra of auto mags I read but don't exactly know what it is. What is it? When is it beneficial? How would I do it? I am still rather new to standard transmissions. I started driving a standard trans in Oct w/ the purchase of my '76 240D. Since I think heel toe shifting is more performance oriented, I don't think the 240 will benefit from this skill. Now though, I also have my '85 Volvo 745 which is a lot more lively. Can anyone help me out?

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving/driving_heeltoe.lasso

[MTI]

If you've ever owned a pre-synchro British (Healy, MG, Triumph, Jag) you learned heel & toe to save your gears from becoming fine metal shavings. That sound of the gears clashing still rings in my ears!

I suppose you could possibly beat the current gearbox synchros, but it would be a risk not justified by the benefit.

[yal]

Originally posted by PaulC
That is the best explanation of the technique I've ever seen.

Ditto! Wow.

[Ashman]

so true RS....

My bro had a 1976 911s. I learned to drive stick in an MGB, had a 77 bmw 530i, but out of all of them the porsche is the most interesting to drive, so strange when the pedals go intot he floor its a werid sensation that takes a while to get used to.

Alon

http://www.driftsession.com/drift_techniques/heeltoeshifting.htm

One note; It is not smart to learn this technique in a Porsche 911 or any Mid-Engine car unless you are very good at driving forward using your rear view mirror. Things can get turned around REAL QUICK!

[leathermang]

Prior to cars having " hill holding devices" installed in them... you needed to do this when you stop at a light on a hill....to keep from going backward or being too abrupt or spinning tires getting started going forward....

[Diesel-Lover]

Heel toe, those were the days burning rubber, missed shifts, crunching gears. When :
STOP= Spin Tires On Pavement!

[TTaM]

So is there any real practical street use for this skill? I might just take it up, as I am considering autocrossing in the spring.

[Jim Anderson]

I used it a lot in carburated sticks to keep the engine from stalling when the engine was cold and the choke wasn't doing its job.

[Kuan]

Dude, don't try and heel toe in the middle of a corner. RS' link is if you want to get the thing to drift around a corner. If you get deja vu and start seeing the road from whence you came don't panic. Just do a donut and come to a nice little stop. Do you have your novice license?

I wish I could heal toe When I try it I hit all three pedals because my foot is to big.
But I see no real reason for it in everyday driving

Originally posted by Kuan
Dude, don't try and heel toe in the middle of a corner. RS' link is if you want to get the thing to drift around a corner. If you get deja vu and start seeing the road from whence you came don't panic. Just do a donut and come to a nice little stop. Do you have your novice license?

yea what he said! Don't you guys get the "rear view mirror part" while practicing toe and heel you often see where you WERE going through your rear view mirror.

[TTaM]

Well, I went out to my favourite twisties to try it yesterday. Alas, for some reason I can't seem to do it. It looks like Volvo put the acceleator closer to the floor than the brake pedal. Oh well, I'm going to keep tryoing though,try it with different shoes. And no, I have no licsense beyond my Illinois state drivers liscense

[TTaM]

Originally posted by PaulC
You should begin practicing on quiet, straight, wide roads. You're much less likely to do an impression of a 911 Turbo going ass first into the shrubbery if you botch it under those circumstances.

Yea I did that as well. On the way out to the twisties, it is nothing but straight road, farm field on either side. I was going out to them regardless of my ability to do heel toe.