How do I move my brake pedal where I can use my left foot?

[pigpen]

I found the PDE adjustable pedal thread (http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2266&highlight=left+foot+braking), but they have nothing for my 2000 Legacy. I also found several threads on the technique. But nothing on how to make my car's brake pedal accessible to the left foot. I didn't put this in the Legacy-specific area becaue I was hoping there might be a generic way to handle this, since there are limited aftermarket parts for my car.

So, are there pedal covers that would let me do this without ripping off? Or any other ways to set this up? When my right foot is against the edge of the foot well, and my left foot is actually touching heels with it, I still can only barely get a little bit of my foot on the pedal. Any ideas?

[Rally OBXT]

What size shoe do you wear?

[pigpen]

lol...an 11.

i was wondering if i could get one of those giant brake pedals they put on automatics. anyone know if that might work?

[JacksonRally]

Cut and weld...I'm gonna do something similiar to my WRX cause theres not much space and I wear a 12....pretty tight in there.

[pigpen]

be sure to post up the process! i'd love to see how that turns out. i don't have my own welder, but i'd be willing to pay someone to do that if i knew what to tell them to do. i was worried that might be my only option, but if it is, so be it.

[pigpen]

i'd love to, but that's a long trip for some welding. i drove out to LA and back once before, but that was between college and when i started working, when i could spend three weeks on one vacation...

[strat]

aren't you going to lose the ability to heel toe downshift though if you move the pedal away from the accelerator?

[UP2MTNS]

haha bring your car to my school, ill weld her up!

look out, Johnny Tremain ;)

[pigpen]

aren't you going to lose the ability to heel toe downshift though if you move the pedal away from the accelerator?

that's why i was thinking a wider brake pedal may be the answer. i could move it away a little bit without it causing that problem, but i'm not sure if i could move it far enough to left-foot brake and still heel-toe.

[pigpen]

look out, Johnny Tremain ;)

im so confused! lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Tremain

but i'm not entirely sure i understand the reference either, since i never read that book. maybe i'm johnny and you're dove?

[BlackParis]

im in MI lol not LA .. anywho still far haha does Paris have a welder?


I do....

But I have a size 12w and have never had anyproblem with pedal placement on any subaru, unless I am wearing big huge clunky workboots.... But especially not when I am wearing driving shoes....

One thing I like to modify is the gas pedal height... I just like to make it level with the brake... Most cars that just bends up to where u like it :muhaha:

But um.. eastern PA border = @ minimum 4 hours away....

[pigpen]

paris, i'd be willing to travel that far just to have you let me play in your fields! if you're willing to help me, i'd do what i could to make it worth your while. and i have a couple friends that i could stay with in wappingers falls, which says it is closer to an hour.

[MetalNeverDies]

yea i have a hard time doing LFB and stuff like that when i drive but i have a pair of skate shoes and they are 12's need a nice pair of driving shoes. btw how to do heal toe? *i know n00b question*

[BlackParis]

yea i have a hard time doing LFB and stuff like that when i drive but i have a pair of skate shoes and they are 12's need a nice pair of driving shoes. btw how to do heal toe? *i know n00b question*

Your supposed to have your heel on the gas, and the front of your foot on the brake (if u have small feet, oriental guys) OR... If your foot is wide enough you spread it inbetween your gas and brake.. This is my reasoning for bending the gas pedal up and even with the brake, on all my cars....


paris, i'd be willing to travel that far just to have you let me play in your fields! if you're willing to help me, i'd do what i could to make it worth your while. and i have a couple friends that i could stay with in wappingers falls, which says it is closer to an hour.

Well, let me know this summer.... Fields are out of commission ATM since the snow is toooo deep..... Unless you got a snowmobile and wanna come up.... You can also camp on the top of my property... We own the peak of the hill and have a bonfire pit ontop, and soon to have a "lookout/cabin".... You can easitly see a few mountains back into VT (30miles away?) its very sceneic to wake up @ sunrise over the mountains :headbang:

[MetalNeverDies]

whats the point of that? and whats heel toe shifting. LOL at the asian comment its so true i tried it and my foot took up the whole area and my friend who is asian had to use both feet to hit the clutch gas brake when my whole foot would hit them all

[pigpen]

heel-toe is used when downshifting under braking. you blip the throttle to match your revs to where they need to be for the lower gear, so that you do not unsettle the car. it also allows you to downshift much more quickly without destroying your synchros. remember that you should be slowing down with your brakes, not your engine. you are only downshifting so that you are in the proper gear when it is time to get back on the gas.

i combine this with double-clutching, which is what i was told is the proper way to do it by an audi track instructor. that way, you are blipping the throttle while the car is fully in neutral, rather than just while the clutch is in. i forget what in the driveline is different in this scenario...i just started practicing that way, and it is second nature now.

as paris mentioned, the nomenclature heel-toe refers to your toe on the brake, and your heel on the gas. but most people have their foot more vertical and roll it back and forth. if you look at the way piloti driving shoes are designed, it is for this form of the technique, and that is how they explain it. i wasn't able to find it on their website, but they had a writeup on heel-toe in their little pamphlets (i got a pair from CBRD when i bought my STi from them...those shoes kick ass, but i've never tried any other driving shoe).

a lot of JGTC videos i have watched of skylines show a little inset of the driver's feet, so you can see them doing this.

[pigpen]

Well, let me know this summer.... Fields are out of commission ATM since the snow is toooo deep..... Unless you got a snowmobile and wanna come up.... You can also camp on the top of my property... We own the peak of the hill and have a bonfire pit ontop, and soon to have a "lookout/cabin".... You can easitly see a few mountains back into VT (30miles away?) its very sceneic to wake up @ sunrise over the mountains :headbang:

awesome! yeah, i keep forgetting that most places north of me don't have grass showing...damn global warming is screwing up PA winters. camping is cool with me, too. i will be in touch as summer approaches...by then i'll have a couple of rallyX's under my belt.

i don't have a snowmobile...it would be mostly frustrating that i could never use it if i had one around here. i always go up to my friend's place in the adirondacks for that. we rip around his yard, where he built a couple small jumps this year.

[pigpen]

update: with my pilotis on, and my floor mats removed, i was able to left-foot brake, but i think i'd still prefer a bigger pedal. of course, this being my first rallyX, this introduced a new problem: keeping my left foot ready on the brake didn't work well when i tried to shift.

the first time, i went right from second to first while using the brake instead of the clutch. i must have had the revs just right b/c it went in like butter. the second time, i caught myself before doing it, and in overthinking the situation, stalled the car. i need to practice!!!

[VermillionX]

I have heel-toed by just rolling my foot. I cant do it the propper way. I just dont think I am cordinated enough. Also I need to learn how to effectivly left foot brake for when I rallyx. I have seen guys use it but I dont know the method behind the madness.

[Draco-REX]

I have heel-toed by just rolling my foot. I cant do it the propper way. I just dont think I am cordinated enough. Also I need to learn how to effectivly left foot brake for when I rallyx. I have seen guys use it but I dont know the method behind the madness.
I've had a number of people try to explain left-foot braking to me, and it always seemed to center around Magic. It was somehow supposed to transfer weight to the front while accelerating, breaking several laws of physics. I could see what the car would do with both the Brake and Gas down, and how it would effect the car in my head, but these people insistently believed that with left-foot braking you could transfer weight to the front and accelerate at the same time. Magic, I tell you!

Luckilly there are people out there who do know what it does and how it works, and they can operate a computer without relying on Magic. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_foot_braking

[BlackParis]

I've had a number of people try to explain left-foot braking to me, and it always seemed to center around Magic. It was somehow supposed to transfer weight to the front while accelerating, breaking several laws of physics. I could see what the car would do with both the Brake and Gas down, and how it would effect the car in my head, but these people insistently believed that with left-foot braking you could transfer weight to the front and accelerate at the same time. Magic, I tell you!

Luckilly there are people out there who do know what it does and how it works, and they can operate a computer without relying on Magic. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_foot_braking

I more use it on a FWD car, to keep the front wheels spinning (with traction) when entering a corner and the rear wheels begin to drag, creating turn in.. dunno about this "magik" you speak of :-D

[pigpen]

i use it to lighten up the rear end of my car after/while initiating a turn to increase rotation. i also use it when the front wheels are too light under acceleration instead of lifting the throttle to get rid of the understeer.

[I Like It Sideways]

i use it to lighten up the rear end of my car after/while initiating a turn to increase rotation. i also use it when the front wheels are too light under acceleration instead of lifting the throttle to get rid of the understeer.

I do the same. I've used LFB to initiate a slide, and in fact, all of the slides in my 2008 snow video were initiated using LFB. They could have been initiated using my right foot, but I wanted to work on finesse with my left foot so I am smooth with it. Not to mention it is faster to just use LFB instead of shuffling my right foot around

I use LFB to keep my car at the same 'slip angle' mid turn. It makes putting the power to the ground easier, so you're not spinning all tires and either pushing too far to the outside, or understeering like a pig.

[rte7x9]

It's god's gift to the FWD car IMO, I started practicing on the Civic and now I do it in the Focus, strange to get used to at first (I use it along with flicking into all my turns). Most of my passengers say something like "that doesn't feel like it should work..."

As for shoes, I have some size 9 bowling shoes that I squeeze my feet into whenever I go driving, I don't really heel-toe as much as I should, but I have plenty of room to dance on the petals.

If you ever have the chance and you need some cheap driving shoes...Bowling Shoes!

[Draco-REX]

I more use it on a FWD car, to keep the front wheels spinning (with traction) when entering a corner and the rear wheels begin to drag, creating turn in.. dunno about this "magik" you speak of :-D
Hey man, they were the ones that wanted to toss physics out the window. ;)

[T-Heineken]

...Well, let me know this summer.... Fields are out of commission ATM since the snow is toooo deep..... Unless you got a snowmobile and wanna come up.... You can also camp on the top of my property... We own the peak of the hill and have a bonfire pit ontop, and soon to have a "lookout/cabin".... You can easitly see a few mountains back into VT (30miles away?) its very sceneic to wake up @ sunrise over the mountains :headbang:

Ohhh man. I wish you weren't across the country. We could do a DI monthly member fee just to play and party on your property :)


I feel your guys' pain on the shoe issue....I've got 14s. I learned to drive barefoot and greatly prefer it, unless I'm required by the rules to wear shoes, then I have some slim Converse's that get the job done okay. I just don't have enough room, even if I were to move my brake pedal further left....6'6" with 14 feet is a lot to pack into that small area, but I make it work, and with style!