When on track, how many of you approach a turn or corner by simply braking hard and downshifting? Did you ever get the feeling that you were light on power or a little rough when exiting the corner? One way to enhance your exit speed is to start practicing the “heel & toe”, a technique using your toes to apply the brakes and your heel to add throttle. This should help eliminate that concern once and for all.

When approaching a braking point, follow these few steps in a fluid manner:

  1. position the ball of your right foot over the brake pedal
  2. apply pressure to your brakes with your toes
  3. hold the required brake pressure, position your heel over the accelerator
  4. press the clutch, hit the throttle with your heel to bring the RPM’s up (throttle blip)
  5. change down to the desired gear
  6. release the clutch
  7. accelerate smoothly

I know this is a lot to digest so I made sure to find a simple clip which shows the technique in a clear and effective manner. Once you watch it over and over, you will start to see that it isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Please make sure not to practice this technique on public roads.

Stay tuned! Pun intended.

elwehbi@brakebanzeen

This post was written by guest blogger, El Wehbi, from the automotive blog Brake Banzeen! To read more of his work, visit http://brakebanzeen.wordpress.com.