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  Automotive Engineering Forum. Crp Technology > Articles and issues related to motorsport > Driving techniques and tips

Driving techniques and tips Articles and discussions related to driving techniques and tips in racing

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Old 04 July 2008
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Default Driving technique. Left foot braking

Left-foot braking is the technique of driving that is used to operate the brake pedal in an automobile with the left foot while the right foot operates the throttle pedal. It is different from normal driving techniques because, generally, it is the left foot that operates on the clutch pedal and the right foot that operates on the brake and accelerator pedal.
The most basic purpose of left-foot braking is the decrease in time spent between the throttle pedals and right foot moving between the brakes. The left-foot pedaling is also used to control load transfer.
It is normally used in the races, but is also used by the drivers with an automatic transmission.

Left-foot driving technique is useful for front-wheel-drive cars during cornering at very high speed. If you understeer suddenly at the corner suddenly, the car still tends to move in the straight line and do not bend in the direction you want it to, thus leading to an accident.
The left-foot driving technique help in canceling out the understeer so that there is more grip at the front wheels than the rear wheels.

Left-foot driving technique requires a whole process to follow. While you approach a corner at high speed, slow down your vehicle as necessary by pressing the brakes with your right foot, use the heel-and-toe maneuver, and downshift the gear.
At this point, you are to move your left foot to the brake and your right foot simultaneously to the accelerator. This is the actual way of applying left-foot-braking. You may continue to slow down the vehicle to a lower speed reasonably by applying the brakes with your left foot.
As the vehicle is about to turn around the corner, simultaneously hit the gas and apply the brakes with your feet. By applying this left foot driving technique, the rear wheels will lock but the front wheels keep moving. When this happens, the complete weight of the car is transferred to the front wheels of the vehicle causing the front wheels to have more grips as compared to the rears. This is the time, when the car actually starts to oversteer.

However, at this point of time, you have to keep the vehicle under control just by steering in the desirable direction and applying brakes and throttle as required.
The practice of using the two brakes together requires skill and dedicated practices. When you intentionally lift the accelerator, it will cause much more oversteer and the car’s rear flips out even more. Reduction of oversteering will require more throttles and easing of the brakes causing the car or the vehicle to straighten.

At the time of racing cars, the racers use thus left-foot braking technique to clear the cornering smoothly with a high speed while making little changes to the steering. At last, they just floor the car and speed off with high velocity. When one is good at doing left-foot-braking, he will be able to keep the accelerator completely floored and the understeer is eliminated.

However, it is not advisable to use left-foot-braking on roads other than the racing tracks. This is prohibited on the highways because, in the case of emergency banking situations, the driver often tend to use both his legs to press the brakes and while doing this if the right foot is on the throttle, may cause unwanted and dangerous accident situations.
This is why many manufacturers of cars provide a rest for the left foot so that the driver may use the right foot for both the brake and the throttle.

However, the racers to maintain speed and to turn the corners without any fatal accidents or any speed reduction that often occurs during cornering mostly use this technique.
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