peter*g

iTrader: (55)

After learning Left-Foot Braking at Team O'Neil, I was convinced that it would be the best way for me to drive the Evo and would be a fantastic set of skills to be able to have available for any car on tarmac. I took my Evo out for three days straight this past weekend -- Friday at Thunderhill and Saturday/Sunday at Infineon -- specifically to get comfortable with the technique.

All I can say is that I am _convinced_ that mastering left-foot braking is one of the best things you can learn to be both faster and safer on track, especially if you are driving an obstinately understeering car (like a heavy-*** rally car ;-)

For those of you who are already LFB'ers, this is probably old hat, but here's what I took away from using the technique for the past 3 days:

Pros:
- Quicker, smoother transitions from brake to throttle
- Ability to rotate the car mid-corner without losing much momentum
- Ability to "save" an understeering car and keep the rubber on the paved surface (this saved my co-driver Scott Smith and I from a potentially big off in T10 yesterday)

Cons:
- With a heavily boosted car like mine, the brake pedal effort is highly variable as you lose vacuum assist -- gotta fix that
- You kill your brakes, especially if you find yourself using LFB in higher speed corners while keeping on the throttle
- Without ABS, it's easier to lock-up the wheels at first, although modulation comes just as naturally with either foot

There were a few scary moments as I worked to get comfortable using my left-foot around Sears, including locking up my rear wheels on the entry to T10 (yikes!) and locking up the wheels coming into T11 (double yikes!), but then the technique also kept me on the track when I should have dropped wheels exiting T6 and T10, as well as kept me on the racing line when I had issues in T8/8a. What's so great about this is that at Targa Newfoundland we have no runoff, so being able to keep the car on the road is an imperative.

What about pace? Last time I was at Sears Point, my fastest laps were in the high 1:55's. On Saturday morning I broke into the 1:54's, and that was with a heavier car and severely warped rotors. Even with Scott in the car, carrying a full spare, close to a full tank of gas, and extra weight (trying to get the car close to how we'll rally it) I was turning consistent 1:56's and dropped as low as a 1:55.8.

This is a must-learn technique, and can be a key for making an understeering Evo quick around a road course.

boomn29

iTrader: (47)

This is the reason I personally don't LFB.

There was a thread not long about about people losing brake assist and LFB'ing was the consensus for a contributor.

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

It's actually a really simple fix -- just install a vacuum tank in-line with the brake booster. This is a common problem with cams in muscle cars, so lots of vendors with parts to fix it. C'mon, how often to you get to buy parts for your Evo from JEGS?

JoizeeX

tv commercial voice: "JEEEEEGS!!!"

any advice about how to get your foot around and between clutch and brake pedals? i have small feet, but i still keep bumping my foot around when i try to get it between the 2 pedals. do you always keep left foot on the foor there? do u move from clutch to floor...then later to brake then back to floor, without ever resting on the dead pedal? maybe it's easier with racing shoes than sneakers, although i've never tried it while i wearing my OMP shoes.

my biggest problem with it is getting my foot there without getting the sneaker caught on anything lol

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

I made two dramatic changes to my driving position:

- First, I moved my seat back a couple of clicks to get more room for my legs to move. I can still fully depress the clutch pedal, but it's a real reach.
- Second, I no longer put my foot on the dead pedal to brace myself, and basically keep it over the brake at all times. Both feet move together -- either my LF is over the brake and RF over the throttle, or they both move over to the left so I can work the clutch and brake at the same time.

The Evo has really good pedal placement to switch both feet back and forth. I have gigantic feet (11EE) so it shoudl be easier with small feet.

madmax199

iTrader: (20)

From my experience with LFB (I switch tow season ago) :
1) It takes a long time to master (a year for me) before it becomes natural as if using the right foot
2) It does not affect the braking system unless you're riding your brakes(left foot still slightly on brake pedal while on accelaration phase) or draging your braking (braking longer than you should) because you have not mastered the technique.
3) It works at least on the evo; both road racing an autocrossing but I've seen better results LFB in autocross as on typical courses I am a full second faster just by braking with the left. Think about how long it takes to switch you right foot from one pedal to the other and multiply that time by the number or times is happens + keeping the turbo spooled on slow turns.
4) When road racing I right foot brake up to the apex then use Lfb minor correction on exit phase.
Untill LFB becomes a second nature it actually kills times I have to admit but its rewarding to make the switch. (My DD is an automatic and that helped me a lot with getting the technique down).